We were lucky to catch up with Elena Westrop recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elena, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Growing up I was fortunate enough to have 2 sets of parents who influenced and molded me into the person I am today. I give each of them credit for the values and beliefs, in which I was raised, and live my life.

My father is one of the founders of the company for which I work. He is an immigrant from Nottingham, England, who was raised in a 600 square foot home, he shared with his parents and 2 siblings. He taught me that hard work, tenacity and perseverance are a must when accomplishing goals. Three of the most valuable pieces of advice he drilled into me are, (1) Never charge anything, you can’t pay for outright and (2) You are no better than anyone else in this world. (3) Everyone has value and purpose.
My stepmother taught me what grit and grind look like. She was widowed, with 5 children, when she met my father. Shortly after losing her first husband to cancer, their family home burnt down. She worked tirelessly to give her children all they deserved and more.

My mother has the sweetest, most tender heart of anyone I’ve ever known. She taught me that it’s okay to be vulnerable. Be your true, authentic self at all times. She is a mother of 6 and continues to show love and give beyond what we think is capable.
My stepfather is the walking definition of dedication. He married my mother, once she was twice divorced and had 4 children. Together they had one child and adopted a granddaughter, He has always been dedicated to my mother, in every aspect of his life. The love, and dedication, they have towards one another is one out of a Disney fairy tale.
Being a new mother myself, I can only hope the core values in which I was raised will flow through to her and help shape her into a kind, fierce and loving human being.

Elena, 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?

My career began in the restaurant world. After college, I moved from Natchitoches, LA to Dallas, TX to work for a large restaurant corporation. I’d often discuss my work with my father, as I’ve always valued his opinion on things. When the restaurant I was working for was making some big changes that were going to affect my financially, he suggested I work for his company. After many conversations and a lot of planning, I hung up my F&B role in Dallas/Ft. Worth and moved to St Louis, MO to work for his company, Charity Clothing Pickup. Charity Clothing Pickup has been in business for over 45 years, partnering with national and local nonprofits to raise money for them through the donation of gently used clothing. Here in the Florida market, our national nonprofits are the American Red Cross and Paralyzed Veterans of America. We offer residential, at home, collection for clothing and small household, donations. For our local nonprofit organizations, we offer our clothing drop box program. This program is at no out-of-pocket expense to the charity. All we ask is that they secure the locations for the clothing drop boxes. Once the location(s) is secure, we place the clothing donation box and then our well-trained, and vetted, drivers service the boxes a minimum of once a week. The clothing collected is then logged and the charity is paid cash for the all of the clothing collected. The clothing donations are then sold to our thrift store partners in Texas.

Out of all of our programs, I love the drop box program the most. This particular program allows smaller, local nonprofits, schools and churches to participate, without spending any money. It’s so difficult for smaller charities to start up and at times the costs seem to come from everywhere. With our program, little effort is required from the charity and the payoff could be huge! Back when we first started the clothing drop box program, a local Catholic Diocese partnered with us, in our St. Louis market. The monsignor of the diocese placed clothing boxes at each of his churches. Within a year, they were paying rent for one of their churches, with the revenue produced from the clothing boxes! We love all of our national and local nonprofits and are always looking to help more people. Seeing the results of the work we do, on a local level, is really something I’m proud of.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

When I first moved to Florida to open up this market, I relied on the reputation of our national nonprofit organizations. Our drop box program and residential program were geared towards and marketed for only our larger national charities. Local networking has really worked well for me. About 4 years ago, I went to an expo in Sun City Center, FL where I met a very outgoing lady who worked in printing. She talked me into going to a networking group for the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, as her guest. Let’s just say, I was hooked after the first meeting! This group, of about 70 people, were genuinely interested in learning about me and my business. Networking on a local level and getting to know people on a personal level is just what I needed. I’ve always loved meeting new people and learning their stories. By doing this, I was able to make new contacts, grow my business and meet a whole new set of colleagues, who became friends. In the past 3 years, even during Covid, I was able to expand my business in the Riverview area and add 7 new charities as partners! My hope is to find the time to join other Chambers of Commerce and expand our reach into other markets. We service 22 counties in the state of Florida and have so much territory we haven’t covered, within those 22 counties. Our company also operates in 9 states other than Florida. No charity, school or church is too small for us! I’d love to help all of them, if I could.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Networking and getting to know the people with whom I partner, on a personal level is key for me. When I often first mention clothing donation drop boxes to business owners, in hopes they will host a brick and mortar location for placing a drop box, I usually get an “ehh” response. Clothing drop boxes are notorious for illegal dumping, which makes a business look untidy. I reassure the owners that we, at Charity Clothing Pickup, have a 24 hour response time of cleaning up any drop box areas that are unsightly. My word is my honor. I have a few drop box placements that were initially placed on a temporary status, that are there years later, because we don’t just place the drop box and forget about them. We stay on top of the cleanliness, because not only is it our name and reputation that’s behind the box, but it is also that of the charitys’ and business owners’. All of our charity partners, schools, churches and participating businesses have my cell phone number, as well as the phone number to my assistant manager, so they can reach us directly, day or night.

Knowing some of these placements were agreed upon because of my personal relationship with the business hosts and/or charity partners of the drop box, makes me take extra care of the locations. My reputation is everything and the last thing I want to do is disappoint anyone who has entrusted their livelihood in my hands. At the end of the day, if our locations aren’t well-maintained, we lose money, not only for us, but for our charity partners. Our partners are why we are in business. We value each and every one of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clothingpickupflorida.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charityclothingpickup
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharityClothingPickup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/charity-clothing-pickup