Lauren J. Williams: Owner and Founder of We Mean to Klean, LLC.
And, if this bio isn't embarrassing enough, here are some photos of good ole' Lauren throughout the years! |
I honestly can not remember a time when I did not clean. I was one of those kids whose mother NEVER EVER cleaned. And, when I mean never cleaned, I MEAN SHE NEVER CLEANED! For instance, I can remember my mom giving my friends and I a ride to the local mall and we'd have to literally sit on piles and piles of paper that were nearly three feet high with fast food bags or college text books mixed in. I was so disgusted over the appearance of the house that, when my friends would come to the door, they were greeted by my big German nose through the door as I would refuse to let them in. If I would let them in, it would only be after I had tossed everything into our upstairs, "junk room", which itself was filled with junk to the ceiling.
My first official job was the summer during my Junior year at Dallastown High School. At the time, my mother worked at the Vo-Tech and had arranged me a posh cleaning job during the summer. Some might theorize that this would have been a fine start to the work force but, no. It was not. I spent the entire summer scraping every single piece of bubble yum from each and every desk seat in that entire building. I vowed manual labor was not for me and opted to enter college after graduating. After graduating with a two year degree from PSU, I accepted a position as a quality engineer and STILL worked a cleaning job on the weekends at the Barnhart's Hospitality Inn. One might think that I preferred my desk job over my motel cleaning job, but not so. I loved cleaning hotel rooms...There were always different guests to talk to and regulars who stayed in the same cramped room year after year. After almost ten years at the hotel, I opted to dwindle down to one job after the birth of my second child. After my third, I opted to stay at home with the kids and decided to return to college for my bachelor's in Business Management. Needing to supplement my income, I opted to return to the profession that had historically given me the most joy and accepted a cleaning position at a local health clinic in the City of York. I worked there almost four years and loved each and every minute of it as I worked with my very best friend. It was the best cleaning and gossiping night after night but after the supervisor demanded me to start taking short cuts to cut the working hours, I had to resign as it compromised the quality of the work we were performing. I missed working with my friends and for a time went through a bout of depression, so I concentrated more on schooling. After a long period of days filled with boredom and soap operas, I opted to strike it out on my own and start my own cleaning business. Without a dime to my name, I pitched the idea to my friends who once again thought I was having one of my many fleeting ideas that I soon would forget. It is scary owning your own business, especially when you have people counting on you. However, I hope my strong commitment to quality and attention to detail that has allowed us to be a bit different from the rest of our competition. We have always vowed to run an ethical company with a strong commitment to service quality. I suppose my quality obsessions comes from the ten plus years I worked within the quality engineering field. To me, cleaning is not done right until it is thoroughly cleaned. Nothing else will do. I pray that we will continue to grow within the York, PA community. I hope this ride never ends, really. I am blessed to work with my best friends, whom I love, adore and respect. My family, who are my backbone and keep me grounded, not to mention sane. I am blessed to love each and every one of my customers, who are simply amazing. Most importantly, I love what I do. Cleaning provides me with an immediate sense of accomplishment and there is nothing more rewarding than feeling accomplished at a job well done. |