Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephannie Addo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Stephannie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

In order to be successful, you have to first define what success looks like to your true authentic self, not what it looks like on social media but what does it mean to you. Once you figure that part out write it down and create a plan to go after your goals. You have to understand that success takes sacrifice, humility, resilience and tenacity. Everything will not go the way you want it to go, but if you have these 4 characteristics you will be able to overcome the challenges and still move forward to your goals.

Stephannie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am what many people would call a ‘serial entrepreneur.’ Not only do I strive to succeed at achieving in my own business and life goals, but I am also on a mission to inspire and council other entrepreneurs to pursue their own dreams by overcoming the fears that may be holding them back.

ACJ Luxury Maintenance is a facility maintenance company that provides light construction, janitorial, painting and flooring services to the federal government, local municipalities and private companies. I got into this industry because I was inspired by other women in this field that was doing a phenomenal job in a male dominated industry. As a veteran of the United States Army, I took advantage of the programs offered to veteran entrepreneurs and learned more about how to sell to the federal government.

ACJ are the initials of my children, this is a family-owned business, my children and spouse actually work in the business, whether it is cleaning or administration task. My children love that their names are involved in the business, and they know that this business was made for the continuous legacy of the family.

I solidified the name of this business in March of 2020 and filed for the LLC a couple of days before everything in NYC shut down due to the pandemic. 2 weeks later a friend of mine recommended me to someone that was looking for a janitorial company to perform on a contract and provide housekeeping janitorial services to 3 veteran hospitals in New York City. My company went from 2 employees to 40 in a matter of 3 days due to the extreme need of workers to service the hospital. I am most proud of this moment because in a time of need my company was able to service the hospital and help in a huge way during the pandemic. I am also proud to say that while many people were losing their jobs my company was able to keep people employed at a great wage, so our employees were able to provide for their families.

What sets our company apart is that we genuinely care about the wellbeing of our clients and our employees. We take great pride in our work, and we have great dedication to our employees. We want our employees to grow along with our company. We understand that there is no business without our employees and our clients.

I also am the founder of a nonprofit called Champs for Autism; this is in honor of my son that was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 18 months. Champs for Autism offers recreational and education activities for individuals and families of individuals on the spectrum, we have impacted over 400 families since throughout the past couple of years.

In my spare time I like to volunteer at my church, and travel with my family. Family time is always a top priority for me because time is not promised to anyone, and I want to always create moments and memories that will last for a lifetime!

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

I started out in the daycare industry. I had a residential daycare and commercial afterschool program for approximately 7 years. This business actually led to me getting citations from congressman and receiving an honorary doctorate for the impact I made on the community. Although these things were great, I realized that the daycare had major cashflow issues and I was working 60-80 hours a week in the business which was taking away from my initial plan of spending time with my family.

Through going to conferences and networking with other women in business I learned about government contracting and decided to pivot into this direction. I realized that janitorial was the best entry point because it was minimal in startup time, the profit margin was a little bit higher than the daycare industry and it was contracted so I have a set income for a period of time.

This was better for my lifestyle as I can hire employees and truly take myself out of the high paid self-employed role and become a true business owner.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The top book that has and will always be a significant resource for me is the bible. It is a part of my faith, and I am a true believer that your business cannot grow if you are not mentally and spiritually fed. You have to grow within yourself before you can impact others.

My other top books are ” The Millionaire Mindset” and “Principles”. The “Millionaire Mindset” really changed my life, it helped me to implement the power of vision and meditation. it talked about how your mindset truly has an impact on whether you will reach a million in your business or not.

Principles is a great book because it goes in depth on mindset and how to effectively manage a team. It also talks about the foundation needed to build a multi-million-dollar business. Without these 2 books I am sure my business would not have made it over the million-dollar mark in revenue.

Other resources are:
Institue for Military and Veteran family -they are a great resource for veterans interested in entrepreneurship or executive jobs.

Goldman Sachs 10kSB foundation- They are great for learning how to grow your business and implementing a strategy to build a good team that can handle the new business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ACJLuxuryMaintenance.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephannieaddo/

Image Credits
Stephannie Addo Owner ACJ Luxury Maintenance LLC