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Introduction
Stephanie: Hello, everyone. Welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners Podcast. I am your host, Stephanie from Serene Clean, and I have Miss Sophia Tyler with me. She is the owner and founder of LadyDo in Colorado. And Sophia is incredibly young, incredibly motivated, and I am so excited to have a conversation with you. Thank you for joining me today.
Sophia: Thank you so much. It’s amazing to finally meet you in person. I’ve been listening to your podcast for a long time and I’m so excited to be on.
Stephanie: I’m so grateful to hear that. And I’m just amazed how many young owners that I’ve encountered now. Like, you’re literally 20 years old. And that is insane to me how young you started this. And obviously, we have listeners of all ages, but I would love to hear, like, how did you get inspired to start your cleaning business? I know that you worked for another cleaner. So tell me, walk me through that process.
Sophia: Yes. Okay, I might have messed up. I’m 24, started the business at 20.
Stephanie: You’re 24. Got it. Okay, okay. It’s still impressive. You don’t shush, you shush.
Sophia: No, yeah, so I started with another cleaning company here in Longmont, Colorado, which is where my business is. And I think I was ready to be a business owner, but I wasn’t quite — I didn’t understand what it entailed. But I was doing some interesting business stuff at that time. Looking back, I don’t think any of my employees would be doing this kind of stuff. Like, I was taking the sheets down — how much she’s making, how much I’m making hourly, what clients we have — getting all this information that wasn’t necessary before I even wanted to start a business. And yeah, I noticed she wasn’t paying us what she told us she was gonna pay us. Because we were flat rate, so she promised us $25 an hour, but then she’d give us a huge house and be like, finish it in three hours, and I was way too detailed and took way too long. So I was only making like seventeen an hour, which I didn’t like. She threw me into training. Day one I just showed up, and she wasn’t there — my boss and my coworkers were like, okay, clean the bathroom, and left the room.
Stephanie: There was, like, no direction at all.
Sophia: No direction. We had, like, a small orientation to fill out our forms and then it was just like, you’re in the field, you’re expected to work on time. And I was good at cleaning and I grew really attached to it. But I was putting in so much effort and running the numbers. Obviously, I didn’t understand taxes and all of the things and all of the costs, but I just looked at the numbers, I’m like, I’m working 40 hours a week. If I just get two houses I could work, you know, a fifth of what I’m working now and I could make so much money. So I struck out.
Stephanie: And I think, yeah, being drawn to the data — I think that you start looking at those numbers and it’s like, gosh, especially if you see the operational inefficiencies. So many guests who have started at other cleaning businesses and then went and opened their own have said the same dang thing. You see these people being, like, shockingly successful — meaning, like, having a decent sized business or a decent number of clientele — and they run it so poorly, and you’re like, I could do this better.
Sophia: Oh my gosh, yes, and it was really confusing for me. I’ve been in business for four years and I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned that people actually choose the business they go into, obviously, but I didn’t choose to go into this business. It kind of fell into my lap and I was basing my whole business model off of what she was doing, and she was not running things right. I do think she was savvy and I appreciate her, but oh my gosh, I mean she had so many clients and she could have been making so much money. But it really screwed me up for a while. Yeah.
What Sophia Changed: Onboarding, Boundaries, and Pricing
Stephanie: What kind of things were you doing, taking those experiences of things that you have adjusted since then? Was there certain types of, whether cleaning techniques or estimating or things like that, that perhaps you have adjusted now?
Sophia: Oh my gosh. I have adjusted almost everything, I would say. I mean, I started by charging maybe $30 or $35 dollars an hour and I would text somebody and be like, how many hours do you want me to come by for? That was it. That was the quote. Now my system looks like I call to onboard, and I’m doing — I probably will get rather woo, because I am rather woo, but I get a gut feel for who I’m talking to. Like, if I tell them I don’t do something, are they crossing that boundary? Are they respecting that? How do they react? Are they talking too much in kind of a no-boundary way? There’s just so many things you can filter through the phone. Whereas when I was just starting, if they knew so-and-so and texted me, you’re in. And then I would let them dictate how long I was gonna be there. I was charging $30 an hour for a deep clean and it was embarrassing. I would go into a house saying, yeah, I’ll be there for three hours, I’ll do your whole house, and it would take me eight because I had no idea how to quote. Like, what was I able to do this at the other job? It was just a nightmare.
I’m trying to think about other things. So I’ve had to raise my initial clients by so much, which has been such a learning experience. Really hard to have those conversations, especially when right now I’m trying to charge 55 an hour. It’s so funny because it should be nothing, but I’m still reaching for that fifty-five and it’s still a little bit of an emotional stretch. So right now I’m trying to charge fifty to fifty-five for their recurring and then I try to do $65 for deep clean. But imagine those people who started off at $30 an hour going up to $50 — like, bigger than your bridges, like you always say. It’s scary.
Stephanie: Yeah, it’s literally like I’m hearing myself speak to me, because that’s — I mean, same prices. I’m talking literally the same prices. I started at 30 and almost all of the clients who started with me at 30 are no longer with me, because it’s that comparison. And so it’s like, for anybody listening who’s thinking of starting, whatever price you were thinking of — I mean, don’t be afraid to do introductory rates, get people in the door, but make it very clear this is a discounted price because you are a new, you know, whatever. We don’t want to come in too low.
Sophia: Yeah. Or throw a $20 on it is what I was gonna say. Just see. Fuck around and find out. You’re gonna have to put this swear advisory on this one. My dad said to me, a little bit too late into my business, but he was like, just double what you charge and you’ll lose half the clients. I mean, maybe you’ll lose more than that, but then you work half the time.
Stephanie: And make the same amount of money. Exactly. Yeah.
Sophia: And you would be surprised. Don’t spend out of somebody else’s wallet. You don’t know how much people can afford. Don’t get into your own head about it. This is the 3D and we’re playing a game. So mess around with it. You’re not gonna die at the end of the day if you lose somebody or if you get rejected. I was on a phone call the other day, I told her the price and she just hung up. I was like, she was so rude. And I was like, great. And then the next day I call somebody and they’re like, that’s so reasonable. So you never know.
Stephanie: Yep. 100 percent. And I think that, you know, I’ve iterated this so many times, because of how we see money — what we think is affordable has no bearing on what potential customers think and feel. And what is affordable to one person is outrageous to another. So we just have to go off of, like, what are the trends, what are people going for, and really our sales ability too. Especially in Colorado, I know $50, $65+ an hour, you can get that — people are getting that no problem. So then it’s like, okay, adjusting sales methods, things like that, not necessarily the pricing.
Sophia: Yeah, that has been a difficult one for me. My sister’s going into a sales course, so that’s gonna be really helpful to be around that, and I’m attracting that information into my life, which is awesome. But it’s hard to not feel like you’re manipulating somebody, or, like, how do you have a genuine conversation and also say that number without being scared? And some people don’t care, and sometimes you can really undersell yourself if you’re not being mindful. You can kind of be like, I feel like this person is not gonna like the amount that I say, I should put less on it — and then just try saying the full amount, see how they react. But it’s scary to be, like, alive, rejected, you know.
The Practice of Confidence in Sales
Stephanie: It is scary. And it is so funny, because I tell you guys, just, you know, rip the band-aid off, say it, say it with your whole gut kind of thing. It’s so funny because I was up in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago and I was sitting at a desk in the office, and, you know, we have people walk in sometimes, and a guy walks in and he wants pricing on a moving clean. And it was so funny because I was fumbling, I was stammering, and then I had to say the number, and the number was $1,700. And I was so bashful and afraid to say the number. And he booked. He was like, okay, cool, when can you come? And it was such a reminder for me also to give you guys grace of, like, this isn’t easy. It takes practice. It just takes a lot of gumption to be able to say it with your whole chest of, yep, it’ll be $1,700, we have these dates available, cash or card kind of thing, right? Like, that needs to be how confident it is. And I was reminded how much of a practice that confidence is, because I was not prepared for that at all. And I’m like, shit, this is harder than I remembered.
Sophia: Oh my gosh, everything though is like — you go in and it’s just like a thousand lessons. It feels like every week you’re having to learn a new skill. I’m basically addicted to it at this point, but I don’t think anybody could have ever warned me. I never knew what I was getting into, you know.
The Thousand Skills of a Business Owner
Stephanie: Yeah. Well, speaking of skills, because I think that when you look at being a business owner, it is truly about a thousand skills combined. Even the concept of leadership — that’s 50 things together make a good leader, right? It’s not just, you’re either a leader or you’re not. You’re good at these 50 things. So I would love to hear, what do you feel naturally your skill set was going into the business, and what has developed now over time? So take me back to the beginning. Who was Sophia?
Sophia: Totally. Yeah. I was really not in a good financial position. I mean, I don’t need to delve into those years, but my teenage years were hard. Like, worst decade of my life, 10–20. It was just awful. And I was just struggling to get by, struggling to pay rent. I was fortunate I lived at a house I was renting from one of my best friend’s moms, who’s actually now a client. So, you know, if I wasn’t late on rent, she was gonna be okay with that. I have been so fortunate to have community in my life. And yeah, we can get into the networking that really helps bring me up.
But I had some math going. I knew I wanted to make money. I still want to make a lot of money. And I just was struggling to kind of get by. My emotional state wasn’t great. My mindset wasn’t great. I wasn’t around a lot of good people. I had my family. I think we’ve all come up — me and some of my friends have really learned and grown over the past five years. So it’s just, energetically, not in a good place. Financially, not in a good place. Mentally, I did not have the tool belt that I have now to deal with all of these different things that come up in life. So I was just trying to get by, trying to make money, and I thought this could be something.
And yeah, my dad’s ex-girlfriend knew an esthetician, so I started working for my dad’s ex-girlfriend, just cleaning cheap on my own, struck out, you know. Quit my old job, and then the esthetician actually just started referring me like crazy. It was all word of mouth.
Stephanie: Ooh, and, you know, she’s got some clients with money.
Sophia: Oh yeah. Her name’s Alana. Shout out. She is amazing, and she actually invites me later to my BNI group that I joined. So she is literally responsible for 80% of my business. And then I started kind of word of mouth, but I think there were a couple years there where I was just coasting along. I was maybe working three or four houses a week. It’s enough to get by. I’m not sure if I wanna commit and do this for the rest of my life — was the mentality. And I was just working on myself, working on my mindset. I have a lot of stuff to deal with that I needed to work through, but reconstruct who I wanna be, what I want to do in my head and in my life, and kind of be the creator of your reality.
Mindset, Manifestation, and Working on Yourself
Sophia: And so I started listening to podcasts. And I got really into manifestation, babe. If you’ve heard of her, she’s Katherine Zenkina, love her. I bought her course, which was me committing, and then I got more and more into this spiritual mindset world, like Tony Robbins, Jay Shetty. I have listened to so many audiobooks and podcasts. That’s all I do all day every day. Still cleaning, listen to you, listen to a couple other cleaning podcasts. And yeah, I listened to the whole ZenMaid — what was the, they put on the speaker thing.
Stephanie: The Maid Summit? Yeah, the Maid Summit, yeah.
Sophia: Yeah, there’s so much good information there. My mindset started to really change, and I kind of got a few opportunities to market my business. Somebody just called me and they wanted me to be on their DoorDash flyer for restaurants. And I started to think about it, and then Alana asked me to join BNI, and I was like, I could see liking this. So I joined BNI and it was another, like, oh my god, what do I do? It’s kind of been an active decision and it also hasn’t been an active decision. But it just feels like the path I’m supposed to be on. I don’t know if I wanna run a house cleaning business until I’m eighty, but something about it has grown with me, the business. It’s this living, breathing entity and it has taught me so much. So I kind of grew with it.
And then I would say the last bigger event in my life that has amplified my business is I went to — I don’t know if you know Joe Dispenza either, obsessed. Love him. If you’re interested in that, You Are the Placebo is a really interesting book. I think some people think it’s too woo, so it’s up to you guys to kind of decide how you feel about that. But it’s basically, you know, we can cause sickness in our bodies through our negativity. Like if we are incredibly stressed out, yeah.
Stephanie: Yeah, thoughts. Absolutely. 100 percent.
Sophia: So he thinks that you can heal yourself with your thoughts. And it’s very scientific for those people who aren’t religious, which I really appreciate — the not having to be part of a religious section. And I went to one of his retreats, which was pretty crazy. And, I mean, if you are on top of it, if you’re learning constantly, if you’re taking this time, if you’re still cleaning and you are listening to these interesting books and these life-changing things and meditating and working on your mindset and noticing how you react to things, you can constantly grow and evolve, and your business will react to that.
Stephanie: I resonate with so much of what you just said, and I can a 100 percent attest, your business, if you let it, will change you as a person and will transform you, completely transform you. That’s certainly what’s happened to me. I’m not the same person whatsoever. Obviously life does that too, but the business has been the vessel for my own personal transformation. Because in order for you to run a successful business and have a life that you want, you have to change. You have to grow. You have to confront what’s wrong with you, your triggers, your weaknesses, all of these things, because the business will. They’ll shove them right in your face. You can’t avoid it.
Whatever mindsets — even, you know, we talk about all of these traits that are very prevalent in owners, whether that be people pleasing, combativeness, unprofessionalism, reactivity I would say is a big one too. You have to fix that if you’re gonna be a great leader and a great owner. And I can also a 100 percent relate to just exposing yourself to new ideas and new content. When I was cleaning, that’s exactly what I was doing. I was listening to books and podcasts and just exposing myself to new concepts and ideas. And it may not — not everything may resonate, but it’s those things that really stick, and that’s what you start building upon, is that structure.
And I also want to give you props as well. You feel like you were stagnant for a time, you were just getting by, but you were working on so many other things. And it’s really funny that you said that, because, like, therapy last week — I was in therapy with my therapist, obviously, how profound of me — and I was like, I just feel like there’s no tangible change. And she, like, slapped me through the screen, if you will. And she was like, Stephanie. She’s like, all right, let’s go back to last year this time. And she pulls up my notes and she’s like, this, this, this, this. And she was like, well, how more tangible could you want? And I think it really highlights, one, we’re our own worst critic, and we are blind to how much progress that we have made. So I just wanna commend you for working on yourself. And, you know, as you said, you weren’t surrounded by necessarily the best influences potentially, and there’s so many things that we do have control of, even despite maybe not the best life circumstances, right? And what we consume is one of them. The things that we put in our mind is absolutely 100 percent in our control.
Letting Go, Forgiveness, and Positive Energy
Sophia: Yeah, I mean, I think — this is kind of an intense thing to say, but I was listening to a podcast and the guy was talking about how he has a client whose husband died 20 years ago and she can’t get over it. And he said to her, like, that was 20 years ago. And I think it’s really hard to, obviously, mourn your loved ones and do what feels right for you in your body, but at some point you need to take life by the reins and decide, like, I am not going to be a victim of my past. Yes, people may have hurt me. Yes, these things may have happened, but it’s my life and I’m not gonna live every single day giving that person energy by thinking about them and not letting it go and forgiving. Which is obviously so hard, and there’s different circumstances and time frames for that. But the more energy you can put into yourself, into the people you love, the better you affect everybody. And I honestly think that level of positivity and high energy has such a positive effect. It is kind of on the individual to grow, to be better, to be more powerful. And then everybody sees it and your employees are affected by that. When you speak with love and positivity and kindness, other people do too, and you have a duty to work on yourself.
Stephanie: 100 percent. Yeah, it really infiltrates everybody around you. It also makes it very clear when somebody isn’t a good culture fit. I also think, you know, what you just said about giving energy to people and to situations, and that we get to choose how much of that we do allow — it makes me think of so many instances where my managers and I are hemming and hawing over a staff member or a client. We literally stop, we take a step back and say, look how much energy we’re giving to this. They need to go. They need to go. Like, what they are benefiting us is not enough to make this amount of energy and effort and negativity worth it. And when you make that decision — and I bet every single person listening right now has somebody either on the employee or the client side. I have one in my mind right now who I’m just like, they gotta go.
Sophia: Yeah, same. No, I have somebody. It’s also like, I might walk the walk, but then I say something that’s slightly embarrassing on this podcast, I’m gonna think about it for two days. I have a conversation at my networking group and I didn’t like the way it felt. We’re not perfect, and be gentle on yourself, but having the tools to, like you said, have that perspective and zoom out. Two weeks ago I didn’t care, or two weeks ago there was a situation that we got over, and a year ago, look how old Stephanie would have handled that. I can be so much better and I’ve gone past all this, and I’m capable of getting past this. I don’t need to let this person affect my life, and you draw in better people. I think I just hired my second employee and they’re both just the sweetest, kindest ladies. I’m waiting for maybe something to happen, because I’ve heard something’s gonna happen, but I don’t want to bring that energy in. It’s a daily practice. Nobody’s perfect. Give yourself grace at it, in all shapes and sizes and times in your life.
Detachment, Losing Staff, and the Cookie Jar
Stephanie: I totally agree. And I think with people especially — when we do have a really good staff member, it’s almost like you want to be detached in a very healthy way. Because I’ve lost some staff members who — old Stephanie, it would have been like, no. And I remember when I started out, it’d be like, somebody would leave who was so good, they were full time, the client, they were perfect, right? They were perfect in all ways, other than that they were leaving for whatever reason — they got another job, whatever the situation is. And I remember how destroyed I would be, like, how are we gonna survive? But it’s like, well, we’ve survived every single person ever leaving. So what you’re really referencing is just getting wins under your belt and then being able — it’s the whole concept of the cookie jar from David Goggins. If you’ve read Can’t Hurt Me, that’s a great one, would definitely recommend, if you need a good kick in the ass.
Sophia: Ooh.
Stephanie: His whole thing is callusing your mind, being mentally tough and being able to handle things. And so one of his concepts is, you need to have a mental cookie jar, and the cookies are your accomplishments, right? The cookies are the hard times that you’ve made it through. And that’s why we put ourselves through difficult situations. That’s why we put ourselves through challenges, so that we are becoming more mentally tough. So when another bad thing comes up, it’s like, you know what? I’ve made it through all of these days before. And that really bolsters me. And honestly, the verbiage, the things that we say really matter. Anytime we have kind of a shit show situation, it’s like, okay, yeah, but we made it through XYZ. We’re able to list them off. And even as a new owner, it doesn’t have to be in your business, right? Looking at your life, Sophia, you’ve made it through things. So apply that universally to the rest of your life, to your business, of, like, okay, I’ve never dealt with this before, however, I’ve made it through every other situation I’ve ever been in. So therefore, we’re probably gonna make it through this too. And that’s kind of how my mind works in order for me to push through difficult times.
Emotional Regulation and “Parts Work”
Sophia: Yeah, like I was saying earlier, having that tool belt is so helpful. And I think sometimes, especially if you have anxiety or, like, I can be prone to some melancholy, I’ll go through phases. I’m still kinda young too. Sometimes with age you slowly learn, this is just life, you know.
Stephanie: You’re super — you’re a baby, hon.
Sophia: I do have times in the past where I’ve been down and come back up, like you’re saying. And it can be so hard to get that perspective when you’re in those episodes of anxiety. When you run payroll wrong, when you are freaking out over money you owe your accountant, when you bump somebody’s car and you owe them $3,400 — that happened to me. But it’s like, that happened and I was like, I cried, you know, and then I thought, this would ruin me three years ago, like actually ruin me. I would be freaking out. And now, like, I can just pay that now. Having that perspective and being able to have these tools like meditation, like grounding, paying attention to where you’re at emotionally, loving yourself and treating yourself like your child and just being there for yourself, and then having patience. Like, okay, I’m freaking out, I’m having a bad day, this doesn’t mean that the worst case scenario is true. I can be the observer of all these things.
I don’t know if you’ve mentioned parts work, but I have all these cute little versions of myself that are having a lot of feelings, probably came up as a kid, and I can love them and I can see them and I can acknowledge them. But I, as the observer of my emotions and my reality, and at my core, most happiest, playful self, I don’t need to get into this thing with them. I can take a step back and change things. And when you do that, business is just — oh my gosh, my little Sophia is freaking out. Somebody just rejected me on my phone call. Nobody’s gonna take this business seriously. And I’m like, it’s okay, we’re freaking out, let’s work with this and let’s meditate, let’s go and walk. Just having patience and love for yourself.
Stephanie: Yeah, and literally having mechanisms to regulate. Because what we’re discussing right now is regulation and mindfulness. And, listener, you may be thinking, what does this got to do with business? It has everything to do with business, because as the owner, you are going to be dysregulated constantly. You are gonna feel a lot of pressure, you are going to be triggered, you are gonna have so many situations thrown at yourself. And there’s this great Alex Hormozi video where he talks about emotional regulation. And the faster we can get back to neutral, to our neutral ground, the better you’re going to be able to solve anything and deal with your life. Because I can think of a thousand examples where something would happen and it would throw me off all week. The week would be ruined, the month would be ruined, right? And so that has now gotten to the point — I talk about it, whether that be my stress management or whatever, especially in the business — where it’s like, okay, something happens, and it’ll be like, that sucks, and then, now what are we gonna do? My ability to come back down to neutral is much faster. And I think that this is absolutely a skill that everybody should be working on constantly if they are a business owner specifically. Because if you’re getting knocked around emotionally, if little Stephanie or little Sophia is running the show — which I think a lot of us don’t realize how much that is the case. Even what you just said about somebody said no to your price. All of a sudden, the little one inside of you feels rejected and it’s taken you right back. And it feels bigger than what it actually is as a fact, right? Like, they didn’t take your bid, they didn’t take your pricing for house cleaning. That’s what it is, but we are feeling it so intensely. And then we extrapolate that and say, the next one’s not — you know, we make all these stories up in our head.
Sophia: Yes. Well, sometimes you’ll just base that off of everything. Which, I don’t know if he’s like your competitor, but Mike Campion, I think, is pretty cool. And he has a mindset-specific coach who’s really cool. I think her name’s, like, Lindsay, I wanna say, and it is everything to reference your mentality. Even, like, they talk about, what is the end goal here? It can’t just be to make money. Say you had a million dollars in your bank account, but you couldn’t touch it, it’s just not liquid. What do you want? You want to have fun, you wanna go out, but going out and eating dinner alone — no, you want connection with the people that you love. Get down to the base of things. Wherever you go, there you are.
“Wherever You Go, There You Are” — Money and Identity
Sophia: I’ve noticed, I always think of this glamorous luxury life, and I think that that can be really enjoyable, but if I was actually placed in a five million dollar house and I have the yacht and I have the weekly Pilates and my nails are done and I can shop at some Prada store, I’m still going to go to the Pilates studio and have anxiety at the front desk about talking to the person, and nervous about the way that I look in yoga pants. I’m trying to think of a masculine version — you drive the sports car, you’re still scared of the stop sign. You’re still anxious about this. You are still you, even if you have money. And I think a lot of people, their goal is just to have money, and that’s the business side, let’s not get into the mindset. And then they get there and they don’t stop to look around and notice, oh my gosh, I did this because that’s it, that was their goal. And they’re not happy and they’re not fulfilled. Not to say that money can’t bring amazing things, because it can, but you will still be you when you make that money, and you have to like the person that you are at the end of the day and work on yourself every step of the way, because the actual goal isn’t that money, you know.
Stephanie: I agree. It’s like, I think it’s about becoming the kind of person who not only can make that kind of money, but can handle that kind of money, right? And who can manage the money, who can be a good steward of said money. And I think it’s such a useful exercise for everybody to do when you think about goal setting for your business — of, like, how much money do you wanna make? And I did this very early on, probably about a year into business, where I said, okay, what does my ideal life look like? Literally list it out. What do I want? And then start tying that to actual numbers. How much does it cost me to get that lifestyle, to get X, Y, Z, this kind of house, this blah, blah, blah, whatever it is that I want to do, right? And how much does it cost? And, okay, great, now start working backwards. What does the business have to grow to in order to support that? And it’s a useful thing, because otherwise I think we can just continue chasing and chasing and chasing without any end goal. And obviously the goalpost is always going to move and evolve, but it’s like, what would I be content with? And then anything on top of that is just extra bonus and extra mechanisms to do wonderful things with it, right? And so I really like your mindset around money, I think it’s really useful. And I think that it is important to be thinking about this for anybody listening — of, like, doing these thought exercises of, one, what is my relationship with money? And if I had a million dollars tomorrow, how would I act? What things about myself would I need to develop to be able to handle it, or to feel proud of the person that I am? Not just ’cause I have a million dollars, right?
Sophia: Yeah, totally. Walk the walk, figure out, like, actual numbers, what you wanna do. And I think as you have financial experiences, you do really cool things with money, you realize — I was on the top of a boat the other day, it was a small boat, and I was like, I could love a yacht. But, gosh, I totally lost my train of thought.
Stephanie: It’s okay. Hey, boats are distracting. I was on a boat this weekend too. Boats, man.
Sophia: Dude, they’re so fun. But yeah, it’s fun to imagine who you’d become, because I think a lot of — spend time around really wealthy people, they’re not bagging on poor people, they’re not trying to be — there is some really interesting stuff when you get into the money mindset of it all. Energetically, you are going to miss opportunities when you’re scared of being rich. And a lot of people say they want to be rich, but they think rich people are disrespectful. They think rich people are selfish. I was thinking the other day, my mom has started to make a lot of money, and she wanted to buy herself something big and fabulous for like 10k. And I was like, okay, but why wouldn’t you give like 5,000 of that to charity and then keep the other five for yourself? And then I just thought, I don’t go out to dinner and spend $100 dollars and think, I should have given $50 of that to charity. It’s so interesting. I feel like rich people sometimes owe things, and I’m like, whoa, is that me blocking myself from becoming rich because I feel like I’ll owe people things? There’s all sorts of things you can do around money to realize, I might be blocking myself from being rich because I don’t respect rich people and I put them in this box. So there’s a lot of work you can do.
Stephanie: Yeah, this concept is something that the book Thou Shall Prosper really unlocked for me — of how to think about money. And we’re talking about something a lot of people experience, that they, consciously or subconsciously, they don’t like rich people. They think they’re bad. We see rich people as bad. And so therefore, as we become more financially successful, it’s kind of a moral question, that are we bad because we are making money? And I’ve definitely had to grapple with that, that guilt, especially as I do get, you know, even from people close to me, right? And getting kind of that messaging, even from my own parents, of, you’re doing well — like, resentment, just nasty snide comments, that type of stuff. And so don’t be surprised if you guys start coming up and people don’t like that, right? It’s the whole, like — did you know that if crabs are in a bucket and one crab starts to get out, the other crabs will yank him down? That’s what you have to think of. So don’t be a fucking crab to anybody else. And if somebody’s being a crab to you, then disregard, okay? Rich people don’t do that. They don’t drag people down.
Sophia: No, totally. Don’t be a hater, come on, support other people. Notice, like, I’m jealous of this or I’m jealous of that. And I actually think it means, if you’re in that energy and you’re close to it, you are drawing that in. Like, Stephanie, you make so much more than I do, but here we are talking, you know? It is so fun. I’m like, okay, I’m around this energy. And I don’t know if you’ve heard of your reticular activating system, but when you look for money and opportunities, you start to see it. Just like if you’re thinking about buying a white car, you see the white car over and over again. You see money, you see opportunities, you see how people are trying to help you out when you love yourself and you talk to yourself that way. You open your eyes and it literally changes your reality, because you aren’t looking for how expensive things are, how scared I am of this, people rejecting me, insecurity — you’re looking for amazing things.
Seeing Opportunity Everywhere
Stephanie: Yes, and I can totally attest to that. Because when I’m back home in Wisconsin and I’m driving through any of the towns that we service, you know what I’m noticing as I’m looking at the businesses? I’m like, they need cleaning, they need cleaning. We go by a nice house, they need cleaning. That’s literally how my brain is working as I’m moving through any space — is there an opportunity here? And not in a negative way, but if you’re a business owner, being able to sell and market yourself is one of the highest skills that you need to be able to do. So if your mind is not constantly seeking out and looking for those opportunities, you’re going to struggle. So it’s like, okay, next time you guys drive through your town, look at it through fresh eyes. If you do service commercial, for example, look at all of the businesses. We don’t notice them because it’s just our background, it’s our backdrop, right? So look at it through that fresh lens of, who would need cleaning? And then all of a sudden it feels like it’s bountiful opportunities, right? Same with houses, same with networking opportunities.
Like, we’ll talk about BNI, I’d love to hear more about that and the opportunities that have arisen. But you put yourself in a room where the opportunities are going to be a lot easier to come across and to grab hold of because of networking. So it may feel like we’re talking woo-woo, but we’re literally saying, put yourself in a headspace and a physical space where the opportunities will arise, come to you, and say, okay, now it’s your turn to take it from there, right? Just because they’re there, you have to reach out and grab it. You have to be bold, you have to introduce yourself, talk about your business. I made the joke on yesterday’s recording — it’s not live yet, but it’s like, Stephanie, when she was at a strip club, sold cleaning services to the strip club manager, and we started cleaning there. Okay, so that’s when I say I literally everywhere I go see opportunity. Everywhere.
Sophia: No, I love that. That’s awesome. You’ve gotta be looking out for opportunities. And, yeah, it can be woo, but you can also go look up some science if you’re not into the woo. The reticular activating system is a part of the brain. We are human beings and we can condition our bodies to do certain things. So you can look for opportunities if you teach yourself to do that, and you can be more confident, which will make you talk to more people, which gives you more opportunities. I don’t think about my competition. I’ve called them up, seen their rates, but I don’t need to think about that, because every single house, every single block has a house, and there’s so many buildings in just this city alone. There are so many opportunities. I don’t need to think, this market’s so tapped out. And I get in my head sometimes, like, what if I’m too late? It feels like this is something that everybody knows, but if you’re listening to this podcast, if you listen to podcasts, you have a leg up, and you’ll start to see that when you change your mindset. Look for those opportunities.
Stephanie: 100 percent. And really having that abundance mindset, not having a scarcity mindset. But it also doesn’t mean you just sit there and wait for things to happen to you. You have to go out and create those opportunities. And in any town — if I can do this in the very rural area that I am in, it can be done anywhere, regardless of how much competition there is. It can absolutely be done. I believe Steven Gonzalez’s episode that I did with him and his wife, it was incredible, and he talks statistically about how many households are going to be adding cleaning services every single year. And it’s like, we can’t keep up. The amount of people who want house cleaning and who are going to be paying for it — guys, there is so much business out there. We just have to get out in front of it, right? And so that’s where the marketing, the networking comes into play.
Getting Clients Through BNI
Stephanie: So talk to me about BNI. What does that look like? What kind of accounts have you gotten from that?
Sophia: Yeah, so I only do residential. I have one small commercial account that I do just for a friend.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm, so, yeah, account houses, yeah.
Sophia: By the way, guys, I do residential. We’re only forty-five minutes in. And it was such a trip. I started off, whatever, maybe I was 22 when I started BNI. People have a lot to say in networking, for sure, which can be hard to filter out — what’s right, what’s wrong. Everybody’s telling me to go 1099, not W-2.
Stephanie: Yeah, independent contractor. Yep.
Sophia: I don’t feel like that’s right. I’m gonna trust myself. The research I’ve done says W-2. And, oh my gosh, the boundary setting in the first year was such a challenge. Like, I’m not going to do post-construction. I decided I don’t do move-outs, one-time cleaning, because the lifetime value is so much more worthwhile with recurring. And, no, I’m not gonna do it for cheap. I’m not gonna listen to you if somebody doesn’t have a good business structure. I’m pretty nitty gritty about it. I am scared of the IRS, so we’re doing everything by the book. And I think sometimes you get people who are not even in business trying to give you business advice and trying to do some slimy stuff, and this is just, everywhere you go as a young business owner, somebody has something to say. So you have to stay strong, you have to do your research and trust your judgment.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm. By the books. Hell yeah.
Sophia: And then I noticed, as I started to draw more boundaries — which is always, like, no, I’m saying no to everything everybody’s asking me. Like, I’m not the best cleaner for this group, because I have to say no to so much stuff. And then it’s like, oh my gosh, just get over yourself. Let’s do this thing. They chose you. Worst case, they kick you out of the group or whatever. And when you start changing that, respecting your boundaries, down the line, opportunities came in, and I’ve formed amazing connections at my BNI group. And I know what advice feels right for me and what advice to not take. And sometimes I might give advice that’s not good for them, and they shouldn’t take that advice. Everybody has established boundaries, and you set up these amazing friendships. I’ve been fortunate to have family members who are business people, but if you don’t have anybody — having that community, it’s the most helpful thing ever, to have other business owners to talk to about business, to get interesting ideas. And it has built my — I think my business tripled since BNI. The talking in front of people has been huge. You have to go every week and talk in front of 20 people. We had a visitor day, I think we had like 50 people on top of our 30. It was insane. And then you go to your group interview after doing all these one-on-one dates — they’re called one-to-ones — and you’re like, I can do this, I can do a one-on-one interview. It just, everything accumulates. And then they talk about Chamber of Commerce, and then you go to that, and then you go to a networking event and you meet one person and they say your name, and you’re getting that word of mouth out, you’re flexing those muscles and stretching them. Networking is everything in business.
Skill Building, Nerves, and Just Doing the Thing
Stephanie: It’s so true. And again, we’re coming back to skill building, we’re coming back to being able to speak, to explain yourself, to sell yourself. And I would say that being able to communicate effectively is such an important skill as an owner. Because if you cannot confidently say what you do, who you are, elevator pitch yourself, you’re gonna really struggle. And, you know, we talked about before we started recording, you had a group interview today, and it went well, and just that confidence to be able to, in a nerve-wracking situation for a lot of people, be able to perform under pressure. And so I love that BNI does that — that it does the weekly little presentations, it does the one-on-one. So it’s building that skill. So anybody who has not joined or attempted to join a BNI, I would recommend it. I think it’s a great idea. I think that Chamber of Commerce — go to all of the events, right? So it’s like, if you’re listening, you’re like, how do I get clients? Oh my gosh, I don’t have any money. Well, you got several levers to pull, right? And money is one of them, time is another, putting that time in. Ideally you’re pulling both, but if you don’t have money, that means you need to put time in and hit the pavement, talk to people, introduce yourself. Because, like you said, look at that esthetician. That one person has gotten you how many clients? I can think of similar in my business, of, like, one person has gotten me so many clients. So you don’t know who that person is. So you just have to expose yourself — not literally, but figuratively expose yourself to many people. And that could be the person. So just more people, more people, and just get comfortable talking to people.
Sophia: Totally, yeah, it’s absolutely so helpful for your business. And, like, this is my first podcast I’ve ever been on, and I’m totally a nervous wreck, but next podcast will be easier. Just like my first group interview, I’m, like, horrified — eight people said they were gonna come, frickin’ two people showed up, which I was like, this is so embarrassing. I brought name tags, this is pointless, I don’t know what to do. And I was like, what if there was only one person? I hadn’t prepared for a one-on-one interview. And then my second one, I was like, okay, I’m getting better at this. This one today, I woke up, I’m like, let’s go! Whereas it was horrifying in the past. So you just have to build those muscles and go and do the thing. Worst case scenario, you crash and burn, but it’s better than not doing anything at all. Take your life by the reins. You gotta get out there and do something. And BNI, I mean, as a cleaner, if you’re doing a good job — first of all, make sure your prices are reasonable before you get in there, establish some boundaries — but BNI is incredible for building business. I clean for, like, a third of the members. I was like, ooh.
Stephanie: That’s amazing. And, well, cleaning for business owners has, I would say, a much larger compounding effect than other folks. Not saying that other folks can’t be wonderful word of mouth, of course, but when you are cleaning for other business owners, they come into contact with all of their customers, their employees, their coworkers. They just have a lot more contacts too, because it’s what they do, right? So you don’t even know how far reaching that word of mouth goes. And in the beginning of a business, if you don’t have a ton of money to pump into marketing and all of that stuff, then networking — it’s more valuable in my opinion than spending a bunch. If you are in a brand new city or you’re just starting out, guys, you don’t need a lot of money to start this business and get some traction, right? Obviously, I went the free cleaning route, but it was the same concept. Networking. I went to my community center, I talked to all of the moms and I was like, let me clean your house, and then tell all your friends about it, right? Same concept, networking. It’s just such a core tenet of having a successful small business. You gotta get out there.
Sophia: Yeah, and there’s so many opportunities. Like, Foster Friendly came to my networking group and they have an app, and I do an exclusive discount with them, and they say their foster families use it like 50 times a year on average. I’m like, even if I got two people from that, that was free. And that’s because I wrote down her name at the networking event. She was a guest and I happened to follow up, and now I’m on the app. You are listening for all these opportunities and meeting these incredible people, just putting in that effort.
Hiring, Employees, and Training
Stephanie: So talk to me about having employees. How has the experience been? Obviously you have two wonderful gals, it sounds like. But anything surprise you? Anything that was kind of like a panic situation? I know — you wrote on your intake form, I wanna know about this little cult house too, before we wrap up.
Sophia: Oh my gosh, okay. Well, as I was entering your thing, I was like, I’ve gotta have a better story than this, because the cult house is not a big story, and I did remember another story kind of different. But, well, yeah, with the having employees thing, it’s gone really well. Georgia is my current cleaning tech, she’s leaving in August for school. But it was really good to practice that, and I’m already changing — it felt like I had so much work to do before, where I got Georgia, and now I have so much work to do before I onboard this next person. You’re like, oh my gosh.
Stephanie: Yeah, it really is levels. It’s like, you don’t know what you don’t know till you get them in. Also, I look really jacked right now, check that out.
Sophia: Woo! All that Pilates knows. Yeah, I just this morning met another person who I was like, you’ve got the job, so we’ll see if she shows and how she does. I mean, it’s been a crazy learning experience. I totally had a funny first day. It’s just embarrassing to train people in. I’m awkward, it’s so awkward. But just do it. You’re so far along, just try the thing. And if you hate the thing, then quit. But just keep moving forward. Yeah, it’s been really fun so far. And certainly once they’re all trained up — which I need to get better at that fast training process — it is really fun. I always tell Georgia, this bathroom looks especially nice, because I didn’t clean it, you know? It’s so nice to not have to freaking do the cleaning.
The Gas Leak Horror Story
Sophia: Okay, horror story-wise. Okay, so I don’t think these guys will listen to the podcast, but I’m not gonna say their names. It wasn’t like their fault. So, before I had ZenMaid, before ZenMaid was texting everybody for me, I text my client. It’s usually her that I talk to, I’m closer to her, she always answers the door. And I’m like, hey, does tomorrow work? She’s like, yeah, but my husband is gonna be there. He’s just gonna be working in his office. Just let yourself in. I’m like, okay, no problem. So I get to the front door and I think —
Stephanie: I know where this is going.
Sophia: I promise you don’t. I open the door and I’m not even joking when I say natural gas, like butane or whatever, hits me. I opened the door and I was like, it smells like I’m in front of the stove. There is a gas leak in this house.
Stephanie: And you think it’s gonna be, like, the guy flashing you or whatever. Oh no!
Sophia: No.
Stephanie: There was gonna be, like, dick out. Like, that’s what I thought you were about to say.
Sophia: No. Just as dangerous. No, no, no. So all of it’s bad. So we — I get to the front door, open the door, I’m like, shit. The dogs run up to me. And I was like, where the hell is he? What the hell is going on? And I’m just frozen because I’m horrified. I’ve seen a video of a house explode. I have a very active imagination. And I’m like, I’m gonna die. I need to get the dogs out of this house. They are just sitting in here breathing it in. And the kitchen was all the way around the corner, and theoretically it’s probably the stove.
Stephanie: Exploding, yeah. No, it’s super dangerous.
Sophia: So I composed myself. I’m like, what do I do? I can’t — I need to go find this guy and open some windows.
Stephanie: Yeah, what if he’s, like, passed out? Yeah.
Sophia: Yeah. But in my mind I’m like, if a match goes off, I’m dead. I was like, okay, I’ve got this. And I go into the house, I bring the dogs, I look at the stove, and one of the burners is just completely on. And it’s just been releasing gas. And this might have been stupid, I don’t know if I believe in parallel universes, so maybe I died in a parallel universe here, but I actually turned it off, which could have ignited the thing.
Stephanie: Yeah. Oh geez. Oh gosh. Yeah.
Sophia: It didn’t, luckily. And so I turned it off, I start opening windows, and I get the dogs out back, and they were stumbling around. Their eyes were red — and I know, it’s hard to know what’s correct in memory, because they did have some medical stuff and I think sometimes their meds made them a little wobbly, but their eyes were red and they were tripping down the stairs. So I went back inside. Well, I stood outside back for a sec, because, again, I’m scared, and I’m looking up, like, what happens to dogs when they’re poisoned? It sounds like they had some poisoning. And I’m like, I gotta find this man. I never knock on his door or interrupt him while he’s in his office, but I go back in, I’m opening windows, and then I go and I knock on his door and he comes out. And I was like, dude — I was like, hey, you need to get out of the house. It smells like gas. And he was like, what? And I was like, can you get out of the house? He’s probably not here with me, he’s been breathing this in. And he comes outside with me, takes a couple of breaths, but he’s kind of confused and goes back inside, starts opening windows a little bit, not the full way. I’m like, what is happening? I’m like, we should call the fire department, because I looked it up at that point — call the fire department. And then he comes back outside, and then he goes back inside just opening the windows fully. So he kind of came to. And, you know, I just cleaned the house.
Stephanie: Holy crap. Yeah, I mean, what a — wow. Yeah.
Sophia: I remembered this when I was remembering the story. I kept opening doors and the new smell would come out. It went upstairs and into the closet and into the bathroom. That house was full of gas. So, yeah, they ended up tipping me a hundred bucks, like, bruh.
Stephanie: Woo! Well, thank God that you did that. You got the dogs out. No, because it’s such a good reminder of, like, when you are training your cleaners — for us, that is one of our little safety things on our checklists, like, check the stove dials, because we’re cleaning them. We are knocking the dials sometimes. So always double check that, because heaven forbid we blow a house up. That would be a bummer. Woo.
Sophia: Yeah, that’s a good idea. Yeah. Oh my god. No. That would be a bad insurance one to go. But that’s like a lifetime of guilt. I think the dog jumped up and accidentally turned it on or something. That must have been it, you know. Yeah, I tell them, call the fire department. Don’t be a hero. It was crazy.
Stephanie: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Whew. That’s crazy. I’m so glad it turned out positively. Oofta. Oofta indeed. Oh my gosh, that gives me chills. Thank God we’re okay.
Sophia: Me too. Yeah. Oof da. I know, in this universe or whatever. So silly.
What’s Next and Where to Find Sophia
Stephanie: Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, on that note, Sophia, we’re coming up on an hour. What does the rest of the year have in store for you?
Sophia: I am hoping to — I’d like to have $100k margin year. That would be incredible. I think getting out of cleaning — I’m still cleaning — that would be a simple but profound goal. Having more time to network. I’d love to go to two Joe Dispenza retreats, because I’m so obsessed. And yeah, just making enough money to support my life while being able to be really, really smart and mindful about having my business run itself. And I think that’s the goal.
Stephanie: You’re gonna nail it, girl. I mean, you’re so young. I started my business at 23. Look at you already. This is incredible. You should be very, very proud of yourself. And I know that we will absolutely be doing a follow-up episode in like six months to a year. I wanna see where you’re at. Maybe after the year end, that would be a great time to see how the year finishes out for you. And I’m just, I’m very proud of you. You should be very proud of yourself.
Sophia: Thank you so much. And I just really appreciate you so much, and I appreciate all of the company that you give me while I clean.
Stephanie: I finally meet people, because people are like, I feel like I know you. And I’m — well, we’re just getting acquainted at my end, but I’m fast friends with them.
Sophia: I know. I know, you’re like, I don’t know you, but thank you.
Stephanie: It’s kind of like free therapy, where I just ramble and rant. So it’s very nice. I feel like I’m just making friends the whole time. So it’s fabulous. Yes, absolutely. Sophia, where can the people find you? Where can we link to down below for them?
Sophia: I would say ladydocleaning.com is my website. You can obviously look — if for some reason you’re in Longmont and you’re cleaning and you don’t want to do this anymore, apply to work with me. If you just want to reach out and talk, also go to my website, and I would love to just talk about business with anybody, really. Yeah.
Stephanie: Awesome. Love to see it. Love to see it, Sophia. Please, everybody, leave her some love down in the comments. This has been amazing. Hit that like, hit that subscribe. Hype this video, that really helps us. Subscribe on Spotify, all of the things, just all the buttons except the dislike. That’s the goal. And Sophia, thank you so much. We’ll see you on the next episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners. Bye.
Sophia: Thank you. Bye.
