We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmin Cruz Martinez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jasmin , appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I have alway worked, since the age of 16. I started in the food industry and worked my way up to an office setting job. I’ve always wanted to have a business and be my own boss. I also tried to execute couple diffrent businesses and wasn’t successful at it, but it’s OK! Before you become an overnight success you have to be an everyday hustler and restart as many times as you need.

Early 2020 I launched an eyelash business, and then in March we got shutdown due to the pandemic. It really discouraged me as they had cancelled all the pop-up events that I had lined up. It was such tough times and during all this I was one of the essential workers who was coming in to the office to work during the whole pandemic. I realized how the company who I was working for wanted to have the same outcome and success that we were having pre-pandemic, the only problem was that there was only 5 employees including myself working due to having multiple/massive furloughed and finally terminating most of our employees. I asked to be compensated because now I was doing 3 others job positions but they denied the compensation. I then started search for new opportunities.

In mid May 2021, I got an interview for an AR/AP position for a Flooring Company and got hired! I started working for this company June 2, 2021. while working for this company I started getting super stressed. They had promised a specific salary after my 90 day probation which never happened. I was asked to work couple Saturday’s which was ok but then almost made it a routine so I was working 6 days a week. The company wasn’t very organized which made everyones job extra difficult for no reason. In other words it was a very toxic and hostile company.

Then the idea of quitting my job (because I was just soo stressed and very unhappy with what I was doing ) and helping my mother with what she did, which was cleaning houses clicked. My mother has been doing this for 30 plus years. I’m Mexican and we are taught at a very young age how to pick up after ourselves and clean, that’s just how it works. I remember growing up and being a young pregnant teenager and going to help my mom clean houses occasionally. I’ve worked in the food industry and had to help clean the restaurant. In my head I was telling my self “I know how to do this!”

I hesitated, thought about it, the fear came in, and in Jan of 2022 I quit my job to execute my cleaning business with the help of my mother.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have alway worked with clients/customers providing some sort of customer service. I am a very customer service oriented person. From when I was cashiering to when I was freelancing makeup events, being a billing specialist CSR, dealing with accounts receivables, accounts payables talking to vendors, sales reps etc. I am good at both, dealing with clients and when it comes to hands on work, projects, which I believe helped me learn, grow in many aspects and discipline my self to make the decesion to become my own boss of a cleaning services business.

We are Martinez Cleaning Services. We are a mother and daughter duo who provide cleaning services in the San Diego county. We book one time, weekly, bi-weely & monthly clients. Due to working in my previous jobs, I got to know a lot of wonderful people, and that was my main target to market my services and! that’s how I booked my 1st couple clients, then it slowly went word to mouth and I can tell you we are filling up the calender quickly. Martinez Cleaning Services started operating in February 2022 and hope to grow and book new clients, at least that’s the goal.

I love helping people and the best feeling is when you get that compliment of satisfaction from your clients. We help those who need help, if it makes sense. There is a lot of people who are to busy in the rat race of life and don’t have time to come home and take care of their home and or space and that’s where we come in and solve that extra problem or at times dreadful situation of cleaning up.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

You get a lot of advice growing up, at least for me and coming from immigrant parents who’s gaol was to bring me and my sibling to the US for better opportunity, to go to school, go to collage and land a “perfect” job. I think that in general society tends to almost obligate you to have these titles and or job positions and if you don’t you get looked down on or treated differently.

To the point of the question, while you should take some of these “life lessons” to heart, most of these so called “life lessons” can be thrown out the window, you can become successful doing what works for you, what makes you happy and most important not care what others think of you and your way of making a living, at the end of the day whatever it is that you decide to do is what’s sustaining your lifestyle.

The back story of the unlearned lesson, I was raised by a single mother during my teenage years, a mother who cleaned houses for a living, a mother who constantly reminded me to become successful and not end up like her, cleaning houses because people were going to either make fun of me or look down on me. As a teenager and knowing how cruel people can be, I never talked about the line of hard work my mother was doing, I didn’t want to be made fun of. Now, here we are present. I would have never imagined giving this line of work a try because to my mother and to others this wasn’t a “real job” but let me tell you all, this is the most hard, detailed, rewarding and honest job I have ever had. You have to be detailed orineted, organized, follow direction, customer engaged, hands on and professional, everything you need to be in any other “job” Also it’s a job with high demand, we are a luxury service like any other service. Best part, you are your own boss! A little word of advice, do whatever it is you want in life without caring what people think of you.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Following my previous question, the pivot of my career choice is now really, when in early 2022 I decided to quit my accounting assistant 9-5 job to become my own boss providing cleaning services. Being my own boss is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I wish I could have done this earlier in time to be honest. I believe that this whole pandemic situation helped a lot of people to reflect and also loose that fear of wanting to do what ever it is that you want in life. I also learned that it’s not your job to be likable, it’s your job to be yourself. You don’t have to fit in the same crowd, job, hobby etc. in order to be successful. Do as you please, make your money as you please, at the end of the day we are all responsible for our own way of making a living, no one else is going to do it for you.

Contact Info:

• Other: Martinez Cleaning Services 619-548-3372