Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

By ZenMaidBusiness Entrepreneurship

Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast episodes

May 14 #139: Why I Switched From Hourly To Flat Rate After 7 Years
After seven years of being known as "the hourly girl," Stephanie made the change she swore she'd never make 🤯 In this solo episode, Stephanie walks through exactly how and why she transitioned the residential side of Serene Clean from hourly to flat rate pricing — on both maintenance cleans AND initial cleans — while keeping her cleaners on hourly pay. She breaks down the profit reasoning, the operational rollout in phases, the conversation with Molly Moran that sparked the official change, and the estimate email tweaks that are closing recurring clients before the first cleaning is even done.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why charging flat rate while paying hourly is the most profitable combination for her business
— How to roll out a flat rate transition in phases without losing your client base
— The exact production rates Serene Clean uses (150 sq ft per labor hour for initials, 100 sq ft per labor hour for move-outs)
— Why offering an hourly price range was actually costing her closed deals
— How to reframe your estimate email so recurring service is the default path, not an afterthought
— Why she's not switching to percentage or performance pay for cleaners
— How to handle scope creep, fast-cleaner variance, and "my house is already clean" objections under flat rate
— What to do when a long-term client pushes back on a price increase with a quality complaint
— Why you should pause price increases on any client with a recent complaint before rolling them in

Resources Mentioned
— Molly Moran (cleaning business owner, CleanCon co-founder): https://mollymoran.com/
— Serene Clean's Flat Rate Estimate Email Template — $15, available on Stephanie's website: https://serene-clean.com/downloads/flat-rate-cleaning-estimate-email-template/
— ZenMaid Mastermind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind/

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Stephanie's Consulting & Resources for Purchase: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://www.zenmaid.com/newsletter/
1 hr 5 min
May 12 #138: Why Ryan Williams Started a Cleaning Business From Working at ZenMaid
Ryan Williams spent two years at ZenMaid helping cleaning business owners better run their companies...then he bought into one. In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Ryan, co-owner of The Villages Maid Service Hot Springs location and VP of Revenue at ZenMaid, to talk about what changed when he went from giving advice to living it. They talk about classic hiring chaos, the feast-or-famine pendulum, the contractor vs. W2 debate, and why brand still beats AI in 2026. They also have a few very unserious blooper moments, but that's what you get when you listen to a podcast with these two

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why the cleaners you trust earliest are often the ones who quit first
— How to handle the "feast or famine" swing between too many leads and not enough cleaners
— When the contractor model makes sense vs. when to switch to W2
— How to use Alex Hormozi's "Dream 100" to get your first paying customers
— Why brand and culture matter more than paid ads in 2026
— What to do when an applicant says "yes" the morning of and ghosts you anyway
— How to set expectations with 1099 cleaners around insurance and supplies

Resources Mentioned
— The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sales-Machine-Turbocharge-Relentless/dp/1591842158
— ZenMaid: https://get.zenmaid.com/
— The Villages Maid Service (Hot Springs + Florida locations): https://thevillagesmaidservice.com/

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Stephanie's Consulting & Resources for Purchase: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://www.zenmaid.com/newsletter/

59 min
May 07 #137: I Asked Alex Hormozi to Fix My Cleaning Business
...and it worked! Well, kind of. In this solo episode, Stephanie talks about her experience at the Acquisition.com scaling workshop, which she took her entire management team to. Hosted by Alex Hormozi's team, she got to ask him a question directly about how to fix an ongoing issue at Serene Clean and walked away with the clearest game plan she's ever had for breaking through her revenue plateau.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why Stephanie brought all three of her managers to the workshop
— How to categorize your clients as whales, dolphins, and minnows
— The five business "value subtractors" every cleaning business owner should audit
— Why Stephanie is launching a career path for her cleaners on June 1, 2026
— How group training cuts costs and protects your trainer's time
— The interview questions that catch cleaners who can't physically handle the work
— Why spending more on Indeed is solving her biggest constraint
— How a single consulting call with Molly Moran moved Serene Clean from hourly to flat rate pricing
— The estimating email tweak that more than doubled recurring bookings in one month

Resources Mentioned
— Alex Hormozi's content: https://www.youtube.com/c/alexhormozi
— Acquisition.com
— Molly Moran (cleaning business coach): https://mollymoran.com/
— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind
— ZenMaid Weekly Newsletter: https://www.zenmaid.com/newsletter/

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Stephanie's Consulting & Resources for Purchase: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://www.zenmaid.com/newsletter/
46 min
May 05 #136: Shannon Miller on Why W-2s vs. 1099s Changes What Your Cleaning Business Is Worth
Shannon Miller has been in the cleaning industry for 16 years, sold one company, is preparing to sell another, and coaches thousands of owners a year through Klean Freaks University. She's seen it all, and in this episode, Stephanie sits down with Shannon to unpack the realities of building, scaling, and eventually selling a cleaning business. They talk through the classic W-2 vs. 1099 debate, why a 100% satisfaction guarantee can actually bankrupt you, how free cleanings get weaponized without firm boundaries, and the safety policies you need before something goes sideways in a client's home.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why W-2 businesses sell for more than 1099 referral models, and when each makes sense
— How to structure free cleanings so they don't turn into scope-creep nightmares
— Why a 24-hour walkthrough policy beats an open-ended satisfaction guarantee
— The Code of Conduct Shannon now requires every client to sign
— How to coach younger techs to recognize and shut down inappropriate client behavior
— Why the cleaning industry is the first real legacy-building opportunity dominated by women
— When (and how) to pivot policies that aren't working anymore

Resources Mentioned
— Klean Freaks University: https://kleanfreaksuniversity.com
— Cleaning Business Life Podcast (Shannon's show): https://cleaningbusinesslife.buzzsprout.com/
— Shannon Leanne Miller's books on Amazon (8 published works): https://us.amazon.com/stores/Shannon-Lee-Ann-Miller/author/B0G1TTBB68?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1777512932&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=8779df07-7e5c-4788-a38b-491d558d9f39

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/

46 min
April 30 #135: The Books That Changed How I Run My Cleaning Business
Most business owners say they don't have time to read. But Stephanie has built a 7-figure cleaning company, and these books are a big reason why.

In this solo episode, Stephanie breaks down every book that has had a lasting impact on her life and her business. From heavy personal reads on trauma, suffering, and purpose, to tactical frameworks on delegation, cash management, sales, and systems, she shares what she took from each one and exactly how she's applied it inside Serene Clean.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why Man's Search for Meaning reframes how you handle hard seasons in business
— How The Body Keeps the Score helped Stephanie become a more empathetic leader
— The 40% rule from David Goggins, and why your real capacity is almost always higher than you think
— The three roles every business owner plays (and why the wrong one always wins)
— How Profit First's 5-account system kept Serene Clean out of debt for 7 years
— The 80-10-10 delegation rule from Buy Back Your Time and how to use it with a VA or EA
— Why Thou Shall Prosper changed Stephanie's relationship with money and charging what she's worth
— The "pigheaded discipline" concept behind Serene Clean's 500+ five-star reviews
— What Deep Work revealed about time blocking and why most owners are busy but not moving forward
— Why passion follows mastery, not the other way around

Resources Mentioned 📚
— Man's Search for Meaning — Viktor Frankl
— The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk
— Can't Hurt Me — David Goggins
— Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable — Tim Grover
— Ikigai — Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
— E-Myth Revisited — Michael Gerber
— Profit First — Mike Michalowicz
— Buy Back Your Time — Dan Martell
— The Ultimate Sales Machine — Chet Holmes
— Thou Shall Prosper — Rabbi Daniel Lapin
— Your Next Five Moves — Patrick Bet-David
— What Should We Do? — Joe Crisara
— Start With Why — Simon Sinek
— Good to Great — Jim Collins
— Deep Work — Cal Newport
— So Good They Can't Ignore You — Cal Newport
— 4,000 Weeks — Oliver Burkeman
— $100M Offers — Alex Hormozi
— $100M Leads — Alex Hormozi

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://www.zenmaid.com/newsletter/
1 hr 12 min
April 28 #134: How Natalie’s $15 Clean Built a 15-Year Business
What happens when a corporate sales executive burns out so badly that her brother jokes she might end up on World News Tonight? She moves to Boulder and starts cleaning houses!

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Natalie Mikishko, owner of Majestic Domestics and Clean Conscience Cleaning Service in Boulder, Colorado. Natalie walked away from a career that spanned HR training, grocery purchasing, cabinet sales, and commercial construction, and then built two cleaning companies from scratch — including a $15-a-clean lost leader campaign. She shares the full story of acquiring Clean Conscience in 2022, what she wishes she'd done differently, and how her team of two jumped in to clean when she lost seven staff members in a single month.

📌 What You'll Learn
— How a Groupon-style newspaper deal at $15 per clean launched Majestic Domestics and created 15-year client relationships
— What Natalie would demand before signing any acquisition deal again
— Why she transitioned her team from hourly pay to percentage-based pay
— How she recovered operationally after losing 7 cleaners in January without canceling on clients
— The culture investments (backup company cars, AAA cards, a full office coffee and cocktail bar) that make her team stay

Resources Mentioned
— ZenMaid scheduling software: https://get.zenmaid.com
— CleanCon conference: https://www.mycleancon.com/

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/
1 hr 7 min
April 23 #133: The Paper Checklist That Built a Million-Dollar Cleaning Business
Most cleaning business owners think checklists are unnecessary friction and just another paper to hold onto. But Stephanie thinks they're one of the main reasons she built a million-dollar company, and she's ready to convince you 😉
In this solo episode, Stephanie breaks down every angle of why Serene Clean has used a physical paper checklist at every single residential appointment since the very first free cleans she ever did. She also shares exactly what Serene Clean puts on theirs, including a notes section, an abbreviation key, a safety checklist, and QR codes for reviews.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why relying on memory instead of checklists is the #1 source of quality issues in cleaning businesses
— How to create consistency across multiple staff members, different trainers, and ongoing turnover
— The team accountability system Serene Clean uses, so there's never a "he said, she said" after a complaint
— Why the checklist is one of Stephanie's most powerful sales tools
— How a personal notes section at the bottom gets cleaning techs more tips
— The abbreviation key Serene Clean added so clients always know why a task was skipped
— How QR codes on the checklist drive more Google reviews without feeling pushy
— When a digital checklist is the right starting point
— What a safety checklist looks like and why it matters for client trust

Resources Mentioned:
Filthy Rich Cleaners Ep. 70 on Client Cancellations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjSQPf4O604

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/
47 min
April 21 #132: A $25K Revenue Drop Made Us More Profitable?! What My Q1 Review Taught Me About My Business
Revenue is down $25,000, yet profit is up 53%. How does that happen? And what does it actually mean for the business? In this solo episode, Stephanie walks through her full Q1 2026 financial and business review for Serene Clean (the same report she presented to her management team that week). She covers the data analysis she did to uncover her insights, why revenue is down but profit is up, and the three hidden costs that a lost commercial account was bleeding from the business for months, and so much more.

📌 What You'll Learn
— How Serene Clean brought in less revenue in Q1 2026 but made 53% more profit than the same quarter last year
— The three hidden costs one bad commercial account was silently creating (overtime, training, and call-out chaos)
— Why Stephanie is adding a dedicated training line item in Gusto, and how you can do it too, regardless of your payroll software
— How to calculate the true cost of a failed hire, including what most owners never think to track
— Why call-out hours dropped by 355 compared to Q1 of last year
— How 46% of first-time cleans converted to recurring clients in Q1
— Why Serene Clean went from lead-constrained to capacity-constrained in a single quarter
— The MRR goal Stephanie set for 2026, how she broke it into a monthly action plan, and whether they're on track
— How price increases across 98 clients added $22,573 in revenue from the same customer base
— How to use AI (specifically Claude) to analyze payroll data, appointment history, and sales reports together

Resources Mentioned
— Filthy Rich Cleaners Ep. 103 — Stephanie's full 2025 year-end financial review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-GpAnCO2nM
— ZenMaid (cleaning business scheduling software): https://get.zenmaid.com

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/
57 min
April 16 #131: "We've Cleaned It All" — 18 Years of Vacation Rental Secrets
She left nursing, started cleaning for friends as therapy, and accidentally built an 18-year cleaning empire in one of the wildest cities in America. LaShanda Brown has seen (and cleaned) everything 👀
In this episode, Stephanie sits down with LaShanda, owner of Sweeping Hands Cleaning Service in New Orleans, Louisiana, to talk about how she transitioned from a decade-long nursing career into cleaning, grew her business entirely on word of mouth, and built a 60% vacation-rental-focused operation complete with her own property management company. They talk about the wildest horror stories LaShanda has experienced, as well as advice on things like logistics, flat-rate pricing, and schedule routing through Mardi Gras parades.
📌 What You'll Learn
— How LaShanda went from nursing to owning an 18-year residential and vacation rental cleaning business
— Why word of mouth has been her only growth strategy
— How to price vacation rental cleanings with a flat rate that accounts for worst-case guests
— The off-site laundry system Sweeping Hands uses to run high-volume STR clients (color-coded bags, two shifts, property-specific labels)
— How to set expectations with first-time Airbnb owners so you stay in control of the scope
— Scheduling strategies for turnovers in a city full of parades, street closures, and unpredictable events
— Why she won't hire couples but does hire family members
— The pivotal COVID moment that led her to lock herself in an Airbnb for 5 days and finally build her ClickUp system
— How business coaches helped transform parts of her business
— Why knowing what you keep (not just what you make) is what ultimately builds wealth
Resources Mentioned
— Sweeping Hands Cleaning Service Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweepinghandscleaning/
— ZenMaid cleaning business scheduling software: https://get.zenmaid.com/
— ClickUp: https://clickup.com/
— RingCentral: https://www.ringcentral.com/
— CleanCon (Austin, Texas in September): https://www.mycleancon.com/austin
👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/
59 min
April 14 #130: The Real Mental Side of Running a Cleaning Business, with Kala Pomeroy
Every cleaning business owner Kala Pomeroy has ever spoken with, from brand-new solo operators to teams of 50, has one thing in common: the fear that they're doing it wrong.

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Kala, a 10-year cleaning business owner in Southeast Texas and full-time ZenMaid Customer Success Specialist. Kala shares her own journey from solo cleaner to remote business operator, including how she landed her ZenMaid job after a homeless man broke into her hotel room the night before her interview. Stephanie and Kala talk through the mental patterns holding cleaning business owners back and how to build systems without losing your mind.

📌 What You'll Learn
— Why pricing anxiety shows up at every stage of business, from solo operators to 50-person teams
— How analysis paralysis is costing you more time than imperfect action ever would
— The difference between what should be automated and what should stay human in your cleaning business
— Why you need to map out a process on paper before you ever touch a single software tool
— How to stop comparing yourself to bigger businesses and start running your own race
— Why cleaning is not unskilled labor and why you should be proud of what you do!
Resources Mentioned
— ZenMaid Pricing Calculator: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/how-much-to-charge-house-cleaning-2026/
— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
✉️ Subscribe to ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/
58 min

About Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Filthy Rich Cleaners is the free cleaning business coach you never knew you needed. Hosted by Stephanie Pipkin, founder of Serene Clean, every episode delivers real, tactical advice you'd normally…