From cleaning blinds to 100+ homes.
This isn't a marketing story. It's a real one — about a Peruvian woman who arrived in Jacksonville with no English, a vacuum, and a stranger who believed in her before she did.
The Arrival
My husband served in the Marines for 25 years. His final station was Camp Lejeune.
We had moved across the country more times than I could count. When the retirement papers were signed, we sat on the porch of a small house in Jacksonville and decided this would be home. Not because we'd planned it — but because, after years of moving, this town felt quiet. Steady.
"After two decades of military bases and packed boxes, we just wanted somewhere we could plant a flag and stay."
I didn't know what came next for me. My English wasn't strong, my degree from Peru wasn't recognized, and I was 40-something starting over. So I did what felt natural: I took a job at a Colombian restaurant downtown, serving food, washing tables, keeping busy.
The Encounter
One Tuesday afternoon, I was wiping the blinds in the restaurant — slat by slat — and a regular customer sat watching me from her booth.
She had come in for coffee. She didn't say anything for a while. Then she walked over.
"Florecita — why don't you start your own cleaning business? You're really good at this."
She called me Florecita — little flower. The name stuck. I told her I was scared. My English was bad. I had no idea how a business worked. She squeezed my arm and said she'd be my first client.
A Vacuum and Flyers
That night, I told my husband what she had said. He looked at me for a long second.
"Try it. I'll give you the money for a vacuum and some flyers."
He'd believed in me through 25 years of deployments and PCS moves. He wasn't going to stop now. I called two Peruvian friends who'd worked in cleaning back home — they walked me through the basics, what to charge, what supplies to buy, how to talk to clients with my limited English.
April 2013
On a quiet Tuesday in April 2013, the paperwork was filed. K's Cleaning Solutions LLC was officially born.
That first year I had two or three clients — all friends of hers. I drove between houses in our family minivan, vacuum in the back, flyers in the passenger seat in case someone asked.
Word Spread
Her neighbors started calling. Then their neighbors. Then Mr. Ray Evans — a RE/MAX broker — asked me to clean a house he was about to list.
He liked what I did. He started referring me to every realtor in his office. Then to every client buying a home, because they always needed a move-in clean. Then to military families coming through Camp Lejeune for PCS turnovers.
"Mr. Ray didn't just send me clients. He told them — 'this is Florecita, she'll take care of you.' And they did, because he did."
- Y1 2013-2014 3 clients. Just me and a vacuum.
- Y3 2016 15+ recurring clients. First employee hired.
- Y6 2019 DBIDS clearance for Camp Lejeune approved. Move-Out specialty grows.
- Now Today 100+ recurring clients. 10-person team. Camp Lejeune approved.
Today
Today there are ten women on our team. Most of them are mothers. Some are military spouses whose own husbands are still deployed. Two are family — my husband and my cousin work alongside us.
- 13+ Years in Jacksonville
- 100+ Recurring clients
- 10 Team members
- DBIDS Camp Lejeune cleared
We treat every home like our own. We treat every client like she once treated me — with patience, dignity, and the assumption that they deserve our best work.
"I feel satisfaction because I love what I do — and because every home we leave looks beautiful."
We'd love to take care of your home, too.
The same hands that cleaned blinds in 2013 — guided by the same standards, just multiplied across a team — are ready for you.
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