Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

Most cleaning business owners know their funnel could be better, but where do you even start? In this episode, Katie Jenks of Serene Clean joins Stephanie Pipkin to unpack the real-world funnel transformation that helped Serene Clean fill its calendar fast. From low-converting forms to forgettable follow-ups, Stephanie shares the exact changes she made with Katie’s help to plug the leaks, and the...

Hiring doesn’t have to be painful or regretful. In this episode, ZenMaid’s Stephanie Pipkin shares the exact hiring system she built to train and retain a 7-figure cleaning team without complaints, micromanagement, or drama. You’ll hear the hard lessons behind her transition from solo cleaner to true CEO, and how she rebuilt her business with freedom, boundaries, and a culture that runs itself. Th...

Most cleaning businesses struggle with hiring. But what if your biggest bottleneck wasn’t finding people, it was how you were filtering them? In this episode, Stephanie sits down with industry veteran Juan Chaparro, founder of Gmaids and creator of PipeHire, to unpack how he and his wife Karen accidentally started a cleaning company at age 20, scaled it remotely from Colombia and Miami, and built...

Every cleaning business has expenses that quietly eat into profits. Insurance policies you set and forget. Training steps that slip over time. Processes that used to work but don’t anymore. In this episode, Stephanie shares how she uncovered over $10,000 in annual savings by auditing Serene Clean’s insurance and why taking a hard look at all your costs and policies is essential. She also explains...

Ever wonder what it takes to go from cleaning tech to essential operations leader in your cleaning business? In this candid episode, Stephanie sits down with April West Serene Clean’s payroll administrator, accounts manager, and longtime right hand. They share honest stories about extreme cleans (the Cat House! the Chicken House!), the reality of managing call-outs, building sustainable company cu...

Every cleaner has a nightmare client story... The client who left surprises in the toilet. The one who flipped out over late fees. The one who thought hiring you meant cleaning up fleas.   In this episode, Stephanie walks through Serene Clean’s 10-page client guideline document — and the real stories behind each policy. Learn what to include, how to roll it out, and why you’ll sleep better once it...

Getting fired and divorced at 24 led Mila Thee Hostkeyper on an unexpected journey from teaching English in Korea to building a thriving vacation rental cleaning business across Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Her secret? An unshakeable belief that she could "figure it out."   Mila shares how she went from cleaning her first Thumbtack gigs to landing 68 units from a single client, why she hires exclu...

Your website should be doing two things: getting you more leads and helping pre-sell your services to those leads. But if you're making one of these 8 mistakes, it might be doing neither.   In this tactical solo episode, Stephanie walks through the biggest website errors she sees on consulting calls — and the exact fixes you can make to turn your site into a lead-generating machine.   Key Takeaway...

Ashley spent 14 years in the healthcare industry — until burnout, COVID, and caregiving for her dad pushed her to look for something more flexible. She applied for a cleaning job. Serene Clean said no. Then she applied again. And again. Four years later, she’s one of the company’s most beloved cleaning techs.   In this heartfelt episode, Stephanie sits down with Ashley to reflect on her journey fr...

What do you do when four cleaners quit or get fired in a single week — including one who worked with you for years? In this raw and emotional solo episode, Stephanie opens up about one of the hardest weeks in Serene Clean’s history. From betrayal and burnout to tough conversations and short-staffed chaos, she breaks down what really happened, what she learned, and how she found the strength to lea...

What drives someone to launch a cleaning business as a teenager — and grow it into a thriving, booked-out service while pregnant and raising a family? In this episode, Stephanie interviews Zaila Filler, a young cleaning business owner from Indiana who started out scrubbing Airbnbs to escape a tough home life. They cover the wild reality of starting from scratch, training staff while dilated in the...

Stephanie takes you behind the scenes of Serene Clean’s growth — from charging $30/hour and paying $12/hour, all the way to $55/hour and six figures in monthly revenue.   You’ll hear exactly what the business was charging, paying, and earning at every stage — plus when benefits were added, how price increases impacted hiring, and what finally pushed Stephanie to offer health insurance. It’s an hon...

Stephanie sits down with Crystal Davidson — Serene Clean’s very first employee — to talk about what it was really like in the early days. From working out of Stephanie’s apartment to helping build a million-dollar company, Crystal has seen (and survived) it all.   They cover what made her leave a stable healthcare career for a part-time cleaning job, how her role evolved over time, and what it act...

In this solo episode, Stephanie shares one of the top three strategies that helped Serene Clean grow to 30+ employees across three locations: group interviews. After years of trial and error (and far too many no-shows), she walks you through exactly how—and why—to set up a group interview system that saves time, filters out bad fits, and keeps your cleaning business hiring-ready at all times.   Wh...

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with ZenMaid's CEO, Amar Ghose, to talk about everything from his days running a maid service to building a software company that’s now 11 years strong.   They cover the early chaos, what Amar would do differently if he ran a cleaning business again, and how he stayed calm and led his team through a recent health scare. It's an honest, insightful, and sometimes...

Anastasia, owner of Essence of Clean, turned a part-time side gig into a six-figure cleaning business with her husband—despite moving states and starting over more than once. Now based in Washington and working just four days a week, they’ve built a business that gives them freedom, stability, and time with their family.   In this coaching session, Anastasia opens up about battling self-doubt, nav...

Stephanie sits down with Ayman Al-Abdullah, former CEO of AppSumo and executive coach to 7–9 figure founders (including ZenMaid’s own Amar Ghose). They dive into what it takes to evolve from a founder to a true CEO — and how even cleaning business owners can start thinking like executives.   You’ll learn how to overcome growth plateaus, why Ayman believes every CEO should aim to be the “laziest” p...

Your brand isn’t built when you say the right things. It’s built in the messy moments when no one’s watching... and when the consequences catch up. In this episode, Stephanie unpacks a controversial cleaning industry trend (yep, naked cleaning) and uses it as a jumping-off point to talk about integrity, consistency, and long-term brand building.   Whether you're navigating pricing mistakes, hiring...

"I went from a 5-6 day week solo business making $60K profit to the SAME profit working just 2 days a week." Former GE engineer Ken Carfagno shares the optimization strategies that transformed his cleaning business and allowed him to live the life he really wanted.   This episode is packed with practical wisdom on building a cleaning business that actually works for YOU instead of trapping you in...

"I get to the house... she had filled out the checklist and said she did everything, but she didn't clean a f***ing thing." Stephanie shares the raw, unfiltered stories of her first 10 hires, from the employee who never showed up to the one who asked her to commit fraud!   This episode is a must-watch for anyone struggling with hiring or wondering if they'll ever find good staff. Through disaster...

Four months into her cleaning business venture, former teacher and social worker Gentry Hunter sits down with Stephanie for a live coaching call. Together, they explore the REAL challenges of launching 2.0 Cleaning in Austin, Texas.   Tune into this conversation to hear both practical advice and emotional support as Stephanie helps Gentry navigate common stumbling blocks of early entrepreneurship....

From oversharing with staff to launching a service that totally flopped (spoiler: carpet cleaning), Stephanie gets honest about the mistakes that cost her time, money, and peace of mind. In this solo episode, she breaks down three big business regrets—plus the lessons she’s learned that will save you from making the same missteps. If you’ve ever felt torn between “staying in your lane” and trying...

From a neighbor’s Facebook post to managing a team of 20+, Brenna Sledge didn’t plan to start a cleaning company... but the impact she’s had since launching Busy Bees Cleaning in 2020 is no accident.   In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Brenna to talk about what it really means to run a purpose-driven cleaning business. They dive into community impact, vacation rental partnerships, hiring w...

Just because a client is “nice” doesn’t mean they’re a good fit. In this solo episode, Stephanie walks through the decision to let go of a long-standing commercial account that had become more trouble than it was worth — and breaks down the true cost of keeping bad fits on your roster.   From communication chaos to scope creep to straight-up budget misalignment, this is a crash course in understan...

From finance exec to cleaning CEO, Helen of Cool Peaches Cleaning shares how she built a growing maid service using Google reviews, local networking, and a whole lot of heart. In this episode, Stephanie and Helen Leyzerovich talk client acquisition, staffing struggles, pricing mistakes, and why your intake form matters more than you think.   Helen doesn’t sugarcoat the early growing pains (includi...