Heather McDowell describes founding a house cleaning business in 2010, growing it from solo operations to a 46-person team, and centering the company mission on "brightening people's every day." The company runs a client-facing community donations program (clients receive 15% off for participating) that in one year raised over $50,000 and delivered more than 20,000 pounds of food and sundries. After about a decade of growth she joined the SBA Thrive program (a six-month intensive) which helped her pivot operationally; she plans to transition the company to an employee-owned cooperative within three to five years. The video is an acceptance/recognition piece tied to her being named Small Business Person of the Year.
Questions this video answers
2010
46 team members
Over $50,000
Over 20,000 pounds
Six months
Chapters
I discovered personally that the house cleaning industry could be reinvented. I talked to so many house cleaners that were unhappy with the work and the companies that they worked for. And I thought I could do better. I thought I could contribute and create a place where people would feel valued and where clients would feel taken care of. I started my business in 2010, working out of my home office with a clipboard and a flip phone and cleaning. And now we have 46 team members. Our mission statement is to brighten people's every day. And that means brightening our clients lives, brightening our community, brightening our team members lives. It means working together in the service of our community. We collect money and food donations and sundries for our local food banks at every single appointment. So we offer 15% off of our clients participate with us and last year we estimate that we raised over $50,000 and delivered over 20,000 pounds of food and sundries. It wasn't until I was about 10 or 12 years into my business, I had grown to about 40 people and things started getting hard. We had enough clients, but our financials started taking a turn and I knew I needed a second set of eyes. And that's when I found Thrive program. SBA Thrive is an intensive program over six months for businesses who want to scale up and grow their business. When Heather came into the program, she had lots of questions. She didn't have the answers, but there was a pivot about halfway through, the light bulb went on and all of a sudden she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her business and she put it into practice. During the Thrive program, I realized that I had a company that was built for 10 to 20 people, but not and Thrive helped me realize that so that I could make changes. I believe most people want to contribute and most people want to do well and work hard. So I think people have had the opportunity to grow here and develop into different positions, learn new skills and contribute those strengths to making our business grow. I am so excited about the future of our business. I want to take the business in the next three to five years to an employee owned cooperative. I firmly believe that it's the people of this company that own this company. We all work together and we're all responsible for its success. Heather's visionary approach to business is truly inspiring. Her commitment to brightening people's every day extends beyond mere mission statement. It is a driving force and it is in every aspect of our company culture. I am profoundly honored by this award. At a time when headlines speak to the disenfranchisement of workers and so many corporations put profit over people. I'm thrilled and really uplifted that SBA has chosen us as a Small Business Person of the Year. I believe we are a great example of how to put people first and how sharing profits in a more equitable way can bring success, financial stability, and great quality of life to entire communities. And I think our business model is a model for the future.
