Latest / Epic Entrepreneurs / How A Husband And Wife Built A High-Standard Cleaning Company In North Carolina with Sydney Allen Lapanne, Red Wolf Cleaning Services

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How A Husband And Wife Built A High-Standard Cleaning Company In North Carolina with Sydney Allen Lapanne, Red Wolf Cleaning Services · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome everyone to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I am Cliff McCray with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Today I'm excited to be joined by Sydney Le Pen with Red Wolf Cleaning Services.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Sydney, how are you doing today?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited to have you.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I am doing awesome.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, we're definitely excited to have you on.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go ahead and jump right into things.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, who are you?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Who is Sydney LePen and what is Red Wolf Cleaning Services?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Who is Sydney Le Pen?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's so funny.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, when you sometimes run a business, especially when you're not trying to be the face of it, it can sometimes become less about you and more just about like the business becomes your identity.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's so funny.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So who is Sydney Le Pen?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I originally am from South Florida and I kind of have like a long background in fine dining and hospitality and things like that.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then when COVID hit, I moved up to North Carolina and I kind of got into cleaning.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So Red Wolf is a husband and wife run cleaning business.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: We pride ourselves on luxury-level cleaning.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we like to think of ourselves as like the fine dining of cleaning.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And basically we service commercial, residential.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, almost anybody, honestly, if you have an office space, like I said, if you have a house, you know, a salon or a dentist office, anything like that, or post-construction, if you're remodeling your house or if you, you know, a lot of contractors that, of course, in the area, all the new work going up, uh, we do that as well.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But our main thing also is consistency.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So going back to, like I said a minute ago about, you know, fine dining, where we find that the biggest thing that we can offer in keeping a high standard is consistency with our services.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So making sure that every 30 to 45 days we're doing audits behind our cleaners to ensure that that consistency is still there.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, having SOPs and checklists that they can follow as well after every clean, taking photos that are, you know, sent to the clients afterwards as well to again ensure that there's that standard.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we really just try to do everything that we can to, you know, it's not like we really do anything different than your average cleaning company.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: We just like to think of ourselves more as a consistency company.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love it.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: So Sydney, real talk.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's, you know, let's get right into it.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what's something about running a business that people think is amazing, but is actually a complete BS?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's funny because I think it's like kind of your time.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, first and foremost, like a lot of the times I think when people, you know, your employees maybe think like, oh, she, you know, he, she, whoever is just at home or, you know, they're out there doing the work while the, you know, the boss is just, let's say, sitting on the high throne for lack of a better word.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, don't get me wrong, in one way, which is a pro, you do get your time, you know, back in certain ways.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe on a Wednesday, you have the opportunity to go to the grocery store when it's not super busy.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, this is definitely not a regular nine to five.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: You get call-outs at eight o'clock at night, you get call outs at six o'clock in the morning, you have to, you know, every day is not what you thought it was going to be before.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: But that's also for me just a pro as well.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because when I was younger, I always wanted to be like a jack of all traits.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, like, even though again, at times it is difficult that the day changes, it's also a positive to where like my my tasks, my roles, my again, even my everyday is always changing.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I really enjoy that as well.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, okay.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say was the exact moment where you realized, you know, this can either really work or it could completely blow up on my face?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still there.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm being completely honest with you, I don't know if I mean, I guess once you kind of hit a certain point, like hiring has been good because of course, like, you know, I've got the hands to where like worst comes to worst, which did happen during Helene when like we had a few employees, but unfortunately our unit flooded and we lost some supplies.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course, with clients, you know, in the area and things like that, some left, some stayed.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then with structural and home damage, you know, it was nice to wear, even though when you take on more work when you have the employees, unf it sounds bad.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have to scale back, obviously, and go back to like just me and my husband, then you know, there's there's that, right?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, like kind of looking forward and you're like, blows up in my face.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's really just a matter of like at some point you kind of just be like, I have to just you just you just keep going.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: There isn't like you have those days.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I heard of the best one time about quitting, right?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I heard a mentor say one time that I used to quit for days, then I used to quit for hours, then I used to quit for minutes, and then you know, now quitting is just almost irrelevant.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that that's something that, you know, of course, we all, especially as business owners, I'm sure, have days when you're like, oh my God, like I just I'm done.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've I'm over it.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, you know, you just quit for hopefully less and less time, and then you just like literally get right back to it and just be like, this is like what we're doing.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, like I kind of almost have to work just because I like to not have to, but I mean we all have to, but I like to work in general, you know.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm never one of those people that's like, let me sit on the couch or even on Saturdays, I'm usually cleaning my own house.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of just, yeah, I don't know, just moving forward really.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, we're kind of there right now, like every day almost seems like, and again, that's also the roller coaster of owning a business, realistically.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say is the most stressful moment you've had as a business owner?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like a how am I going to get through this type of moment?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know you talked about that a little bit earlier, but you know, it's funny because I feel like a few years ago when I first started the business, I would have like kind of dived real deep into like how to deal with the stress of, you know, like I said, if someone calls out or, you know, they're sick or whatever it is.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, I tell myself and I tell my staff every day that like as long as you're doing your best, that's kind of all that I can ask from you and myself.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like if if someone like calls out or if there's, you know, a stressful day or whatever it is years and years ago, or a client complains, I would have, I would have freaked out.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It would, I would have been on my mind all day long.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: How would we solve this problem?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And instead, I'm just like, you know, we just have to move forward.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Also because unfortunately, like I say unfortunately, but I was I, you know, I have a health thing that I was diagnosed with back last year that kind of comes and goes, which means that I'm also one of those people on the team where I may wake up one day and technically I'm sick and that throws the day, that throws the team.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And sure, I can stress about it and stress about, you know, the clients and everything like that.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: But realistically, all I can do is my best, which is reschedule, communicate with my team, the clients, and then just try to hopefully do best the next day.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and not to get too personally in it, you know, I hope, hope whatever you're dealing with, you know, gets better.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully it can get better.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it can, but it's it's hard to explain other than the fact that it's like an autoimmune thing.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it kind of just flares up and comes and goes.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So even though in a way it's kind of been a, you know, when we talked about like blowing up in your face, like stressful to manage, like it makes some days a little more difficult because I, like I said, I'm that wrench in my team.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, on a more personal level, especially I'm sure a lot of business owners can resonate where like you put yourself, or at least like I I again I do, put all of it into work.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't necessarily always take the time and the energy for yourself.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in a way, what I'm dealing with is telling me like I need to slow down, I need to take better care of myself and just kind of and honestly, it also allows me the opportunity to enjoy a little bit more of my life, which right now has just been so consumed by work in a good way because I love what I do.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, just being able to take my dogs on a hike or read a book, play some chess.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very old-fashioned, I guess.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like to do all the slow people things, old people things.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: But but yeah, no, it it's um it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but kind of like I said before, like all I can do every day is just do my best and keep doing that.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, do you ever plan on changing that and giving to yourself a little bit more?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we're kind of in that process right now where I am having to realize that if I keep going the way that I'm going, I'm gonna, like, in lack of better words, die really early.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Not like too frankly, but like, you know, I'm just gonna run myself into the ground, you know, aren't we all?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so so yeah, so I'm starting to, you know, make some changes, which is also again where a lot of business owners get, where you're like, okay, I'm the owner and the operator, but you know, when am I like able to step back and be more of a manager instead of involved in day-to-day?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it is a little bit more difficult, but it's also allowing me to kind of like again look at priorities both in the business and in my personal life and kind of figure out, you know, gen just honestly like kind of hone in on things a little bit better.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's been a good thing.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So okay.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have you and and you kind of talked about this a little bit earlier?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I guess I wouldn't ask you this because you have thought about quitting it before, but I guess when was your most recent time you thought about quitting?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if so, what stopped you?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good question.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the thing about it is is like and not to harp too deeply on like, you know, my condition and whatnot, but it does make me really tired.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so because I have been overly tired, and then sometimes being overly tired can just kind of mean that you end up becoming a little more frazzled.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to recognize when I'm tired instead of actually frazzled by something happening within the business.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then kind of like I said before I don't know, I would say, I mean I I mean, maybe a couple weeks ago, but even then, like I don't know, like I said, you that it come it it doesn't really come across the mind often.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if it does, it's just like it's really just about figuring out what the problem is at hand.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I want to quit, there's there's obviously a reason, right?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like I said, a new hire called out.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And and honestly, you know, there are things like a new hire calling out or someone who says they're gonna show up for orientation or putting training in the hands of somebody that maybe I shouldn't have, where even though sometimes those may have negative repercussions in the time, the positive impact is that I'm able to learn from them and then do better moving forward, which is how we have, you know, like hiring 2.0 and 3.0 and 4.0 and all the point ofs that you get.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So realistically, you know, when you ask that question, like I said about quitting, like again, I just go back to you, like, sure, I can have the thought, but like it just doesn't, it doesn't seem like it just doesn't, yeah.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and it doesn't even matter if I was working for somebody else, right?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and again, I, you know, unless we are all gifted with a silver spoon at birth, you know what I mean?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: There aren't many of us that have the option to just say, like, well, I never want to work again.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: So realistically, I think finding the mentality to just say, like, I'm just gonna push through, and I'm maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like we're lacking a lot of that today.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like maybe that's my personal strength.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I I know my parents have great work ethic, and I always feel like I've had good work ethic.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just my thing is just pushing through, like I said, and then doing my best.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now, how long have you been in business?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are moving into year six.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we started in 2021 in January, which was kind of just like beginning of the year, yay! And so technically we are five years in now.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we'll be into year six by next year.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you were at the tail end of COVID there.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So you guys had to wear masks and everything.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we were at the tail end of COVID.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: We did have to do masks and everything like that.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: But then shortly after that, it broke.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then honestly, it was beneficial for us because just as a new business, not having a bunch of clients, we, you know, they were like, Oh, we'll leave and go and all that kind of stuff.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it was nice because we were able to kind of, of course, distance when we are the only ones in the house as well.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that was beneficial.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say is a mistake you made early on that cost you or the business either serious money, time, or reputation?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I if we're being completely upfront, I have one bad review on Google, and that kind of goes back to what I said before.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: That was in the very beginning of our business.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was tired.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: My husband and I were probably doing like three cleans a day at this point, five days, six days a week.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: And and we were really exhausted and just burnt out.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we basically told this client that we couldn't go out there, which realistically actually wasn't a lie because our car had an issue.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: But then she was like, I could come and pick you up and everything like that.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it didn't work out.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it just didn't really work out because it's kind of a whole thing, but still to the point, is like I didn't during our last clean give the quality my best effort.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that in combination with the fact that like we were tired and burnt out and all that, it just ended up leading to bad quality, which ended up leading to a bad review.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think about that a lot.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, it's out there, so it's not going anywhere.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And and but like I said, all I can all I can strive to do is do better.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then that's where again I recognize now, and even with my team, I just had a girl the other day that was like, I'm tired.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I completely understand that this job is physically demanding.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: So when I would prefer that before you get to the day of burnout, that you let me know, hey, I'm feeling kind of burnt out.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Can we maybe lighten the load a little?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I can find some way to cover for you because, you know, like I said, I'd rather that than you know, you get there and the quality slip and then kind of every it ends up hurting everybody.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: It hurts the client, it hurts us, it hurts the cleaner.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there has been that instance, yes.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I appreciate that off honesty and transparency, you know.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and then and this obviously this next question is hypothetical, but let's say if someone shadowed you for a full day or let's say even a full week, what would surprise them the most about how you operate and what you do?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, from what I hear from my team, which they typically shadow us, of course, during the training process, my husband and I primarily as of right now, is that compared to a lot of other cleaning companies, we're really organized, which is funny because I we are very organized, but I still don't feel like we're there.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a perfectionist.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like if it's not a hundred, then it's nothing.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: But no, I mean, I would basically say our team is always like, you know, again, we have our checklists, we have our we have a five-step process for every room and you know, SOPs on, you know, what we train on on each day and make and our audits.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: So in a way, we are really organized.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I would probably say in another way, which I myself am coming to realize, and I'm sure many business owners at some point realize this, is that I'm doing a lot of, like I said before, kind of like putting out fires and like running the small things in the business instead of being able to actually have the time to do the big things.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want to create training videos and then also be able to put more of our training into a digital platform called school.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that way our team can kind of go there and reference documents and videos and things like that for secondary training purposes, so that if while they're out on the job, they have a question and hey, how do I make a bed perfectly?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they can refer to these videos first.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, not you know, not being able to have the time for that right now.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say somebody would look at me and say, You're extremely organized, but you could stand to be more efficient with your time.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, no, that's fair, that's fair.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have you finalized the naming of that?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Are you going to call it school?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, school is actually the name of the platform.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: I don't call it that much.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: So school is the name of the platform.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're an awesome platform that like I'm actually in another group with, and it's for business owners in general or people hosting.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I really can't explain it.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like Facebook, but not really.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: But but yeah, either way, like I said, I'm actually just really excited about that part because I feel like I've also seen a lot of like we had past mentors and things like that, where in their cleaning businesses, a lot of the times when you're trying to, you know, a mentor who's like, let me help you grow your business, they're helping you focus on the sales aspect and sure, a little bit about like how to hire and put out like an ad and bring team on and things like that.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: But they're not necessarily doing, you know, obviously saying, like, here, you should make all these training videos.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think to me, I see all these companies that push a lot of marketing, but they don't necessarily push how to train and retain good long-term employees.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, like any good business is it's not necessarily like, you know, if you want to turn and burn employees, that's great.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I can't necessarily say that you might have the best, you know, service out there.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I feel like I see and hear from other larger companies like Molly Mates, Mary Mates, you know, whatever the big companies are, is that they, you know, turn and burn on their people.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so with us, again, that's kind of why I feel like putting more of that, like honestly, most of our best cleaners are those that don't even have any previous cleaning experience because of the fact that it's a perfect canvas to start from blank slate.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're willing to soak up everything that you show them.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, that's where I think that just that's supplemental.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then also the cool thing about school is that it's all the girls can be in it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So if one of the employees had a question about a certain client's house or how to clean a shower glass door or something like that, that maybe wasn't in one of the videos or documents that's provided, then the other people within the community, the other cleaners can also respond to that question again, similar to like a Facebook discussion type thing.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so that way, that hopefully overall is going to be one of those things that helps to remove me and my husband from feeling like we need to be in the field and need to be in this hands-on of the training overall, and we can hopefully pass it along to somebody else.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then this will be like that catching the last 10%, that filter kind of thing, if it makes sense.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, it does.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I gotcha.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go ahead and talk about numbers without getting too specific.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, since you've been in business for almost six years now, what year would you feel or would you say was the turning point when things started to scale and kind of get to where you are today?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's so funny.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it literally happened right at Helene.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, like right at Helene, we were pretty much doing like under$10,000 a month.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: We were, you know, fairly successful, but not where I wanted to be.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm very ambitious.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: So even today we're not where I want to be, but I'll accept it because I'm very happy and grateful.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: But still, we were literally right below 10,000.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And in the month of October, looking ahead at what we had scheduled and booked, we were going to do 15 that month.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really excited.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the following couple months looked really good after that going into Christmas.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then Helene hit at the end of September.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that October did not happen.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, luckily, we still made out well for October and the rest of the year, and the, you know, the business continued on.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And what was funny is actually after that is like I said, when we got better and stronger, and that was just another one of those like we're not gonna quit moments.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And ever since then, we've pretty much since the start of this year, we've been doing about$20,000 a month.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: I know people don't usually like to talk numbers, but I don't mind it.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm rather candid.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been we've been doing 20 a month, and I'm hoping to grow more, you know what I mean?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: But considering that we were at 10 barely last year, you know, part or the year before.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: 24.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're yeah, we're going on two years now.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, September will be two years.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's yeah, it's gone back to the yeah.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just it just, you know, and right now our cap really on you know, revenue is hands, is I just don't have enough hands.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've got more jobs than I have hands for.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: So no, no.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I gotta follow, I gotta ask a follow-up question to that.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: How did that work where most of Asheville didn't have water?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: How did you how did you all clean?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Did you guys just bring water bottles or yeah?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a little bit of so a power, if you didn't have any power, that was non-negotiable because I can't see and I can't vacuum.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And but yes, if you didn't have water, we were basically honest with clients saying that, you know, more than likely we're not gonna be able to flush the toilet, or if you can gather enough water to flush the toilet, I can bring enough for spray bottles for, you know, and people were understanding that this was not going to be any like deep cleans of showers and anything, which luckily most of our clients, it's relatively easy maintenance things.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it was kind of just a matter of figuring out and then making honestly like a list of the clients and being like, okay, who has no power, no water, who has power but no water.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Who has water, but no power.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then as everyone kind of came back, we they just kept us updated.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then, like again, the plus side was is we probably maintained about three fourths, if not more, of our clientele after Helene, which was really awesome.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And even to this day, about 90 to 95% of our clientele is like recurring on a monthly basis.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: So in general, we just have a really strong recurring revenue to where I feel like, you know, even if we lost one or two people, it's not like, you know, we're not quaking in our boost.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: The end of the world.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what would you say actually moves the needle most in your business right now?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: What would be, let me just be honest with you, what would be is if I had more time in like to be in the office, because right now, not having that time isn't moving the needle.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, kind of going back to like what we talked about before is I'm very organized, but like finding, you know, the time efficiency, it's not that I'm not efficient.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: I just get, like I said, bogged down and all these tiny little, you know, putting out fire tasks and oh, add a note to this client's thing, all things that do need to get done.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're not saying, okay, I need to take a two or three hour block, or I need to take a day or something like that to actually do like again, these things that are going to move the needle, then you kind of just end up sitting in the same spot.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: So realistically, I would say that that's where we're at right now.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's, you know, kind of going back to the overall of everything, which is the question I'm asking myself right now, is and and the decision we're making, which is like, okay, I have this health thing where I can't do what I'm doing before.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: I have to now start pushing harder to make that transition and to do the things that are going to move the needle.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I need to better assess my time and where I'm spending it and then and doing a time evaluation and being like, okay, you know, like I said, what are we gonna do to actually go from there?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then, but I don't, you know, we'll get there basically.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like, and like you said, you're very ambitious.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: So you want to be, you know, you want to be at the top.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, obviously, like you said, right?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Being able to step back and do some of that office paperwork stuff, right?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what you're kind of getting at?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like some of the paperwork stuff.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Just like I said, writing down, it's literally just all the small, it's, you know, if if you don't already know this, there are some points when in a business, when you want to pass that thing off to somebody else, obviously, you know, you have to have it written all down.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: If not, which is fine, you're gonna get the how do I do this, how do I do that question.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And from working with my dad when I was young, because he owned his own business, that was actually what he would have me do all the time.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is every time he'd give me a task and help him, I'd have to like, I'd have to refer to him every couple of minutes and ask him all these questions.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually he wouldn't be available or he would start to get irritated with, you know, the abundance of questions.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm kind of like, okay, well, how do I best do my job if, you know, you're not available for me?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's my other thing too, again, eventually knowing that, you know, if I want to grow this business and if I want to open multiple locations, which is, you know, hopefully my goal, is that I have to be able to eventually leave this place and then be able to turn something over to somebody and be like, this is how you do it, you know.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say is one thing you're doing today that give that is giving you an unfair advantage over your competitors, would you say?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of like the organization in combination with I don't know, maybe like honest open communication, being like a good person.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't mean to sound rude when I say this, but I talk to a lot of clients and people in general who feel like just common courtesy some days is just flown out the window.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so exceptional.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think the thing to me is like, you know, when I hear clients who tell me, like, oh, I got a quote and then they they never called me back or they never showed up, or when there was a complaint that needed to be made, and then you know, you never hear from the business owner again, or or even in general to give, you know, a bad attitude after getting feedback from a client, like whatever it is, I just I think that for us coming from that luxury background and all that kind of stuff and that fine dining, I don't know.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: I and and just in general, like who I am as a person, it's almost okay.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: You ever heard that saying where if you set out to like like serve or help others, like in a way like the money will follow, but it's not the intention.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of, I think, my thing here is I'm not saying like the money will follow, but I just again going back to doing my best, like when you say who is Sydney LePay, I'm like, I'm an organized, kind, hardworking person that just is trying to do my best and I'm honest and I'm open in my communication.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think all of those things with my clients, with our cleaners, with my husband, with my family, with whoever.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think all of those things when I bring those values into our business, which is a lot of the values that we have in our business, I think that is where our clients recognize.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: We have so many clients in general who also say, like, I've had cleaners from when I lived in New York, I've had cleaners from when I lived in Florida, you know, and you guys are the best.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I, you know, I just I love hearing that as well.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: And like, that's kind of my overall is just, you know, to serve people, to serve my clients, to give them the best clean, you know, so that they don't have to worry about calling their cleaner afterwards and sending them pictures and, you know, stressing over all the small things that were missed and then constantly missed, or the fact that the cleaner didn't show up after they spent their entire, you know, day, whatever, getting the house ready and things like that, or just didn't even bother to call, like I said, show up and call.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then also at the same time, you know, I heard a somebody a couple weeks ago, another fellow business owner say that finding a good, reliable job around Asheville can be a myth.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so hearing that as well, it just kind of like hurts a little because, you know, it's kind of like it shouldn't be a myth to hopefully find a good, you know, where the the owners are good.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: I just like I said, again, doing my best and bringing my best to every day and everything.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think that if I doing that in our business has gotten us really, really far, farther than I could have imagined.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have you ever had to make a tough call, like, you know, like letting someone go or cutting something off that ended up being the right move long term?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I hate to say this, but unfortunately, most of the time letting someone go ends up being the right term, right call long term.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: I not always, and I know that that sounds wrong, but like I just had to let someone go last week.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: I've had to just I would say at this point we probably and not like a ton of people, I'm not out here like you're fired and you're fired, but we probably let go at least like 10 people at this point.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And each one is different and each one is a learning curve, and you know, it is difficult.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing too, which I heard, I listened to like Layla Hormozy a lot, and I heard her say one time that when we as a business owner make a mistake in the business, like let's say I don't train my employee properly, and ultimately I have to let them go.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that may have just be been because of bad training.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, or even me not setting the right expectation at the time, whatever it was, ultimately I can't or I'm not going to fire myself.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds wrong and bad, but it's true.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Where, like I said before, like I'm not gonna fire myself.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, like again, and and so I guess when you say that, I should go back to when I go back to hiring 1.0, hiring 2.0, hiring 3.0.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because in the very beginning, I was not, I was not the trainer, I was not the boss, I was not the manager that I am now.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: I did have to let people go, which looking back, realizing like if I had been who I am now or known what I know now, which I can't do anything about that now, obviously, then I, you know, maybe I wouldn't have had to let them go because I would have known how to coach them better or how to train them better.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: But that's also why, and it's another thing that Layla Hormozy and a lot of entrepreneurs say as well, is like when you get to that point, which is also why it's not just about working on your business, it's also about working on yourself.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because, like, I read a lot of psychology books and I read a lot of just books in general, spirituality, all these different, like in different areas.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, the goal overall is to help me better understand not just myself, but like other people.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: How can I interact with them?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: How can I help them to interact with each other and things like that?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that, like I said, if I, you know, yeah, I've had to make some tough calls and had to let some people go.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Luckily, I've got better at, you know, knowing how to, like I said, understand when someone needs to be coached or how to coach them.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so we're gonna head into what's called the quick fire round here.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, basically how this works is I'm gonna give you one word and I just want you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear reach forward in regards to running your business, and then give me a sentence or two after that just to kind of expand upon why you chose that word.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so first word is success.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, first word that pops into my head.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know what sucks is like literally the word success is all I can think about now.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like when someone tells me not to think about the thing that, you know, success.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Gratitude.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think a lot of the times when people are successful or what success you do have, you're we don't always like look back and remember the good things.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: We always remember the bad things.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have this jar on my desk now that uh says like accomplishments, and I usually change the label every year.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's accomplishments of 2026.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so every time that we, you know, hit a milestone in the number of employees that we've hired or, you know, a revenue milestone or something like that, I can kind of put that in the jar basically and look back at it and be like, okay, this is it doesn't matter that we didn't make a million dollars this year or something like that, you know, because everybody wants to make, you know, when you're successful, you think big, big bucks.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's about this, it's more about the journey than the destination, I guess, if that makes sense.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it does.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Failure.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: Inevitable is what I have learned.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you might as well just get through it.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: You might as well honestly fail and just do the first iteration and just move forward because you're gonna learn so much faster than if you just thought and researched and all the things that I used to do very early on.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm just like, let's just do it and move forward.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Burnout.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Unproductive.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're burnt out, you're unproductive.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, kind of like I said before, knowing what I know about myself now, you know, learning that burnout is, you know, typed differently for me.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: In general, just whether again it's work or whatever, burnout just makes you so unproductive.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, you can't even live your regular life at the best, let alone give your work it's all.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like if you yeah, just burnout is unproductive.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: Scaling lessons.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Every time you scale to a different point, you learn a different lesson.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's and even then, while you're scaling, you're learning so many lessons.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I personally am a person who like loves to learn.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: I listen to podcasts and read books like all the time.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: I just soak up so much information.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so, again, going back to you know, failure, and that's where I actually tell people all the time when I'm like, don't, you know, don't listen to school when it tells you that failure's bad because failure's good, you know, fail and then fail again, and then what was the word that we were talking about again?
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: Scaling.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, and then while you're scaling, fail a bunch and learn a bunch of lessons and be super grateful along the way.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like it sometimes, even when a lesson sucks, it there's probably a really good reason for it.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Quite honestly, I'm one of those people that likes to think that life happens for you, not to you.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I guess if that makes sense, then that's how I always think about like lessons, each thing that happens or each whatever happens for me to teach me something, not to me.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: If that makes sense.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it does.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Next word is hiring.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Difficult.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's probably not the word I should be using.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should sound more optimistic.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, try to be more optimistic about it.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: But it is difficult.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: And again, like all the other words you've said before with failure and lessons, it just kind of gets wrapped up into that as well.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: Where each time you hire, you, you know, if you fail, you learn.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you succeed, you learn, and then even the people that you succeed with will teach you lessons along the way, and you and them will learn even more together.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's difficult.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: Competition.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's well maybe the word like I don't, I don't I don't want to say squash, right?
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm not here trying to say, like, I'm gonna squash the competition.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: But when I think about like the direction of our business overall, and going back to like what I was saying before, you know, about when you asked, well, not but kind of like talking about like the values of our business and like what I bring into our business and things like that.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I think that we do squash the competition.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's my goal overall is not just to be a cleaning company, but again, a consistency company, a standards company, a company that, you know, the art of cleaning, the art of customer service, just bringing back values and basics and human decency and all that kind of stuff.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think all of that in combination with the fact that we clean is just what's gonna help us squash our competition.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the last word is freedom.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: I say that one's hard because as I think about it, just for myself right now, you know, again, like talking back way further when we were talking about time efficiency and you know, just like burnout in the business and all that, like when you build a business, a lot of the time people, you people and you think like I'm building this for freedom, right?
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm building this for financial freedom, for time freedom, for all of these things.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also where when we talked about moving the needle, you know, if you sometimes are not doing the things in your business that need to move that needle, that freedom can start to feel limited.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it can start to feel like I've put myself in realistically, it's a job that you're gonna be working for the rest of your life.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like I don't intend that I'm not gonna work, but like right now, like I said, unless we start doing things to move the needle, I feel like we're just gonna keep going round and round and round and round in this trap circle of something where I'm never gonna get out of being more than the daily operator.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if I don't expand upon being the daily operator, then I'm limiting my freedom.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know exactly what word at first to associate with that, but that's just kind of but but let me also be clear, that sounds really dark as I say it, where I'm like, I'm limiting my freedom, I'm trapped into my business.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's not, it actually goes back to like what we said before, which is just taking all of that and being like, okay, but I'm only here because of like looking at the things that, like I said, you need to do to move the needle to move forward to ultimately work towards that freedom, and then just to be like, I'm not gonna quit to make it to the end goal, I guess.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I appreciate you getting through that quick fire around here.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: So so you know, let's just say hypothetically, let's say a small business owner is listening to the podcast episode today with you, Sydney.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, let's just say they're having you know a bad week or maybe even a bad start, you know, bad start to 2026.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're already through the through the first quarter and we're almost halfway through the year.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: I can't even believe it.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I just said New Year's.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I just said happy new years yesterday.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: But but yeah, let's let's just say if a small business owner is listening to the podcast episode today with you, and let's say just, you know, they're just not having a great, you know, 2026, they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: What piece of advice would you give to them today?
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first and foremost, again, the best piece of advice that I heard, which was what I said in the beginning about quitting, which is like you're allowed to quit, you know, you're allowed to have the thought, like, I want to quit, I want to give up, whatever.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's just how long are you gonna quit for?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna sit on the couch and pout about it for a week, for an hour, a couple of days, whatever it is.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's like a tough love philosophy, but also, like I said before, it's just like, you know, get up, do your best.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously there may be a maybe you need help from the outside, or if you already like again, like with myself, I kind of know what I need to do to move the needle.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's a matter of like having the time and then finding the way to do that.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it your problem is whatever your problem is, and whatever's making it feel stressful and difficult, it's probably solvable.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a matter of what the solution is and taking the time to maybe figure that out.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I would just I would say that, you know, just like I've like I've been saying the whole time, it's like, just do your best, you know, just do your best every day, you know, to keep moving forward.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: And like, oh my God, there was this movie one time, not to like get off topic, but there was this movie called Hacksaw Ridge with Andrew Garfield, and it was based on a true story.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: And in the movie slash true story, it was a field medic while they were taking enemy fire all night, and he managed in nine hours to save like 75 guys, and he like dragged them off to the edge of this cliff and he'd lower them down and everything like that.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: And every time that he would drag a man over to the edge of the cliff and lower him down, he would pray to God and he would say, Just let me get one more.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just let me get one more.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think again, that's also where, like I said, doing my best, you know, just being like, you know, making it to the next day, I'm I'm actually starting to re-lean into my faith again.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's another one of those things that, you know, like I said, with my health condition, with the business, with whatever goes on, I just have to be like, I do my best.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the rest is in his hands.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's up to faith, you know.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: But also, like I said, how can I just do one more, you know, to the next day, one more, one more hour, one more, whatever it is, you know what I mean?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then the next day will probably be better.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah, okay, okay.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: So what's next for Red Wolf Cleaning Services?
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: What should people be excited about coming up in the near future?
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: Just growing, kind of like I said, we are, you know, got more jobs than we have hands for, which is kind of where we're at right now, just hiring like crazy.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then hopefully the goal, you know, in the long term would be to grow our location here enough to be able to expand either to Charlotte or Raleigh and hopefully both in the future, and then maybe even be able to grow into other service-based businesses and things like that, just because, you know, like I said before, it's not necessarily about like ch-ching, ch-ching, dollar signs, but it's also more about, you know, sir, you know, serving clientele, creating really great jobs for people, uh, you know, a good atmosphere to work in, all of that, just being able to be of service to people.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I just feel like the more expanse that you know Red Wolf has, the more that we're able to do that.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's our goal.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: So where should people send resumes if they're interested?
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: So on our website, uh, you can go to www.redwolfservicesnc.com forward slash join the team.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we have a page there that you can fill out a couple of basic qualifier questions and submit that.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can also text us to our office line, 828-888-9216, and you can just text apply, and then basically we can direct you from there and set you up with an interview with our hiring manager.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're really just kind of looking for definitely people who have this is a reliable vehicle job.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a sitting job either.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely you're working out while you're working, you're staying active.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: So anyone who likes to get a good sweat on, which I do.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: And also anybody who cares about wanting to serve people, help people, and is detail-oriented and has a positive attitude.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just because that's another thing that a lot of our clients, when they come home, they're like, it's really nice to come home at the end of the day to someone who has a positive attitude.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, I can't tell you how many times, you know, we've I've heard that, you know, we've hired somebody and then they come home and you're like, I've had a bad day, you know.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the last thing you want to hear from your cleaner when you come home to your house is that your cleaner is grumpy.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, but yeah, I mean, just uh like I said, good, positive, detail-oriented people, and you can apply right on our website.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: Good, great, great, great.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any social media so we can see what you do?
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can find us on Facebook if you look up Red Wolf Cleaning Services LLC.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we are also on Instagram, but I'll be completely honest with you.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really even, I'm not that great at it.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not that I'm not great at it, but like it's I mark it on Facebook.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: I need to get on Instagram more, but it's definitely one of those things where I don't know, like I said, maybe it's that old person thought where I'm like, I don't like to post on Facebook.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: Facebook is so person or Instagram all that.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, it's so, I don't know.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just not good at it.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just put it that way.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: I should just, I should just stay with I'm not good at it and stop making excuses for myself.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that and TikTok are like the best ways to market these days.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard so many people, you know, like, oh, I started posting on TikTok and our sales increased by whatever percent.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just, yeah, TikTok is everybody's on it.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_01: I guess so.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't get on it, but I know well, I'm gonna be honest with you.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've like, yeah, I've never downloaded TikTok.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: I barely get them on Instagram.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um of the right now, I mean, I would say even via word of mouth and through our presence on Google and things like that, without even really needing to, I don't think I've actually put out a market marketing post on Facebook or Instagram in a few weeks, and we've just been naturally still getting organic referrals, which has been great.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: But again, still to that point, is more jobs than I can handle.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: So a good problem to have.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, Sydney, that's great.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this has been fantastic.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you for coming on again and and thank you for sharing your story and your perspective.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Really, some good knowledgeable information that you gave on this episode today, and really appreciate you coming on.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was a great conversation.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it, Cliff.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.