Meet Rene Castro | Automotive Locksmith

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rene Castro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rene, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Originally, the ability to say “I want to take a vacation” and not rely on upper management to approve it. My vacations have always worked around my 9-5 mainly because of the relationship I have with the client that I manage. I work full time as a Customer Service manager for an IT company and Locksmith by night/weekend.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My official profession is in the IT sector. I’ve always had an interest in taking things apart as a young kid. That eventually turned into computers & laptops. The screen to my phone cracked and in a weird way, I was happy because it meant I had to replace my screen! The first computer I worked on was in 2003, an old Compaq Presario that belonged to my brother who was living in Rhode Island at the time. It involved wiping the system and learning the hard way of what system drivers were. I eventually got it up and running but that was my first experience with IT. My first official job was in Lawrence, MA at a Multi service owned by Tico. It was a shop that mainly dealt with residential computers. I learned so much working at that shop while also having fun with my colleague who we called “Kárateca” because he was in Taekwondo. Eventually I was offered a shop by Antonio, off of Broadway St. in Lawrence, MA at no charge until I started generating income, but I was in my early 20’s so the idea was very intimidating. Residential IT work was always fun for me but I was young and the idea of running my own shop and not having guaranteed money wasn’t an option at the time. I had 3 very young children to support, so I ended doing it on the side while working a no room for growth 9-5. During my 5yrs there me and a very close friend started a small company called “Ctrl Alt Repair.” There was no overhead so very little to start up. We would get decent jobs but still not enough to take the leap so I ended up applying to my current employer and have been here for over 8yrs. It was a completely different world from residential so there was a plethora of information I needed to absorb. I went through different stages in the field from basic help desk to Tier 2 and now Customer Service manager. Although the client I manage is fun and upbeat, the corporate setting is very mentally draining. Slowly the passion I originally had for troubleshooting and fixing computers faded. Enter, Locksmith! My passion now lies here and the fire I had for taking things apart has transferred to decoding keys, understanding lock cylinders and replacing tumblers.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My number one place is always Ponce City Market. Grabbing, food, a drink, ice cream and being able to enjoy that outside is perfect. I was introduced to it by my good friend Tim. Botiwalla is my go to and you can’t go wrong with their Desi Salad. Afterwards grab you and adult flavored popsicle from King Of Pops and sit outside, enjoy the weather and scenery. They even got a whole bodega in there. I try to bring all my guests here at least once before they leave back to Massachusetts. We also enjoy Downtown Decatur Square for their Jenni’s Ice Cream. There’s a whole area for kids to run around and tumble on Astro Turf. For a week long trip, those two above mentioned places plus the aquarium, Stone mountain, Mt Arabia. We also like going to Lilburn for some good Dominican food at Versace Dominican Restaurant. I get my haircuts next door at Versace Dominican Barbershop, shoutout to Eduard! For everything there is to do out here you need more than a week but those are some examples of where we’d bring our guests.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to Jeff Sheets of Lo-Ke Locksmith! Jeff lives about 5-8min away from me which any person would probably consider competition zone. His words were “Castro, there’s just too many people out here for you to take any food off of my plate.” Jeff’s been very supportive and has even gotten me out of sticky situation’s so again, if anyone deserves a shout out, it’s him.

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