September 25, 2025 • 36 mins
On this week’s episode of At Home With Roby, Trent and Patrick are joined by Mario Mendigana. Mario shares his incredible journey — moving from Ecuador to North Carolina in his 20s, working two jobs with little sleep, and climbing the ranks in the building cleaning industry before launching his own company, Elite Touch Cleaning Services. Tune in for a story of perseverance, entrepreneurship, and the power of chasing your dreams!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to that home with Roby. I'm Patrick mcaac from
Roby Commercial and Services long with Trinity Houston from the
Roby Family of Companies. We are your hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Try.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I feel like we haven't been in the studio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
For a while. Yeah, been like two weeks.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I think I'm a little rusty. I feel like I've
kind of got some butterflies I need to work out.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I got some w D forty that hammer.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Can fix anything, man, and some duct tape. We need
the duct tape too.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
But I heard, uh my, my nephew sprayed some w
D forty on somebody's walls. We don't know how you
fix that which with a knife and some new drywall.
I don't know. I just that's what I heard.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Is this the nephew that might be a student at Auburn?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No, No, If that kid spraying WD forty on the walls,
we got an issue, all right.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I just will a double check.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This is not my brother's son. This is my sister
in Lawso oh got it?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, I got it.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I got I mean, that's a mistake that could be made.
I don't know. WD forty fixes everything, though, you ever
put it on your yelbow a little movement.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Do you take that little the little sprayer and kind
of stick it in your arm pull the tricker.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I've never done that. That sounds a little outrageous, but
I have this picture of Kelvin. I'm looking at a
Trium's help Levin Children's Hospital from twenty three man, look
like it was yesterday, Kelvin.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
We ended up raising three hundred and forty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yea, that is wonderful, good time. And I'm gonna tell
you this, give a give a plug to the a
Trium Health chill Levin Children's Hospital. My first daughter, Tatum,
spent a couple a couple of stints in there, and
that place is wonderful. Now they're fantastic. What a wonderful
asset for our city and for our children around around
(01:56):
the whole region. Really, I think it attracts and helps
people kids from everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So that was a radiothon Miguel and Holly's Miracle Makers
Radio athon. How long did that go on for?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
That was about twenty six hours.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Straight of you all being on the radio, not.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Straight, but it was from I believe like six am
to seven pm. If I'm not mistaken or five am
to seven pm back to back days.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, did we ever tell you a boy the time
we walked for wishes instead of pitch for Wishes. No,
that's a fact, that is a true fact. During COVID,
we couldn't do our annual Cornall tournament, so we came
up with the idea of walking to mimic. Make a
Wish has something called the Trailblaze Challenge, and so we
would decided to watch is it twenty seven point one miles?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, I think it's a marathon, yeah, a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And so we decided we would walk as a team
with that amount of miles, and we would stop at
different job sites of sponsors and the Make a Wish
Building on the whole throughout the day. And so a
few of us did the entire thing, and then we
encourage our staff to come out and do like a
mile at a time or an hour at a time.
(03:07):
And I'll tell you what, buddy, we started about six
six am.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I thought we started at like four thirty am. We
I mean, my stories expand.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
We didn't get done until it was at least eight
o'clock at night. I mean, we were out there for
way more than twelve hours.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Okay, now your story's expanded. I thought it was. It
was four thirty, six thirty. Maybe it was a long time.
A lot of walking, lots of chaffage. I don't know
what he's talking about, but anyway.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We could walk down the stairs that night.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It was a wonderful way to give homage to the
trail based Challenge, which make a wish of central and
western North Carolina's done for a decade at least.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
The Chubb Rubb was worth it and raises a ton
of money, and since we couldn't get.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Together, it allowed us to carry on our tradition and
continue to raise a bunch of money with our sponsors
and vendors and subs and family.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
It was good. It was a good bonding experience. It
was more bonding than the corn Hall.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Tournament for us, definitiely.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know what I'm saying, Yeah, I mean, you're You're.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
The craziest part is I think, out of probably the
three of us, I'm gonna go out on a limb
and say that Travis exercises not as much as you
and I do, and that joker with his twelve foot
long legs led the charge man, he was out in front.
I mean he took off, he got into it. It
was cool.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yep, it was cool. It was cool. So anyway, congratulations Kelvin.
That's awesome being a conduit for doing good polishing that diamond.
That's just how you're supposed to live. That's what we
do in radio. That's what you do. Yes, sir, so Pastra,
What you been up to?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, other than about five foot one, I.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Think I might have another foot on that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Not much since I saw you last, but I did.
I want to give a little bit of a plug here.
I had some buddies that are doing Orange Theory fitness.
You heard about this, I.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Mean I've heard of Orange Theory fitness.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Oh it's fun, man, I've done I've done three classes
now which had just started. But it totally different take
on the normal running, lifting weights that you and I
normally do. But yeah, man, they got something going on
over there.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I'm not trying anything new these days either, but it
got me on the Mediterranean diet. I'm out. Oh I
got I'll stop.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
How's that been working out for you?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's pretty good. It dropped about ten pounds, kept it off,
feel good, you know. And it's funny you always hear
diet is where you is where you really you know,
kick it in, kick it in and feeling better. I
mean not that I've ever really felt bad, but I've
always exercised a lot and stuff, done that, and it's
(05:53):
just made the difference. It's made it better. The goal
is to get my clutch all down so I don't
have to take medicine. We'll see how that at worse.
But uh, I feel like it's coming down, kind of
like my golf swing is going up.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Or whoa, whoa going up. I don't go the wrong direction.
I don't believe that the wrong one. I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Man, we've been traveling. I haven't been on the boat
in a while. Uh, summer's over. Kids in school. Knox Is,
my five year old, is a two sport athlete. He
is playing coach pitch, baseball and soccer. And Reagan's got
him on this soccer kicks. He's like, I'm a soccer player.
I'm like, come on, many baseball player are those?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So those are at the same time of the year, right,
they're both spring sports.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, they have fall, no fall baseball, and apparently fall soccer.
Guy soccer is typically in the fall.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Okay, in college and stuff.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I got that female soccer is in the spring. So
my daughters play soccer in the spring.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I don't think it was like that when I was
coming up, and it was it's something.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I played soccer in high school and it was in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
I didn't go to the same high school as you,
big dog.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I grew up in Georgia was in the fall.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
They might have shookn things up down there. You don't know.
You're right out of the correct Well, tell me about
what just happened to you. Before we came in the studio.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You got presented a little Yeah, I got a little
frame picture that Kylie Fish gave me from the marketing team,
and it had a bunch of pictures on it of
me when I was younger, at different periods of being
younger than now.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And you said, I look just like this still right,
And I always look at pictures like that and feel
like I still look the exact same as I did.
Then it's when you get that awkward silence from everybody
else when you say that it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, I'm just joking. I don't think I looked the same.
My kids have beat it into my head. I got
my daughters have beat it into my head that I
do not look the same, that I am looking older.
I have aged a little bit. But something cool that
my daughter's school, the kids' school does they are They
(08:07):
are off at at at a camp or treat. Uh
Tatum left yesterday, she's the senior, and then Uh and
then Rowing and Piper both left today. So all three
high school daughters are off for a couple of days
at a retreat. They've done it all through high school.
So it's really really cool. I think that's something special.
(08:30):
Alternative learning, I guess you would call it. So, yeah,
that's good. Rolling and Piper are playing tennis. I beat
Rowing Rowing. When you listen to this show, I beat
her for the first time ever. Why would you do
that in a tennis match? Because I'm not backing now, man,
I'm trying to I'm trying to get some respect around here.
(08:51):
Ridney Dangerfield, Man, I heard he was gracious. I don't
let my kids win anything. I mean, that's a bunch
of crap, straight up. I'll be I shut forward out
and pickleball and shut him down. Got to see these goals.
I'm scoring on knocks.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
That's true, knocks. I got a black eye. It's from
your your your right foot boot to the side of
his head.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Listen, you gotta take care of knocks. Why you can,
because one day he's gonna be taking care of me.
I heard he's ninety seven percentile. He's the big one.
I heard.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Well, you said the girls are on a retreat. Our guest,
we met it some kind of what you might call
a retreat. Mario Mendighana from EO. It's where we hung
out at Nerve, which is a conference that the EO has.
First time I ever been in Atlantic City a couple
of weeks ago. And man, you're gonna get blown away
with his story.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Mario mending Ghana. I'm just gonna sa Mario, it's so
nice to meet. You can't wait to hear Mario's story.
He say he's been in Charlotte twenty three and a
half years from Ecuador. Yeah, welcome and little fu or
to learning. So we'll be back on the at Home
with Roby show.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And don't forget Roby Services is your one stop source
for all your electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs.
Keep it easy and get it all done by one.
Roby servicesnow dot com. That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back
that home with Roby. I'm Patrick Pickaac from Roby Commercial
and Services along with Trent Hayston from the Roby family
of companies. If you missed us the first portion of
(10:26):
the podcast, go back and check us out anywhere podcasts
are found. Trent, we got my buddy Mario here in
the studio. I'm excited to hear you. Let you hear
his story. It's remarkable. Mario, Welcome to the show man.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Thank you, Thank you so much for having me. Thank
you for the invitation. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Mario. I have a question. I forget who I was
talking to the other day, but they were talking about
the Pacific Coast Highway. Is it the Pacific Coast Highway
goes up the west coast of South America?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Yes, it does, all the way to south of Chile.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I think, wow, does it go to Ecuador, goes through yeah? Wow, okay,
and then I guess it's in the United States as well.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, it goes from the United States all the way
to Central Area. Yeah, it goes to Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Perule,
all the way to South Chile.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
If I'm no, Wow, Well, and you asked that question, Mario.
Originally I was born in Ecuador, has been in the
United States and Charlotte particularly for twenty three years. Is
that correct?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah, that's correct. I'm originally from Waya Kiel, which is
the biggest city Ecuador, in Ecuador, being in Charlot since
two thousand and two, So twenty three and a half years.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Golly, man, two thousand and two is twenty three years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, time fly.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Oh yeah, Well that picture that Kinlie gave me was
twenty five years of my pictures and so that was
a picture of one O two in there.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
You don't want to see pictures on me twenty three
years ago. You would recognize me.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
You had long hair.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
No, No, it's just it looked different. I mean, fifty one.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
He looks so good. I can't imagine yeah, anything better? Yeah, right,
So what brought you to the US, the Charlotte or
what's your story there, Mario?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
So it was, uh, basically work. Originally I had the
idea to come up here and and stay only for
three months, work for a little three months and go back.
Three months turned out to be six months, and then
six months a year, and after a year I decided
(12:39):
to stay.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
And Mario, what you said work? What what specific work
was it?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
They brought you?
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So back in ecod Or, back in the days, we
used to have as a family, a family business for food,
for chicken, poetry food. We used to make it and
sell it distributed around the country. Now, keep it in mind,
Ecuador is a small country. Texas is double in size.
Right to give you an idea, but we were doing
(13:08):
pretty well for many many years, and then the economy happened,
political factors in my country. We unfortunately had to close
down the factory. There was a point that I didn't
have a job, and I didn't want to grab the
newspaper and look for a job because back then, since
ever since I got out of high school seventeen, I
(13:30):
worked for my parents. That's the only thing I knew.
I didn't want to work for somebody else. So I
figure and I had a little dead in one credit card.
I was like, I'm going to us and worked for
just a few months, pay the debt, come back and
start from zero. That was basically the idea. Right now,
(13:55):
I didn't know where because I didn't have family here.
So my aunt that I used to live in south
south side of the city. She used to have a
neighbor next door. This woman used to have a brother
here in Charlotte. So that's how I got the connection
(14:15):
with Charlotte. So my aunt gave me his phone number.
I called him from Ecador and he was like, sure,
I can go to the bus station and pick you up.
So got the ticket from Miami to Charlotte. No YAQUI
to Miami. I stayed one I am Miami. Then I
took the Greyhound. Then following day, eighteen hours later, I
(14:37):
was here in Charlotte. I yes. He went to the
bus station, took me to a neighbor, pointing me in
a house where they were renting a room. And that
was it. Backpack at two hundred and fifty dollars in
my packet.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's crazy, man. So what kind of work did you
do when you got here? Did he did he set
you up with the job or no?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Just asking people, asking people around. It took me two
three weeks to find a job. The first one, the
very first one was working and chipping and receiving and
the roast distribution center. I worked there for about a
year and at the same time I found a job
doing cleaning. Actually that's what I do today, commercial cleaning,
(15:19):
doing cleaning. What it used to be right now is
I think is true Ist building Horst Tower, remember, so
when they just finished building the building, that's when we
went in and basically set it up. So I was
working as a cleaner cleaning the lobby and three floors.
(15:40):
So I was working in the morning from six thirty
seven on the way to three o'clock and five o'clock
I we head downtown and six thirty to eleven twelve
o'clock until I finished cleaning. That was basically it. And
six months into the job I I was promoted to
(16:00):
a supervisor. Now keep it in mind, no English, zero English.
So I remember, Security will give me this key and
every day they will remind me that that key will
cost one hundred thousand dollars if I lose it. And
I do I know. I thought it was a joke.
Now I understand because if I lose it, they will
have to wre key forty eight floors.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Oh it smokes, that makes sense. Because there's a master key.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Of course. So now I understand. So they will give me.
They will give me these big radios, remember, and they
will call me and ask me whatever. And I remember
my basic English from Ecador. I knew numbers, so I
would just pay attention to the numbers. So if they
called me and they say whatever, whatever, thirty five, I
(16:47):
knew it was Flooria thirty five, and I will go
to Florida thirty five and check it war to war
to make sure everything was perfect. What it was I
did I know. I mean, this is crazy. I didn't
want to lose the job over over the language, right,
And that's that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
So you didn't know you didn't know English when you came.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
No, no, me, Hello, thank you. Basically numbers, very basic.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So when you when you initially told me about this,
my question to you is like, well, when did you sleep?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Back then the first few years I was working basically
five days a week, five days a week as a
supervisor the night dayporter during the day. After a year,
I quit draws and then I found in the same
industry cleaning dayporter, right, you know, in a property with
the same company. Basically uh. So, after I want to say,
(17:46):
five six years, I realized that they were not going
to get me the opportunity to do something else, and
I didn't want to be a supervisor forever. So and
I was for a single guy. I was tekend a
decent money. I was supportting my family in Ecuador, so
I was fine, but I wanted more. So I opened
(18:08):
the company, the first one in two thousand and seven.
I didn't do anything for a year or two with
that one because I didn't have anybody. Nobody was going
to give me a property to clean. I was nobody,
so until I found a company, a bigger player, bigger
cleaning company that used to do restaurants at night. This
(18:29):
was in two thousand and night, probably somewhere around there.
So remember the Epicenter, all the places there. So I
did the construction clean up on probably eighty percent of
those places, Sweet Whisky River, all at the Moon, Blackfin
all of them. So I was my dad in job
(18:50):
seven to three o'clock, then my supervising from five thirty
six o'clock to eleven twelve, and then I was cleaning
restaurants at two three in the morning. I did that
for about a year but I was getting sick for
obvious reasons, right, I wasn't sleeping, so but I did
that for about a year until I was able to
grow my income a little bit and quit my daytime job.
(19:14):
Once I quit my daytime job, I kept my supervising
job for another two years because I needed that income
to pay the two or three guys that I had
working with me. That was in two thousand and ten
to twelve. In twenty twelve, I was like, Okay, this
is it. I thin them, I'm gonna be able to
(19:36):
support myself and I'm gonna go on my own. And
then I quit my supervising job. And then here I
am twenty three years later.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
So you've had your business since would you say, oh eight.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Oh, no, oh a, that's when I started it. But
I would say I started working two thousand and nine,
two thousand ten.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, and you did you say you were doing construction
clean up when they would build out those restaurants and
correct the bar how at the Moon?
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I might have frequent into those places.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, I think I went there with you wanted one.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I don't they clean or dirty when I was there?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
But UH was called there there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I've been over there. That place was hopping for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Had the Bowling Alley. Yeah, I had the Wild Wing.
I mean for a while there it was it was
the place to be.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So when you started your company, uh, I mean, were
you like, I'll clean whatever, or I want to clean
regularly once you know businesses are open at night, or
you're like, I'm going to be a construction clean clean.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
No, No, it was never my intention of the construction
clean up. Actually, up until this point, we still do it,
but very little. It's it's not attractive to me. Uh,
But I did it because that was the door in
order to get the contract for their current cleaning. Right.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So yeah, when they finished the build out, then you hey,
can I interview for your permanent.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
That's basically yes, that's that's how we did it. And
that's for restaurants. It wasn't something that I really wanted
to do. However, that was what I was available because
that was the only time that I had available two
three in the morning because throughout the day I was working,
so I had no choice. I needed to start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Well, I've done a lot of construction cleaning in my life,
and when I went was in college, I was held
bent on buying a dump truck and having a construction
clean up company. Chris Maynard that works with us, work
for a company while I was in high school called
Wallace Newman and they did clean job sites, and then
(21:47):
I cleaned job sites and we would meet at the
landfill and hang out.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Smoke a heater.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Griffin that he went to. But yeah, so then when
I was in college, I wanted to buy an old
beat or dump truck. I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad
I stayed focused. My dad was so mad. But so
now are you what is y'all's focus in your business?
What are y'all cleaning?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Now? So we do offices, buildings, medical, industrial. We do
have a lot of condvenience in town. We got folks
at the airport, so really it's all commercial or commercial
restaurants since Kobe. Uh So, when we got hit by Kobe,
(22:37):
it was twenty five percent of our revenue and we
lost it overnight. So when we came back coming back
out of Kobe, we regained some of those customers, but
we are not pursuing now. They were calling us because
we were pretty well known in the industry, but we
(22:58):
were no person operational is a challenge. You're talking about
seven days a week. There's no holidays, there's no day
off for restaurants.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
For restaurants, Yeah, some condominiums you do like the common areas.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
And some areas parking days, parking lots. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And you have contract with the airport.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Uh yeah, a little portion on a little contract and there.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Really Yeah, we do a little work over there, no one.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, that's a subcontract.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Airport is a valuable asset for our city.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Yeah, it's growing tremendously.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I was just there. It's crazy. Are there are there
different applications to cleaning different? You said industrial and then
you said condominiums and you said businesses. I mean, are
or is it all just basically the same?
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Uh? The basics, I would say, is the same. But
the scope of work, there's no there's no one scope
of work same as the other. I don't even know
how many customers we have, but let's say one hundred
and fifty, there's there's always some thing different because we
customize all the scope of work, you know, for the
(24:05):
client's need.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So tell tell us about it. So if if you
would say we're here at iHeart Radio Studio, here in Charlotte,
if they wanted to sign you up. I mean, is
it something where you'd have to send somebody out and
they kind of do a square footage and sort of
get to lay the land. Then you provide a customized
price that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Yes, that's correct. So they would talk to the point
of contact and the building for example, the property manager,
and then we'll have to find out exactly how many
days was the frequency was their pin points? You know,
sometimes they want treasure mobile I'm talking about dumpsters. It varies,
(24:40):
it varies. I mean, if there is a kitchen, if
there is not. It varies from client to client. Of course,
if you put two buildings next to each other and
they're exactly the same thing their office, the scope of
work is going to look the same. Right, But with restaurants,
for example, just to give you take in the example,
was a restaurant. We used to do restaurants only the
(25:03):
front of the house or those everything the kitchen and
the front of the house. You know, the amount of
work is definitely different.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
That's cool, and so let's let's switch gears a little bit.
You you are the president elect for EO, Charlotte. You
you've been int you ten twelve years? How long you've
been in EO.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
For eleven years? Eleven and a half actually got it? Yeah,
eleven and a half years.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Entrepreneur organization is what EO stands for, kind of like YPO.
I'm in YPO, okay, and Patrick's CEO now, uh YPO.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
When I wanted to join YPO was two old already
when I found out HYPO, I don't I don't know.
What was the rule of forty five years?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, that's one hard rule in wye PIO. Yeah, the
young Yeah, I don't know if we're young anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You're definitely not forty five anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
So how old were you when you came to the States?
You so your built your company out is so impressive.
So so do you the len you know, to EO
and to the mentorship, to the peer relationships of learning,
also to your family chicken business.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's I mean, looking back, it's been definitely
under adventure to come back here with nothing and being
able I would say join EO, and I how of
Wes said it is probably as a business owner of
the best single decision I ever made. Yeah, to have
that peer culture around you people that you can talk
(26:41):
people that you can lean on for the byes, for
the base, for experience here. It has tremendous value.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I agree. And and why in the heck are you
going to be the president?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
I'm asking myself the same question. So uh uh, some
of the folks are the are the leadership? They were
asking me about and a half year and a half ago,
And at the beginning, I said no, no, because I
gotta be honest, that's completely out of my comfort zone.
M hm. So I decided to give it a shot.
(27:16):
The first thing before I say yes, I went to
my wife because I knew it was gonna demand a
little bit more time. And I asked her and I
thought she was gonna be like, no, you're gonna take
more trips, et cetera. But no, she was like, that's it.
That's an incredible opportunity. Go for it.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah, did your did your wife work with you in
the business?
Speaker 4 (27:40):
No?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
No, no?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And how have you been married?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Uh? Eleven years? Eleven, twelve years?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
You have kids?
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Yeah? Two, Emma, Emma and Mario.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
How old are they?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Am I eleven and Mario? Or nine?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh? Junior?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Oh junior?
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yes, you have them in the business cleaning yet.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yet yet that's yet to be fourteen.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Yes, not yet. I mean we see in the future.
It is no my ambition to pass the business today,
got it. I mean I'm gravy leaver that they they
gotta do whatever they want to do, right, Yeah, so
we see.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, I get I have five kids, so I get
that question a lot where I'm third generation, me and
my brother really really fourth if you count mister Roby
started it. Uh, and then hire my granddad. But uh,
I want them to be I want them to be happy.
Yes number one, my dad really enforced that to me.
But number two, I don't want them to be constricted
(28:39):
by these opportunities. And furthermore, we got wonderful partners and
leaders in our business. Uh, it's a little different than
it was. I'm trying to be a little different. EO
and YPO will help you think like that. Right when
I was coming up, if I wanted to work, if
I wanted some part of the business, I had to
(29:00):
go work at four twenty five an hour minimum wage
at the time and work my way up. And that's
just the way it was. So hopefully with other leaders
and the way our business has grown through our great clients.
We can create more opportunities if they want to be entrepreneurs.
(29:20):
There's other things that this flywheel can spin off as well.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
And I saw in the notes that you are on
the Latin American Chamber as well.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Being in the board for almost no years. In December
is going to be no years. This is my last
term and then I'm running.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Off how many folks sit on that board at one time?
Speaker 4 (29:44):
Twelve thirteen.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Well, I will commend you because you're putting your effort
in your time where your mouth is. We have that
philosophy in the Remoeling Associate and the Homebowder Association, in
charitable organizations. Uh, and a testament to what you said.
(30:08):
It's out of our comfort zone. It's out of something
we're good at doing. It takes more time, but that's
how you learn, that's how you build relationships, that's how
you get confidence.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Absolutely, So I think you're up to something. Ain't like
you didn't want to do it? Did Brian Delaney? Was
he one of the ones that asked you to do it?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Yeah? He was the first one.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Well, well he's he's a great friend of mine and uh,
a great representation of the entrepreneur Organization, which which all
of you are is is e O a Charlotte chapter.
It is a Charlotte chapter. Okay, got it.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Yeah, what's what's we Brian and and uh in the
same forum for many years, so yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Got it. Yeah, so uh yeah, we have forums in
y p O. That's kind of like a Sunday school
class for the organization, right, keeps it real sticky. Well, uh, Mario,
I'm gonna put you on the spot here. Something I
like to do with our guests. Well, well, number one,
give you give your business a plug, and how people
(31:12):
can look you up. They listen to this, they want
to check you out. And then number two, Uh, what's
one principle that that ties both life and business together
that you like to hang your hat on.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
So what of our core values? And probably the first
one they speaker first? Right in the company, we we
take care of our people and they take care of
our clients. So that's that's the way it goes.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
And we Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Yeah, that's that's definitely the first core value.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Aim in with that, Yeah, give yourself a plug. And
then and then and then we're gonna talk a little
about make a whish. Don't don't forget about that, but
go go ahead, Mario. I want to make sure we
remember to do our due diligence on our corn hole
tournament here when you give yourself a plug though for
your business.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Uh well, it's doing Elite Touch Cleaning Services is a
commercial cleaning company. We do a offices, medical condominiums. We
work with a lot of property management companies with a
lot of property owners as well, and we take their
(32:20):
visus schedule and make it easier. That's that's that's our approach, right,
being proactive instead of being reactive.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
The easy button.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we call it toes and heels. We
like to be on our toes and have people in
a good way be on our heels because we want
to be proact.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Well, God bless you. It's so nice to meet you.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
It's nice meeting Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yes, sir. Okay. We're leading up to the annual pitching
for Wishes. We're ten within ten shows up. We're probably
five shows away, six shows away and leading up. We
like to tell a wish story every show. That's right
to remember why we he polished the diamond to raise
money for Make a Wish of Central and western North Carolina,
(33:04):
which we love so dearly.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah man, thanks Trent. So let's hit hit some sponsors.
First platinum sponsors right now, we've got Dead Eye Renovations
Barefoot and Company, plus renewal by Anderson Home Technology Solution
to the United Healthcare Gold sponsors are Phoenix Plumbing and
National Design Mart. And today we're going to learn about Jeffrey.
Jeffrey's a seven year old, energetic, lively boy from Charlotte.
(33:27):
Wo's all about living life to the fullest. When he's
not serving up a fierce shot on the tennis court, man,
you might need to challenge Jeffrey. You can find Jeffrey
digging into dumplings and noodles at his favorite local Chinese buffet.
Despite phasing a cogenital heart disease. Jeffrey possesses as asked
for life and he doesn't let his condition to hold
his creativity back. Coloring books are Jeffrey's favorite canvas where
(33:49):
he especially loves to draw rainbows.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
We're gonna hold right there, trend.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know we have Roby family of companies coloring books.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Now, huh? Did not know that, Jeffrey.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
You're definitely getting one He's got a knack for creating vibrant,
imaginative words on paper, and his creative spirit knows no bounds.
A musician at heart, Jeffrey knew what he wanted for
his wish right away. He wished for a guitar. Aside
from love. Jeffrey's house is now a filled with musical notes,
and he now has another avenue to express his creativity.
Despite the medical challenges he faces, Jeffrey's unbreakable spirit shines brightly.
(34:21):
Jeffrey serves as a reminder that no matter the obstacles,
there's always room for laughter of creativity, the love of
Chinese buffets, the magic of rate and rainbows, the sweetness
of fruit, and the joy of building with blocks.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Wow, Jeffrey, that's right man, I Jeffrey. I was walking
through my house today and Piper had a friend over
last night. I went up in the Piper's bump bed
to wake her up this morning, heard talking on the Oh,
who's this She's like Emmy. And then later on they
(34:53):
were gone and they had painted a picture portrait of
each of them, And I mean it was kind of messy,
but artistic. That's what they do, these high school kids.
That's what I'm doing. So uh so, go Jeffrey. Good
luck to you. Keep expressing yourself. And I love Chinese
buffets as well.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
They are not on the Mediterranean diet, but they are good.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
They are good. And everything in moderation is how you
do this thing. A little sweet and sour, pretty good
subsessing me. Let's go. I'm going down this doom loop
of eggs, some good food. But listen, man, Mario, it
was great to be here.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Thank you for the Elite Cleaning Services. Elite Touched cleaning Services.
That's why I said it. It was a setup so
you could correct me. What a wonderful story. Listen, go
do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way you
want to be treated. Carry grace, carry a smile around
on your face because you never know who's going to affect.
(35:57):
Thanks for listening to that Home with Roby.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Thank yeah,
Welcome to that home with Roby. I'm Patrick mcaac from
Roby Commercial and Services long with Trinity Houston from the
Roby Family of Companies. We are your hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Try.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I feel like we haven't been in the studio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
For a while. Yeah, been like two weeks.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I think I'm a little rusty. I feel like I've
kind of got some butterflies I need to work out.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I got some w D forty that hammer.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Can fix anything, man, and some duct tape. We need
the duct tape too.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
But I heard, uh my, my nephew sprayed some w
D forty on somebody's walls. We don't know how you
fix that which with a knife and some new drywall.
I don't know. I just that's what I heard.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Is this the nephew that might be a student at Auburn?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No, No, If that kid spraying WD forty on the walls,
we got an issue, all right.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I just will a double check.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This is not my brother's son. This is my sister
in Lawso oh got it?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, I got it.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I got I mean, that's a mistake that could be made.
I don't know. WD forty fixes everything, though, you ever
put it on your yelbow a little movement.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Do you take that little the little sprayer and kind
of stick it in your arm pull the tricker.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I've never done that. That sounds a little outrageous, but
I have this picture of Kelvin. I'm looking at a
Trium's help Levin Children's Hospital from twenty three man, look
like it was yesterday, Kelvin.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
We ended up raising three hundred and forty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yea, that is wonderful, good time. And I'm gonna tell
you this, give a give a plug to the a
Trium Health chill Levin Children's Hospital. My first daughter, Tatum,
spent a couple a couple of stints in there, and
that place is wonderful. Now they're fantastic. What a wonderful
asset for our city and for our children around around
(01:56):
the whole region. Really, I think it attracts and helps
people kids from everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So that was a radiothon Miguel and Holly's Miracle Makers
Radio athon. How long did that go on for?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
That was about twenty six hours.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Straight of you all being on the radio, not.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Straight, but it was from I believe like six am
to seven pm. If I'm not mistaken or five am
to seven pm back to back days.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, did we ever tell you a boy the time
we walked for wishes instead of pitch for Wishes. No,
that's a fact, that is a true fact. During COVID,
we couldn't do our annual Cornall tournament, so we came
up with the idea of walking to mimic. Make a
Wish has something called the Trailblaze Challenge, and so we
would decided to watch is it twenty seven point one miles?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, I think it's a marathon, yeah, a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And so we decided we would walk as a team
with that amount of miles, and we would stop at
different job sites of sponsors and the Make a Wish
Building on the whole throughout the day. And so a
few of us did the entire thing, and then we
encourage our staff to come out and do like a
mile at a time or an hour at a time.
(03:07):
And I'll tell you what, buddy, we started about six
six am.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I thought we started at like four thirty am. We
I mean, my stories expand.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
We didn't get done until it was at least eight
o'clock at night. I mean, we were out there for
way more than twelve hours.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Okay, now your story's expanded. I thought it was. It
was four thirty, six thirty. Maybe it was a long time.
A lot of walking, lots of chaffage. I don't know
what he's talking about, but anyway.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We could walk down the stairs that night.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It was a wonderful way to give homage to the
trail based Challenge, which make a wish of central and
western North Carolina's done for a decade at least.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
The Chubb Rubb was worth it and raises a ton
of money, and since we couldn't get.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Together, it allowed us to carry on our tradition and
continue to raise a bunch of money with our sponsors
and vendors and subs and family.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
It was good. It was a good bonding experience. It
was more bonding than the corn Hall.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Tournament for us, definitiely.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know what I'm saying, Yeah, I mean, you're You're.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
The craziest part is I think, out of probably the
three of us, I'm gonna go out on a limb
and say that Travis exercises not as much as you
and I do, and that joker with his twelve foot
long legs led the charge man, he was out in front.
I mean he took off, he got into it. It
was cool.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yep, it was cool. It was cool. So anyway, congratulations Kelvin.
That's awesome being a conduit for doing good polishing that diamond.
That's just how you're supposed to live. That's what we
do in radio. That's what you do. Yes, sir, so Pastra,
What you been up to?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, other than about five foot one, I.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Think I might have another foot on that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Not much since I saw you last, but I did.
I want to give a little bit of a plug here.
I had some buddies that are doing Orange Theory fitness.
You heard about this, I.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Mean I've heard of Orange Theory fitness.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Oh it's fun, man, I've done I've done three classes
now which had just started. But it totally different take
on the normal running, lifting weights that you and I
normally do. But yeah, man, they got something going on
over there.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I'm not trying anything new these days either, but it
got me on the Mediterranean diet. I'm out. Oh I
got I'll stop.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
How's that been working out for you?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's pretty good. It dropped about ten pounds, kept it off,
feel good, you know. And it's funny you always hear
diet is where you is where you really you know,
kick it in, kick it in and feeling better. I
mean not that I've ever really felt bad, but I've
always exercised a lot and stuff, done that, and it's
(05:53):
just made the difference. It's made it better. The goal
is to get my clutch all down so I don't
have to take medicine. We'll see how that at worse.
But uh, I feel like it's coming down, kind of
like my golf swing is going up.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Or whoa, whoa going up. I don't go the wrong direction.
I don't believe that the wrong one. I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Man, we've been traveling. I haven't been on the boat
in a while. Uh, summer's over. Kids in school. Knox Is,
my five year old, is a two sport athlete. He
is playing coach pitch, baseball and soccer. And Reagan's got
him on this soccer kicks. He's like, I'm a soccer player.
I'm like, come on, many baseball player are those?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So those are at the same time of the year, right,
they're both spring sports.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, they have fall, no fall baseball, and apparently fall soccer.
Guy soccer is typically in the fall.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Okay, in college and stuff.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I got that female soccer is in the spring. So
my daughters play soccer in the spring.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I don't think it was like that when I was
coming up, and it was it's something.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I played soccer in high school and it was in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
I didn't go to the same high school as you,
big dog.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I grew up in Georgia was in the fall.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
They might have shookn things up down there. You don't know.
You're right out of the correct Well, tell me about
what just happened to you. Before we came in the studio.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You got presented a little Yeah, I got a little
frame picture that Kylie Fish gave me from the marketing team,
and it had a bunch of pictures on it of
me when I was younger, at different periods of being
younger than now.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And you said, I look just like this still right,
And I always look at pictures like that and feel
like I still look the exact same as I did.
Then it's when you get that awkward silence from everybody
else when you say that it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, I'm just joking. I don't think I looked the same.
My kids have beat it into my head. I got
my daughters have beat it into my head that I
do not look the same, that I am looking older.
I have aged a little bit. But something cool that
my daughter's school, the kids' school does they are They
(08:07):
are off at at at a camp or treat. Uh
Tatum left yesterday, she's the senior, and then Uh and
then Rowing and Piper both left today. So all three
high school daughters are off for a couple of days
at a retreat. They've done it all through high school.
So it's really really cool. I think that's something special.
(08:30):
Alternative learning, I guess you would call it. So, yeah,
that's good. Rolling and Piper are playing tennis. I beat
Rowing Rowing. When you listen to this show, I beat
her for the first time ever. Why would you do
that in a tennis match? Because I'm not backing now, man,
I'm trying to I'm trying to get some respect around here.
(08:51):
Ridney Dangerfield, Man, I heard he was gracious. I don't
let my kids win anything. I mean, that's a bunch
of crap, straight up. I'll be I shut forward out
and pickleball and shut him down. Got to see these goals.
I'm scoring on knocks.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
That's true, knocks. I got a black eye. It's from
your your your right foot boot to the side of
his head.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Listen, you gotta take care of knocks. Why you can,
because one day he's gonna be taking care of me.
I heard he's ninety seven percentile. He's the big one.
I heard.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Well, you said the girls are on a retreat. Our guest,
we met it some kind of what you might call
a retreat. Mario Mendighana from EO. It's where we hung
out at Nerve, which is a conference that the EO has.
First time I ever been in Atlantic City a couple
of weeks ago. And man, you're gonna get blown away
with his story.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Mario mending Ghana. I'm just gonna sa Mario, it's so
nice to meet. You can't wait to hear Mario's story.
He say he's been in Charlotte twenty three and a
half years from Ecuador. Yeah, welcome and little fu or
to learning. So we'll be back on the at Home
with Roby show.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And don't forget Roby Services is your one stop source
for all your electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs.
Keep it easy and get it all done by one.
Roby servicesnow dot com. That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back
that home with Roby. I'm Patrick Pickaac from Roby Commercial
and Services along with Trent Hayston from the Roby family
of companies. If you missed us the first portion of
(10:26):
the podcast, go back and check us out anywhere podcasts
are found. Trent, we got my buddy Mario here in
the studio. I'm excited to hear you. Let you hear
his story. It's remarkable. Mario, Welcome to the show man.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Thank you, Thank you so much for having me. Thank
you for the invitation. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Mario. I have a question. I forget who I was
talking to the other day, but they were talking about
the Pacific Coast Highway. Is it the Pacific Coast Highway
goes up the west coast of South America?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Yes, it does, all the way to south of Chile.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I think, wow, does it go to Ecuador, goes through yeah? Wow, okay,
and then I guess it's in the United States as well.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, it goes from the United States all the way
to Central Area. Yeah, it goes to Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Perule,
all the way to South Chile.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
If I'm no, Wow, Well, and you asked that question, Mario.
Originally I was born in Ecuador, has been in the
United States and Charlotte particularly for twenty three years. Is
that correct?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah, that's correct. I'm originally from Waya Kiel, which is
the biggest city Ecuador, in Ecuador, being in Charlot since
two thousand and two, So twenty three and a half years.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Golly, man, two thousand and two is twenty three years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, time fly.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Oh yeah, Well that picture that Kinlie gave me was
twenty five years of my pictures and so that was
a picture of one O two in there.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
You don't want to see pictures on me twenty three
years ago. You would recognize me.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
You had long hair.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
No, No, it's just it looked different. I mean, fifty one.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
He looks so good. I can't imagine yeah, anything better? Yeah, right,
So what brought you to the US, the Charlotte or
what's your story there, Mario?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
So it was, uh, basically work. Originally I had the
idea to come up here and and stay only for
three months, work for a little three months and go back.
Three months turned out to be six months, and then
six months a year, and after a year I decided
(12:39):
to stay.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
And Mario, what you said work? What what specific work
was it?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
They brought you?
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So back in ecod Or, back in the days, we
used to have as a family, a family business for food,
for chicken, poetry food. We used to make it and
sell it distributed around the country. Now, keep it in mind,
Ecuador is a small country. Texas is double in size.
Right to give you an idea, but we were doing
(13:08):
pretty well for many many years, and then the economy happened,
political factors in my country. We unfortunately had to close
down the factory. There was a point that I didn't
have a job, and I didn't want to grab the
newspaper and look for a job because back then, since
ever since I got out of high school seventeen, I
(13:30):
worked for my parents. That's the only thing I knew.
I didn't want to work for somebody else. So I
figure and I had a little dead in one credit card.
I was like, I'm going to us and worked for
just a few months, pay the debt, come back and
start from zero. That was basically the idea. Right now,
(13:55):
I didn't know where because I didn't have family here.
So my aunt that I used to live in south
south side of the city. She used to have a
neighbor next door. This woman used to have a brother
here in Charlotte. So that's how I got the connection
(14:15):
with Charlotte. So my aunt gave me his phone number.
I called him from Ecador and he was like, sure,
I can go to the bus station and pick you up.
So got the ticket from Miami to Charlotte. No YAQUI
to Miami. I stayed one I am Miami. Then I
took the Greyhound. Then following day, eighteen hours later, I
(14:37):
was here in Charlotte. I yes. He went to the
bus station, took me to a neighbor, pointing me in
a house where they were renting a room. And that
was it. Backpack at two hundred and fifty dollars in
my packet.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's crazy, man. So what kind of work did you
do when you got here? Did he did he set
you up with the job or no?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Just asking people, asking people around. It took me two
three weeks to find a job. The first one, the
very first one was working and chipping and receiving and
the roast distribution center. I worked there for about a
year and at the same time I found a job
doing cleaning. Actually that's what I do today, commercial cleaning,
(15:19):
doing cleaning. What it used to be right now is
I think is true Ist building Horst Tower, remember, so
when they just finished building the building, that's when we
went in and basically set it up. So I was
working as a cleaner cleaning the lobby and three floors.
(15:40):
So I was working in the morning from six thirty
seven on the way to three o'clock and five o'clock
I we head downtown and six thirty to eleven twelve
o'clock until I finished cleaning. That was basically it. And
six months into the job I I was promoted to
(16:00):
a supervisor. Now keep it in mind, no English, zero English.
So I remember, Security will give me this key and
every day they will remind me that that key will
cost one hundred thousand dollars if I lose it. And
I do I know. I thought it was a joke.
Now I understand because if I lose it, they will
have to wre key forty eight floors.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Oh it smokes, that makes sense. Because there's a master key.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Of course. So now I understand. So they will give me.
They will give me these big radios, remember, and they
will call me and ask me whatever. And I remember
my basic English from Ecador. I knew numbers, so I
would just pay attention to the numbers. So if they
called me and they say whatever, whatever, thirty five, I
(16:47):
knew it was Flooria thirty five, and I will go
to Florida thirty five and check it war to war
to make sure everything was perfect. What it was I
did I know. I mean, this is crazy. I didn't
want to lose the job over over the language, right,
And that's that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
So you didn't know you didn't know English when you came.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
No, no, me, Hello, thank you. Basically numbers, very basic.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So when you when you initially told me about this,
my question to you is like, well, when did you sleep?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Back then the first few years I was working basically
five days a week, five days a week as a
supervisor the night dayporter during the day. After a year,
I quit draws and then I found in the same
industry cleaning dayporter, right, you know, in a property with
the same company. Basically uh. So, after I want to say,
(17:46):
five six years, I realized that they were not going
to get me the opportunity to do something else, and
I didn't want to be a supervisor forever. So and
I was for a single guy. I was tekend a
decent money. I was supportting my family in Ecuador, so
I was fine, but I wanted more. So I opened
(18:08):
the company, the first one in two thousand and seven.
I didn't do anything for a year or two with
that one because I didn't have anybody. Nobody was going
to give me a property to clean. I was nobody,
so until I found a company, a bigger player, bigger
cleaning company that used to do restaurants at night. This
(18:29):
was in two thousand and night, probably somewhere around there.
So remember the Epicenter, all the places there. So I
did the construction clean up on probably eighty percent of
those places, Sweet Whisky River, all at the Moon, Blackfin
all of them. So I was my dad in job
(18:50):
seven to three o'clock, then my supervising from five thirty
six o'clock to eleven twelve, and then I was cleaning
restaurants at two three in the morning. I did that
for about a year but I was getting sick for
obvious reasons, right, I wasn't sleeping, so but I did
that for about a year until I was able to
grow my income a little bit and quit my daytime job.
(19:14):
Once I quit my daytime job, I kept my supervising
job for another two years because I needed that income
to pay the two or three guys that I had
working with me. That was in two thousand and ten
to twelve. In twenty twelve, I was like, Okay, this
is it. I thin them, I'm gonna be able to
(19:36):
support myself and I'm gonna go on my own. And
then I quit my supervising job. And then here I
am twenty three years later.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
So you've had your business since would you say, oh eight.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Oh, no, oh a, that's when I started it. But
I would say I started working two thousand and nine,
two thousand ten.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, and you did you say you were doing construction
clean up when they would build out those restaurants and
correct the bar how at the Moon?
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I might have frequent into those places.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, I think I went there with you wanted one.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I don't they clean or dirty when I was there?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
But UH was called there there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I've been over there. That place was hopping for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Had the Bowling Alley. Yeah, I had the Wild Wing.
I mean for a while there it was it was
the place to be.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So when you started your company, uh, I mean, were
you like, I'll clean whatever, or I want to clean
regularly once you know businesses are open at night, or
you're like, I'm going to be a construction clean clean.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
No, No, it was never my intention of the construction
clean up. Actually, up until this point, we still do it,
but very little. It's it's not attractive to me. Uh,
But I did it because that was the door in
order to get the contract for their current cleaning. Right.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So yeah, when they finished the build out, then you hey,
can I interview for your permanent.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
That's basically yes, that's that's how we did it. And
that's for restaurants. It wasn't something that I really wanted
to do. However, that was what I was available because
that was the only time that I had available two
three in the morning because throughout the day I was working,
so I had no choice. I needed to start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Well, I've done a lot of construction cleaning in my life,
and when I went was in college, I was held
bent on buying a dump truck and having a construction
clean up company. Chris Maynard that works with us, work
for a company while I was in high school called
Wallace Newman and they did clean job sites, and then
(21:47):
I cleaned job sites and we would meet at the
landfill and hang out.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Smoke a heater.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Griffin that he went to. But yeah, so then when
I was in college, I wanted to buy an old
beat or dump truck. I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad
I stayed focused. My dad was so mad. But so
now are you what is y'all's focus in your business?
What are y'all cleaning?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Now? So we do offices, buildings, medical, industrial. We do
have a lot of condvenience in town. We got folks
at the airport, so really it's all commercial or commercial
restaurants since Kobe. Uh So, when we got hit by Kobe,
(22:37):
it was twenty five percent of our revenue and we
lost it overnight. So when we came back coming back
out of Kobe, we regained some of those customers, but
we are not pursuing now. They were calling us because
we were pretty well known in the industry, but we
(22:58):
were no person operational is a challenge. You're talking about
seven days a week. There's no holidays, there's no day
off for restaurants.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
For restaurants, Yeah, some condominiums you do like the common areas.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
And some areas parking days, parking lots. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And you have contract with the airport.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Uh yeah, a little portion on a little contract and there.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Really Yeah, we do a little work over there, no one.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, that's a subcontract.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Airport is a valuable asset for our city.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Yeah, it's growing tremendously.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I was just there. It's crazy. Are there are there
different applications to cleaning different? You said industrial and then
you said condominiums and you said businesses. I mean, are
or is it all just basically the same?
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Uh? The basics, I would say, is the same. But
the scope of work, there's no there's no one scope
of work same as the other. I don't even know
how many customers we have, but let's say one hundred
and fifty, there's there's always some thing different because we
customize all the scope of work, you know, for the
(24:05):
client's need.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So tell tell us about it. So if if you
would say we're here at iHeart Radio Studio, here in Charlotte,
if they wanted to sign you up. I mean, is
it something where you'd have to send somebody out and
they kind of do a square footage and sort of
get to lay the land. Then you provide a customized
price that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Yes, that's correct. So they would talk to the point
of contact and the building for example, the property manager,
and then we'll have to find out exactly how many
days was the frequency was their pin points? You know,
sometimes they want treasure mobile I'm talking about dumpsters. It varies,
(24:40):
it varies. I mean, if there is a kitchen, if
there is not. It varies from client to client. Of course,
if you put two buildings next to each other and
they're exactly the same thing their office, the scope of
work is going to look the same. Right, But with restaurants,
for example, just to give you take in the example,
was a restaurant. We used to do restaurants only the
(25:03):
front of the house or those everything the kitchen and
the front of the house. You know, the amount of
work is definitely different.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
That's cool, and so let's let's switch gears a little bit.
You you are the president elect for EO, Charlotte. You
you've been int you ten twelve years? How long you've
been in EO.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
For eleven years? Eleven and a half actually got it? Yeah,
eleven and a half years.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Entrepreneur organization is what EO stands for, kind of like YPO.
I'm in YPO, okay, and Patrick's CEO now, uh YPO.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
When I wanted to join YPO was two old already
when I found out HYPO, I don't I don't know.
What was the rule of forty five years?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, that's one hard rule in wye PIO. Yeah, the
young Yeah, I don't know if we're young anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You're definitely not forty five anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
So how old were you when you came to the States?
You so your built your company out is so impressive.
So so do you the len you know, to EO
and to the mentorship, to the peer relationships of learning,
also to your family chicken business.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's I mean, looking back, it's been definitely
under adventure to come back here with nothing and being
able I would say join EO, and I how of
Wes said it is probably as a business owner of
the best single decision I ever made. Yeah, to have
that peer culture around you people that you can talk
(26:41):
people that you can lean on for the byes, for
the base, for experience here. It has tremendous value.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I agree. And and why in the heck are you
going to be the president?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
I'm asking myself the same question. So uh uh, some
of the folks are the are the leadership? They were
asking me about and a half year and a half ago,
And at the beginning, I said no, no, because I
gotta be honest, that's completely out of my comfort zone.
M hm. So I decided to give it a shot.
(27:16):
The first thing before I say yes, I went to
my wife because I knew it was gonna demand a
little bit more time. And I asked her and I
thought she was gonna be like, no, you're gonna take
more trips, et cetera. But no, she was like, that's it.
That's an incredible opportunity. Go for it.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah, did your did your wife work with you in
the business?
Speaker 4 (27:40):
No?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
No, no?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And how have you been married?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Uh? Eleven years? Eleven, twelve years?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
You have kids?
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Yeah? Two, Emma, Emma and Mario.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
How old are they?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Am I eleven and Mario? Or nine?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh? Junior?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Oh junior?
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yes, you have them in the business cleaning yet.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yet yet that's yet to be fourteen.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Yes, not yet. I mean we see in the future.
It is no my ambition to pass the business today,
got it. I mean I'm gravy leaver that they they
gotta do whatever they want to do, right, Yeah, so
we see.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, I get I have five kids, so I get
that question a lot where I'm third generation, me and
my brother really really fourth if you count mister Roby
started it. Uh, and then hire my granddad. But uh,
I want them to be I want them to be happy.
Yes number one, my dad really enforced that to me.
But number two, I don't want them to be constricted
(28:39):
by these opportunities. And furthermore, we got wonderful partners and
leaders in our business. Uh, it's a little different than
it was. I'm trying to be a little different. EO
and YPO will help you think like that. Right when
I was coming up, if I wanted to work, if
I wanted some part of the business, I had to
(29:00):
go work at four twenty five an hour minimum wage
at the time and work my way up. And that's
just the way it was. So hopefully with other leaders
and the way our business has grown through our great clients.
We can create more opportunities if they want to be entrepreneurs.
(29:20):
There's other things that this flywheel can spin off as well.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
And I saw in the notes that you are on
the Latin American Chamber as well.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Being in the board for almost no years. In December
is going to be no years. This is my last
term and then I'm running.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Off how many folks sit on that board at one time?
Speaker 4 (29:44):
Twelve thirteen.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Well, I will commend you because you're putting your effort
in your time where your mouth is. We have that
philosophy in the Remoeling Associate and the Homebowder Association, in
charitable organizations. Uh, and a testament to what you said.
(30:08):
It's out of our comfort zone. It's out of something
we're good at doing. It takes more time, but that's
how you learn, that's how you build relationships, that's how
you get confidence.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Absolutely, So I think you're up to something. Ain't like
you didn't want to do it? Did Brian Delaney? Was
he one of the ones that asked you to do it?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Yeah? He was the first one.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Well, well he's he's a great friend of mine and uh,
a great representation of the entrepreneur Organization, which which all
of you are is is e O a Charlotte chapter.
It is a Charlotte chapter. Okay, got it.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Yeah, what's what's we Brian and and uh in the
same forum for many years, so yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Got it. Yeah, so uh yeah, we have forums in
y p O. That's kind of like a Sunday school
class for the organization, right, keeps it real sticky. Well, uh, Mario,
I'm gonna put you on the spot here. Something I
like to do with our guests. Well, well, number one,
give you give your business a plug, and how people
(31:12):
can look you up. They listen to this, they want
to check you out. And then number two, Uh, what's
one principle that that ties both life and business together
that you like to hang your hat on.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
So what of our core values? And probably the first
one they speaker first? Right in the company, we we
take care of our people and they take care of
our clients. So that's that's the way it goes.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
And we Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Yeah, that's that's definitely the first core value.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Aim in with that, Yeah, give yourself a plug. And
then and then and then we're gonna talk a little
about make a whish. Don't don't forget about that, but
go go ahead, Mario. I want to make sure we
remember to do our due diligence on our corn hole
tournament here when you give yourself a plug though for
your business.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Uh well, it's doing Elite Touch Cleaning Services is a
commercial cleaning company. We do a offices, medical condominiums. We
work with a lot of property management companies with a
lot of property owners as well, and we take their
(32:20):
visus schedule and make it easier. That's that's that's our approach, right,
being proactive instead of being reactive.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
The easy button.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we call it toes and heels. We
like to be on our toes and have people in
a good way be on our heels because we want
to be proact.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Well, God bless you. It's so nice to meet you.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
It's nice meeting Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yes, sir. Okay. We're leading up to the annual pitching
for Wishes. We're ten within ten shows up. We're probably
five shows away, six shows away and leading up. We
like to tell a wish story every show. That's right
to remember why we he polished the diamond to raise
money for Make a Wish of Central and western North Carolina,
(33:04):
which we love so dearly.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah man, thanks Trent. So let's hit hit some sponsors.
First platinum sponsors right now, we've got Dead Eye Renovations
Barefoot and Company, plus renewal by Anderson Home Technology Solution
to the United Healthcare Gold sponsors are Phoenix Plumbing and
National Design Mart. And today we're going to learn about Jeffrey.
Jeffrey's a seven year old, energetic, lively boy from Charlotte.
(33:27):
Wo's all about living life to the fullest. When he's
not serving up a fierce shot on the tennis court, man,
you might need to challenge Jeffrey. You can find Jeffrey
digging into dumplings and noodles at his favorite local Chinese buffet.
Despite phasing a cogenital heart disease. Jeffrey possesses as asked
for life and he doesn't let his condition to hold
his creativity back. Coloring books are Jeffrey's favorite canvas where
(33:49):
he especially loves to draw rainbows.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
We're gonna hold right there, trend.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know we have Roby family of companies coloring books.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Now, huh? Did not know that, Jeffrey.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
You're definitely getting one He's got a knack for creating vibrant,
imaginative words on paper, and his creative spirit knows no bounds.
A musician at heart, Jeffrey knew what he wanted for
his wish right away. He wished for a guitar. Aside
from love. Jeffrey's house is now a filled with musical notes,
and he now has another avenue to express his creativity.
Despite the medical challenges he faces, Jeffrey's unbreakable spirit shines brightly.
(34:21):
Jeffrey serves as a reminder that no matter the obstacles,
there's always room for laughter of creativity, the love of
Chinese buffets, the magic of rate and rainbows, the sweetness
of fruit, and the joy of building with blocks.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Wow, Jeffrey, that's right man, I Jeffrey. I was walking
through my house today and Piper had a friend over
last night. I went up in the Piper's bump bed
to wake her up this morning, heard talking on the Oh,
who's this She's like Emmy. And then later on they
(34:53):
were gone and they had painted a picture portrait of
each of them, And I mean it was kind of messy,
but artistic. That's what they do, these high school kids.
That's what I'm doing. So uh so, go Jeffrey. Good
luck to you. Keep expressing yourself. And I love Chinese
buffets as well.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
They are not on the Mediterranean diet, but they are good.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
They are good. And everything in moderation is how you
do this thing. A little sweet and sour, pretty good
subsessing me. Let's go. I'm going down this doom loop
of eggs, some good food. But listen, man, Mario, it
was great to be here.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Thank you for the Elite Cleaning Services. Elite Touched cleaning Services.
That's why I said it. It was a setup so
you could correct me. What a wonderful story. Listen, go
do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way you
want to be treated. Carry grace, carry a smile around
on your face because you never know who's going to affect.
(35:57):
Thanks for listening to that Home with Roby.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Thank yeah,
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