The Power of Relationships
The early days of MaidSuite, before I truly understood the power of relationships
I am happy to report that Wednesday’s emergency root canal was a success, and I am toothache-free!
Thankfully, it didn’t prevent me from facilitating our team’s quarterly review last week—and what a review it was. We wrapped up our last full quarter of Student Maid being Student Maid. It’s in this next quarter that we officially make our big transition toward our dreams. I’m soaking up every happy and sad moment.
In one part of our quarterly reviews, we always reflect on lessons learned over the last 90 days. One of the lessons that we identified in our meeting is the power of relationships—that you never know how someone you meet today could play a powerful role in your life in the future, and vice versa.
In our meeting, I shared the story of an amazing woman I met when Student Maid began. She wasn’t just any woman: She was the owner of one of Student Maid’s biggest competitors in Gainesville at the time (and still is).
I can’t recall where we were exactly when we met for the first time (it was more than a decade ago, so my memory is a little foggy). But what I remember about that first interaction with absolute certainty is how kind and generous she was. I remember she told me that if she ever had a client who treated her people poorly, she would give me a heads up in case that client happened to come our way so that we could avoid being subjected to poor treatment. I will never forget that she offered that, and it was a promise she kept.
Flash forward a few years. Our team had started a second business called MaidSuite, a scheduling software for cleaning companies. (If you’ve read Permission to Screw Up, you know all about it!) When we were in search of cleaning companies to test our new software, I immediately thought of her. Our team took her to lunch to tell her about our new project. We sat together in a small cafe, and our conversations quickly transcended software. We talked about the challenges of owning a cleaning company, the special parts that make it worth it, the vision we had for each of our companies, and everything in between. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t see her as a competitor. I saw her as a friend.
Sadly, she never got to try our software. We ended up closing the company shortly afterward when my business partner, Josh, suddenly passed away. It was such a devastating time.
I didn’t know it then, but something beautiful was to come of the relationship we built over software. It started with leaning on one another during the pandemic, sharing best practices and safety protocols for each of our companies, and supporting one another as we led in uncharted territory. And then, when we made the decision in January to move away from cleaning, I knew we needed someone we trusted to take over our clients. She was the first person I called.
As I shared the news with her that we wouldn’t be cleaning anymore, I remember how excited she was for us and how proud she was of the choice to follow our hearts. She told me she would be honored to help us in our transition, and we arrived at an agreement that felt beautiful for us both. I’m so grateful she said yes, and I can’t stop thinking about how full-circle this moment truly is. The power of relationships.
As I shared this story in our quarterly meeting, Cheyenne, our Head of Operations, pointed out another full-circle relationship moment at play: I met the second partner who will be serving our clients in this transition by way of a speech I gave last year.
I was asked to speak at the conference of a national cleaning franchise about the ingredients that go into elevating a culture. The event was supposed to be in person, and then… 2020. We decided to do the event virtually, and in the pre-event calls with the founder of the franchise, I remember being blown away by his approach to business and leadership. I could feel his heart and his kindness in every interaction we had, and I had an equally incredible experience with his franchise leaders at the virtual event. But at the time, we hadn’t yet made our decision to move on from cleaning, so I didn’t really think anything else of it.
Fast forward to this year when we realized we would need to have a second partner in our transition due to the volume of clients we have. I thought about someone I might know in the cleaning industry who aligned with our value system, and I immediately thought of the founder of the cleaning franchise. I asked if he could connect me to his Gainesville owner. Within five minutes of talking to the Gainesville owner on the phone, I knew in my heart that we had found our second partner and wouldn’t need to look anywhere else. He shared that he is a Permission to Screw Up fan (how small of a world is that?!), and our first conversation lasted an hour without trying.
And now, here we are.
We have two incredible partners. We seriously couldn’t have dreamt up better ones if we tried. And to think about how we got here… It gives me chills.
And so, I will remind you of the lesson our team was so beautifully reminded of in our quarterly review: Relationships are powerful. You never know how someone you meet today will be in your life tomorrow. You never know the role you might play in someone’s journey, and you never know the role they might play in yours.
Feeling very grateful today and always. May we remember to nurture the relationships in our lives.
Hugs through the screen,
Kristen
PS: Exciting news! We have extended early bird pricing for our brand-new Human Leadership Program through April 15th! It’s a virtual, live program to help you elevate your authenticity and humanity as a leader, and it’s going down on May 5th and 6th. Learn more and get your tickets by clicking here!
PPS: I’m back on with our LIVE this week after several weeks away! Join us Wednesday, April 14th, at 11 a.m. ET! We share everything from news and stories from behind-the-scenes of our pivot to what we’re learning, what we’re struggling with as leaders, and how we’re meeting this unprecedented moment in our history as a company. You can register here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT. It’s the same link each week. Hope to see you there!
