Her Story
About Heidi
I started Spick and Span Trash Cans 7 years ago with my brother after realizing my own trash bin in my Houston garage desperately needed cleaning, but I didn't want to do it myself. We found a company in Florida that custom builds the trucks, bought a little truck, and thought it would be a small affair with my brother driving and me dealing with customers. Within 6 months it just blew up and we needed another truck. For the first 3 years or longer, I flew by the seat of my pants, wearing every hat. My brother was out cleaning bins while being head of maintenance, head cleaner, and head driver. When we got the second truck, I ended up driving the little truck during the day while answering calls and doing marketing in the evening. We were deemed a necessary service during COVID and carried on while others stayed home. Sadly, my brother had to retire last year due to early onset Parkinson's, which was very tragic. Now it's just me leading the team, but I have a wonderful operations manager who was our first driver hired just before COVID, plus 3 other drivers and a chief engineer because the maintenance is high. We now have 3 enormous trucks serving nearly 3,000 customers. The residential side just blew up on its own because people didn't know they needed it until they saw it, and once you've had it once, you can't go back. I'm now focusing on breaking into the commercial side more, working with HOAs, property management companies, MUDs, and targeting commercial buildings and stadiums.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Heidi
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my parents and my husband. My parents taught me to be strong, to be driven, and to not give up and not stop, but to always be positive. They taught me to always be looking on the positive - you can't end the day thinking all this went wrong, you have to end the day thinking okay, well that didn't work right, but this is what I'll do next time. My husband is just the most incredible, supportive, quiet, just strong person. He's just there, it doesn't matter, he puts up with me running around and working all hours. Since I'm living in a different country and we've been here 20 years now, it's been him more than my parents for a long time. So definitely those three people, I would say.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Even when it's scary and people are maybe not telling you you can't do something but steering you away from being brave - and they think they're well-intentioned - don't listen to them. Just grab it and do it. Women do not know how strong they are until they really have to be strong, and then they'll surprise themselves every time. So just really, even when you don't want to be, just be brave. Just grab it, do it. I think young women especially get steered away, and it is well-intentioned for the most part, but I would say just don't be steered. You really can make it work if you have stick-to-itiveness and a good idea and don't listen to those naysayers.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Times are tougher now for my industry because it is deemed a luxury, and those are the first things to be cut when times get tough, and it is tough in America right now. Having a home cleaner or trash can cleaning service is considered a luxury for many. But I'm proud that we're still going strong because we have very loyal customers, and there are some very affluent communities around Houston, so that helps. The residential side is ticking along very nicely, but the commercial side has been slightly harder, especially after COVID and with the economics. I'm really trying to break into commercial more at the moment - we have lots of contracts with HOAs and property management companies and MUDs, but commercial buildings and stadiums, that's really what I have my eye on now. That's what I'm moving towards.
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