Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 167-Clean Con & Above All Naturals

Transcript

CBL EP 167-Clean Con & Above All Naturals · Cleaning Business Life

1:09
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, it's Shannon Miller with CleanFreaks University.com and I'm here with Jamie Runko from Above All Cleaning.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: In this extra episode, we've got something that's really time sensitive, and we didn't want you to miss the opportunity to get on it while you could.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: And it's CleanCon 2026.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: It's coming up fast, right in the middle of March.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: And we don't want you sleeping on it if conferences are part of your growth season.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: And then Jamie, of course, has a big announcement.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Come on, Jamie.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: It smells like I haven't seen you in a decade.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: There's been so many things that's been going on, just so many fast-moving parts lately.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: And it had it feels very long ago that I haven't even stepped foot back into my office since the last recording, which was for those of you who don't know, because we're both parents, we structure everything around kids' schedules.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: So this year we switched it up a little bit.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: We actually changed how we're filming the schedule.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: It's still the same release dates.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be Wednesdays and Saturdays, but we were batching things in total craziness last year because we had so many big projects.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: So Jamie and I sat down at the end of the year and we pre-mlaid the schedule for structured everything that I honestly feel that if I had not pre-planned everything in December, I would not have accomplished as much as I did in the month of January because these months seem to be going by like lickety split.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not organized and you're not on top of it and following the task, and I'm not saying your whole life has to be all about tasks, but you're not you're gonna miss the boat because the months seem to be speeding by at like 99 miles an hour.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: So we came here today.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: This is an extra episode because we have something that's time sensitive and it's coming right up right around my birthday.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's the clean con.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Let's see if I can find it.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you guys I I got it right here.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh, do you I wanted to pull up the website with Molly?
3:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh our friend.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: Hi, Molly, Molly Moran.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: Molly, if you're listening, hey, yes, um, we will link this at the bottom, right?
3:40
SPEAKER_01: For Clean Con.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: They've created uh, I believe there's five people.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: I I know Five Door Media is part of it, which is not a bit a cleaning business owner, but he has a lot of great insights.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Clean con Molly Moran created a space, and as you guys grow, there's going to be a some moments whenever things like this come up, and you've grown, and now you're ready to start stepping into events like this.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: It's uh we didn't honestly, because it came up so fast that we didn't honestly have time to chase Molly down or any of the other stuff.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: So Jamie and I thought we would talk about this potential avenue as far as going to your first conference of the year.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Traditionally, ISSA was it, and even then it was commercial-based, janitorial base.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: And then about 2016-2017, ISSA said, Oh my god, the house cleaning industry is relevant.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: We should do something.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: But then they gave us our own little section inside of the ISSA, which has grown every year, and they kind of switched some things around and rewritten some rewrote some manuals.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: But this event is specifically for house cleaning owners.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: It seems to be the and there's gonna there's a huge keynote speaker, which is one of my favorite speakers, Jamie.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: I know it's one of yours.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: I we don't want you to miss the opportunity.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: I believe it's being held.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Is it Indiana?
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I believe it's in Chicago.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: But no, the other thing maybe Indianapolis.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: Is it Indianapolis?
5:22
SPEAKER_01: Let me looking.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking right here.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: It is, it doesn't Indianapolis at the Conrad.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be in uh March.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Price tickets are in sale.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: They went on sale for January 1st.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: Let me see here.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: What day is it?
5:51
SPEAKER_00: I believe it's in March around my birthday.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say here on their website that I can see, but I believe I want to say it's March 16th, 17th, and 18th, or March.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: Right, right around St.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: Patrick's Day.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: Right.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: Um and they did kind of try to make it for well, maybe they didn't.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, you know.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh, here it is.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: It's uh in a weird spot on their website.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: Um CleanCon 2026 is March 16th, 17th, and 18th.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Starts on Monday night at 6.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: There's welcome and orientation on Tuesday.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: It looks like Mike Malkovich is the keynote speaker on the very first day.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: There's a function.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: We all know Mike Malkovich, or at least you guys should be listening, or or at least an audio book, if not doing the workbook of Profit First.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: He is the writer of that.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: So many businesses implement that into their business.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: I know that we have somewhat of an SOP on the Profit First module.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Now, do I adhere to it?
7:02
SPEAKER_01: No, but I did talk to the bank yesterday about doing my profit first account elsewhere with a different bank.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: So it looks like it's a pretty it's a three-day event.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: There's a full day on Tuesday, a part day on Monday at 6 p.m.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: There's an open reception that's usually cocktails and meet and greeting, and then it's a full day on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, it wraps up around 1 p.m.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: So I we wanted to talk about clean con and we don't want you to miss the opportunity to go.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: There's you can press attend and buy your tickets.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: I believe they're 500 bucks.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you get a discount at the hotel.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: And let's be honest, ladies and gentlemen, when you go to conferences and conventions, the juicy bits are in the hallway, as I was explaining the other day.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're you're there with your peers, but where the juicy bits happen is out in the hallways when you're meeting and greeting other cleaning business owners.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's right, it's about who's in the room, right?
8:04
SPEAKER_01: That's who's in the room.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: All that knowledge, all that knowledge is in one room, and they're all doing the same thing that we are doing, right?
8:14
SPEAKER_00: They're cleaning business owners, house cleaning business owners, not just nonetheless owners, yes, house cleaning business owners, yeah, and it looks like it's gonna be designed on ownership, systems, and leadership, and then it's not gonna be about cleaning techniques.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking to learn how to mop the floor faster, that's an ISSA.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: I still think that there should be a cleaner Olympics where we can make the bed super fast.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: I know they're that's or mob who can mop the floor the fastest and get the same results.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: I've seen that those are great, those are fun to watch.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've ever seen them, but you're like, whoo!
8:53
unknown: Wow.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: And um, the fact that events like this still exist tell us the house cleaning industry is no longer being treated as a side hustle, that we're actually growing as an industry as a whole.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: And I I know there's a lot of numbers being thrown around about flat rate hourly, what you should do, what you should not do.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: These are just guidelines.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: You have to do what's true in your heart and what works for you in that moment.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: If being solo and not having helpers works for you and gets you through the day, and you're able to do drop off and pickup, by all means, please absolutely don't change it for us because we're like, you can make all this money, do what's best for you in this time in this place and your family.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: That's because I'm gonna tell you, your family kind of got like whenever you're building something like this, I hear it all the time from my husband.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Right, it takes a lot, it takes a time, effort, it's like giving birth to a baby.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: This is your baby, right?
9:48
SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, why timing matters for owner, right?
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And conferences don't work the same for everyone.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Not everybody likes to go to a conference and you're forced to integrate into mingling and jingling about whatever it is.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: Not everyone's comfortable talking about themselves, not everyone's comfortable meeting face to face.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: We it's easier to be a keyboard warrior than it is to establish relationships with other human beings.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: So timing matters more than ticket price.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: So you have to decide whether this will fit into your schedule or not.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: I believe I am not, oh, and let's say with this caveat, Jamie and I are not attending the clean con.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: There's just no way to pull it off.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: Not to say that, but because this isn't the this is just the first one we wanted to introduce about uh st you know, starting to attend events for you guys.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: Next year it might be in the because there's so many different events.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: This is just one of many.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: I know there's some in Nashville more geared towards the commercial side of things, but my son, Shannon's kids, he's at the my son is at the age where it's uh okay, can I am I able to go do this?
11:08
SPEAKER_01: So there's a little bit more planning involved if you have children.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we thought we would talk about how this is a great opportunity for you, should you choose to go, because there is the ISSA, which typically happens in Vegas, that's usually in November.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: There is the conference that happened in Tennessee, and I'm trying to remember the name of it off my top of my my head.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: Is it Hugo or Hugh?
11:33
SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Ricky.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: Terrible that we're even we're guessing, right?
11:37
SPEAKER_00: And then there's then there's the you know, the other the other really large conference that I don't believe is going to be held in person anymore.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: That's more of a cult than anything else, but we we won't go into all the little details.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you don't need to know the T on that one.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, and then there's Liz Trotter's in-person event, right?
12:24
SPEAKER_01: At the mansion.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of you guys.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: If you're in this industry, I'm sure that your algorithm on you know should be popping up.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: I feel like, you know, we really wanted to get this clean con out to you guys.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited for it.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: I am if I'm not attending, I've been reached out to to have a personal invitation from the creator of of this conference.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: And I thought we mean Shannon could do a solid, even though I'm not attending, come up with some sort of announcement for it.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Right.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: So you don't want to miss the opportunity again.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: It's March 16th, 17th, and 18th.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: It's in Indianapolis at a really nice and fancy hotel, and it's your opportunity to mingle with other cleaning business owners in the industry, and which tells us that we've made it.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And I'm pretty proud to be there.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty proud to be there with you guys.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: And it's called Clean Con.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: Let me get it right so I can not bumble through it.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: It is called, of course, it's not here on my computer.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Let me find it really fast.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Cleancon with Molly.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: And it's called mycleancon.com.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: It's the number one event for residential cleaning business owners.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: And it's just not another conference, it's actually a movement.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: So I'm thinking that this, if this is successful, there'll be another one next year.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: And maybe with a little more notice, I might be able to travel a little bit with some preparation.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: So it's three transformative days.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: The brightest minds in the residential industry come together to share secrets, build relationships, and push push our industry forward.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: That is verbatim from the actual website.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: And then there's a short video with Molly here, and you get to spend three whole days in Indianapolis.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: In Indianapolis.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: New Mexico.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: Let that sink in.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: So to say that you can't get that or these rates, da-da-da-da-da.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what it means.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And then just in case, we just didn't want you to miss it.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Maybe next year we can be a little more straightforward and get one of the people who were running it to come on the show and we can talk about how the first one went and what they anticipate for the second one.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: That's a great idea.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: But the next big announcement that we have, and I I I am, I can tell you.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: I thought my lips trembled.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know if you guys have noticed.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: We've kind of mentioned a blip of it in a couple of episodes back, but Miss Jamie, there's a whole lead-in to how this kind of evolved.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of there was a little bit of a disruption in the cleaning industry over the summer about some free cleanings.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's just put it that with just a blanket statement.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: And because of that situation and a couple of other situations, it kind of led up to Jamie having this epiphany.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm gonna let her tell the story because I really don't know.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm making an assumption.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: No, to her to start her own product because it was just such a controversial issue on who was gonna buy what, when you were gonna buy what, how often you're gonna buy what, and who's doing what?
16:12
SPEAKER_00: And it's like friends, you know, when you have elementary kids and they come upset, well, Susan was really mean to me, and you're like friends aren't property.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, neither are customers, customers are not property either, per se.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: And so Jamie invented this product, is now going through the trademark process and is actually getting ready to launch here in the next couple days.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: So, Jamie, this is my paperwork.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: This is my paperwork that and if you guys were to see, oh, you can't.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I put a lot into this.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: So, what I have what what Shannon's talking about is I have created a product, uh cleaning product, a cleaning product product, it's for us, you guys.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: So it is a cleaning product, it is writing on the coattails of above all cleaning services.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I put a lot of money and hard work into this, a lot of testing, tried and true, and people's uh in my own home.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: And then I was like, oh, uh, you know, it just was like, wow, this is working.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: And then we we went into a couple of clients' homes.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: I asked for feedback, and they are absolutely in love with the the the light scent and the the the way it cleans.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: So, above all naturals, we just bumped up our website to do e-commerce, so that's all getting fixed up behind the scenes, and I wanted to do it legit legit before I just hammered away at everybody, like, uh, you know, I wanted the my starting of my SDS of getting it trademarked.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: So not only am I running a whole company with employees and making sure all that's going on, I am literally behind the scenes doing distilled water in small little batches, and it's happening.
18:21
SPEAKER_01: I have I'm having labels made, I'm having the website created.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: I I cannot, if you'd have told me a year and a half ago if I that I would be here where I'm at right now, I would be like, Yeah, that would be a dream come true, wouldn't it?
18:39
SPEAKER_01: But it's an all a true, all natural product.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: We're working on another product that's going to down the road.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: So there's products being made.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: These SDS sheets are not cheap.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: You gotta send it off, get it tested.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: What do you use?
19:03
SPEAKER_01: You have to have your formula down, and you know, I have been thrown into this because I felt like we needed some other options that are true, again, true all natural cleaning products, and and that actually worked from a actual cleaner, a professional cleaner.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like I really, you know, you guys are watching this live as it goes on.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to announce when I don't know when we're doing a soft launch.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: I know Sarah, my virtual assistant, is working.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: All she has to do is click a button.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: She goes, How many should I put in there?
19:52
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I don't know.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: You know, we already got my accountant, the bookkeeper, everybody is in this already.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh on so they're they're pushing me forward to keep it going.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: And then now Shannon's like, Yeah, let's talk about it.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Right, and so here we are.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: If you want to try out her product, she's gonna do a limited run the first time just to kind of work out the kinks and the in the in the cogs in the wheel.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I value, yes, and I value everybody's feedback, right?
20:22
SPEAKER_01: That's what makes us successful is feedback, you know.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: So this is gonna be the same web address as above all cleaning, you'll just have a link on your site says above all naturals.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Is that what it we're looking at here?
20:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, eventually I'm going to do a page.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: I know that I know Sarah, because she runs also my social media, like anything behind the scenes that I can't keep up, she runs my social media for me.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: There's some times whenever I jump in there, but she's already got it in the queue to have some some sort of something.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: I don't sign off on, I trust her wholeheartedly.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: Sarah, if you ever listen, I don't know if you're listening.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Sarah is a good VA if you guys are ever looking.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you guys are interested, she is phenomenal and reasonably priced, and I'm so thankful for her.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, she's helped, she's helped in that aspect of it.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: I got all the legalities of it going.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: She tried to do labeling.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: We're working on labels.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: I I got that today that I have.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a price point that you guys have come up with yet?
21:43
SPEAKER_01: I believe it was one second.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: I believe it was 2022.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: We're starting off with the 16 ounces.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Concentrated, right?
21:56
SPEAKER_01: No, right.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: This is the ready to use.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: This will be ready to use.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: I am making a concentrate for the future.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: But right now, this is just going to be ready to use.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: I cannot remember what the price point is.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: It's all new.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: It's all new to us.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: So I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that that's going to be going live here soon, sometime this week.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't think they've squared down an actual release date, but there is going to be a soft launch.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: And we did want to come out and tell you guys about it because we don't want you to miss the opportunity to buy product off Jamie and her website.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's going to be awesome.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to see if it actually makes it into the grocery stores or not.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm super excited.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: And I cannot wait.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: Because I get to be on the back end because like Jamie and I talk all the time.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: So I would love, you know, in my vision, and you guys can hold me accountable, you know, throw, you know, throw tomatoes at me.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh at that's what pushes me.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: So eventually I would love to be able to sponsor this podcast with above all naturals.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Like that, that is my dream right now.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: And we'll see how that works.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, as always, we appreciate you guys taking the time to listen in.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: And if you have any questions, we'll leave the links for CleanCon.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: We'll leave the link for Jamie's product in the show notes.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: As always, we appreciate you.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoy the podcast, please recommend this to another cleaning business owner.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: We love, love, love you guys.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk to you soon.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Take care.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Bye.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: If you're even considering conference this year, go check out CleanCon 2026 and read through the details, dates, location, and schedule, schedule.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: And ask yourself: does this fit my season?
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Does this fit my bandwidth?
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Because timing matters more than ticket price.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to support Jamie and be part of her early run, check out the show notes for the link to Above All Naturals.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: She's doing a limited soft launch.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: So if you want in early, don't wait.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: As always, if this episode helped you, do us a favor, send it to one cleaning business owner who needs to hear it.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: We love you guys, we appreciate you, and we'll talk to you soon.