We were lucky to catch up with Jasmine Barnes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jasmine , thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As an entrepreneur, things changes daily . Especially in the beginning, in your first 1-5 years there’s not much revenue coming in . Everything is typically coming in and going right back out . It’s all a risk. I remember just a few months with my cleaning business , Graces Clean , I lost two contracts back to back . I was devastated. Not only did I lose business but that also meant no work for my employees . I wanted to quit so bad . I knew that was the easy way out . A few weeks later we started receiving callbacks from some previous inquiries. Things have turned around and we now have four contracts here. It’s all about mindset and how bad you want your dream to become reality . Nothing rewarding comes easy .

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?

Hiii : ) I’m Jasmine . I am the almost two year owner of Graces Clean . I have a non-profit mental health organization that is called Shine Through . We are very new and still have a lot to get started with Shine Through but for now you can find us on Instagram @shine_thru. Our goal is to provide resources for those who need them who deal with any type of mental illness. I started this non profit to simply help others as I learned more about my own life issues . Sometimes all you need is someone to listen and give a lil extra help .

Growing Real Accountable Courteous Experience, GRACE is our motto . Following these values our services will provide a timely experience for our clients and a positive atmosphere for our team members . Our goal is to service businesses and our communities to provide a positive safe eco friendly experience for everyone. Our services are open to commercial business, residential homes, and cleanups or clean outs for certain business. Overtime my goal for the business is for it to become a community of team members ,leaders, and ,managers that can provide an experience for a business or a community that is in need of clean space or spaces. We aim to meet all of our clients and customers needs thru our services provided.

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

Don’t take anything personal . It wasn’t any easy lesson but when you go after your dreams sometimes people will think you are crazy . They won’t support you . Most times from my point of view , you’ll lose alot of people when you start new journeys . The biggest thing I learned from this was to keep going . Never stop going after your dreams. Regret is always heavier than success .

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I worked everywhere until I felt I had enough saved up to start investing in myself . Fast food places , flagged jobs , warehouse jobs , lab tech jobs . I went to school in 2021 and got a degree in small business management and entrepreneurship in 2021 from the university of Phoenix . By the time I got to the lab tech job I was starting to save in a 401k . I saved up for about another two years and then I quit my job . I took all the money I had saved up , gt my paperwork and licensing together , bought equipment and began looking for contracts . Things get a lil rocky but I’m thankful that everyday I get to work for myself and help others to get on the same path .

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graces_clean_?igsh=b2N5ampuNGhxemk%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551010193442&mibextid=YMEMSu