We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Constance Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Constance , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
My cousin and I started C&K Cleaning Krew LLC in 2018. We were ecstatic to be starting a new business venture. We were both working full time jobs when we received the first call for a contract. We went to the janitorial store and spent close to $1000 dollars. We wanted to make sure that we were prepared. The first call was about a gym that needed a new cleaning crew. We decided to work with a local janitorial company. The Key people is a local company that you pay in order to get contracts. We paid a one time fee and we were off. We took the contract and worked the account with much pride. Our first night we were there for close to 3 to 4 hours cleaning we wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. We made a great impression with the owners of the gym, they absolutely loved our work. This raised our confidence. With the great work that we provided we were getting calls to start at a warehouse and a few churches. We took on all of the work that we possibly could. This wasn’t easy because we both still were working our full time jobs, however we worked overnights to get the buildings cleaned. We were determined.
We were focused, we both wanted to stop working full time jobs and just run the business full time. This took a little time to do because we had hired some employees to work the cleaning business, we quickly learned that isn’t the best idea when you first start. We should have stayed on the front lines.
Looking back I am happy that we started off in the gym. It was a stepping stone for the work that we are doing now. Today we no longer work full time jobs. We are full time serial entrepreneurs.
Constance , 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?
I am a serial entrepreneur. I own a cleaning company where we provide cleaning services. We provide services to home owners, property management companies, businesses large and small. Our clients come to us when they have become overwhelmed with cleaning. What sets us aside from other cleaning companies is that we’ve have over 27 years of experience in the business. I started cleaning buildings at the tender age of 9. We are most proud how we have been able to diversify our business. We started off cleaning commercial properties. Today we have managed to move on to property management companies cleaning their vacant homes.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
I would definitely choose the same profession. Cleaning is literally in my blood. My aunt started a cleaning business and my mother and I worked for her on the weekends. So cleaning has been instilled in me since I was a 9 year old child.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
There were many times in business when we’ve had to pivot. We were used to cleaning commercial buildings but when Covid his us 2019 we had to learn new skills in order to stay relevant. We now offer fogging services in order to sanitize for different viruses.
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