Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Stark.
Laura, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Maid Brigade is an international cleaning service founded in 1978 in Atlanta, GA. Currently, there are more than 400 locations across the US and Canada. Each location is individually owned and operated. Our particular location is a family owned and operated business that has been serving NW Houston, Cypress and Tomball since 1999. The owners (my parents) originally hail from the Midwest with Jim from Iowa and Susie from South Dakota. We have also lived in St. Louis, Los Angeles and Chicago. Houston has been our home for more than 25 years, 19 of which we have been in business. My parents became franchisees out of a desire to own control over their future. Jim’s corporate employment brought us to Houston and we wanted to stay here and not continue to move at the whim of an employer. Jim’s background in selling franchises and working with franchisees to attain and sustain profitability was the driver in investigating owning our own franchise. They hired me to run the business 7 years ago in an effort to grow our clientele. A large part of my time is spent cultivating relationships with other organizations in our area to give back to the community we serve. We currently provide pro-bono cleanings to individuals as part of our partnership with organizations such as Cleaning for a Reason, Operation Finally Home & Habitat for Humanity no name a few.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road. The recession was a difficult time for all service based companies. We felt the impact of layoffs immediately because housecleaning has long been deemed as a luxury and not a necessity so our service and others like it were often one of the first things to go when financial difficulty struck our clients. We of course understood and were fortunate that many of our clients returned when they found other employment.
Nowadays a great portion of our clientele would tell you that our service is a practical luxury. They can count on our trusted brand so deliver consistent, thorough, healthy green cleaning allowing them more time for family, career and personal passions. Most recently we had many clients affected by Hurricane Harvey. With the damage their homes took they had to cancel their service knowing it could be months before repairs were complete. In an effort to alleviate some of the stress we sent all those clients affected a gift certificate to use towards service once their homes were ready for us to return.
Maid Brigade of NW Houston – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Maid Brigade is a residential and small business cleaning company. We are Green Seal Certified and were one of the first cleaning companies to go green. We strive to serve our customers, the communities we live and work in and the Earth. We specialize in green cleaning. Move in/out cleans, post construction cleanings, office cleanings and we also offer Vapur Cleaning. I am most proud of our contributions to the area we live and serve. We partner with Cleaning for a Reason to provide free cleanings to women undergoing cancer treatment. We also provide free cleanings to wounded warriors returning home through our partnership with Operation Finally Home. We provide a free Move In cleaning for homes completed by Habitat for Humanity and our team has also donated their time on a weekend to go help build on site! We do various other things like an annual food drive for CAM Food Pantry in November and toy drive during December for Houston Children’s Charity. We were recognized in 2015 as Small Business of the Year by Lonestar SBDC for our contributions and it meant a great deal to us. I feel what sets us apart from others is our excellent customer service, dedication to quality and stellar employees that are like family. We care about each other and our customers and it shows.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
There are a lot of ways to define success. I feel we are successful because we offer a service that is healthy and consistent to our clients. I also feel we are successful because we do our part to make our community better. That said, we would of course love to continue to grow our client base and increase our bottom line. At the end of the day, the better the company is doing the better our employees are doing and we have the most dedicated staff there is. If anyone deserves it, they do!
Contact Info:
- Address: 9215 Solon Rd.,Ste D4, Houston, TX 77064
- Website: https://www.maidbrigade.com/tx/cypress/
- Phone: 281-469-3939
- Email: lstark@maidbrigade.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaidBrigadeOfNwHouston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/maidbrigade
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/maid-brigade-of-nw-houston-houston
- Other: https://www.maidbrigade.com/blog/
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