Today we’d like to introduce you to Taisha Crayton.
Taisha, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well, my husband and I each were working six-figure jobs, we just purchased a new home, had savings in the bank and our kids were doing well. We thought we had finally made that American dream happens for our family but unfortunately, it only lasted a year. The mortgage crisis hit the US and the economy begin to go downhill. The very things we had worked hard for so many years to accomplish was evaporating right before our eyes. In the mortgage and construction industries halted and we both lost our six-figure jobs. Our savings depleted, 401k gone, the home went into foreclosure, truck repossessed, electricity got shut off. After coming to grips with the loss of the material things, we didn’t lose hope in the very thing that money can’t buy, our love for our family. We prayed and drew from within our beings to find a way to just keep ourselves afloat.
I began to contact people I knew to see what was available for any kind of work and stumbled across realtor friend that was busy in this crisis. He shared with me how he had to maintain bank-owned properties, preserve them and keep them clean. I asked for just one opportunity to clean a property and he gave me the opportunity. Word of mouth began to happen about me cleaning these properties. (Side note: they were in pretty bad shape so everyone would jump to the opportunity). I started by using $21 at a dollar store, my own mop, broom, and vacuum and within the first year, we made double our job income. We grew from $21 to a multi-million business.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing that is worth doing is easy in life. You must be committed to seeing it all the way through. You can not give up because of a failure. Failure is a part of life’s cycle. No person succeeds all of the time at everything. We wouldn’t even know what success even looked like if we’ve never experienced any failure. One of the things I love about life is the many changes were being afforded. The chance to make a different, wiser, smarter Choice. Choice is your absolute power. A person may think that they don’t have choices because they can’t control every aspect of what happens in life but, how we respond to what happens is our choice. You can choose to lay down and die or you can choose to get back up and try again. Set goals short-term, attainable goals for yourself and celebrate every success whether big or small.
Be true to you by living the life that you desire for you. You are your greatest asset. Own your challenges, own your weaknesses, own your strengths, perfect your gifts and build your own way. You will win if you don’t quit.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Build Your Own Way – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Leveraging the vast insight and knowledge I accumulated through my success and my failures, I travel the world to teach, coach and consult with diverse businesses on business development, process improvement and getting in position for government contracting. I also lead talks and consult with majority or larger firms on the benefits of supplier diversity and access and opportunity.
In my opportunities of public speaking I share the benefits of contracting with diverse businesses and how women and minority companies can get in position to win government contracts.
I have also recently written a book titled, Build Your Own Way. Build Your own way is for people who are trying to find their way in life, struggling to demolish barriers that were placed upon them and seeking a path to success. It is a life-changing resource that will leave an indelible mark on the mind long after the last chapter has been read. Through this book, readers will be challenged and inspired to forget those things that are behind, press towards the life they desire on their own terms, and pursue their passions regardless of anyone’s expectations. The book is available in Kindle and Paperback format on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
Absolutely, I jokingly tell people about how I hated that my mother would make me clean so much. She would stand there and watch us clean our rooms to make sure we didn’t miss anything. There were times we tried to put things under the bed and just clear the floor but she would make us go under the bed. She would be lecturing us the whole time on how we are suppose to clean and what it should look like when we it was done.
When my husband and I was dead broke, my mother’s persistence in ensuring that we cleaned catapulted my journey to entrepreneurship. The very first and only opportunity I had during the time when we only had a few dollars to our name, was to clean a property. I never thought I would be so grateful for my mother pushing us to clean our rooms and house. I never thought it would even matter in life but there I was remembering all that my mother taught me as I cleaned this property as if she was standing right there. The realtor was so impressed that they just kept giving us properties to clean and before we knew it we had developed a multi-million business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TaishaCrayton.com
- Email: Taisha@TaishaCrayton.com
- Instagram: @TaishaCrayton
- Facebook: @TaishaCrayton
- Twitter: @TaishaCrayton
Image Credit:
Taisha Crayton
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