ISSA, the international association for the cleaning industry, has many facets, one of them being the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International, better known by its acronym, ARCSI. ARCSI is the division of ISSA that specifically serves residential cleaning professionals.
In this episode of Straight Talk!, ISSA Media Director Jeff Cross talks to two of ARCSI’s founding members: Debbie Sardone, the president of Bucket & Bows Maid Service Inc. and owner of Speed Cleaning (both based in Texas), as well as the founder of Cleaning for a Reason, an ISSA Charities™ signature program that provides clean homes for cancer patients; and Tom Stewart, the CEO of Castle Keepers House Cleaning and founder and CEO of MaidCentral Software (both based in South Carolina). Together, they discuss the history of ARCSI and its humble beginnings, including its initial vision for residential cleaning businesses.
During the interview, Sardone recalls her very first experiences with the organization. “I remember, for the first time—in all the years I’d been in business—for the very first time, feeling like ‘I’m not alone. These are my people!’” she says. “And I’m looking around, I’m having these conversations, everyone’s having the same challenges I’m having. Everyone’s struggling with the same problems. All the things that I thought were unique to me and my situation and my market and my employees and my customers—I was discovering wasn’t unique at all.”
It was then that she realized that the residential cleaning industry needed its own community to address these issues, share ideas, hold each other accountable, and work toward improvement, together. “That was really the beginning of a new level of improvement in my own business and my own personal leadership,” she says.
Whether you’ve been in the industry for years or you are just starting out, learn what ARSCI can do to help you and your residential cleaning business by watching the video or listening to the podcast below.
