Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

ZenMaid
  • 4.3 (24)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED DAILY

Welcome to Filthy Rich Cleaners, the podcast that helps cleaning business owners turn their first toilet scrub into a six-figure success story! Hosted by Stephanie Pipkin, founder of Serene Clean, this show is packed with easy-to-follow tips, funny stories, and real advice from people who’ve been there. Whether you’re starting out or looking to grow, you’ll learn the secrets to building a cleaning business that shines – and makes you filthy rich.

  1. 1D AGO

    #114: Sharon Tinberg’s No-BS System for Training Cleaners Fast

    In this episode, Stephanie sits down with industry veteran Sharon Tinberg to break down one of the most frustrating parts of running a cleaning business: training that doesn’t stick. With decades of experience and nearly $2 million in annual revenue under her belt, Sharon shares exactly what most owners get wrong, as well as how to fix it with simple, repeatable systems. Resources Mentioned — ZenMaid: https://get.zenmaid.com/ — Clean Smart Academy: https://www.cleansmartacademy.com/ 📌 What You’ll Learn — Why shadowing trainers creates inconsistency and higher turnover — The difference between process and procedure (and why it matters) — How Sharon trained cleaners to clean homes correctly in just days — The overlooked details cleaners miss most — and how to prevent it — How periodic tasks improve client retention and reduce deep cleans — What it really took to manage 754 recurring clients successfully — How structured training systems lead to faster cleans and happier teams   👉 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/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/sharon-tinbergs-cleaners-training-system/

    26 min

  2. 6D AGO

    #113: How to Always Be Hiring + Why You Need to Charge Travel Fees

    In this solo episode, Stephanie tackles a listener question that came in through the ZenMaid newsletter! This is one that hits so many cleaning business owners — how do you grow when it feels like you’re always stuck choosing between turning down work… or hiring too early and scrambling to fill a schedule? Stephanie breaks down the real meaning of “always be hiring,” why the fix isn’t actually hiring nonstop (but rather building a pipeline), and how to create a more structured system for hiring cadence, regional staffing, and travel-heavy scheduling. 📌 What You’ll Learn — What “always be hiring” actually means (no, it’s not onboarding every week) — How to build a candidate pipeline so you’re never starting from zero — A simple way to decide when to hire based on capacity + training lead time — Why zoning your service area can reduce chaos and travel costs — How part-time hiring can solve the “schedule fill” pressure — When to charge travel fees and how to justify them — How Serene Clean approaches travel pay, home bases, and scheduling strategy — Why driving pay structure can make or break profitability in a large service radius Resources Mentioned — ZenMaid's Weekly Newsletter: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/  👉 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/    🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/managing-service-area-hiring-and-travel-costs-cleaning-business/

    51 min

  3. FEB 10

    #112: How Jacques Bastien Built a Cleaning Business Without Being the Cleaner

    Welcome back to Filthy Rich Cleaners! In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Jacques Bastien, co-founder of Chery Maids in Tampa, Florida, to talk about what it takes to scale fast without burning out. Jacques shares how Chery Maids grew to 6 cleaning teams and 100–150 cleans per month in only 1.5 years, why he and his wife walked away from short-term rentals, and more. He and Stephanie talk about failure, marriage + business boundaries, hiring virtual team members, and Jacque's deeper mission behind his work supporting Black and Brown creators. 📌 What You’ll Learn — Why Jacques ditched short-term rental cleanings for a simpler residential model — The SEAD framework: Systematize, Eliminate, Automate, Delegate — What to focus on before SOPs, and why most people do it backwards — How to reduce stress by designing your business rules — A practical way to create scripts/SOPs by recording real work and using AI to draft documentation — Challenges of recruiting quality cleaners when reputation matters — How Jacques and his wife split roles to work together — How virtual team members can run real, important operations Resources Mentioned Book: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss Book: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande Book: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It―A Guide to Starting a Business in a Productive and Successful Way by Michael E. Gerber   👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com 📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/building-a-cleaning-business-without-being-the-cleaner/

    1h 4m

  4. FEB 5

    #111: Don't Be a Pushover! Policies That Protect Your Cleaning Business

    In this episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners, Stephanie gets real about the messy middle of leadership: boundaries. You need boundaries to protect your business, yourself, your employees, and your sanity, especially when you’re a natural people-pleaser.   She breaks down why exceptions (made out of guilt, fear, scarcity, etc.) do more harm than good, and shares real scenarios from consulting calls and Serene Clean’s own history. Listen in for scenarios like the “but they’re a great cleaner” trap, pay advance requests, clients texting techs directly, cancellation policy inconsistency, vacation rental scope creep, and super weird asks from clients.   📌 What You’ll Learn — Why “Yeah, but they’re a great cleaner” is usually a leadership red flag — How inconsistent enforcement undermines your authority (and your confidence) — The power of policies to enforce blanket rules — Boundaries that you need to prevent chaos — How to reduce business liability (pets, service providers, watching kids, etc. — Simple scheduling boundaries to implement — Why doing “little extras” sets staff up for complaints later on — How to stop being held hostage by bad behavior and rebuild the power seat   👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com 📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 🎧 Spotify: (link) 🎧 Apple Podcasts: (link) 📖 Read the full transcript: (link)

    52 min

  5. FEB 3

    #110: How to Land Commercial Cleaning Accounts, with Juan & Regina Jaramillo

    In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Juan and Regina Jaramillo of Bright Corners Cleaning Service in Ocala, Florida to talk about all things commercial clients, including cold knocking, follow-ups, repeat clients, walkthroughs, bidding, systems, and more! ✨   Juan and Regina share how they started in residential and why they stayed obsessed with commercial, even when it took six months to land the first client. They also share a haunted-building story that’s now officially in Filthy Rich Cleaners' history 👻 If you're thinking about taking on commercial clients, this one's for you! 📌 What You’ll Learn — Why Mondays are the best day to land commercial accounts — How they approach cold walk-ins, follow-ups, and relationship building — What to look for during a walkthrough (measurements, photos, blueprints) — Why “one production rate” doesn’t exist in commercial cleaning — How they simplify training (including limiting chemicals to reduce confusion) — How they use a photo documentation system to “tell a story” — When it makes sense to lease equipment instead of buying it — What accounts are most profitable (medical, private schools, car dealerships) — The red flags that make them walk away from a prospect — How they think about scaling leadership, i.e., lead tech vs. field manager vs. subcontracting Resources Mentioned Bright Corners Cleaning Service: https://brightcornersservices.com/ The ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook group (free to join): 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/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: (link)

    1h 26m

  6. JAN 29

    #109: On Pricing Fear and Profit Margins

    Overpriced, underpriced, or just right? In this episode, Stephanie is brutally honest about the pricing story she’s been telling herself and the fear that kept Serene Clean stuck at $55 per man-hour for way too long. She talks about what finally pushed her to treat pricing like an experiment and why it's not actually an emotional decision, even though it often feels like one. Stephanie also shares numbers that matter and the margins you should be looking for when evaluating your pricing strategy.   📌 What You’ll Learn — Why “the ceiling in my market” is usually a fear-based story, not a fact — How to raise prices without destabilizing your schedule (batch increases vs. blanket changes) — The new Serene Clean pricing split that separates recurring vs. one-off/first-time cleans — How to use pricing to incentivize recurring revenue and hit monthly MRR goals — What to review when bookings drop — The role of social proof, follow-up systems, and value-building in closing higher rates   Resources Mentioned — Newsletter Sign-up: https://zenmaid.lpages.co/newsletter-sign-up/ — Steven and Anna's podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJCvAXymgs — ZenMaid Mastermind: 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/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/on-pricing-fear-and-profit-margins/

    45 min

  7. JAN 27

    #108: How Yari Ising Called 2 Builders and Accidentally Built a Cleaning Company

    In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Yari Ising, owner of a fast-growing cleaning company in Pennsylvania, whose story will light a fire under anyone who’s ever considered starting over. Yari shares how a surprise pregnancy, a move to a brand-new community, and a sudden shift in federal work requirements pushed her to bet on herself — and turn a “side hustle” into a real business. She explains what’s helped her stand out in a competitive market, how she’s building systems with Notion, and more.   📌 What You’ll Learn — How Yari validated demand instantly by calling local builders — Why Google visibility and reviews can unlock “big-league” opportunities — The early client strategies that worked (Thumbtack, referrals, and consistency) — How to build an operations hub with Notion (SOPs, tasks, candidates, content) — What to focus on when time, staffing, and growth all hit at once — How to stop overthinking and get better at fast decision-making — Mindset shifts like “Your business isn’t for everybody” + “Everything is figureoutable” — Why asking for help is a scaling strategy   Resources Mentioned — Notion: https://www.notion.com/ — Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/ — Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/ — ClickUp: https://app.clickup.com/ — Pink’s Window Cleaning: https://pinkswindows.com/ — The Financial Diet: https://thefinancialdiet.com/   👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: https://get.zenmaid.com 📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/how-yari-ising-called-2-builders-and-accidentally-built-a-cleaning-company/

    59 min

  8. JAN 22

    #107: Leadership Mistakes That Cost Serene Clean $120K

    In this solo episode, Stephanie pulls back the curtain on what really happened inside Serene Clean in 2025 and takes ownership of the leadership choices that contributed to a revenue drop.   She shares an honest accountability review of the year, including how exciting new opportunities (podcasting, consulting, partnerships, speaking) unintentionally fragmented her focus, how she mistook comfort for safety, and why obsessing over lagging indicators kept her stuck in reaction mode. Stephanie also breaks down the numbers and talks about the mindset shift that’s fueling her 2026 comeback!   📌 What You’ll Learn — The hidden cost of “shiny opportunity” overload (and how it fragments leadership focus) — Why “stable” is not the same as “safe” in a cleaning business — The difference between lagging vs. leading indicators (and what to track instead) — How protected availability affects first-time cleans, recurring clients, and growth — What Stephanie’s 2026 revenue goal is and the behavior changes she’s making to hit it   Resources Mentioned — Extreme Ownership book: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057 — ZenMaid Mastermind (Facebook group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind — ZenMaid Cleaning Business 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/   🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: 📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/leadership-mistakes-that-cost-serene-clean-120k/

    52 min
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4.3
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

Welcome to Filthy Rich Cleaners, the podcast that helps cleaning business owners turn their first toilet scrub into a six-figure success story! Hosted by Stephanie Pipkin, founder of Serene Clean, this show is packed with easy-to-follow tips, funny stories, and real advice from people who’ve been there. Whether you’re starting out or looking to grow, you’ll learn the secrets to building a cleaning business that shines – and makes you filthy rich.

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