Meet Chuy Dorado | Owner of Le Nettoyage

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

Hi Chuy, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I thought that I would rather be the owner of something, even if it was small, than the worker for someone getting rich off of my work. I value my time and my independence and the only real way to get it is to work for myself. I figured all of the effort I put into it will be for me and even though it’s gonna be a struggle it’ll be worth it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Yes! We’re a small locally owned Barbershop Cleaning Company. That’s been in business a little over three years. We specialize in making barbershops safe, clean and beautiful but it didn’t start out the way I thought that we might.  I’ll tell you my origin story. I was working in construction. I spent 40-50 hours a week working and never having any time to spend with my wife. One day when I was in a trench with mud up to my ankles I decided that I needed to do something different, something that didn’t make me so miserable. I had gone to work with my wife a few times. She cleaned houses on her own and had been doing so for about ten years. So I decided let’s make it a business. We’ll work together, we’ll make it legit, buy the best equipment, use the best products, get all the licenses and insurance etc. And so I left work and went all in on a house cleaning business and nothing happened. We got one client. Nothing else. We weren’t making any money. I had spent most of our savings and it wasn’t going anywhere. So I started going to MMA gyms, coffee houses, anywhere I could think of and handing out business cards. I started looking on google for small businesses around the area that might need cleaning and there were barbershops popping up. So I started finding all of them on Instagram and sending everyone DMs and again nothing happened. Then out of the blue one barbershop, Old Gold, which had a different name back then, sent me a message asking for an estimate. After we spoke they gave us a chance to clean but we didn’t make a contract or anything, we just shook hands. So I thought to myself what if they don’t pay us? And so I started taking pictures of the shop after we had finished cleaning. I posted them and tagged them so they knew we had been there and the work we had done. From there it snowballed one shop after another saw the pictures and started getting in touch. Now we’re Denver’s barbershop cleaning authority! At least that’s what I like to think.

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?
I would probably like to show them the beauty of Colorado’s nature. If I had enough time I’d take them to garden of the gods in Colorado Springs and while we were there take them to K-bop for Bingsu. I’d show them St Mary’s glacier, Carbondale and red rocks. Take them for pizza at Woody’s, An Oat milk “bardo” from Bardo’s on Broadway and alameda while we’re in the area pick up some Croughnuts from Parlor doughnuts and some ice cream from sweet action and finish the week by fishing in Montgomery reservoir up in Breckinridge. My friends would get super fat.

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?
My wife. I wouldn’t be where I am without her believing in me, being patient with me and sticking it through when it seemed like it wasn’t going to work. Also I’d like to publicly thank the barbers who believed in my product when I was barely starting and those who value our cleaning as our personal expression of art and our master craft. Thanks to Jeremy Rauch at Old Gold and congrats on your wedding. Thanks to Dane Vickers at Banter and congrats on your newborn baby. Thanks to Cam Page at Ollie’s, to Brandon Stolz at BC Barber, to Eddie Díaz at Barba Denver, Brandon Piper at Prospect trail and Gabriel Maestas at Steadyhand. I couldn’t have done it without your continued support.

Website: Www.lenettoyagellc.com

Instagram: @Le_Nettoyage