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

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to improve the quality of lives. It’s a meaningful mission to us because that is our goal every day. Whether it’s with our clients, our team, our community, or our environment we strive to improve our quality of lives daily.

This is important to me because as a child I remember my mom working long hours in service industry jobs which were traditionally nights and weekends. We were with babysitters a lot when we were little so she could work to take care of us. I remember her wishing she had more time to spend with us and feeling guilty about it. As I found myself a single mom I was in a similar pattern with my son and feeling like there has to be a better way to be able to still make a living and be there for the moments with my son that I didn’t feel like I was missing out on life with him.

When I started cleaning houses I realized I could help other families improve their quality of life together by taking care of the cleaning during the day while they were gone at work. This allowed more quality time in the evenings together. It was a win-win. As the company grew I was able to hire on more individuals like myself that needed a way to make an income, with an ideal schedule around children’s school schedules. To allow them to be there for their family and not miss out on the moments in life.

We take pride in being a green, eco-friendly cleaning company focused on reducing plastics and creating sustainability in our community with our business so we improve the quality of life for our future on this earth for our children and our children’s children.

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?

I am a wife to my husband John, and mom, in a blended family of five boys. My husband is a chef and owns his own business, thekitchentechnique.com.

I have a variety of background in the service industry. Mostly working for small business owners. Which I’ve found to be where the real education took place for the fundamentals of one day owning my own business. I’m very thankful for the wealth of knowledge that was taught from those business owners over the years. It’s such a a gift to bless others with the knowledge one has learned. To this day it’s important to me to always be helping others get a foot up with anything I’ve learned that I can share.

I learned a lot about systems and processes working in a local grocery store at 14. A lot of the human resources and hiring side came from restaurants. Sales, marketing and branding came from working at a photography studio. And much about the cleaning side of things came from housekeeping at a hotel for many years.

When I found myself a single mom in my twenties I decided to clean on the side until my son started school and then I thought I would go back to college for Graphic Design. But one client after another I found myself with a business and decided to continue growing the cleaning business.

The problem we solve for clients is maintaining cleaning duties on a maintenance schedule so that it doesn’t get out of control. We are able to free up time for busy people to do the things they enjoy with the people they love. What we do at AMK Cleaning is not that different from what other cleaning companies or individuals do. At the end of the day cleaning is cleaning. But what makes us different is our culture. We attract individuals who are heart and impact driven. People who want to make a difference not only in their world but the world around them. They care for one another and see how their role in our company makes that all happen.

I am most proud of the team of people at AMK. The team operates as if the business was their own. Everyone understands we reap the benefits of what we put in to the business and the work we do for our clients. We’ve found a way to make cleaning toilets, pretty darn cool, and something to be proud of. That’s not easy to do, but we’ve done it.

At this stage of my career in the business, my focus is, how do I continue to create more opportunities for our team. Long term career opportunities. Economic freedoms and work life balance. To be able to have and achieve the things I’ve been able to for myself and my family through this business.

Any advice for managing a team?

My advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is learning about them.

Understand who they are, who their family is. What makes them tick. How they like to be rewarded and praised. How do they learn. How do they communicate and understand best. What do they like to do and love to do in their role. They know they’ll have to do some things they don’t love but the more you can give them of the things they like and love to do the happier they will be. What are their goals in life. When you know a fair amount about your team you’re able to continue to harbor a position they love. You’re able to help them achieve their own personal goals.

Effective communication is huge as well. Allowing a space where everyone’s voices can be heard. Ideas can be shared and incorporated. The book, Crucial Conversations, By: Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, is a great team read. We all read that and gleaned a lot personally and professionally. From time to time we pick a book to read as a team when we’re focused on a yearly goal and need more insight and education on a topic to hit our goals. A team that learns together grows together.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

One of the most effective strategy for growing our clientele basis is understanding who it is we serve that we want more of. From there putting together our avatar. Really honing in on who is that person. Where do they shop? Where do they hang out? What do they value? We also have a fantastic referral program. Because after-all, what do we want more of – more of our best clients! Reward them and reward them well for referring the people they know!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://AMKcleaningServices.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amkcleaningservices/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMKCleaningServices
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amk-cleaning/
• Twitter: https://x.com/amkcleaning
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/amk-cleaning-services-altoona?uid=eTlR5BZvKoz17Rgp3ls3PQ&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

Image Credits

Make it a day Photography (but they’re permanently closed now it looks like) https://www.facebook.com/makeitaday