Ammanda Juriga

I’ll never forget the time I moved out of my first real "grown-up" house. You know the feeling: you’ve spent three days living out of boxes, your back hurts from lifting that "antique" dresser that’s actually just heavy MDF, and you’ve eaten cold pizza for three meals straight. I remember standing in the middle of my empty living room, looking at the dust bunnies the size of tumbleweeds that had been hiding under the sofa for five years. I had two hours before the new owners arrived to pick...

I remember sitting at my kitchen table a few years ago, staring at a stack of invoices and a cold cup of coffee. I was exhausted. My back ached, my phone wouldn't stop buzzing with client requests, and honestly? I felt like I was running on a treadmill that was moving just a little bit faster than I could keep up with. I knew I was a good cleaner. I knew my clients loved the work. But I was stuck in "survival mode." I was busy, sure, but I wasn't actually building a business: I was just...

I was sitting in a local coffee shop in Barrie the other day when I overheard a conversation that made me want to jump out of my seat. It was a local business owner, let’s call him Dave, complaining to his friend about his "cleaning lady." Dave was frustrated because he’d just had a surprise visit from a health and safety inspector, and he couldn’t prove when his bathrooms were last cleaned. He was scrambling, his cleaner didn’t have a log, and he was stressed out about potential fines. If...