Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

ZenMaid
  • 4.5 (38)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Daily

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 pay for in a consulting call. Honest stories, proven strategies, and tips from people who've built successful cleaning companies, whether you're just starting out or ready to scale. We're here to make you Filthy Rich 💸

  1. 8h ago

    #155: Why Accountability Makes or Breaks Your Cleaning Business

    Two cleaners, the same feedback, but two completely different reactions. This told Stephanie everything she needed to know about who stays and who goes at Serene Clean. In this episode, Stephanie talks about why she views accountability as the single biggest predictor of whether someone will succeed on your team (or in your business). She walks through two active situations in her company right now: a beloved, long-tenured cleaner going through a rough patch who takes full responsibility for her mistakes, and a two-month hire who blames everyone but herself 👀 📌 What You'll Learn — Why accountability is the telltale sign of who will succeed on your team — How to deliver negative client feedback without ruining a cleaner's whole day — Why you should praise in public and coach in private — How the "line of credit" model of trust helps you decide who gets the benefit of the doubt — Why you need to look at actions and see that how people react to stress reveals their real character — When to stop retraining and simply let someone go — How to proactively pull honest feedback from clients who love their cleaner and don't want to complain Resources Mentioned — Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink — ZenMaid service rating features (for collecting internal client feedback) — ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook group — The prior episode on paying for things you didn't break 👉 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/ 📋 Apply to be a guest on Filthy Rich Cleaners: https://get.zenmaid.com/guest-application

    35 min

  2. 2d ago

    #154: Simone Angell on How to Go From Solo Cleaner to Running a Team

    If you're burnt out doing every clean yourself but terrified to hire, you're not alone! In this episode, Stephanie welcomes back Simone Angell of The House Mum to talk about a question posted in the ZenMaid Mastermind: how do you transition from doing all the cleaning yourself to building and leading a team? Simone, who just hit 30 employees running a luxury household-management company in Australia, and Stephanie unpack pricing, hiring, financial transitions, client notes, and the hard conversations.   📌 What You'll Learn — Why a growing waiting list should trigger a price increase (and how that funds your first hires) — How to handle the financial "pie" when you bring on your first cleaner without going broke — Why hiring out of desperation backfires and how to trust your gut instead — How to document client notes so any team member can step in seamlessly — Why you must pay yourself from day one, even if it's only 1% of revenue — How to frame a termination so it lands as kindly as possible — Why employment contracts and kit bonds protect the business you've worked to build — How part-time staff can be just as loyal and dedicated as full-timers   Resources Mentioned — The House Mum (https://housemum.com / @housemumhomeservices on Instagram) — ZenMaid (booking form, scheduling, GPS clock-in/out, digital checklists): https://get.zenmaid.com/ — ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook group (original post by Courtney Burleson, May 14): 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/ 📋 Apply to be a guest on Filthy Rich Cleaners: https://get.zenmaid.com/guest-application

    1h 2m

  3. Jul 2

    #153: How to Handle Damage in Clients' Homes (And Who Pays For It)

    It's not a matter of IF you'll break something in a client's home, but a matter of when 😬 It happens to every cleaning business owner, and in this solo episode, Stephanie talks about things she and her team have broken, damaged, and replaced over seven years at Serene Clean — from a faucet that snapped in her hand to a priceless glass statue that couldn't be replaced. She breaks down who's responsible when staff damages items, why you should never hide it, and how reducing risk in your kit and scope of work protects your business in the long term.   📌 What You'll Learn — Why the employer (not the employee) pays when staff break something — The exact email template Serene Clean uses to notify clients about damage — Why hiding a broken item can quietly destroy your reputation — How to reduce risk by removing harsh products and risky tasks from your kit — When it's okay to stand your ground and refuse to pay for a damage claim — Why charging good rates and carrying insurance protects you when expensive accidents happen   👉 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 📋 Apply to be a guest on Filthy Rich Cleaners: https://get.zenmaid.com/guest-application

    35 min

  4. Jun 30

    #152: Your Gut Is Always Right About Bad Hires, with Lee Anne Chevalier

    Hiring is hard, but firing is harder — especially when it's the first time you have to do it.  In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Lee Anne Chevalier, owner of SerenLumi in Ithaca, New York, just hours after she performed her first-ever employee termination! Lee Anne walks through her decades in cleaning, rebuilding her business from rock bottom after moving states, and the timely story of a manipulative hire who tried to pressure her into committing unemployment fraud.    📌 What You'll Learn — Why "speed of trust" matters and how to extend it like a credit card, not a blank check — How to spot a manipulative hire before they poison your team — Why long-commute employees almost never work out long-term — How to protect your team (and your reputation) when an employee turns toxic — Why building a real brand from day one beats piecing things together — How to re-enter a market as a full brand after starting over   Resources Mentioned — ZenMaid (scheduling software, SOS feature, new app beta, Stripe + Mailchimp integrations): https://get.zenmaid.com/ — The ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind — Serene Clean templates (purchased and adapted for SerenLumi): https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/ — The Filthy Rich Cleaners episode with Cheryl Hajjar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9azk8CrpGE   👉 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/

    1h 5m

  5. Jun 25

    #151: Why 57% of My Interview Confirmations Never Showed Up

    Stephanie used to spend nothing on job listings for years. That's all changed now, and in this solo episode, Stephanie walks through Serene Clean's real numbers behind a month of aggressive hiring. She shares the May 2026 hiring funnel — from applications started to retained hires — and how much she spent on Indeed to get there.    📌 What You'll Learn — Why free job listing hacks on Indeed no longer work — Why Stephanie runs all interviews (group and secondary) on Zoom — What a 57% interview no-show rate really tells you about applicants — The full May hiring funnel: 395 applications started down to 5 retained hires — Why she refuses to call and remind candidates about confirmed interviews — What percentage of revenue to spend on recruiting (0.5–1.5% baseline, 2–4% during growth) — The mindset shift behind being willing to spend money to solve your biggest constraint   Resources Mentioned — ZenMaid Mastermind (Facebook group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind — Indeed job post: https://www.indeed.com/job/daytime-residential-and-commercial-cleaning-technician-23e73d25ef635a46 — Previous episode on group interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzpln5-Z0-A   👉 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/

    34 min

  6. Jun 23

    #150: Why Ashley, My Longest-Tenured Cleaner, Has Never Quit

    Most cleaning business owners obsess over hiring, but few ask the people who actually stay why they stayed. In this in-person episode, Stephanie sits down with Ashley Seekamp, one of her very first hires at Serene Clean and now her longest-tenured cleaning technician at nearly seven years. They talk candidly about what it was like to build the company out of chaos, the growing pains of adding structure, the hard call to fire a beloved employee for theft, and the on-the-job moments that have shaped Serene Clean's policies.   📌 What You'll Learn — Why flexibility, safety, and being backed up by management beat a bigger paycheck for retaining staff — How adding "corporate" structure creates growing pains — Why you can't hire "hot bodies" and hope for the best — How to coach staff through trusting their intuition on unsafe client situations — The check-in process that makes employees feel like a person instead of just a number on the payroll — Why theft is a non-negotiable, no-second-chances firing  — How good employees notice when you hold the line — The real skill behind professional cleaning that outsiders never see   👉 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/

    1h 10m

  7. Jun 18

    #149: How We Raised Prices AND Got Our Highest Close Rate in Years

    Owners are often terrified to raise prices, and Stephanie Pipkin completely understands why. In fact, her team, including Serene Clean's Customer Relations Manager, Katie, just did it across the board, but they came out with their highest close rate in years. In this special in-person episode, Stephanie sits down with Katie to break down the whirlwind of May: a price increase on 72 existing clients, a full switch from hourly to flat-rate pricing, built-in travel fees, and autopay. They talk about Serene Cleans' numbers and why they believe framing a price matters far more than the number itself.   📌 What You'll Learn — How to roll out a price increase without losing the clients you want to keep — Why switching from hourly to flat rate made selling easier, not harder — The psychology of why long-term clients resist increases more than new ones — How to build travel fees into one simple price (the "Amazon free shipping" trick) — Why every hour of labor has to work as hard as possible when staffing is your constraint — How "priority cleans" replaced "limited hour cleans" to kill the time conversation — The production-rate auditing system that flags every job over or under target in 15-minute increments   Resources Mentioned — ZenMaid Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/ — Serene Clean website: https://serene-clean.com — ZenMaid Mastermind (Facebook group): 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/

    1h 9m

  8. Jun 16

    #148: ZenMaid's Vision for the Maid Service Industry, with CEO Amar Ghose

    ZenMaid wants to be more than your scheduling software. In this episode, Stephanie sits down again with Amar Ghose, CEO of ZenMaid, to talk about how ZenMaid is thinking about the maid service industry and the problems it's setting out to solve. They talk about using AI as a thinking partner instead of a decision-maker, the new tools coming out of ZenMaid (MaidPop, the customer portal, and a training/onboarding app), an exercise that helps owners design genuine customer delight, and more!   📌 What You'll Learn — Why giving AI more context beats short, Google-style questions (and how to start using voice notes to do it) — How to use AI as a thinking partner to find your blind spots — without outsourcing the actual decision — The "12-star experience" exercise for designing customer delight at every level of your business — Why "I can just do that" is one of the most dangerous phrases an owner can say — How MaidPop captures website leads in about two minutes of setup — Why the best companies use best-in-class tools instead of one all-in-one platform — Three books worth reading: The Goal, The Algorithm, and Incorruptible   Resources Mentioned — MaidPop: https://www.maidpop.io/ — Apply to be a guest on Filthy Rich Cleaners: https://get.zenmaid.com/guest-application — The Goal: 40th Anniversary Edition: A Process of Ongoing Improvement: https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951 — The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors, and SpaceX: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Hypergrowth-Formula-Transformed-Lululemon/dp/B0FFG5KFSK — Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great: https://www.amazon.com/Incorruptible-Good-Companies-Great-Stay/dp/B0FWZZBPZB   👉 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/

    1h 12m
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4.5
out of 5
38 Ratings

About

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 pay for in a consulting call. Honest stories, proven strategies, and tips from people who've built successful cleaning companies, whether you're just starting out or ready to scale. We're here to make you Filthy Rich 💸

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