We were lucky to catch up with Angela Alvarez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I have now been a business owner for about two years and plenty of times I have thought about going back to a “regular job”. Starting the business was a very slow process. I knew nothing about cleaning for other people, how to get clients, marketing, etc. It’s crazy to me now because I look at paper work from the beginning and I was literally making $200 a week, or $500 a month. I don’t know how I survived but I did! Back track to July 2021 I worked full time at a dental office as a Business Assistant and I loved my job! I loved the dental field and I loved talking to people, but there was a lot going on in my personal life that required me to be home more with the kids.
Then I started the cleaning business just hoping it would out.
I went door to door and left cards, I posted on Facebook and Next door everyday. I still do these things!
When I started the business I was also taking classes at ACC and due to my school schedule I could only clean part time. So it was tough. It was tough going from being in a two income household now to just my income, it was tough with my husband being gone and me having to step up and do everything.
I wasn’t quite making it with the little income I had so in the evenings I started working at Amazon part time. It sucked being away from the kids, and I was slacking on homework but the bills needed to be paid.
Currently, the cleaning business is going great! However, I still do work at Amazon part time. Sometimes I dread going to work and clocking in and out, taking a scheduled lunch and so on, but it keeps me busy!
I definitely could jam pack my cleaning schedule and not work at Amazon but I enjoy cleaning but I don’t want to stop enjoying it. I don’t want to get burned out or start feeling like my cleaning schedule is so busy that I am rushing to get to the next. I like have a just enough to where I look forward to it still.
I think for me I still do need some kind of corporate or regular job to keep me in line. I like to see how other people manage people, run business, and keep customers and employees happy. I see everything as a learning experience.
I brought a lot from what I learned at the dental office to the cleaning business. And I think with my customer experience I am very above average.

Angela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

2020 was a very tough year for my family. My husband was deported, I lost my job, I attempted to take classes and failed miserably. My mental health was not so great then. I worked at a dental office for years and left suddenly. I knew I had to do something to pay the bills but working a “regular ” job was out of the question. So I started a cleaning business. I had no experience cleaning for anyone but myself, no business experience at all. But I had no other choice.
The name Inside out cleaning is pretty much that. we do yard work, flower beds, and of course housework so I always say “we want to help keep your home beautiful from the inside out”
My son who was 12 at the time was mowing yards in town and I would drive him, help him, talk to the clients for him and I enjoyed it! I enjoyed talking to people. So, I figured if a 12-year-old can start a small business why can’t I?
I started watching YouTube videos on business, I started looking up different floor types and what could be used on them and so on. My daughter (she is 11) helps out on the weekends and summer and let me tell you, she is a little boss! she does so good cleaning, but she also does well as a “supervisor” lol.
I posted every day on YouTube and Next door. And I basically cleaned for gas money!
It’s a miracle how we were able to stay afloat in the beginning months.
Fast forward to now, my mom is working with me too! She has decades of years of experience cleaning.
She has passed on some cleaning tips and vice versa. I have plenty of years of experience in customer service and so I brought that into the business, and I feel like that is one thing that sets me a part is that I don’t just clean the house, but I love to help in any way, whether it be a prayer request, feeding a pet, going to buy a cake for the client, anything!
I don’t see anyone as just a “client” to me it’s much more personal than that.
I specialize in residential and small office cleaning services. I offer standard cleanings, deep cleans, move outs, etc.
Recently, a lady from the BBB called and asked for me to become BBB accredited! She said nothing negative has been said about Inside out cleaning and that I fit in perfectly with what they want in a business!
My son is still going with the mowing too! So we offer yard services, we even help move furniture around.
The thing I am most proud of is when I receive compliments my clients. I love to hear that I make a difference in their day! Sometimes I doubt myself, but just getting one little message just lets me know I am doing what God wants me to do. It brings me such joy to be serving people. Cleaning became my therapy, I get lost in cleaning and it helps me to think. I like seeing the beginning and end results!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I grew up poor. When I say poor, I mean poor. I mean we had no running water, no electricity, we would steal all our clothes. Poor. And even in my adult life I wasn’t made of money. So one thing that I had to unlearn was feeling bad for charging what I charge. I have been told I still charge pretty low, but to me it is still a struggle for me to let go of that. In my head I feel like “well if I tell them this price, they will say it’s too much and then I lose out on a house”. Even at the dental office when I had to present treatment I dreaded telling a patient that for crowns it would be $3000. I dreaded it. But one time the doctor told me” it may seem like a lot to you, but not to them. You don’t know what “alot” is to them.” And that usually people go to the dentist knowing that it’s going to be costly. So I try to remember that when I give quotes.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

1. I had no idea what I was doing starting out 2. I was taking classes part time so I could only work part time
3. My husband had been deported so emotionally and mentally I was not ok
4. I was bringing in $300 a week sometimes
5. I still had a household to support

I don’t know about you but that’s alot!

Contact Info:

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