The Cleaning Journey

What separates the cleaning companies people remember from the ones they forget? In Part 2 of our conversation, Lisa Macqueen shares why branding, leadership, and marketing have become just as important as delivering a great cleaning service. Lisa explains how she intentionally positioned Clean Corp away from every other cleaning company in the market by changing the company's messaging, website,...

What happens when you stop running your cleaning company like a cleaning company—and start running it like a business? In Part 1 of this conversation, Lisa Macqueen shares how she helped transform Clean Corp from a $700,000 business into a multi-million-dollar commercial cleaning company by focusing on marketing, systems, automation, and brand positioning. Lisa discusses why relying solely on refe...

In Episode #36 of The Cleaning Journey, Misael Avalos speaks with Marcelo Matos, owner of Prime Cleaning Services in Columbus, Ohio. Marcelo shares his remarkable journey from immigrating to the United States in 2015 to building a cleaning company that now performs approximately 2,000 cleanings per month with a team of 54 employees and 16 vehicles. The conversation covers the challenges of losing...

Episode Summary Finding clients isn't the hardest part of running a cleaning company. Finding and keeping great cleaners is. In Part 2 of this conversation, Victoria Westcott shares the hiring systems, employee retention strategies, recurring revenue model, and leadership lessons that helped her build a successful residential cleaning business. Victoria explains why many cleaning business owners f...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast, Victoria Westcott explains why she believes the traditional cleaning company sales process is outdated and how modern cleaning businesses can grow faster through online booking, transparent pricing, automation, and customer-focused systems. Victoria shares her approach to running a residential cleaning business that prioritizes custo...

Burnout, Systems & Scaling a Cleaning Business Too Fast Misael Avalos sits down with Shania Gladwell, founder of Beskar Cleaning, to discuss the early years of building a cleaning company during COVID and the reality of scaling too quickly. Shania shares how she went from working in government recruitment to managing more than 80 employees while raising a newborn and trying to keep her business af...

In Part 2 of this conversation, Misael Avalos sits down again with Shania Gladwell, founder of Beskar Cleaning, to dive deeper into the systems and strategies that helped her build a premium recurring cleaning company operating across multiple locations in Australia. This episode focuses on recurring revenue, premium clients, hiring systems, automation, retention, and building a business that runs...

How do you schedule 150+ homes per day without chaos? In Part 2 of this episode, Holly Moore breaks down the systems, scheduling strategies, hiring mindset, and company culture that helped her scale Maids & More into a massive residential cleaning operation. In This Episode We Cover: • Why most cleaning companies schedule the wrong way • How map-based scheduling changed everything • The software H...

What if saying no to clients is actually the thing that helps you scale? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey, Holly Moore breaks down the mindset and systems that took her from a chaotic $300K operation to building a multi-million dollar residential cleaning company with 150+ employees and 150+ homes serviced per day. Starting with just $1,200 from a school teacher's bonus, Holly built Maids a...

What does it really look like to walk away from corporate careers and step into one of the most emotionally demanding industries out there? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey , Katie and Kyle Wilson share how they went from successful corporate roles to becoming co-owners of a Spaulding Decon franchise in Tampa, Florida — a crime scene and biohazard cleaning business that demands both operati...

What if starting a cleaning business from scratch isn't the fastest way to grow? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey , Justin Ducharme breaks down exactly how he bought a cleaning business for under $100K, moved from Canada to San Diego on an E2 investor visa, and scaled it from just $5K/month to over $100K/month in recurring revenue — in only 8 months. This is a real, behind-the-scenes look a...

Cleaning business mindset is the real topic of this episode — and it's the one most owners avoid. In this episode of The Cleaning Journey, Misael Avalos sits down with Cheryl Hajjar , founder of Sisters Who Scale and creator of the Drop the Mop and Scale system. Cheryl built her cleaning company from $0 to over $850K — while reducing her workload to just 15–20 hours per week. But the real story is...

How do you hire cleaning employees — and actually keep them? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey, Misael Avalos sits down with Johnny Robinson of Home Service Academy to break down the exact systems that took him from hiring "the worst of the worst" to building a reliable recruiting machine. If you've ever felt stuck, understaffed, or held hostage by your team — this episode will completely ch...

What does it take to stay in the cleaning industry for over two decades… and still be hungry to scale? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast , Misael sits down with R.J. Patel , founder of PCT Clean and PCT Janitorial in Kennesaw, Georgia, to break down what it really takes to build a cleaning company that runs without you. After 23 years in business, R.J. is pushing harder than ever tow...

If you're building a carpet cleaning business and wondering whether the franchise model actually works, this episode is your blueprint. Bryce Gilbert started Mr. Steam with just $7,000, a psychology degree, and a Honda Civic with the passenger seat ripped out. Today, he operates 15 carpet-cleaning franchise locations across Canada — without spending a single dollar on paid advertising. In this epi...

What if the thing holding you back became the exact thing that pushed you forward? Lorephil Toledo didn't speak English when she arrived in Canada. No money. No business experience. No connections. Just a vision—and a relentless belief that anything is possible. Today, she runs Prime Key Management Cleaning across Alberta with a growing team, serving both residential and commercial clients. But wh...

What happens when a business you never meant to start becomes your entire life? At 19, Megan had no business plan, no structure, and was working three jobs just to afford her own place. She accidentally fell into cleaning, started picking up clients, and before she knew it she was faced with a decision: finish her policing degree, or go all-in on a business she never planned to build. Fast forward...

Do you own a business… or did you just buy yourself a job? Most cleaning business owners think they're building a company — but in reality, they're building a demanding job that depends entirely on them. Adam Povlitz learned this the hard way. Even as CEO, he couldn't take a vacation without his laptop. Nothing moved forward without his approval. He was the bottleneck slowing down his own growth....

Want to scale your cleaning business to multiple locations and 7 figures? Cristobal Mondragon went from working as a dishwasher to building a thriving cleaning company with 22 employees operating in both Seattle and Atlanta. In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast, he breaks down the exact systems, pricing strategies, and customer service tactics that allowed him to expand across state lin...

Want to Scale Your Cleaning Business to 7 Figures—Without Burning Out? What does it actually take to build a cleaning business that runs without you ? In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast , we sit down with Paul Borodenko , who went from working construction jobs to building a multi-location commercial cleaning franchise powered by systems, delegation, and disciplined execution. Paul br...

She lost 28 clients overnight — and came dangerously close to shutting down her cleaning business. In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast , we sit down with Ingrid Morales , founder of Marily Cleaning Service , who shares one of the hardest lessons of her entrepreneurial journey: trusting the wrong hire at the wrong time. From postpartum recovery to rebuilding her company from the ground...

Stop Cleaning If You Want to Scale Your Business Most cleaning business owners believe growth comes from doing more—more jobs, more hours, more stress. But that's exactly what keeps them stuck. In this episode of The Cleaning Journey, Misa sits down with Boris, founder and CEO of VepoClean, to unpack what actually separates owner-operators from true business owners. Boris shares how he transformed...

Building a successful cleaning business isn't just about getting more clients — it's about making the right decisions , setting boundaries, and building systems that protect your money, time, and peace . In this episode of The Cleaning Journey Podcast , we sit down with Brittany Thomas , founder of MaJur Klean Cleaning Service , to talk about how faith-led decision-making and strong systems helped...

Are you trying to start a cleaning business but feel overwhelmed, underpaid, or unsure if you're doing it right? Are you stuck in the early stages of a cleaning business start up and wondering why growth feels harder than it should? Do you want to grow my cleaning company but keep attracting the wrong clients or struggling with cleaning business pricing? In this episode, we dive deep into the real...

Starting a commercial cleaning business can feel overwhelming, especially when you're navigating pricing, hiring, systems, and growth all at once. If you're in the cleaning business start-up phase or trying to scale past owner-operator mode, this episode is a must-watch. In this episode, Misa Avalos sits down with a seasoned cleaning mentor who shares what it really takes to build a sustainable co...