Guest: Maxine Goins, Owner of Colonial Cleaning Company

Episode Introduction

Some entrepreneurs build for profit; others build from purpose.

In this episode of The Hook, I talk with Maxine Goins, founder of Colonial Cleaning Company, about turning hardship into leadership, from surviving ovarian cancer to creating one of Williamsburg’s fastest-growing service businesses.

We talk about motherhood, management, and the quiet power of helping people feel seen. Maxine’s story is proof that success can be both strong and soft, and that business done with heart is the kind that lasts.

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A Mop and a Mission

Sarah: You’re listening to The Hook with Sarah Larson. I’m your host, Sarah Larson, and I’m so excited to introduce my guest today, Maxine Goins with Colonial Cleaning. Maxine, welcome.

Maxine: Thank you.

Sarah: Tell us what you do. I think it’s a little bit in the name.

Maxine: Yes, it is. We are a cleaning company. Mostly we do residential home cleaning. We do small offices, and we have an in-house carpet, tile, rug, and upholstery system as well. We started our business in 2009, and we’ve grown leaps and bounds through the years and finally moved into our brick-and-mortar office in Williamsburg last July.

Sarah: That’s so exciting. You were already pretty big by the time I met you, but it’s been really fun to see the growth in the last few years.

Maxine: Yeah, it is great. I know what we do is so beneficial. We help people. I had a lady on the phone with me today telling me, “I could clean my own house, but I don’t want to tell my eight-year-old no on Saturday because I need to clean the toilets.” I know that we’re helpful for people that are trying to save time, busy people, or people that just aren’t physically able anymore.

Sarah: What you do is extremely important.

Maxine: It’s good, because it is giving back and helping people make life just a little easier.

Sarah: Well, let’s go back a little bit. What was growing up like? I know you grew up in West Virginia. Tell me about it.

Maxine: I did. I was born in Beckley, West Virginia, the very southern part of the state, and grew up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. I was one of two girls that grew up with my single mother. She raised us by herself, working in fast food, mainly in fast food as in management. At 14 years old, I was able to start working with her with a worker’s permit, and then I realized how hard she really did work. She worked real hard, and that’s a big part of why I do what I do.

Of course, I’m providing cleaning services for people, but I also am an employer for several single mothers. Not all of them are, but a lot of them are. This job is a perfect mommy job. My whole reason was getting kids on the bus, getting kids off the bus, and making a decent income while I did it. I have two brothers, two sisters, and I love where I’m from. I love West Virginia. Almost everybody that knows me, that is one of the things that they always remember. “Oh yeah, you’re the girl from West Virginia.” I sure am.

Sarah: You grew up with a single mom. How did you end up going off to college? Tell me how that all transpired.

Maxine: From the time I was in high school, I knew that I wanted to do a business. We had a whole wing of our high school that was for, it was kind of like a vo-tech program, but it was for people that wanted marketing/business majors. A lot of the girls did all the office admin type of work, and they got certificates when they graduated for that. I did more of the marketing business end of that. I loved marketing. I loved customer service and hospitality, and I just loved it. I couldn’t imagine doing anything but that. Marketing was my jam.

Then as time went on and I had children, I thought, “I need to find something where I can get these kids on and off the bus every day.” I had three sons, and they were stair-stepped. Nobody could afford to pay for all three of those kids to be in before and after school care. We lived here; we don’t have grandparents here in the area, so I needed to do something unique.

When my oldest son was eight, I decided, “I think I’m going to do my own business.” New Kent, where I live, is very underserved. It is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and one of the fastest-growing counties in the whole nation. So, I knew we needed more businesses, like mine, services to service that area. I thought, “Well, I’m going to start this business in 2009.” Everybody was like, “Don’t do it. The market’s terrible. Don’t do it.” But I did it anyway, and I’ve never looked back, and I’ve been really happy that I did.

At first, they were embracing me. People knew me. They would say, “Oh yeah, give us an estimate.” We would start to clean for them, and then from that, word of mouth just spread. Today, we employ 32 people. That’s a long way.

The Diagnosis That Changed Everything

Sarah: You know what’s interesting is when I first met you and I knew of you, I just assumed that you were like a one-woman show. Meanwhile, you already had, I think, almost 20 employees at the time. But you were so likable and so down to earth. I felt like, “Oh yeah. She just does this on her own.” Then when I found out how big you really were, I was just blown away. You are so very personable, helpful to other business owners, helpful to just people in general. I know a little bit of your history because we’ve known each other for a few years, and I want to talk about the offering that you have where you give away cleanings for people who are going through chemo.

Maxine: Yes. When I was 33 years old, thank goodness I’d already had all my kids, I started having some pains. I had lost a lot of weight at the time, and I was running, and I would have these pains, and they weren’t normal. So, I went to the doctor, and they said, “Nothing’s wrong. Everything looks good.” I said, “Well, can I have an ultrasound?” “No, I don’t really think it’s necessary.” The little voice in my ear was like, “Make them.” I’ve always had the gift of gab, so I said, “Even if I have to pay for it myself, I want an ultrasound.”

Okay, so they scheduled me one next week. The very next week, she was doing the ultrasound. She had done the ultrasounds of my kids, and I knew pretty quickly that something was wrong. It was three weeks before Christmas. I had three young children. Within 72 hours from that ultrasound, I was meeting with oncologists to see if they would even take my case. I had an ovarian cyst that was wrapped in my bloodline, was cancerous. I had to start banking blood for the upcoming surgery.

I remember meeting with my oncologist, and I said, “I’ll be able to go back to work in, like, four weeks or so.” She said, “You know what? I appreciate your optimism. I don’t know that you’ll be alive in six months.” That was a splash of cold water to my face.

But in my heart, I knew that no matter if I lived or if I didn’t, I knew I was okay. I prayed, “Please let me see these beautiful kids be raised, and I know there’s more for me.” After about a 12-hour surgery, I woke up, and this surgery was successful, and they got every bit of it. I remember waking up and her saying to me, “I don’t get to give good news every day, but you’re going to be okay.” “Really?” She said, “Yes.” Had I waited, more than likely it would’ve ruptured, and that would’ve been the cause of my death, not the cancer.

But I made it. So, I really wanted all the time I could have with my kids. Right after that, that’s when I started my business. I remember those days when I was so sick, and I had these little kids. They don’t know that their mom’s sick, and they shouldn’t know. But still, laundry had to be done. Groceries had to be gotten. My husband could not afford to miss work; he had to work. Our parents don’t live here. So, my friends really rallied around me. I had people bringing food. They were doing my laundry for me. They were doing my house cleaning for me, and it was just a huge help.

Once we got into our cleaning business, I knew I wanted to give back, helping other people that are going through that same fight that maybe had that cold glass of water thrown on their face, just give them a little small blessing. What we offer is we take nominations all the time. People reach out to us and they say, “We have a neighbor that she’s just been diagnosed with cancer. She could really use a blessing,” or maybe her husband’s been diagnosed. I had a family out in New Kent County; their daughter was diagnosed, and for two years, we cleaned their house for absolutely for free, because I personally could not imagine being a mother of four kids and one of them being that sick. That’s the least we could do. That’s what we provide. Today, we’ve provided about $50,000, probably over that now, in free cleanings. I don’t do questions asked. If there’s a need there, I want to do it. That’s the reason that is so important to me.

Sarah: I love that. I know that people appreciate that.

Maxine: I wish more would ask for it. So many times, I get nominations, and then when I reach out to the people that were nominated, I think they think it’s a scam. “No, no, there ain’t no way.” I’ve had caregivers say, “Oh no. I’m her sister. I’ll clean her house. You don’t need to come clean it.” And I’ll say, “You know what? Why don’t you allow us to clean the house, and while we’re cleaning that house, instead of you doing it, spend those two hours with your sister? You’ll never get that back. Spend those two hours out painting each other’s nails. Do whatever. Just let us help you just once.” Because the people that take care of someone going through cancer, they’re under an enormous amount of stress. We lost my father-in-law last year from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and it’s stressful for the families. What a blessing for my staff and myself to go in and just make your house clean one time.

Sarah: It’s so nice to come home to a clean home. You didn’t have to slave over.

Maxine: It is. And when you’re a woman, you feel better when your house is clean. As a woman, almost no woman wants to ask someone to help. It’s hard to have people help you. So for us to be able to give that back and help people, I love doing that. That is what we truly love to do. A lot of people have heard of Cleaning For A Reason, which is a wonderful organization. It’s national, and they do that. But I was a part of that, which I had to pay to be a part of it for a few years, and I never got not one recipient. And that I thought, “I don’t have anybody to give to. It bothers me because I know there’s a need, and I want to help.” It’s just something that I love to do.

Leading With Heart

Sarah: You’re just such a generous person. And I don’t mean that in just the financial part of that. You’re generous to other business owners and just people in general. You’re a connector. You’re such a networker. I would say that knowing you is one of the things that got me through.

Maxine: My hope is that I’m in the business to help people that are going through cancer cleanings or their kids are busy or they just need the help cleaning. But my other big “why” is I employ some fabulous people. I’ll tell anybody what makes me successful, what made my dream possible, is the backs of people that work for me. I have people that have been here since I started in 2009. Who stays cleaning for a cleaning company since 2009? These are wonderful, hardworking men and women, and they stay.

I’ve had so many that I’ve seen grow. The lady that cuts my hair used to work for me. There’s a great lady out on New Kent in the Sheriff’s Department. She used to work for me. I helped build her, is my hope. I know that everybody that works for me won’t stay forever. We are a stepping stone into something else, but when they leave me, I hope that it’s not just how to clean that they remember. I hope that’s second nature. I hope it’s how I’ve treated them. I hope I’ve helped them to become better leaders. I have some that have been here, and when they came, they could barely look me in the eye, and now they’re training for me. I’m like, “Wow, look at her. Go.” So, that’s my other big part of my business is inspiring other young people that work for me, and some of the older ones that work for me, just inspiring them and giving them a place to work that hears them, sees them, and appreciates them, because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you do. You want those things when you work for somebody.

Other business owners, I enjoy helping them because I know how lonely it is being at the top. When you don’t have a boss anymore, and it’s just you, who do you go to that pumps you up and helps you stay motivated? For me, it’s been networking. People that I network with, that’s who feeds me in that regard. But still, during COVID and during other times, it’s hard to talk about the struggles and the things that you go through with just anybody. Oddly enough, when you came in today, I was helping somebody in another cleaning company that offers services in a different part of the state, and I was trying to help her through one of those difficult days, because that’s what it takes.

Sarah: I know that’s something that lights you up for sure.

Maxine: It does. It makes me very happy. I’ve always been a leader. I’ve always been a very hard worker. When I was in high school, a business teacher that I had—teachers don’t realize how much maybe one sentence they say to their students, what it might do—I had a business teacher, and I took his classes all four years of high school, and I remember him saying to us, “It doesn’t matter what you do, whether you work at McDonald’s and you’re flipping burgers, or you’re the CEO of some powerful company. To be successful, be the hardest working person in the room, but more than that, surround yourself with people that are better than you are, because that is what makes a successful company.”

I can get customers all day long. I’m good at that. I love it. I loved helping my clients, but I can’t keep them. My staff keeps my clients. I look at these hardworking men and women, and some of them, their kids were two when they came here, and now they’re seniors in high school, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’ve been such a big part of their lives, and they’ve been a big part of mine.” That’s that part of the business world I liked.

When I started my cleaning business, I was good at customer service and I was good at scheduling and that. I was terrible at the accounting part. I still hate that part. But I learned you can hire that out. That’s right. You don’t have to keep doing that. I had to learn the basics because it was beat into me, “You have to at least know what’s going on.”

One thing that I struggled with was management, because I am such a people person and I’m a people pleaser. Management came very hard to me. It was hard for me to delegate and to trust that other people would do what I said to do, or what I had promised a client that we would do. It’s still, it’s been 14 years, and it’s still the hardest part of my job. I take it very serious and personal, like, “Am I a good manager? Have I left my employees feeling better about themselves?” I ask on every review, “What can I do to make this year better for you?”

Sarah: I just love that philosophy. What you said earlier about your employees are the ones who keep your clients. They do. Because I think a lot of employers don’t really consider the fact—they think it’s them that built this company and made it what it is. And yes, of course, it wouldn’t have started if it hadn’t been for that person, but what keeps it going is absolutely the staff. If you’re not a solo entrepreneur, it’s something that I think our poor millennials and Gen Zs get a lot of crap for—not wanting to work or that kind of thing. But I think what happens is, we say, “Oh, their expectations are too high,” or whatever, but really, is it just that we’re not treating them well enough?

Maxine: I think that’s a whole lot of it. For me, has there been times that I’ve lost my cool and I wish I wouldn’t have, or the stress of the business gets to you, and sometimes it comes out in front of your employees, and you shouldn’t have? But I always tell my employees, “A bad day doesn’t make you a bad person.” Losing your cool every now and then is usually just because you’re real passionate about whatever you’ve lost your cool about.

For me, my heart is how I tend to manage. A lot of people will say, “You should not do that,” and I have to say I probably should not always do that, but it is truly who I am. So, I think when you are learning to manage people, you have to do what’s natural to you. Not very many people have employees that before they hang up with you, say, “Love you, boss.” I have a lot of those. They could work anywhere. They’re good enough to work anywhere, but they choose to work for me, just like my clients. There are tons of talented, wonderful cleaning companies in this area, but they choose to do their business with me and with our girls and guys that work here. That is so valuable, and I don’t take that lightly, ever.

I tease. My office manager is my daughter-in-law, and she came from a whole different background, but she’s fallen into this so well, and I see her, and it lights me up because when I see her, I see me 23 years ago, and I see her learning and evolving, and that’s what we’re supposed to do. She didn’t think she was a leader. She’s more quiet, more reserved than I am, but she’s a very good leader in what she is. Better than a lot of people are, including myself at times, is she’s a good listener. To be a good boss, you need to be a good listener. To be in customer service, you’ve got to be a good listener.

Sarah: One of the things that I absolutely love about you is just how authentic you are. You are so Maxine, and you’re not putting on airs. You’re not trying to be somebody that you’re not. You really are just heart on your sleeve, caring person. It shows when you talk about your clients and when you talk about your staff. I love all of that.

Maxine: Anybody that is in business, your business is like a baby. It’s like a kid. So, you’re defensive over that kid, and you’re happy and proud of that kid. That’s a big part of people that are going into business. Be proud of it. Be excited and engage with your staff. My clients see my staff; they don’t see me. My staff sees my clients; they don’t see me. They only see us when they’re picking up their supplies and things, and I get a very minimal amount of communication with them.

Life is hard enough. Having a place to work that is comfortable and is good and that hears you and sees you is what most people want. That’s all they want. I think that is where the real magic will happen in most every relationship, whether they’re in their fifties or they’re 20 years old. I have 19-year-olds that work here. Their drive and their ambition and their perfection of how they treat people and clean amazes me. If that’s the world that we’re going to get, we’re going to be okay.

I tell them that they’re good. I tell them that they’re valuable, and I have worked places, as we all have, that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, you feel like nobody really sees you or appreciates you. When you see a 19-year-old or a 50-year-old that works for me, and I say, “Hey, I just want you to know, you are crushing it. Clients are telling us what a good job you do. They’re requesting you. You keep it up. We love this about you.” And they really like, “Oh, thank you.” And then they’ll work even harder. Of course. And I don’t tell them that if they aren’t doing well. I’ll tell them that too. Like the teachers always did throughout my life and my kids’ life, “What are three things you’re doing good? And what are three things you can improve on?” Nobody just wants to hear the bad all the time. Of course not. Nobody wants to hear that.

Alright. I really like to talk about disruption, as you know, and I want to visit a couple of things that I know were disruptions for you. One, the cancer, obviously. The reason that I want to talk about these things through that lens is because I feel like it inspires other people to figure out how do I get through a situation like that. You talked about that cold splash of water on your face when you were told that you might not make it six months with cancer. What did you do that helped you get through that to the point of the surgery and then finding out that you were going to be okay?

Maxine: I am very much heart on my sleeve. I’m very extroverted. I love to talk, that’s for sure.

Sarah: I don’t think anybody’s going to notice that.

Maxine: No, not at all. That was something that I really withdrew with when I got my cancer diagnosis. I really withdrew. I didn’t want anybody to know. Only my very close circle. I had people that prayed for me. There would be days that my mind would be racing. That’s all you could think about. And I would just start saying the Lord’s Prayer over and over again in my mind, and then all of a sudden, I’d be thinking about something else.

I don’t know how to explain it other than I just knew I was going to be okay either way. I just knew that even if it was my time to go, I felt like I’d still had lived a good life and was leaving the world better than I found it, and hopefully made my parents proud. My siblings all proud. I’m the oldest, so that’s where I get my bossiness from. It comes second nature. I wanted to live to see my kids.

I knew when I came out of it, I was going to be okay. I was lucky enough to be okay. I don’t take for granted that that’s not the case. Ovarian cancer is, they’ll tell you that’s not a young woman’s cancer. It’s not a young woman’s cancer, but it can be. In listening to my body, if I had to tell anybody anything, if they don’t remember anything from this entire podcast, nothing about my business, not my name, not anything: trust your instinct. Do not let a doctor or a family member make you think, “Oh, nothing’s wrong with you. It’s in your head,” because that’s how I felt that day, and I almost walked out of that doctor’s office that day. I believe it. She wasn’t being negligent, but I knew something was up, and I’m so glad that I pushed and got that, or I would not be here.

Sarah: Not everybody has that ability to speak for themselves. And it’s fortunate that you did. I was actually just listening to a podcast on the way here where somebody was talking about that same exact thing. They went to the doctor. They knew that there was something wrong, but their entire life had been told, “You’re a woman. That’s this. You had just had a kid. It’s this.” She had actually gotten far enough to figure out what it really was, but she said, “I went to these doctors, and it’s my body.” 15 or something doctors told me, “No, it’s nothing.” Two of them said, “Well, I believe it’s something, but I just don’t have the answer for you, or don’t have the recommendation.” So, it’s incredible to me to think that our medical professionals are so often just assuming that they know.

Maxine: They always say when you’re going to the doctor, write it down, everything that you wanted to say, because sometimes you get overwhelmed. They’re overwhelmed, and gosh knows they’re overworked now, especially since COVID, and they’re burnt out, just like we all get burnout. Sometimes just having everything written down… I know for me, I have a patient portal where I go. I’ll send my doctor an email in a minute, and I like that, because that way I won’t forget to tell her something.

Sarah: Writing it down is a great suggestion, so that you remember all the things you want to ask. I don’t know what it is. I can remember a lot of things, but I’m better at visuals. So, when somebody’s telling me something medical, and they’re using medical terminology for whatever reason, my brain doesn’t hold it, and it just floats out. And then I get done, and afterward I’m like, “What happened?” Maybe have somebody with you that can hear those things, because my husband has a head for it. He can remember all these medical terms, body parts, and I’m like, “Really? You got all that? Okay.” It just went over my head. And then what do you do afterward? What do you remember to do, all the things that you’re supposed to, or why were the things maybe that you should investigate further after you talked to a doctor?

Maxine: To this day, when I go to my doctor for all my checkups—I don’t have to go to a cancer doctor or anything anymore—but when I go to my regular practitioner, I literally have my little notebook in my purse, and any symptoms I’ve had, or just little kind of bullet points. Sometimes when you do feel like something’s wrong with you, it’s hard to say those things without becoming emotional because you’re afraid. I know as mothers we think that we’re all so brave and we’ve got it all, but sometimes you don’t have it all. And writing it down, I still to this day write my stuff down, and when the nurse comes in, I’ll tell her, and I’ll tell my doctor. They only have time to be with you maybe 10 or 15 minutes. I want to get to the point as quick as I can, so she can better help me. I think most doctors would be like, “Yes, bring your list.”

The cancer really scared me. It changed me. It made me a better mom, for sure. It made me appreciate my family a lot more. Sometimes to this day, when I’ve had a really bad workday or just a bad day in general, I’ll think back to that time, or maybe a client or a friend that’s going through cancer or some other scary medical issue. And I’ll think, “My goodness, if this issue that I’m having today, if this is all I’ve got to worry about, I am one lucky girl.” So, it’s made me more appreciative.

I never dreamed, growing up in a small town, a poor person—I can remember getting in our area, it was called Penny Pinch. Here in this area, I think it’s called more like Christmas Mother or maybe the Salvation Army. I can remember being the recipient of those gifts when I was little. I know that had to have helped my mother so much. I didn’t have to pay for my lunches when I went to school, and I grew up in a different time and a different period than my children certainly have had to. But it made me who I am today. So, when I look at some of the young women that work here, I see them for who they are, trying their very best. This job isn’t easy. It’s hard. It’s not glamorous. A lot of them tell me it’s therapeutic.

Another big need I saw in my business: a year ago, it had been on my five-year plan. We do a lot of move-outs. We have a lot of realtors that trust Colonial Cleaning Company. We’ve been around for a long time. If we say we’re going to be there, we’re going to be there for your move-out. But the problem I was having was getting the carpets cleaned. We have fabulous carpet cleaning companies in this area, top-tier, but most could not handle my demand. We might do 200 move-outs in a season. My move-outs can’t wait four weeks to get on schedule with someone.

There was a carpet cleaning business that I used a lot. They were going out of business. They didn’t want to do this anymore. So, I bought their van, all their equipment. I bought everything. That’s when I brought my middle son in, and he became a certified carpet technician. We do carpet, upholstery, all of that. The biggest part that’s good for me is I can schedule the cleaning to be done, and right after, my carpet technicians come in, and it’s all done in one day, one phone call, one bill. That’s where we’re most helpful. But, of course, some people call us and they just need their couches cleaned or the rugs. We’re not inspired to have four or five carpet trucks, but it is really nice having it all in-house. I have control over it.

Sarah: Control over the timing, which is important to you.

Maxine: It is because, just the other day, I had someone call us, and her moving truck was coming. Her cleaning company that she hired didn’t show up. She asked us to do it, and then she was like, “Oh my gosh, I got here. The carpets are nasty. I don’t know who I’m going to call for that. I don’t have time.” She was very stressed out. I was like, “Well, you happen to call the right number on Google, because we can do it all, and we can do it all tomorrow.”

It’s stressful when people are moving in and moving out, and we can do whatever the client or the realtor needs. Kudos to the realtors in the area. Do they not keep us all going? The housing market—I didn’t realize before I was in this industry. I thought, “Houses are selling or they’re not.” I didn’t realize how they really do move everything. When houses are selling, all of us are making more money.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Pivot

Sarah: One last thing that I want to touch on is the pandemic and how that affected you and your business when everything shut down. I know panic set in because people were calling and canceling cleanings because nobody wanted anybody in their house.

Maxine: That scared me. Oh my goodness. That scared me. To tell you, it was literally like someone punched me in my gut. I knew personally I’d be okay for a little bit without an income, but my employees are not okay without an income, and that freaked me out more than any of it. I will honestly say, for two or three days, I couldn’t even answer that phone. I could not talk. I just couldn’t. I was so afraid of what my employees, more than anything. “What in the world are we going to do with no work? What are we going to do?” So, that’s where networking came in. I had some people that I’ve networked with through the years call me and say, “Hey, little girl,” one in particular, “How you doing?” “Not too good. I’m scared. What in the world am I going to do?” And he said to me, “You know, you’re going to be okay.” “I was thinking about you because this has to be such a shock to you.” Because he’s much older than I am in business. He’s like, “Gosh, you’ve not been through anything like this.”

Maxine: None of us had. But you’re going to be okay. I was like, “I’m depressed. I’m scared.” He said, “Well, you’re not going to do anything by being that way. You’ve got to pull up your bootstraps. You’ve got to engage, and you need to get it together.” I was like, “You’re right. I’m going to get it together.”

Thank goodness we have clients that believed in us and employees that weren’t too afraid. When customers said, “Well, yeah, we really do still need it cleaned.” “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to wear a mask. We’re going to clean our vacuums. We’ll come in with nothing but ourselves and use all of your products.” Because, there again, some people are not able to clean. We take it for granted. Some people, it’s not safe for them to get on their knees and clean around their toilets, but they still need it clean. Now, more than ever, because you can’t have all these germs.

There again, we were lucky because people… if they had Rebecca, they’ve had Rebecca for three years. “Okay, well, Rebecca’s going to come to my house like she always has every Tuesday. She’s going to wear the appropriate amount of things. We will wear it while she’s in our house, and we’re going to get through this.”

So, about a month or so, it was really scary. Then all of a sudden, we got busy again. People were like, “Okay, this is what we’ve got to do.” Then people started having to work from home. Well, guess what? I know from having a home-based business, you’re talking about never having time to do anything working from home.

People say, “Oh, it makes it easy.” Well, you don’t have to drive. That’s the only easy part. Other than that, it’s hard because now there’s no clear definition of lunchtime. There’s no clear definition, “Oh, it’s four o’clock, let me clock out.” I guarantee you most people that work from home log more hours than people that come to the office. At 4:30, I know it’s time for me to leave. But when I was at home, honestly, sometimes it would be eight o’clock, and I’d still be answering voicemails and emails. So, they realized, “Oh, guess what? We’re at home. All my kids are home. I can’t do all of this and clean. Something has got to give here.”

Sarah: Plus, everybody’s home, and they’re all working from home, and it’s dirtier than usual.

Maxine: So, then they welcomed us back in their homes, and I’m like, “Oh my goodness.” So, we had a couple of months there that we did hit a low low, but thank goodness I didn’t give up, and I had faith in my employees and my customers. I had trust, which is wonderful. Then the houses were really selling. Nobody wants to really move into a dirty house. They wanted to move out of all move-outs. They wanted it nice when they moved in. “Okay, well good, now we could go do that.”

Relying on other business owners and friends helped me through that. The pandemic has made me much more likely and better at talking to other business people about the bad stuff. We all want to talk about the good.

Sarah: Well, nobody wants to say that they’re struggling in their business because it’s a shame. It’s the stories we tell ourselves: “I’m terrible because I’m struggling.” But really, if we can be honest with our fellow business owners and tell it like it really is, we can actually get the help we need.

Maxine: We can. I actually was able to be really real, for the first time ever, with a very good friend of mine. She also has a very successful business. Through that pandemic, I was kind of able to share with her some of the struggles that I was going through. Boy, did she help. She put my business on a whole different track because I was embarrassed of the mistakes I had made and the poor planning on my part.

When you come into business, it’s exciting. You’re marketing, you’re doing all of this, but that back end will make or break you. I didn’t understand it like I wish I had when I started. If I was starting out in business today, a brand new business, and I knew nothing again, the first thing I would tell you to do is get yourself a business coach. Do not do it alone. That is a big deal. Even if that coach doesn’t know your business, he or she will be able to link you up and fire you up. Because there are days in the beginning, and even now, you get down on yourself as a business owner.

You truly do. You feel like, “Did I do right by that employee? That employee left; that hurt. Did I do her right? When she left, I made a mistake. I didn’t file something on time.” Networking is how I learned about the P.P.P. It’s how I learned about the EIDL. The people I networked with—my banker stayed on the phone with me to 1:00 AM in the morning to make sure I got my EIDL to keep my employees paid. I could not have done any of that pandemic if I had put myself in a bedroom and not opened the door.

If I was going into business for myself, I’d get a business coach. I would find myself a really good manager of my money, like a banker. It doesn’t have to be an investment person first. Get yourself a good banker that you can trust. A business coach probably can help you with that. Marketing, email, all of that set up. That’s so important because you will become successful much quicker if you have people that can help you. I didn’t know then I could have outsourced my bookkeeping. Let them do it. If you are not good at marketing, outsource that too. Let somebody else do your website. Find out what other people are doing and how it’s worked for them.

I started off at a credit union. That’s who I did bank with forever. Well, finally, they told me, “You know, we really aren’t in the business to support your business. You need something better.” I appreciated that credit union for telling me, “You need better.” They didn’t tell me who to go to; they let that be my decision. But it’s hard because maybe you’re embarrassed. You think your business isn’t doing as good because you don’t have as much capital. More than likely, you’re not alone. I didn’t know about SBAs. I didn’t know there were SBA loans. How you get them, what they’re for. I didn’t know these things, because I didn’t know there were business coaches.

I’ve known you long enough to know that you would be fantastic at what you’re doing now. You are on the right path because you’ve had enough businesses, you’ve networked with enough people that you know what works and what doesn’t, and how to lead them on their way. I feel like my job as an employer and, honestly, what do you think I do all day? I’m a coach. I coach them when they’ve had a bad day, when they’ve had a client that maybe was having a bad day and took it out on them, when they have had a heartbreak in their family, and they feel like they can’t get up and go to work the next day. I am their coach, coaching them along.

I could just talk all day about my clients and my employees. For myself, since the pandemic, I’ve had a hard time getting back into networking again. That’s been a struggle for me, and that’s something that I need to do again because it is something that really fires me up. I love helping other people.

I learned a lot through networking, so I know that I need to get back in it. I think a lot of people in all industries need to get back into networking with each other and just being real. It’s like being a mom. Just be real about it. Everybody wants to put the pictures up on Facebook. We’re going to put the good ones up. But what about the bad days? What about when they’ve spilled a whole box of cereal or it’s really been a hard morning? It’s the same way in business. Every day isn’t peaches and cream. Most days aren’t. But it’s rewarding if you’re doing it for the right thing. For me, I feel like I’ve done the right thing, and I hope that I’m an inspiration for other business owners and for my employees.

Sarah: Well, I will say you are an inspiration for me, so thank you. It’s a blessing to call you my friend and to know you. So, thank you for talking to me today and being on the podcast. Where can people find you on the internet?

Maxine: www.colonialcleaningcompany.net. We are on Facebook and Instagram, and even on TikTok. I never thought I’d be on TikTok, but here I am!

Sarah: Thank you. Thank you so much for being here.

Maxine: Thank you so much.

Key Takeaways

• Purpose is the foundation. Maxine built Colonial Cleaning not just to serve clients but to create flexible, family-friendly work for single mothers.
  
• Listen to your intuition. Her survival story is a testament to trusting yourself even when experts say, “You’re fine.”
  
• Leadership is heart work. True management isn’t control. It’s connection, compassion, and consistent care.
  
• Community keeps businesses alive. From networking calls to fellow business owners who show up at 1:00 AM, success is rarely a solo story.

About Maxine

Maxine Goins is the founder and owner of Colonial Cleaning Company, a Williamsburg-based residential and commercial cleaning service known for professionalism, compassion, and community impact.

Since launching in 2009, Maxine has grown her company from a one-woman operation to a team of over 30 employees, offering both home and office cleaning, as well as in-house carpet and upholstery care.

A cancer survivor and advocate for working mothers, Maxine also provides free cleanings for families undergoing chemotherapy, giving back in the same spirit that once helped her through recovery.

Connect with Maxine: colonialcleaningcompany.net | Facebook | Instagram

Energetic Reflection

Maxine’s energy is pure service. She’s a blend of compassion, grit, and grounded leadership. Her story reminds us that business is never just about the transaction; it’s about transformation for ourselves, our employees, and the people we serve.

When life hands you the impossible, the instinct to give anyway becomes the most powerful frequency of all. It’s the kind of abundance that multiplies through people, purpose, and presence.

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