Title: Owner

Company: Monaghan Cleaning Service

Location: Phoenix, Az.

For 12 years, Marisa Monaghan has served as owner of the Phoenix, Az. cleaning company, Monaghan Cleaning Service. There, she schedules appointments, grows her customer-base, hires, networks, and oversees the equipment storage and usage. In five years, Ms. Monaghan intends to become removed from the physical labor. She plans to work in an office organizing the schedules and sending the girls out, rather than going out herself.

Ms. Monaghan attributes 14-years of success to providing clients with services that she would be satisfied with herself. She is also driven to do a great job in order to provide for her family. She became involved in her profession while working for someone else, but realized that she knows how to do the job, speak English (which is a tremendous benefit in this business where many of her competitors do not speak the language), and decided she should do it herself. Ms. Monaghan started with just one customer, and eventually her business grew primarily from word-of-mouth recommendations, and she needed to hire help. She now has more than 400 clients.