07/30/2026
The lemon tree is growing š we work with incredible women who are always inspiring us! Go Gabby!
Hi to all our new followers! We made it to 1.3K!
Iām Gabby Gile, the owner of Lemon Fresh CleanersāGrand Rapids. Some of you newcomers may not know me very well yet, but our OG clients.. Iāve probably spent more hours cleaning some of your houses than my own over the last two years š and Iāve genuinely loved getting to know you through our regular visits.
So, I thought Iād (over)share a little about myself and how Lemon Fresh came to be.
We moved here from South Dakota in 2022.
Iām a licensed mortician, and work originally brought us north, but the trees, lakes, and recreation made us stay.
After I had my first baby (who never slept!) I realized I needed a career that didnāt require leaving the house in the middle of the night. I wanted more flexibility and fewer phone calls at 2 am.
Around the same time, I was struggling to find a reliable cleaner for my own home. Eventually, I realized I had a pretty great opportunity sitting right in front of me.
Generational trauma made me the cleaner I am today. KIDDING. Kind of?
My grandma was the head custodian at my school for decades and boasts that she had some of the whitest diapers in town when her kids were babies.. ya know, before cloth diapering was considered ācrunchyā.
And my mom had me tagging along to her cleaning jobs before I was even in kindergarten.
I also spent many years of my adolescence redoing cleaning tasks that didnāt quite meet my momās holiday-hosting standards. No one was inspecting the baseboards that closely, but here we are.
In high school, I cleaned regularly for my great-grandmother and flipped hunting lodges in the Pheasant Capital of the world. In college I picked up clients during summer breaks, and apparently never escaped my destiny.
Oh yeah.. I also have two college degrees, and I clean toilets for a living. I promise my parents are proud.
My time working in funeral service made me even more detail-oriented. You only get one funeral, so you have to get it right. That mindset has followed me into everything I do: notice the little things, care deeply, and donāt cut corners.
Iām also very much a āmomās momā.
You never need to apologize to me for the delayed text, the crumbs on the floor, the loud toddler, or the fact that your house looks like people actually live there. I donāt judge. I know what itās like to clean all day and still feel like nothing is clean. Iāve been there, and itās my greatest pleasure to take something off your plate.
Iām sentimental and probably will start shedding a tear when I think about the little hands that will be splashing in the tub that Iām cleaning.
As a person, Iām part Martha Stewart, part Morticia Addams.. a little bit wine country, a little bit rock ānā roll, if you will. And HYPOTHETICALLY, if you needed to move a body and clean up the evidence, Iād be quite qualified. ā°ļø
I love good food, making my home cute (and functional), and doing pretty, domestic things while listening to podcasts about true crime, weird science, and conspiracy theories.
Iām partly crunchy, with a side of Diet Coke. Iāll use natural cleaning products, but I still need to use the same brand of mascara Iāve been using since 2011.
I love psychology, astrology and would consider myself a self-improvement ju**ie. I like doing things with intention and effort. It makes life feel special, and itās one of the ways I show people I care and they matter.
My integrity doesnāt let me half-ass much. Besides cleaning my own house, obviously. šš»āāļø
I also love music, probably the same stuff your parents or your pretensious college boyfriend listened to. And I am definitely peeking at your record collection when I dust your shelves.
Mr. Lemon Fresh, Dan Gile, is a familiar face to some of you. Heās an integral part of the operation and keeps our laundry clean, our bags stocked, and our beds with the tightest hospital corners Iāve ever seen. Thank you, Marine Corps. šŗšø He probably sees your husband at Wednesday night menās league and your grandpa at the American Legion meetings.
When heās not behind the scenes at Lemon Fresh, he works at Northview Bank as an Assistant Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer and serves on a couple community nonprofit boards.
Our little boy, Dash, is the best mess maker and loves getting into Momās cleaning supplies. He learned his colors by sorting our towels and loves lemons almost as much as his mom.
Heās also going to be a big brother in November.
If youāve read this far, congratulationsāyouāve officially unlocked the hot goss. I havenāt announced my pregnancy anywhere on Facebook yet.
But more than anything, Lemon Fresh is made up of our amazing cleaners.
We have such a wonderful group of women who are hardworking, dependable, and genuinely enjoy helping our clients. They show up every day ready to give their best. Iām constantly proud of the care they put into their work and how they represent our company when Iām not there.
Theyāre tremendous humans. Many of them are moms, too. They understand that they arenāt just cleaning houses, theyāre leaving people and places better than theyāve found them.
And thatās really what Lemon Fresh is all about.
