Hi and welcome to another episode of Celebrating Small family Businesses.

Today we are celebrating Jessica, Rosario Portis and Alex for us.

And they have together exclusive cleaning services and here in Florida as well.

You guys are over in the center of the state in Castleberry, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for having us.

John, welcome.

Glad to have you.

So how did you guys.

I recall that you are both from New York, is that right?

We are.

What brought you to Florida and how did Exclusive Cleaning services get started?

What brought me to Florida was in 04, just looking for a change.

I was tired of shoveling snow out there and just looking for a state where I could move to and just worry about the sun and getting a suntan.

And Exclusive was started in 2018 after working in the construction.

I, I come from a food service background and when I moved here to Florida, I noticed how the construction was just, it was where to be, just a lot of construction going on.

And got into the ready mix concrete business and after about eight years working 70 plus hours a week, decided that it was time for a change and try to convince Jessica, of course, that it was time for me to make a change.

And easy because we relied on the income and it was a big step having a security there of working for a company and knowing that, you know, the income is pretty much guaranteed as long as you're putting in your, you're trading in hours for money.

Right.

So then 2018, we decided to start Exclusive.

And it's been, it's been a fun ride for sure.

Wonderful.

Yeah.

What's your, your background?

Similar.

So actually Alex and I met here in Florida.

We were.

So I moved to New York.

I mean, I moved from New York in 2015 and Alex and I met in 2016.

And so like he said, Exclusive started in 2018, but I came from the banking industry.

So I spent almost 25 years in the banking industry.

And I worked my way up from teller to customer service to branch manager.

My last role, I was a regional director where I was able to oversee a territory of multiple branch locations and whatnot.

And so when Alex came home one day and was like, I want to start a business.

I knew nothing about the janitorial business, but I knew all about how to start a business.

And so that's kind of like how that started.

Was the, was the banking, your banking career able to kind of bridge that gap and, and give you guys that stability that you needed to make that transition?

Oh, absolutely.

But the, the, the thing with the banking career, it was the.

What do they call it.

The golden handcuffs.

And so, you know, you're, you're climbing the corporate ladder.

You're very committed into the corporate space.

And, you know, every family was important.

They were family friendly, except when it was.

And so we had to make some decisions on, you know, what, what made the most sense at the time.

Alex had already quit his job and he was working in the business full time.

And so I had Alex cheer me on for almost a year to quit.

And so I finally quit in December of 2019.

I see.

Okay.

Yeah, that's, that's a lot of change in a few years.

But you took turns.

Like you weren't like sleepless nights where neither one of us is getting an income.

Some people do that and wow.

I, I don't know how they get the courage to do it, but.

Yeah, yeah.

And what attracted you to the janitorial world?

For me, it was, well, I have family here in Florida.

I have my aunt who's in the janitorial business as well, but she's just.

Her setup is a little different than what we are.

They, they, they're franchisee.

And we were going to go that route, met with a few different franchises in a local area.

And for me, it was just, I felt like each different one that we visited, they had the same idea behind it.

And it was like, yeah, I'll get you the accounts and the business, but you're going to give us 15 to 20% of every account that we give you for administrative cost.

They, they worded as.

And I told Jessica after meeting with them, I said, I think we can go ahead and start this on our own.

And I know it's not going to be easy, but I think we can go into this.

It was a low entry point.

And that was important for us too at the time.

And we just continued going through it.

And I was.

When we first started, we landed our first account in June or May of 2018.

We started the business in March.

In May, we landed our first customer.

It was a three night a week account and I was working it at night after doing my regular work.

And In August of 2018, we landed another customer a little bigger than what this first one was.

And at that point I had to make the decision to either give this business 100% of my time or stay with the company, which I was working.

And that right there was a life changing decision for sure.

Yeah.

Okay, so you did start it as kind of as a side hustle.

Yes, I see.

Okay, well, that's cool because then that way you can get your feet wet.

Let me make those at least those initial mistakes.

Yes.

So it's just.

It's just fun to.

How did you negotiate your first joining together on this business?

You know, because everybody's got their little lane.

So what's your lane?

Well, that's so funny that.

That you asked that, because I think when we first started the business, we were, you know, trying to figure out what this was going to look like.

And I remember the main goal was for Alex to quit that crazy job with so many hours, Right.

It was a great company, but he was just putting in so many hours at work, and.

And so I never really expected to be part of it.

And I remember when we went to file our llc, he was like, if you're.

If you're not on it, I don't want it.

And I was like, oh, man, the pressure.

And so there I did.

You know, I said.

I was like, all right, if you say so.

You know, that's no problem.

So we both went into the business.

You know, he's always been the face of the business.

The sales, the marketing, the field operations.

And so where I stepped in was really to help with the financials, the receivables, the, you know, accounts payable.

And I did.

I did some HR stuff also in the beginning of our business.

But as the team started to grow, I realized that we needed to hire out certain key roles, and one of them was our human resource position.

And so that was one of the first things that we outsourced because it was just way too much for me.

And, you know, it wasn't my expertise.

I helped with whatever I could, but it wasn't my expertise.

And so, you know, where.

Where I.

I always say, if Alex leaves me in my lane, I'm just doing business strategy, planning.

Give me.

Give me an idea, and I'll develop an execution strategy behind it.

And.

And then, you know, and when I let Alex be in his lane, right, It.

It's.

Everything just works perfectly, but it's not always in harmony.

Ah, well, that's true.

So, Alex, what is your top strength in the business?

Is it more sales or more administration or what?

For me, definitely it's sales.

I have a big vision now for the company.

Probably not the same vision I had from day one, but definitely seeing the outcome where we've gotten to, the vision just gets bigger and bigger.

Right?

And Jessica, I tell you, I mean, I have ideas and ideas for, like, days and weeks, and Jessica sometimes has to kind of pull me aside and.

Okay, just relax a little.

Bit.

Right.

We can do this now, and then we can work towards this.

Right.

So I've toned it down a notch, but the vision is still there for sure.

Awesome.

And developing execution strategies.

I think he used that phrase.

Was that something that came out of the banking, Jessica?

Yep.

Yeah.

I did a lot of mergers and acquisitions.

I was in project management.

And even though I was overseeing retail operations, I was involved.

Involved in a lot of different projects because of the strategic and analytical side of me.

And so I had a lot of fun with that, and I enjoy that.

And that's why I coach.

Now I coach small business owners as well, and we coach all about strategy and planning and how to work efficiently.

I'm also certified in high performance leadership.

And so that is part of, you know, why I do the things that I do.

I just, you know, sometimes I can't help it.

You start talking and I start thinking in checklists.

Right.

And so.

And it happens in everything that we do.

We were at church the other day, and as they were talking, I'm like, compartmentalizing.

I'm like, okay, we could do this and we could do that.

Right.

But.

But that's the beauty of working in your strengths, right?

Yes, yes, exactly.

One of the, The.

The.

The hierarchy of principles, strategies, and tactics.

You know that.

I mean, that's kind of in your area.

That's.

That's one of the things that.

That seems to be easily misunderstood or confused.

And.

And so many times, either something that people are marketing or something that, you know, when people want to solve something, they go right to the tactics and not, you know, the underlying foundation of the principles.

And so with your.

Your background and your.

Your strategic thinking, it sounds like you kind of just naturally do that.

Yeah, I can't help myself.

So what do you guys like the best?

What's the best aspect of.

For you of working together?

Family in business.

I think it's the only place that he can boss me around.

Right.

You beat me to it, because that's exactly what I was gonna say.

Just kidding.

For me is knowing that Jessica has my back.

Right?

Like, I know I'm gonna always get a straight answer from her.

She's not going to sugarcoat anything with me.

And for me, it means.

It means a ton.

Right.

Because sometimes we're.

We tend to be in our own minds and not worry about, as business owners, not worry about anyone holding us accountable.

Right.

And that's what Jessica steps in.

And she, you know, I've had to sit down a few times.

Okay.

I have to listen to Her.

Right.

But for having her, it's, it's a big plus, for sure.

Like, I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else.

Jessica, we need to record that clip.

I need to listen to her, and I need to replay that every single time we're in a disagreement.

Blackmail.

We can make that happen.

Yeah, but no, as far as, I mean, I, I, I, I love working with him.

I think, you know, he has a big vision and a big heart.

And I will tell you, you know, I, I spent many years in corporate, and I've seen all types of leaders, right?

The good ones, the bad ones, and the mediocre ones, the ones that just do, right?

And I've never seen anyone give their heart the way Alex does.

And so he really, really, truly cares for the team.

He's always g the doubt and wanting to help them improve and grow.

I love that about him.

I, I, I definitely think that he has a huge heart.

I, we work really well together.

But, but I think part of working together is because we know Arlene, and that was difficult in the beginning.

We actually read the book traction about 2019.

We started the business in 18, and so we read the book traction in 2019.

And when we read that book, it really opened our eyes to what, who is a visionary and who is an integrator, and what is it that they do.

And so when that opened our eyes, we realized that we had certain traits.

So we took the assessment that they offer for free.

It's a rocket fuel assessment.

And when we did that, I was a very high integrator.

And so Alex was both, he was an integrator and visionary.

And, you know, I wasn't having that.

I was like, no, that, you know, what happens is when someone is a visionary and an integrator, they have the big visions, but they do all the things too.

And so they'll delegate something, but if you don't do it quick enough, they do it already.

And so, and so, you know, he had a really hard time delegating certain things.

And when we started to learn the difference between the two, I don't know if you remember the clubhouse days when Clubhouse got really famous around the Pandemic, which was like an audio podcast channel.

Gino Wickman was actually, he's the author of that book Traction.

And Gino Wickman was being interviewed, and I had the opportunity to ask him a question live.

And so I asked him, I said, what do you do when you work with your spouse?

And your spouse is both an integrator and visionary, and I am just an integrator.

I have no vision.

And he said, well, he could only act as an integrator if you're not there.

If you're integrating, he has to allow you to integrate.

So he needs to stay in his lane and you need to stay in your lane.

And so from that point forward, we started to really catch on to some of those things.

And, and you know, he still goes through that now.

Right.

You know, yesterday somebody sent an email and I saw the email too, but I text him right away.

I was like, I'll handle that as soon as I'm done with my call.

And he was like, you sure?

I was about to do it.

No, you're not.

Just, I will take care of it, you know, because he can focus on other things that he's really good at.

I'm not good at the sales, you know, and so that's where he's good.

And so, you know, if I can alleviate a little bit of his workload, even though I know that he can do it, you know, it just, it's a win, win for both of us.

We're working as a team.

Very nice.

Yeah.

So for our listeners, the book Traction by Gino Wickman is, is a part of the entrepreneur operating system or eos that's very popular in the business world for, you know, entrepreneurs.

I can't speak to it, you know, like, I, I'm not trained in that system, but I, I know it's, it's, it's very popular and very effective for certain size businesses or, you know, for people that can, can implement it all.

I don't know that it's, I got the impression that it's, it's not like for the startup phase.

It's more for a, you know, kind of a running business.

But I could be wrong about that.

Yeah, it's a little, it's a little bit of both.

I think there's some fundamentals that you can incorporate in a startup, but it's definitely in a, in an organization that's growing and really gives you the ability to, to see your business as a, as a business and not as a side hustle.

And I think that's one of the things that it did for us.

It really showed us how to take the business from Alex being self employed to building an actual small business.

And so that's where we are now.

Nice.

Nice.

That was just about.

You said you read that in 2019.

That's just about the time Alex, you were quitting your job and going full time, right?

Oh, yeah.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And of course, you know, going into business, we.

I didn't know what to expect, Right.

So I started researching.

I started listening to audio books quite a bit.

And then I would tell Jessica, hey, I just listened to this.

You should look into.

I ended up getting a book.

One of the first books that.

That I purchased was a Profit first.

Mike McCallowitz, right.

Tells you about, you know, profit inside the business.

Because this was all new to me.

Right.

I didn't know where.

Where to.

Where to go.

And that's how we came across eos with traction.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's another favorite author of mine, you know, for.

For business owners, I think that series that.

Mike.

Is it Michaela?

Vic.

Is that how you say it?

Yeah, Mike.

Mike Michalowicz.

Michelowitz.

Michelowicz.

Michelowicz.

Okay.

I haven't been saying it right.

Yeah.

That series of books is powerful stuff.

And it really, you know, he's got like, this ascension model almost from, you know, start to.

To really run it.

And.

And what's the last one in the series?

Clockwork.

Clockwork.

And then I think Gino Wickman wrote the introduction for Clockwork, if I'm not mistaken.

I'm not sure.

Anyway, they're.

They're, you know, in kind of in the same area, and they know each other and support each other, I think.

Very cool.

So I'm happy we were talking about this, so as a resource for other small business owners.

So what's a challenge that you've overcome together in the business?

Working, you know, from the family side of it that.

I mean, you've talked about staying in your own lanes and figuring that out.

But is there another challenge that.

That others could learn from?

There's always challenges.

I think I always say business is like riding a roller coaster.

Right.

You're going uphill, you're getting excited, and all of a sudden the roller coaster drops and, ah, what to expect.

Right.

So there's always challenges.

And I.

We've spoken about this quite a bit.

You'll have certain challenges where you might get a failure from.

Right.

Because we can't adapt to the situation right away.

But I always tell Jessica, in order to be successful, you got to have failures.

It's just they.

They just tie in together, right.

You know, listening to a couple of peers of mine, you know, they.

And I was.

I was the same way.

I mean, when we first started, like, everything had to be perfect in my mind before we started.

But there's no such thing as perfection, right?

You.

You have to Just take that first step and just go with the flow.

You know, I.

I'm a big.

I like to say you learn as you grow, right?

That's a big model for me.

As you.

As you're growing, as you're going, you're just learning.

What we did today, you know, it might not work down the line, right?

And we've gotten to a point in business where you almost plateau, right?

Like, you won't grow anymore because you can't continue doing what you did to scale the business, right?

Because what you did to get you to that point won't.

Won't allow you to get to the next point.

And just being.

Trying to learn.

Learn every day.

You know, for me, being coached, too.

I.

We do.

I have a coach, and I've had sales coaches having mentors, right, that.

That you can reach out to and.

And say, you know, hey, I'm in this situation.

I've known that you've been in this situation.

Can you help me out here?

Right?

So that.

That for sure is a big, big one for me.

And I'm always trying to learn.

Always trying to learn.

So.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

I would say for us, too, it's, you know, it's.

It's how to.

How to continue to prepare their business to scale.

And so we currently have 31 employees on our team.

We have our office here in Castleberry.

We just recently moved our office.

We were in Winter park originally, and so we moved our office in February.

That came with its own set of challenges.

But, you know, every time somebody tells me, well, I don't know how to do that.

I've never done that before, I always joke around and say, well, neither have I, but we're about to figure it out.

And so I think it's really important that we understand that, you know, that we might have some experiences that make our business successful and allow us to grow within our own roles in our companies.

But at the end of the day, I know I've never grown a janitorial company, and Alex has never gotten to a point at this level where we are now in our own company.

I mean, we just came out of a meeting a moment ago with our HR person, and we were talking about, okay, well, who do we report to?

Right?

Who.

Who.

Who do Alex and I report to?

We basically report to each other.

And so what does that look like?

And that accountability?

And so it's a little different, you know, just to be able to.

To.

To hear that from someone else.

Looking from the outside in, it's like oh, wow, that's so interesting.

Like, we really need to hold each other accountable.

And, you know, and just, you know, if you were working for any other company, you'd be reporting to somebody else.

And so who do we report to when we're at the top of the line?

Right.

And so, so the, the answer to that is that we truly report to each other.

And then who is holding the vision of your development?

I mean, not, not just reporting to like on the.

How is it going now?

But you were talking about, you know, the growth that you have to, you have to grow in order for the company to grow.

I think that's, I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's true.

And at some point you get to a point where what you've been doing, your, your current skill level and so forth, something's got to change in order to get to that next level.

And, and so it's.

Right, like, who holds the vision of that?

Who, who like, says, okay, it's time, or, or what?

How.

How do you guys.

Yes.

How do you guys work that?

This is really.

Yeah, well, interesting.

Well, for me it's really Alex.

Alex is the visionary.

He's the one that holds the vision.

I just help him execute it.

You know, he sees things from a different angle that I, I don't tend to see.

I see more detail and more, you know, of a process and how to execute, but he truly sees the vision, you know, So I, I think for me, that that's, that's part of it.

Alex, when you see the vision, when I.

I'm sorry, I gotta.

I interrupt.

You're fine.

When you see that vision, do you also.

Because I'm asking really for myself, because I think we're a very similar position.

I'm more of the executor and the detail person, and Connie's more the, you know, the big picture thinker and the high level.

When you see that vision, do you also see the holes, the gaps?

You know, I mean, do you see the, the edges of the vision or is it just like finished product?

No, he definitely sees some of the holes, but I see bigger holes.

I see the potholes.

Yeah, that's a really question there, though.

Yeah.

Because I'm just.

I don't see anything.

Let's just go with it, right?

We'll.

I'm one that, you know, let's go with it and we'll figure it out when we get there.

Right.

You know, when, when, when you get into like the janitorial space, right.

You get these Bigger accounts that where you're, you're blessed to land.

Right.

Like a typical account.

Let's say you need, you know, five, six people there every night.

Right.

You land it.

My thing is nothing happens without the sale.

So once the sale, you land it, you got it on paper, is a written contract.

Then you start worrying about all the other stuff that needs to go into it.

Right.

Staffing, equip, all those things.

So I tend to, let's just go, when we get there, we'll figure it out.

But we do have SOPs for that stuff and that's something that we've learned along the way.

Right.

So we know what it's like.

Like let's say we land a medical account, we know already the procedures, what, what needs to take place before we get started.

Right.

So it was definitely a learning curve.

Yep.

Okay.

Is there a training, did you have to develop training processes for your employees?

Yes, we do.

We do a few types of different trainings.

We do video training in house and we also do on site training.

We have someone that's pretty skilled in what we do.

We assign them an account.

We'll let them know, hey, you have such person that's starting tonight.

They're expected to be on site at 6:00 and we start from day one.

Even if they, they come with experience, we like to train them to what our standards are as a company.

Right.

We use like color coded microfiber.

We use different chemicals that are specific for let's say a hospital setting.

Right.

Hospital grade disinfectants.

So all of that stuff ties into a training program.

Nice.

So it's kind of a, almost a shadowing where, where you've got somebody that's with a new employee.

Once they're on the job, they've working side by side where they're, you know, eyes on.

Correct.

Correct.

Yeah.

Well, we have, it's a six step training process.

So you know, they do a little bit.

Some of the parts are watch me and I'll show you.

And then the other part is like, okay, now we could do it together, we can help each other.

And then kind of like the third phase is like, okay, now you do it and I'm watching what you're doing and I'll support you.

And so, so it is a six step process and it's, it's pretty robust.

We developed it a couple years ago and we're constantly tweaking, you know, when, when we hire on new people.

So our training specialist is very detailed when it comes to showing them the Ropes, you know, of how we do things here, because it's great to have people with experience.

But, you know, just because you worked at Burger King doesn't mean that you can flip the same burger at five guys.

Right.

And so it's the same thing with the janitorial industry.

So we try to tailor it to what we do here differently.

Yeah.

Like you said, the experience is going to be different.

Experience from every company is going to be different.

And if you let everybody just work according to their experience, you're going to have very inconsistent results across your company, aren't you?

Incorrect.

Funny that you, you said you've got to, you know, you get the job and then you, then you figure it out.

I one time hired a head of growth.

I was expecting growth.

I was expecting that this was going to happen.

And so I went, I said, well, I'm going to staff up ahead.

And wow, what a mistake.

Right, right.

Because it didn't.

What.

What was expected just didn't happen.

And so then I had to let somebody go, you know, and that wasn't fun.

Right.

And that's, that's one thing that we, we refuse to do.

Like, I, I've had a couple of my peers that, well, Alex, you got to have extra staff on hand.

Yes.

We have what we call floaters.

Right.

So floaters are if someone calls out, hey, this is your shift tonight, so they're open to doing something different.

But one of my, one of our peers in a mastermind group that we're part of, they were all about making sure you have the staff on hand already.

Okay, I understand that, but where the, the financials, where you pulling them from?

Because nobody's going to work for free.

Right.

You got to pay these guys to be out there, to be a part of your team, and if you don't land the account, then what happens?

Right.

So, yeah, we use indeed for our hiring, and it's been.

We've had much success with that.

Much success.

We put out an ad and then what we do is if we have, you know, from today to tomorrow, we have something that comes up, we'll start just calling everybody and going from there from that point.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

So is there.

I'm glad you brought that up.

Is there some form of, kind of continuous process of interviewing and identifying potential, or is that not practical?

Usually when we get an application, the way we've done it is we'll set up a phone interview, and the phone interview lets us know if they're going to be a right fit for us.

Or not.

You know, it's just once we get past that, then we'll set up where we'll meet face to face.

If we get past that phone interview, we'll meet half an hour, usually just to see if we can, if we can go through the next stage or not.

It's usually about three stages.

By the second stage, we already know if the person is going to be the, the right fit or not for our company.

Once we get past that second stage, then HR does what the background checks need to do, the onboarding process and all of that.

And then once we get all that paperwork, then we set up scheduling.

It took a while, but everything we try to do, it's a process.

Right.

To try to get better at what we do, so.

Right.

And repeatable process, if correct, especially from what you've mentioned to those authors, you know that everything's going to be a repeatable, duplicatable process that you can correct, ultimately offload to somebody else.

Right, Right.

Because that's your next step of growth.

That's right.

What did you learn about each other that you didn't know before you started this?

What a great question.

You take it.

Of course.

Yeah.

I love the way you did that.

Good job.

That's a great question.

Actually, this is, this is a good one.

And you can't copy it.

So you're gonna have to figure out something really unique.

Alex.

Because, you know, I'm special, but one of the things I learned from Alex was like, I was trying to really understand him.

You know, obviously, you know, we had been together for a couple years at that point, and trying to figure out what, you know, what, what that would look like building a business.

And so I made him take the love language assessment early on.

And so when we did that, I got to learn his giving ways.

Like, Alex is just a giver.

His, his love language is acts of service.

That's his main love language.

And so in, in going through that, I learned that he had a natural way of giving himself in other areas, not just, not just in the business, but just in everything that he did.

He wants to go the extra mile.

He wants to do more.

And so that was one of the things that I needed to get to learn, because you could, you have to be real cautious for that when, when you're a giver.

Right.

When you have a big heart, people could take advantage of that, especially when you're in leadership, when you have a business.

Right.

And so I, I, I was always, like, trying to protect, you know, protect our, our growth and protect our company and protect our relationship.

And, you know, Alex always saw the good side of everyone, you know, and.

And.

And it was just a little different.

And so I think for me, it was truly seeing his love language in action in the workplace, because obviously I've never worked with him before.

And so.

So I think that was.

That was pretty unique.

That was different for me.

Wonderful.

Now, I know.

Sometimes you don't know these little things.

Yeah.

And you talk about it, you know, so I can see there.

There would be a.

A balancing act there between, you know, protecting.

Protecting that, but also not stifling it.

Right.

Because it's.

That is an expression of self, you know, and identity.

And so it's got to be.

It's.

It's got to be.

It expressed and allowed.

So, Alex, baby, your turn.

I'm not gonna get past this one, huh?

No, I'm kidding.

No, no, not with Connie.

Thanks, Connie.

Appreciate you.

You're welcome, darling.

No, what.

What I've learned is that Jessica, she's no holds barred.

Like what she.

What she says, she means it.

Right.

And I need that.

Right.

Because I tend to be, you know, a little softer on people.

And Jessica, you know, opens up my eyes sometimes, like, hey, no, this person is being abusive right now, and you need to put a stop to it.

Right?

So she's definitely opened my eyes with that.

And at home, it's like that, but not.

Not.

Not as much as here.

Right.

So I see it here, and it goes back to knowing that Jessica has my back no matter what.

Right?

So she's.

She's like the.

The overseer.

She's seen what.

What's going on, and she knows right from wrong.

And if I'm doing something or being too soft, she's gonna.

She's gonna hold me accountable for it.

So, yeah, Being able to.

To be with her, where we're at now, has definitely grown our relationship a lot stronger.

Right.

Knowing that for sure each other's back.

Right.

And when we go home, home is home.

We forget about this.

Right.

And I.

I've learned that to, you know, work is.

Is work.

And yeah, you know, we're there and we're going through things and we're going to get through them together, but home is home life.

So.

Great.

It's definitely taught me.

Yeah.

Good answer.

Good answer.

Right, Connie?

Yes.

Great job.

Good job.

We'll snip that one out too for you.

Oh, the greatest hits.

That's right.

Yeah.

So is there anything that you know now that you wish you'd known at the beginning.

That the stuff was hard, right?

Building a business is hard.

Building a business with your spouse is harder.

And so this stuff is hard.

But you know, business is not made for the weak.

You know, this is.

This is made for strong people.

And I think it's definitely grown us in ways that we would have never thought of had we still been in our corporate spaces.

Good answer.

Definitely not as.

Not as easy as what I expected.

Definitely.

You have a lot of challenges, a lot of obstacles that you have to overcome, right.

Being a business owner, right.

Especially when you're the business owner.

You have a team, the whole team is looking at you like, what are you doing?

How are you responding to this?

And you need to respond the right way, right.

It definitely been.

Been a learning curve for us.

So.

Yeah.

Especially coming out of corporate where you, you weren't in charge and now you are, and now you have to step up to the plate, so to speak, and, and be a leader where you didn't have to be before.

Right?

That is different now.

Cool.

So the last question.

What's next?

Yeah, I guess let's go.

Might go to Alex because of the vision.

Like, what's where you head?

World domination.

You know, what are we doing here?

Franchising Alex for president.

I'm kidding.

There you go.

Was next.

The vision is, is God willing, right?

I'm one now that I come to God with, with everything that I have, and he's going to determine what the future holds for us.

So that for me right now is the utmost important thing in order to scale where we want to scale to.

I have to have that relationship with him because without that, I'm absolutely nothing.

We're nothing.

But the vision is to continue growth, continue to be able to provide for others.

That's really big for me.

And that hits heavy on my heart, especially with what this world is going through these days.

Being able to provide an income for others means a whole lot to me.

So I want to continue that and continue growing others, mentoring others.

That's big for me.

Like, you know, how to get, how to get to the, to the next stage in your business with the people you have already in your business.

Right.

Being able to shape others to, to be mentors that, you know, it is like you, you're sharing your knowledge with others to hopefully they share with others as well.

Right.

And just continuous that.

So that's my vision.

Wow, that's nice.

Big, big difference from the, the corporate mindset of, you know, replacing people.

Right.

Developing people versus replacing them as a, as a First.

First response.

First choice.

Yes.

Strong.

Well, I know you guys.

I want to make sure that people can find you.

So exclusivecleaningservices.com is your website.

And then, Jess, you've also got a website for your coaching.

And that's.

I think it's jessrosario.com I'm going to make sure all this is in the show notes and if I mispronounce it or miss say it in the notes, you know, check the notes, it'll be written down.

But you guys have also got your own podcast, so tell us a little bit about that.

So, yes, I actually, I love it because one of the things when you said, what's next?

Like, for us, it's like next level mentorship.

Right.

And you know, if you haven't noticed by, by now, Alex and I were people of faith.

And so we believe in not only iron, sharpening iron.

Right.

And just being around other people, that can really help you grow, but we also believe in mentoring the next level leadership.

And so.

And so that's kind of like where we are.

And so with Married to the Hustle, we have the opportunity to talk all about faith, love and business.

What it is to build a business not just with your spouse, but with a family member.

And what does that look like?

How does it impact your family lines?

And so we absolutely love what we get to do.

We just started interviewing people for it and so right now there's just some solo podcasts.

Well, solo is just the two of us together, but we just started interviewing people.

And so we're excited about what's next for the Married to the Hustle podcast.

We developed that as a passion project and we are seeing so many other things come with that potential coaching for small family owned businesses.

We want to do a family retreat, a couples retreat in 2025.

And so with that, I have a vision.

Alex has a bigger vision, but I have a vision for that.

That one.

So cool.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Well, we will.

Stay tuned.

Stay tuned.

Yes, exactly.

Of course.

This has been such a pleasure.

Thank you so much for so much agreeing to be guests on our podcast.

And we wish you all the best and greater success and growth and enjoy Castleberry.

It's a beautiful area.

Yeah.

Thank you guys for having us.

This was an absolute pleasure to be here.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

We, we celebrate you.

That's right.

Thank.