07/10/2026
I've been cleaning homes for 14 years.
I started my business in 2012 after my ex-husband left. Suddenly I was a single mom with three children under the age of three, no job, and a broken-down car. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for life to get easier—I had to figure it out.
So I picked up a mop, trusted God one day at a time, and started building something.
I didn't wake up one day magically knowing how to clean professionally. Everything I know was learned through experience, mistakes, long days, difficult clients, hiring the wrong people, and refusing to quit. Looking back now, I can honestly say God refined my craft through perseverance.
Yesterday I completed a first-time clean that took me six hours. Normally, a maintenance clean of a home that size takes four to five hours. By the end of it, I had cried twice—not because I was afraid of hard work, but because I saw the effects of months, maybe years, of shortcuts.
Soap scum that had built up for who knows how long. Dust packed around toilet bases. Layers of dust throughout the home. A tub that barely wanted to drain. All of the intake vents were packed with black dust. It wasn't filthy because the homeowner didn't care—it was the result of someone being paid to maintain a home but simply not maintaining it.
It reminded me why I care so deeply about what I do.
I also want people to understand something: every home is different.
I have one clean that takes me about two hours. That client is an elderly woman who lives alone, has no pets, and has a home that's around 1,000 square feet. That is a completely different situation than a larger home with multiple bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, pets, living spaces, porches, and years of buildup.
The majority of my regular cleans take me four to five hours. I do have some that are around three hours, but those homes are already maintained. A first-time clean is not the same thing as a maintenance clean.
You cannot expect someone to walk into a home for the first time and undo months or years of buildup in the same amount of time it takes to simply maintain a home that has already been cared for.
The cleaning industry is saturated. Anyone can buy supplies, make a page, and call themselves a professional cleaner. But experience, integrity, consistency, and attention to detail are earned over time.
Here's something I want homeowners to hear: please be careful who you hire. Not every cleaning company is built the same.
Many companies are built around volume—getting in, getting out, and fitting as many homes into a day as possible. There's nothing wrong with efficiency, but when speed becomes the priority, quality is often the first thing sacrificed. The corners that are cut today become the buildup someone else has to spend hours correcting later.
Cleaning isn't just wiping counters and vacuuming floors. It's physically exhausting. It's mentally demanding. It's knowing what products to use, where dirt hides, how to maintain surfaces without damaging them, and caring enough to do the job right even when nobody is watching.
People often question why I charge $45 an hour. But you're not paying me to simply clean for an hour. You're paying for 14 years of experience, the knowledge I've gained through thousands of homes, my reliability, my attention to detail, and my commitment to treat your home with the same care I'd want someone to give mine.
One thing I struggle with is feeling like I've disappointed someone when a first-time clean takes longer than expected. The truth is, first-time cleans almost always do.
Could I rush through a house in two or three hours? Absolutely.
But then I wouldn't be delivering the standard I've spent 14 years building.
My integrity won't allow me to cut corners just to satisfy a clock. If my name is attached to a home, I want to leave knowing I gave it everything I had.
I'm not trying to become rich. I simply want to provide for my children, honor God with the work He's entrusted to me, and leave every home better than I found it.
Excellence takes time.
Integrity takes effort.
And quality is almost always visible long after the price has been forgotten.
I am a business that will always put integrity and my moral values above any dollar amount.
Thank you for my Ted talk. ❤️✝️😘
