Meet Sherine Harivandi | The Ugliest Cleaning Lady LLC, Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sherine Harivandi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sherine, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was going through a major transition in my life and wanted a job where I could keep to myself, pick my own hours and still earn a decent wage. I came up with an idea to run a Craigslist ad offering cleaning services at low rates to gain experience. A few hours later while I was munching on Doritos and scrolling my phone, I got my first inquiry via text message. I thought the first message was a prank as it seemed too good to be true to already have a customer! I ended up cleaning that man’s house and later, his mother hired me to clean her house. While I was cleaning his mother’s house, she referred me to a friend of hers from church. I started to feel flattered by the referrals and the nice text messages thanking me for cleaning, I had never felt this good about myself in my entire life. I realized then that this temporary side hustle was about to become a real business!

What should our readers know about your business?
The Ugliest Cleaning Lady LLC is a small cleaning business that was formed by a Fort Collins native (me!) in 2018 (originally under the name Clean by Sherine). We now have a small team of 6 employees currently servicing the Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley area.

The cleaning has always been easy and fun, but running a small business during a pandemic and after inflation hit hasn’t been as easy or fun! We temporarily paused services for public safety until vaccinations became readily available and that was a very difficult time for me. My business was fortunate enough to receive covid relief, but seeing your calendar go from full to empty in an instant was a little unnerving. I have the type of personality that enjoys a bit of chaos though and never once considered returning to a “regular job.”

Our challenges after reopening have been keeping the cleaning rates low enough for our clients while still delivering a 5-star service, and also keeping the wages high enough for our hardworking team. Everyone wants a top to bottom luxury clean, but not everybody wants to pay the price for the several hours of labor needed to acheive those results. My job as a small business owner is to find creative solutions. I offer different cleaning packages at different price points so that our clients are in full control of their own services and rates. We work with every type of budget and can rotate certain cleaning tasks to keep costs down!

The Ugliest Cleaning Lady is passionate about mental health, which I think sets us apart from the others. We run advertisements intended to reach people who feel overwhelmed, and want our clients to know that this is a no-judgment zone. We offer free cleaning services to individuals who are facing challenges maintaining a clean home and hope that our services are helping reduce stress in our community.

I am so excited for all that 2023 has in store! I look forward to meeting more amazing clients and seeing their uniquely beautiful homes, petting so many cats and dogs, hiring new awesome team members and spritzing Mrs. Meyer’s everywhere I go!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Let’s start the day at The Silver Grill for brunch, definitely not breakfast because I am not an early riser! I recommend the veggie benedict for a perfectly poached egg. After brunch, we can look at the shops in Old Town Fort Collins. I love the clothing and accessories found at Cira Ltd in Old Town Square. When we are through shopping, we can head to The Lyric Cinema for a matinee. At that point, I would probably be heading home but I would tell my friends to go get a drink at the underground bar Ace Gillett’s Lounge. My favorite spot for dinner is Tasty Harmony, their vegan food is some of the best I have EVER had — even the meat lovers I know are impressed by Tasty Harmony.

If my friends are visiting during the summer, I would highly recommend they ride the trolley by getting a ticket at City Park. I would tell them to go swimming at City Park Pool when the trolley returned them!

I love Totally 80’s Pizza for lunch! As an 80’s lover, having an 80’s museum and pizzeria in my hometown is like living inside of a dream. The pizza is so delicious and the 80’s music playing while you play Pacman is just *chef’s kiss*!

Rollerland is so fun and the snackbar is actually pretty good!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
One of my first clients named Erica Hall has become one of my biggest supporters and best friends. I was actually extremely nervous when I did the consultation for her house, little did I know that she would become like a sister to me! Erica first hired me to clean her house nearly five years ago. Since then, she has become my biggest support system for expanding my business. Erica allows me to use her house to train my employees, helps promote my business to everyone she knows, and has even let me borrow money to cover the costs of expansion! Without Erica’s friendship, I would probably still be cleaning independently. Her support gave me the confidence to hire employees and I cannot thank her enough. Thank you, Erica! In addition to Erica’s support, ALL of my clients have been so wonderful and supportive!

Website: theugliestcleaninglady.com

Instagram: instagram.com/theugliestcleaninglady

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theugliestcleaninglady

Image Credits
Greg Taylor