We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa Jordan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lisa below.

Lisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

A truck mounted hot water extraction system. Not only is it a time saver, it is useful in so many aspects of our business. We started with a used one, that had to be rebuilt. After a couple of years, we bought a new one and haven’t looked back. We started with a portable carpet cleaning system, which does OK, but it can’t clean as well as a truck mount, and carpets don’t dry as fast. Now, the carpet mills require that a truck mounted hot water extraction system be used to clean carpets to maintain the warranty.
We also use it for hard surface floor cleaning, furniture and area rug cleaning, duct and dryer vent cleaning, and especially in the disaster restoration part of our business. From cleaning floors after a disaster, to scrubbing down walls and ceilings, vacuuming drywall dust as we saw it to remove it, picking up small debris from floors as we are remediating, there are so many uses for it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Ken Jordan started this business as a carpet cleaning company in 1985. He started with a small portable unit, and offered a good cleaning service, at a fair price with no “bait and switch” tactics. Over time, clients would ask if he could clean other items besides carpet, like furniture, hard floors or area rugs. So, he learned how. Ken then met an industry leader, and learned about the IICRC and certifications and training. Ken then embarked on an educational journey, and became an IICRC Triple Master in 1994. He has maintained Triple Master certification, and added Senior Carpet and Flooring inspector (non-practicing), Expert Witness, OSHA Occupational Health and Safety, Florida State Certified Mold remediator and Lead Paint Abatement Specialist to his long list of educational accomplishments. There are less than 550 people worldwide who have attained IICRC Triple Master status.
One of the things that definitely sets us apart is Ken’s ingenuity. He uses his years of knowledge of not only our industry but construction and auto repairs to devise new and innovative ways to solve our clients issues, without being hampered by the corporate structure. Ken has developed several new ways of doing different things in our industry, some of which have been discussed at industry trade shows and adapted by others.
We are a local, family owned and operated business. When we are working on your home, Ken and Lisa are your contacts. Not an 800 number. Not a company sales rep who will be gone next week. You get us. You get our e mail, our cell numbers, our attention, and most importantly, our care and concern.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Oh boy, yes. Early on in our journey, right after we were married in fact. 1991, February. Ken is playing basketball with a couple of friends, and goes to make a shot, and both of his patella tendons ruptured, sending his kneecaps into his thighs. He was the first to suffer this traumatic injury and survive, as most people who had this happen had jumped out of a plane. He was rushed to the emergency room and spent a couple of days laying on a gurney while the hospital staff figured out what to do.
Being young, and having a small business just starting out, we had opted to not get health insurance. Th hospital he was sent to was private, and wouldn’t touch him, other than to monitor his vitals. Not even pain meds.
We had a friend with a van and a wheelchair, so we moved him to a public hospital (best in the state!). And on staff that night was one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world.
The surgeon told us not to worry, and he performed surgery. We had no idea whether Ken would ever walk again.
It took six months for Ken to be able to get on his feet again. Six months of the company having little to no income. Friends came and helped out by doing jobs here and there for us. Lisa asked for extra hours where she worked to help pay the bills, and contacted all the creditors to see if there was any help. Most creditors offered some type of assistance, all but one.
Ken is very resilient, and is an athlete, so he pushed himself to get back on his feet. He made himself get up and start walking, first with a walker, the crutches. He pushed so hard, he broke the wires that were holding his tendons in place.
After a year, Ken was able to walk unassisted and was back at work.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Ken started the business with a few dollars and a used car. As the company made money, part of it was reinvested in new equipment or training. When we started doing disaster restoration, if we landed a larger paying job, we would use the proceeds to buy equipment to use on future jobs. We used minimal credit, trying to stay away from getting into too much debt after our experience with an accident previously.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.accentamerican.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/mastercleaner
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/1mastercleaner
• Yelp: no thank you