Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tricia Holderman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tricia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I have Crohn’s disease and and years ago I had many infections. While hospitalized, I noticed there were items in my room that could be cleaned better. I discussed these with the hospital staff and they implemented better protocols.
A few years after that I was looking for the right product solutions to some cleaning issues, I met with a team that was doing research and development of commercial cleaning products. That experience led me to be on the Advisory Board of Proctor and Gamble.
Recently I was diagnosed with cancer. The treatment I was doing made me more immunosuppressed. I created a small handout for keeping those of us in chemo safe. That was the beginning of my book. The book is Germinator and is published by Advantage/Forbes. Germinator recently hit number one bestseller on Amazon.
My mission is to keep everyone as safe as possible from harmful germs. It’s what I have done since I was 17.
Tricia , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I was working in an aerobics center between high school and college, when not teaching a class, I would be shining the equipment, mirrors and rest of the facility. One day a lady in my classed asked if I would clean her home. I did. After the first cleaning, she asked me to come weekly and shared my name with several of her friends. I had been working 2 jobs, but after a month of cleaning, I quit both and only cleaned houses.
One of the houses was owned by doctors, who asked if we could clean their office. There was not much about infection prevention then, just bleach solution to wipe everything. Thru referrals, the commercial side of the company grew.
When we noticed a client needed toilet paper or paper towels, we would run to the local store and purchase products retail for them. I worked with a vendor to created a distribution program. We now have a 4000 square foot warehouse for client products.
We have worked for small apartments to 500+ bed hospitals as well as NFL and NBA teams and arenas.
The whole premise of Elite Home Services and Elite Facility Systems is creating clean and healthy spaces.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
We have several streams of revenue at Elite.
Elite Home Services – Housekeeping
Elite Facility Systems – Infection Prevention Services
Cleaning Supplies and Solutions – product and equipment division of EFS
TriciaHolderman.com – Infection Prevention and Control Consulting
Germinator – Book on Amazon , Barnes and Noble and Books a million, as well as directly from us. Germinator just went to Number 1 in 5 different categories.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
At 4 years old I needed to wear braces on my legs for support, I hated those and vowed to walk without them. Not only did I walk but won my first Marathon at 16.
Later when diagnosed with Crohn’s and endured many surgeries I went down to only 86 pounds, Having spent the better part of three years in the hospital, I decided this was not going to be how I lived or die. I opted for the drastic, removal of all intestines and left the hospital in 3 weeks, rarely to return.
I have recently had a serious bout of cancer, my resilience was called on once again. Cancer, chemo and Crohns do not play well together, we had to change and stop the regimen a few times.
Contact Info:
- Website: triciaholderm.com
- Facebook: Tricia Holderman author
- Linkedin: Tricia Holderman
- Twitter: thegermgirl
- Youtube: Tricia Holderman
Image Credits
Kahn