Community Highlights: Meet Jade Johnson of Clean Start Nashville Cleaning Service

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Johnson.

Hi Jade, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my business in 2014 while attending my first year at Tennessee state university. I was studying social work, but I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I hadn’t seen it done within my family, so I almost felt like it was impossible. I’ve always had a passion for cleaning. It’s very therapeutic to me, almost like my happy place. I’ve always been that friend and family member that would tidy up your house if I stopped by to visit. My friends and family don’t get offended, and they just let me do what I love because they know my intention is always to help. What I enjoy most about it is seeing the before and after of my work. Once I started getting feedback like, “I’d never be able to make my home look this clean.” I knew I possessed a skill that now everyone had. In 2015 while working my day job at a check-cashing place, I sparked a conversation with the guy who owned the company that kept all locations cleaned. He was cashing the check the company that I worked for wrote to him, and once he told me how easy it was for him to get contracts, and I saw the amount written on the check, something instantly clicked, and I decided to take my cleaning business serious. I always referred to myself as an aspiring entrepreneur from that point on. In 2016 I moved on to another job while continuing to build my clientele using the limited amount of resources and funding that I had for marketing materials. From the day I started that job, I always said that I would only stay there for a maximum of 4 years, and then I would become a full-time entrepreneur.
I didn’t have a clue how I was going to do it because, at that time, I only had about 4 consistent clients. I’m a big believer in focusing on the goal instead of how you’ll reach it. My clientele began to grow rapidly when I started an Instagram for my business and started to post before and after pictures of my work. Google ads and Facebook ads changed the game for me. I would clean in the morning and work my 9-5 evenings. I did that for about three years. It was very exhausting, but I enjoyed it, and I knew I had a goal and had to stick to the plan. In 2019 I was contacted by the manager of a small boutique hotel and restaurant group in Nashville seeking a housekeeping team. She told me that she found me by using hashtags on Instagram. I was so excited and nervous about this opportunity. I accepted the opportunity, and I was pushed to build a team within two weeks. I developed my team, and we provided housekeeping services for the hotel and restaurant cleaning for one year until the pandemic affected their business and forced them to close their doors. The pandemic in 2020 is what helped me reach my goal of entrepreneurship. I had reached 4 years and 3 months at my job, and I was beginning to get frustrated because I was three months past my goal of quitting my job. One day I had accepted that that probably be at my job, at least until this Covid-19 thing is over. That day, my job called my team into a meeting and offered us a severance package because they were doing layoffs, and my department was the first team to be cut. I was so nervous about taking this because the world was in the middle of a pandemic, but I took the leap and decided to go for it. I used the funds from my severance to invest in my business because I knew there was no turning back. I bought sanitation equipment and a work van. Me offering Covid-19 sanitation services is what took my business to the next level and made it thrive during such a trying time for small businesses. It’s funny how everything happened that I spoke, but it happened in a way that I couldn’t have imagined.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all. It’s been several times that I’ve wanted to give up, but my passion is what kept me going. Some of the struggles that I’ve experienced is building a passionate and motivated team. Cleaning is a skill that you have to find joy in to be thorough—learning not to take on a task that is too large to handle or too small to where it financially doesn’t make sense.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Clean Start Nashville Cleaning Service?
Clean Start Nashville is a residential and commercial cleaning service that provides all your cleaning and janitorial needs. We offer residential deep cleaning, Airbnb turnover cleaning, commercial cleaning, and sanitation service. We’re known for giving homes a Clean Start with our detailed residential cleanings. Our clients enjoy the before and after results. What sets us apart is that we’re Nashville natives or unicorns that some like to call us. We offer green or regular cleanings. We use top-tier products that our clients have access to in their local retail stores.

What matters most to you?
Helping our clients simplify their lives and providing great satisfactory results matters the most to us.

Pricing:

• $50-$75 an hour

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cleanstart_nashville?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cleanstartnashville/