Whitesill started with one cleaner in Wash Park
Marisol Ortega cleaned houses on her own from 2008. In 2014 she hired Yesenia, named the company after the one rule she never dropped, and kept the rule while Whitesill grew to 31 people.
The rule
Marisol’s first clients were three houses on South Franklin Street. One belonged to a retired schoolteacher who ran a finger along the window sill after every visit and said nothing if it came back clean. Marisol started checking the sills herself before she left. Then she started photographing them.
When Yesenia joined in 2014, the photo became the rule and the rule became the name. Every team lead still wipes a sill with a white cloth at the end of a visit and texts you the photo. It takes forty seconds, and it is the simplest proof we know that the boring parts got done.
We are still small on purpose: 13 teams, one office on South Pearl, no franchise. Growing slowly lets us keep teams together, which is the thing clients tell us they care about most.
I would rather turn down a new client than split up a team that works.
Marisol Ortega, owner
How we hire and pay
Background check before the first shift
Every hire, through a national screening service, kept on file.
Two weeks of paid training
New cleaners work beside a team lead before they clean on their own. Kayla runs the program.
$23.50 an hour to start, plus tips
Paid drive time between houses, paid time off from the first month and workers’ comp.
Same teams, on purpose
We schedule around our teams. Recurring clients see the same two people every visit.
Supplies we choose and pay for
HEPA vacuums, color-coded microfiber and fragrance-free products, restocked every evening.
Cleaning since 2008
Marisol Ortega
Owner
Still cleans one day a month so she remembers what the job is like. Wrote the checklist and the sill rule.
Joined 2015
Yesenia Cruz
Team lead
First person Marisol hired. Trains every new team lead and handles the houses with the most rules.
Joined 2017
Tess Lindgren
Office manager
Answers the phone and the texts, and knows which clients want a call and which want a text.
Joined 2016
Kayla Brandt
Trainer and team lead
Runs the two-week paid training. Has strong opinions about shower glass.
Joined 2018
Abdi Hassan
Team lead, move-outs and offices
Handles most of our move-outs and the after-hours office routes.
Joined 2019
Andre Whitfield
Scheduling and operations
Builds the route every morning so teams stay together and nobody crosses I-25 twice.
Insurance and paperwork
$2 million in general liability, a janitorial bond and workers’ comp for every employee. HOAs and property managers often ask for a certificate. We email it the same day.