How Is Solid Service Built?
Patiently. One Block At A Time.
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THE STORY BEHIND HOME CLEAN HOME
Along the fortified walls of Old San Juan ran the imagination of a wide-eyed kid every time he held sight of them. The old city by the sea never failed to enchant the young Samuel Mejía (pronounced meh-HEE-ah) during his visits with his family. As a boy, he was thrilled to see the fortresses that safeguarded the city for centuries and are cherished by many. They are the beautiful La Fortaleza and her two fearsome brothers, El Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal. Standing on El Morro's battlements to view the ocean, he imagined cannon-fire spectacles between the stone stronghold and intruding sail ships. (https://youtu.be/rxTXCU2n-lc; https://youtu.be/c-6iCyIdtWM) Growing up during the 1980s in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, he spent hours drawing characters from his imagination, finding inspiration while listening to Van Halen on cassette or movie soundtracks on vinyl. Although running a business was a foreign idea to him at the time, it wouldn't be long before he would start laying the blocks of customer service along his path. |
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At the age of 16, Samuel moved to Georgia and settled in North Decatur. After graduating from Shamrock High School in 1990 he attended DeKalb Technical Institute (presently GA Piedmont Technical College) to study mechanical drafting. He then moved to upstate New York to work as a volunteer for a nonprofit educational organization, where he spent 3 years learning the value of service and hard work. He later settled in northern New Jersey and formed a family of his own. While supporting his wife and baby girl, he learned more about customer service from two very different lines of business, each providing valuable lessons that would shape Home Clean Home's service to its clients.
In early 1996, Samuel became a delivery driver for Coffee Associates, Inc., a coffee-roasting company serving restaurants in New York City and the tri-state area. Samuel acknowledges, "I quickly learned that timely response and building rapport with customers were key to building customer satisfaction. Getting to places in New York City traffic can be a challenge but it was especially for me because I was new to the area." Many restaurants and cafés relied on the company's superb coffee to keep customers returning to them so delivering the coffee in a timely manner was absolutely essential. With Manhattan's street parking at a premium, he would double-park his van and deliver between 50 to 200 pounds of coffee to the restaurant's basement, finalize the transaction and run back to his van before NYPD could pin a ticket on his windshield. Less busy restaurants allowed more time to build more rapport with the customer. With no GPS in those days, he peered into paper maps to find his way across New York and New Jersey. The job proved a great way for Samuel to deliver satisfaction through his customer service. In time, he was promoted to Assistant Plant Manager where he managed inventory, equipment orders and loading of delivery vans. After 4-1/2 years with Coffee Associates, he chose to seek a larger opportunity.
Weeks after he was hired by Bell Atlantic in summer of 2000, the company merged with GTE and formed Verizon. He worked as a sales and service consultant in the landline division. As landlines continued disappearing through the early 2000s, Samuel's job entailed closing sales of Verizon's newly developed FiOS (fiber-optic service) throughout the mid-Atlantic region. But he often noticed how corporate's preoccupation with spearheading the business actually isolated it from customers, a paradox that resulted in obliviousness to some customer needs and a slower response to employee feedback. Always keen on customers' concerns, Samuel learned to listen to customers, serve them and make them feel valued. He appreciates the valuable experience earned at the company while also understanding why many large businesses have limitations with customer service. After 14 years at Verizon, Samuel says, "An important lesson I took away was how the intimacy of a small business is better suited to serve a community. It became clear to me that a business strengthens its clients' trust when the leadership engages meaningfully in handling people's concerns, as opposed to solely assigning that responsibility to its workers."
After widowing, it took time for Samuel to realize the need to focus on his teenage daughter. After some time, he sought support to help himself and his daughter. At this pivotal juncture, he resolved to do what was necessary to pay off his debts and start a new life. In pursuit of a clean slate, Samuel made the decision to return to Decatur. In 2014, his father and brother-in-law drove up to Jersey to help him load his rental truck. He felt grateful to God as he drove into Georgia with his daughter.
Contemplating the idea of working for himself, he sought a way to provide a low-tech service to busy people. While employed as a painter, he asked a couple he knew about their work. They had cleaned homes for years. Intrigued, he asked to join them for 2 days in order to observe them at work. They kindly obliged him. That experience was enough to convince him that this was the path he'd been looking for. He researched cleaning techniques and the goal of becoming self-employed. At first, he sought clients by going house-to-house, leaving business cards and asking those who hired him for referrals. Eventually, he established Home Clean Home in 2016 and formed a team, a group of hard-working friends that are like family. Besides managing the business, he chooses to participate in the cleaning work. This leading style has helped him to better understand the workers' perspective and provide knowledgeable guidance that they can appreciate.
Having served people for nearly 30 years in nonprofit and business, Samuel is happy to serve Atlanta's communities, bringing satisfaction to his clients with the help of the Home Clean Home team. In hindsight, he realizes that El Morro revealed to him the secrets of what makes a great service. To begin, it must be well-thought out. To endure, it must be constructed carefully and improved upon any vulnerabilities. If people are to feel at ease and protected, it must prove itself under challenges. These are the accomplishments of any great service. And, in time, people will even be drawn to cherish it.
In early 1996, Samuel became a delivery driver for Coffee Associates, Inc., a coffee-roasting company serving restaurants in New York City and the tri-state area. Samuel acknowledges, "I quickly learned that timely response and building rapport with customers were key to building customer satisfaction. Getting to places in New York City traffic can be a challenge but it was especially for me because I was new to the area." Many restaurants and cafés relied on the company's superb coffee to keep customers returning to them so delivering the coffee in a timely manner was absolutely essential. With Manhattan's street parking at a premium, he would double-park his van and deliver between 50 to 200 pounds of coffee to the restaurant's basement, finalize the transaction and run back to his van before NYPD could pin a ticket on his windshield. Less busy restaurants allowed more time to build more rapport with the customer. With no GPS in those days, he peered into paper maps to find his way across New York and New Jersey. The job proved a great way for Samuel to deliver satisfaction through his customer service. In time, he was promoted to Assistant Plant Manager where he managed inventory, equipment orders and loading of delivery vans. After 4-1/2 years with Coffee Associates, he chose to seek a larger opportunity.
Weeks after he was hired by Bell Atlantic in summer of 2000, the company merged with GTE and formed Verizon. He worked as a sales and service consultant in the landline division. As landlines continued disappearing through the early 2000s, Samuel's job entailed closing sales of Verizon's newly developed FiOS (fiber-optic service) throughout the mid-Atlantic region. But he often noticed how corporate's preoccupation with spearheading the business actually isolated it from customers, a paradox that resulted in obliviousness to some customer needs and a slower response to employee feedback. Always keen on customers' concerns, Samuel learned to listen to customers, serve them and make them feel valued. He appreciates the valuable experience earned at the company while also understanding why many large businesses have limitations with customer service. After 14 years at Verizon, Samuel says, "An important lesson I took away was how the intimacy of a small business is better suited to serve a community. It became clear to me that a business strengthens its clients' trust when the leadership engages meaningfully in handling people's concerns, as opposed to solely assigning that responsibility to its workers."
After widowing, it took time for Samuel to realize the need to focus on his teenage daughter. After some time, he sought support to help himself and his daughter. At this pivotal juncture, he resolved to do what was necessary to pay off his debts and start a new life. In pursuit of a clean slate, Samuel made the decision to return to Decatur. In 2014, his father and brother-in-law drove up to Jersey to help him load his rental truck. He felt grateful to God as he drove into Georgia with his daughter.
Contemplating the idea of working for himself, he sought a way to provide a low-tech service to busy people. While employed as a painter, he asked a couple he knew about their work. They had cleaned homes for years. Intrigued, he asked to join them for 2 days in order to observe them at work. They kindly obliged him. That experience was enough to convince him that this was the path he'd been looking for. He researched cleaning techniques and the goal of becoming self-employed. At first, he sought clients by going house-to-house, leaving business cards and asking those who hired him for referrals. Eventually, he established Home Clean Home in 2016 and formed a team, a group of hard-working friends that are like family. Besides managing the business, he chooses to participate in the cleaning work. This leading style has helped him to better understand the workers' perspective and provide knowledgeable guidance that they can appreciate.
Having served people for nearly 30 years in nonprofit and business, Samuel is happy to serve Atlanta's communities, bringing satisfaction to his clients with the help of the Home Clean Home team. In hindsight, he realizes that El Morro revealed to him the secrets of what makes a great service. To begin, it must be well-thought out. To endure, it must be constructed carefully and improved upon any vulnerabilities. If people are to feel at ease and protected, it must prove itself under challenges. These are the accomplishments of any great service. And, in time, people will even be drawn to cherish it.
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