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You Still Need the Grit and the Blue-Collar with Ricky Regalado (Video Podcast)

3/31/2022

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I want to thank Bernie Villalpando on the Rozalado Team for his tremendous editing work to bring this audio interview to the next level. Thank you Bernie and Ricky!

I have been fortunate to interview several visionaries in our industry over the past year. This interview with Ricky Regalado was different. He is such a visionary that he inspired me to do greater things in this amazing industry. Take the time to listen to this one all the way through and then listen again. You will not be disappointed.
The first portion of the interview covers Ricky's upbringing and deep family ties. This is where you start to feel the deep sense of connection that he has to the blue collar workforce in America. In the second portion of the interview, we shift gears and talk about the cleaning industry and where it's going. We covered the integral values of  hard work, grit, and perseverance that founded our country and is not being taught like it used to. In the final portion of the interview, Ricky shares his vision for the cleaning industry and how we can be a part of rebuilding America.

Here are a few notes and quotes that stand out from this interview.

"If we were going to make this work, there wasn't enough time to have a social life because we had a vision. At some point, we'll be working on this business and not in it."
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"Love it or hate it, you don't get a 10x return on a blue collar business. You get a 10x on a technology company or an invention."

"A trend isn't a short amount of time. That's a risk, a high risk and can turn around on you as fast as it went up."


Where does this generation learn grit and develop a backbone? We learned it from our baby-boomer parents and grandparents, who watched their parents and grandparents survive the Great Depression. We learned it from our immigrant parents who scrapped for everything they had. We learned it from our single moms who had no other way but up.

This industry is so poised to keep growing. We're foolish not to capitalize. Ricky is getting letters from private equity firms all the time offering to buy his company. These firms see the marketplace and see commercial cleaning as recession proof and pandemic proof. For the first 5 years, Ricky didn't like being known as a cleaning service owner. It wasn't glamorous. Now, he shouts his business with confidence and excitement. It generates responses like. "Ooh, I need a cleaning company."

There have been 30,000 new cleaning companies formed from 2006 to 2018. That number nearly doubled in 2020 to 52,000 and 2021 is likely more than 2020.

"I feel like they need to know what it is to walk in the shoes of a cleaning technician before any other thing cause then they'll get that humility." Ricky requires every employee of the company at every level must spend their first 30 days in the field cleaning. "The greatest generals started with basic training."

Ricky's Business Growth (Year to Year)
2012 $80k Coverall
2013 $250k Coverall
2014 $600k Coverall
2015 $800k Coverall Sold, $0 Rozalado
2016 $1.8M Rozalado
2017 $2.4M Rozalado
2018 $4.8M Rozalado
2019 $6M Rozalado
2020 $9M Rozalado
2021 $10M++ Rozalado

Ricky's Vision for our Industry
Rozalado is currently at the top 1% in our industry. 9% of the general labor (blue collar) workforce comes from cleaning & maintenance industry! Think of it this way. 9 of every 100 blue collar workers in the US are working for cleaning & maintenance companies. That is mind-blowing. Ricky believes very deeply that he can make a sizeable impact on the American labor force by strengthening cleaning companies. It goes back to the way of life he grew up in. All Ricky knew was blue collar and now he is able to raise the standard of living for the very people he represents through the most unlikely of businesses.

"We are a piece  to the foundation of America... is our industry. I just want to do everything I can to impact it so that when people say blue collar, they think of money versus grind, dirty, and not much money.Right now, you think of white collar you think of suits, sit at a desk, technology... you kill it.  Blue collar is the foundation of America. If we lose the trade industry or services, America is going to shudder. You can't live on high-rise and luxury and smart buildings and this and that. You still need the grit and the blue collar."

You can connect with Ricky Regalado through his technology company Route, listen to his podcast Cleaning & Cocktails, and grow your cleaning business with his Janitorial Store.
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Chasing Freedom... a Month in Puerto Rico!

7/2/2021

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Get Business Owner Mindset

6/18/2021

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A few months ago, I ran a Facebook Live Q&A for one of my Smart Cleaning School paid memberships. We covered several topics. This one was short, but powerful. There is a common complaint about our feelings. "I don't feel like doing my business" or "I can't get motivated to grow". I address the proper business owner mindset around this common internal dialogue

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The Power of Podcasting

6/4/2021

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First off, I would like to thank my chamber executive director, Steven Hunsberger for the opportunity to share this information with the Indian Valley Chamber on April 20th, 2021! Secondly, I want to thank Michelle Kane of Voice Matters and co-host of the Solo PR Pro Podcast for co-leading this webinar for our chamber. The feedback was excellent and we were honored to share the information

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Teaching Your Kids to Clean Your House

5/21/2021

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I did this interview with Angela Brown of Savvy Cleaner last year and thought it was a great time to share it with you. The kids are getting out of school and starting to see freedom for the summer. Not quite! How about this idea. You're a professional cleaning company owner. Why not teach them how to clean their own house as we did. Angela is a pro and asks some great questions to steer the conversation toward mindset and application. Hopefully, you'll find this helpful!
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How Not to Invest in Yourself!

5/7/2021

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In a recent Facebook Live for the Solo Cleaning School Elite, I shared a story about a cleaner named "Bob" who had the correct intent but the wrong execution. Bob wanted to grow his business with employees to have more time with his family. This is a noble goal and one I can absolutely get behind. Bob was willing to invest in himself to speed up the process of his goal. This is also an excellent mindset, one which many successful entrepreneurs agree.

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Optimizer's Workshop with Heather Parke

4/16/2021

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This video comes from an Optimizer's Workshop that I did with Heather Parke from Heather's Housekeeping (Ogden, UT) in March 2021 for my Solo Cleaning School Elite membership. The full workshop was 90 minutes. This is a 15-minute clip that Heather gave me permission to share. 

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Don't Neglect your Relationships!

4/2/2021

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This video comes from an Expert Call I did for the SMART Cleaning Tribe Membership in February 2021. I invited a long-time friend of mine, Billy Altman, to help members of the Tribe with various relationship-related questions. We covered the importance of building healthy relationships, tips to avoid neglecting those important to you, and how to effectively implement healthy boundaries in your family, friendships, and teams. This 90-min expert call was incredibly helpful. Billy and his wife Rebecca operate The Altman Crew. They have worked in family ministry with FamilyLife for over a decade and have been instrumental in helping dozens of families thrive in their relationships

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The Speed of Action

3/19/2021

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This video comes from a Facebook Live I did for the Solo Cleaning School Elite Membership in February 2021. Carrie wanted to know how much time to invest in online marketing.
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Follow-Up Tips for Recommendation Letters

3/5/2021

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This video comes from a Facebook Live I did for the Solo Cleaning School Elite Membership in February 2021. Carrie was interested in acquiring recommendation letters from current clients to help her get new clients. However, the client is dragging their feet and Carrie feels awkward following up.

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    Author

    The Smart Cleaning School helps cleaning business owners from start-up to the struggling solo to the striving seven-figure get SMARTER in their businesses, reshape their mindset, increase productivity, clear the overwhelm, and get clarity through SMART goal-setting & personal accountability. Ken Carfagno is a lifetime learner and teacher. His mission is to help visionaries make the impact they were meant to make.

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