188. Tired of Toxic Home Products, She Became the Martha Stewart of Green Cleaning

“In a land far, far away, 25 to 30 years ago, I decided to get out of the corporate world and start a home cleaning service. I thought, what am I really good at? I can clean…OK, I’ll do that for money. I built up a huge business, but this was 25 years ago when we didn’t realize how dangerous the products were that we were using.”

“We used a product back then called Boraxo. It would clean anything. I would be using it on nine or 10 showers a day. After doing that awhile, I got really sick. It broke down my immune system.” At that point she decided to find safer products that would work. But she had doubts. “I’m a professional, I can’t just be using vinegar! It can’t really work! So, I went and rewrote the book on cleaning, using things my great-grandmother told me she cleaned with. They work really, really well! And, they’re healthy. They’re made out of stuff you can eat! “

“Looking back, I can see that the work I did earlier in life—at those times when I was asking myself, ‘What is all this for?’—all prepared me for the work I’m doing now. Even getting sick from using toxic cleaning products led me to where I am now.”

1. Have the courage to be ahead of the times. Green cleaning used to be considered “way out there.”

2. Do what you love because the money will come.

3. Doing what you love, you can find that niche where you are valuable to somebody.

4. Help somebody else get what they want and you’ll get what you want.

The Joy of Green Cleaning – Kitchen Edition, by Leslie Reichert