Her Story
About Shonna
I've been in sales for over 10 years, and for the past 3-4 years I've been working as Operations Manager at Texas Golden Broom, a cleaning business where I work alongside my best friend who started the company. It's a unique and special circumstance because I grew up with the owner, so it's very close-knit. In my role, I have my hands in many different areas - I handle payroll, scheduling for both our clients and our cleaning team, hiring, sales outreach to bring in new clients, customer service, and resolving any issues that come up with our residential cleaning services. I'm also responsible for our social media presence, creating content and managing posts. We used to post 5 days a week, but now we post about 2 times a week, and I'm proud that we've grown our platform to over 1,000 followers, which is a big win for our small cleaning business. We work around the clock, through holidays, always answering the phone because life happens and our team has lives too. We're very driven in the community, doing raffles and donating free cleans to charities and dog adoption organizations. When you're cleaning people's homes or businesses, it's very sacred - we care about your homes and your space. The biggest challenge is trusting and training our staff to do their jobs well, delegating responsibilities while making sure the client is satisfied. With a small business, everything counts, so I always ask myself: did I do enough? Did I teach you enough for you to go and do your job properly? But what I love about working with a smaller business is that you truly see how it trickles down - your effort and all the time you've given truly affects everyone, not just yourself, but your teammates, the owner, and the clients. It takes more out of you, but it gives more fruit.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shonna
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say endurance and friendship. My best friend started this company, and she's a great role model. I also draw strength from my history and my family - I'm a mother, and I want my kids to see me strive. It's really about playing off of relationships and pushing yourself to do the best you can do. Every day I try to start with positivity and gratitude, because when you're grateful every day, you'll see good things and good things will happen.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to really check everything at the door and give it your all. Don't let things distract you - anything that's maybe bothering you that day, just leave it at the door and do the best you can. Start each day with positivity, and things can go up from there. Just practice gratitude, be grateful every day, and you'll see good things happen.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say believe in yourself, believe in the things you can accomplish, and don't take no for an answer. If a door closes, go knock on another one, because there's always going to be an opportunity if you don't give up. There won't be an opportunity if you give up. Fake it till you make it - just keep trying.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my field is learning to let go of the reins a little bit and trusting our staff. When you're cleaning people's homes or businesses, it's very sacred work - we care about your homes and your space. So trusting, training, and then trusting the staff to do their jobs well is probably the hardest thing, even though they end up doing really well most of the time. It's about juggling it all to make sure the customer is satisfied while giving that trust and delegating to others. We're small, and everything counts, so I'm always asking myself: did I do enough? Did I teach you enough for you to go and do your job properly? That's the biggest challenge, especially when you're dealing with a smaller business - you do what you can, and then you've got to trust them to do their job.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are honesty and commitment. These are the two that immediately come to mind when I think about what guides me in both my personal and professional life.
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