Kristina Sholes

I launched my cleaning service business in 2000 out of necessity - I was a single mom with three small children, working as a project manager for an office furniture company, and I needed to make more money to provide for my family. I built this company from absolutely nothing, literally zero. Back when phone books still existed, I got one out and just ran down the list, created flyers and business cards, and pounded the pavement banging on doors. I networked, marketed, and did all the things you have to do to create a business out of thin air. Over the past 26 years, it's been a wild ride, and I've grown it into a much bigger company than I ever imagined - we now operate all the way across the coast with just under 20 employees. I've done it all throughout my career: residential cleaning, vacation rentals, and commercial properties. Now, as I'm looking towards retirement, I'm transitioning out of residential work and focusing strictly on commercial accounts, which is really where I need to be at this stage. I'm still very much in the day-to-day operations physically, but my goal is to step back from the residential side so I can become a little less involved and just handle the management part of the business. We serve South Alabama and the Panhandle of Florida, and while I'm still operating hands-on, I'm working towards a future where I can have more balance - because if you want to have a family life, you have to cut it off somewhere.