Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Cruz-Babcock.
Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I came to the United States with a dream of realizing my full potential both personally and professionally. In the beginning, it was not easy… working multiple jobs and selling tamales from the trunk of my car outside gas stations to survive. But I was determined to make it on my own without any assistance. Over time, I started cleaning houses as a flexible means to get by and eventually I started my own little company with a few towels, a vacuum cleaner and a car. That was the birth of my company, The Art of Cleaning, as well as myself in the life I had dreamed of living. Over time, and against all odds, my client list grew from a few houses to what it is today. I now have 30 employees, a fleet of more than a dozen vehicles and over 1,000 clients. I offer residential & commercial services, window cleaning, home organization and home staging. Every day the list of both clients and services grow. We have grown annually at a rate exceeding 25% year over year and the pace is accelerating. I am now in process of buying an office building to serve as our new headquarters. As we grow, I now feel it is my responsibility to provide an opportunity through my company for others to achieve success just as I had. Also, during this time I became personally who I was meant to be. I originally fled Mexico due to the persecution of being transgender, but found in America, I was able to realize my full potential in this aspect of my life as well. I eventually fully transitioned to female, met my husband, got married and now live my life exactly who I am supposed to be. This is truly the American dream for me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been both long and full of many struggles. When I first arrived in the US, I was living in a small town that did not have many opportunities for growth, then I was taken in by a family who I later realized was just trying to exploit me and have me work so they could take all my earnings. After breaking free from the abusive relationship that I was in, found myself lost, self-reliant and unsure of what my future would be. It was at that time that I picked myself up, focused on what I could do by myself and for myself and began the journey to where I am today. Looking back, I can see now that each struggle on the journey formed an important piece of who I am today, and each lesson learned through those struggles contributed to rising above the fray and becoming a successful businesswoman. On the personal front, the transition process has had its fair share of struggles. I am fortunate that I own my own business and am accountable to myself for who I am and have a loving husband who defends my identity fiercely as well as supports my business in all aspects while running a large company himself. We are truly partners in love, life and business. Our personal success as a couple has been depending on each other without being dependent on each other.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Art of Cleaning. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Art of Cleaning is one of the premier professional cleaning firms in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. We are woman owned and offer a large array of home and commercial services. We do residential and commercial cleaning, home organization, window cleaning and home staging. Our employees are professionally uniformed and drive a fleet of new, sharply logo wrapped vehicles. I am continually amazed at how our competition does not maintain a clean professional company image when we are in the cleaning business ourselves. Our focus is quality, speed and service. Many of our clients appreciate all the small touches we do in their home or business. It is the details that matter…. because “How you do anything, is how you do everything” That is our motto. Our brand has grown from word-of mouth to a larger scale professional market approach including billboards, magazines and a strong social media presence. We have a clear identifiable unique brand with The Art of Cleaning. We have a strong identifiable logo with bold color presence, and we fiercely protect our brand through delivering satisfaction to our many types of clients. As a service company, I have very little boundary between my personal and professional life. We respond to service requests day and night, weekends and holidays. Many times, I have an enquiry for service in the morning, and I have a crew on site the very same day. People want an immediate response when looking for a service provider and we are that fast responder. Much faster than any of my competition. We also believe in giving back to the community. We regularly offer free cleanings to the community for the elderly or people with family tragedies or medical issues. Success in business is not about profits. It is about impact. It is how you impact your clients, your employees and your community. I often tell prospective clients that we do not sell cleaning services… we sell time. We sell time for them to be with their family, to work out, to do the things that matter to them. By leaving the cleaning to our professional staff, you get time. That is our value proposition.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
The community is a great support for me and my business. By embracing the unique aspects of my business story and keeping the word-of-mouth promotion of The Art of Cleaning going to our wonderful community is the greatest satisfaction I can imagine. Every time I get to hire a new employee, add a new fleet vehicle, buy more uniforms or expand the geographical reach of the company, I know that we are on the right trajectory and the community helps propel us forward in that direction.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theartofcleaningmn.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartofcleaningmn/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-art-of-cleaning-plymouth
- Other: https://nextdoor.com/pages/the-art-of-cleaning-minneapolis-mn/
