On this episode of the Huge Transformations Podcast, host Sid Graef sits down with Molly Moran, founder of green sweep, an eco-friendly house cleaning company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that she built from cleaning toilets herself to a multi–seven-figure business with 35+ employees. Molly shares how a real-life asthma-triggering cleaning experience led to her “green” positioning, and how her original dream (inspired by The 4-Hour Workweek) evolved into building a company designed for profit, impact, and freedom.

Molly breaks down the moves that helped her scale: staying focused instead of chasing extra services, investing aggressively in marketing + recruiting, and constantly pressure-testing pricing to support better wages and a more professional customer experience. She also talks leadership—why shifting from “managing” to coaching your team creates better outcomes—and how Profit First became a turning point in escaping “entrepreneurial poverty.” Finally, Molly previews CleanCon in Indianapolis (a residential-only conference built around connection, innovation, and education) and shares the real challenge she’s working through now: protecting space and energy while operating at a higher level across multiple businesses.

Show Notes:

• Molly Moran

• The LIVE BRIGHT Show 

• Molly Moran on Instagram

• The Huge Insider newsletter signup

• The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide

• The Huge Mastermind info page

• Huge Foundations Facebook Group

• The Huge Convention

Transcript:

Sid Graef: Hello everyone. Welcome to the Huge Transformations podcast. I’m Sid Graef outta Montana.

Gabe Torres: I’m Gabe Torres here in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sheila Smeltzer: And I’m Sheila Smeltzer from North Carolina. We are your hosts and guides through the landscape of growing a successful home service business.

Sid Graef: We do this by interviewing the best home service business builders in the industry—folks that have already built seven- and eight-figure businesses and they want to help you succeed.

Gabe Torres: Yep. No fake gurus on this show, just real-life owners that have been in the trenches and can help show you the way to grow profitably.

Sheila Smeltzer: We get insights and truths from successful business builders, and every episode is 100% experience, 0% theory. We are going to dig deep and reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our guests will share with you the pitfalls to avoid and the keys to winning. In short, our guest will show you how to transform your home service business into a masterpiece.

Sid Graef: Thanks for joining us on the wild journey of entrepreneurship. Let’s dive in.

Sid Graef: Hey everybody, it’s Sid with the Huge Transformations podcast, and today we’ve got a really great interview episode and conversation with my friend Molly Moran. Molly Moran runs a significant—uh—house… I can’t talk today, but I think you’ll get the point. She’s got a house cleaning company in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

She grew it from scratch, from cleaning toilets to a robust multi–seven-figure business with 35 employees. She’s got her own podcast, The Live Bright Show. She has a coaching and training program called Live Bright, and she’s hosting an event. She runs marathons, and she’s got two really cool dogs.

But you’re gonna enjoy our conversation ’cause it’s filled with insights and advice that she got early on and transformed the way she operated her business. So with that, I hope you enjoy the conversation with Molly as much as I did. Thanks for joining us today.

Sid Graef: Hey everybody. Thanks for joining us on the Huge Transformations show. I’m Sid, and today’s guest is Molly Moran—and you are gonna have, I hope you have as much fun as I am. Molly, how are you? I’ve got a little introduction for you, but first, how you doing? Thanks for being on the show.

Molly Moran: I’m great. I’m so happy to be here, Sid. Thanks for having me.

Sid Graef: Cool. And I love your headshot. It just says “Bright” at the front and it shows like, “Let’s live bright.” So for those of you that have never met or heard of Molly—Molly’s from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Can you spell that for me please?

Molly Moran: Oh, like for real? No.

Sid Graef: The founder of green sweep, which is a substantial eco-friendly house cleaning business in Albuquerque. You host The Live Bright Show and you have the Live Bright community and you coach people and help them. And this speaks to me so—Molly, you help people make more money, have more fun, and have more freedom. And I am a freedom hound. That’s my biggest motivator. And fun comes right after that. And money is third, but still important. So we’re gonna talk about that some.

And this year you and a handful of friends are hosting a live conference, a get-together in— is it Indianapolis?

Molly Moran: It is, yes. Indianapolis, in March, called CleanCon.

Sid Graef: CleanCon. First time I heard the name I was like, “Is this someone who got outta prison? Doesn’t have any tattoos—CleanCon?”

Molly Moran: Sid—like, I’m like, “No, it’s a cleaning conference.”

Sid Graef: And then the last part of my introduction, and probably the most important thing, is you have a dog named Bentley.

Molly Moran: I do. And we have another dog—we got Bentley a sibling a month ago, and his name is Leo.

Sid Graef: Very good. What are the breeds of your dogs?

Molly Moran: They’re both little rescues. Leo is a schnauzer—we just got his DNA back yesterday. Bentley is a schnauzer… she’s like a schnoodle, but she also has husky and German shepherd in her.

Sid Graef: Well, she’ll probably live 25 years with a good mix like that.

Molly Moran: Let’s hope.

Sid Graef: Before we actually get started, I met with a friend of one of my clients this morning—she’s an architect. She said the vendor booth that was the top booth most visited: they put down AstroTurf and they brought 10 puppies. People could just sit down and play with puppies.

Molly Moran: That’s smart. That’s brilliant.

Sid Graef: I’m like, instantly I was like, “I wanna be a vendor at somebody’s show, and I’ll take a bunch of puppies and popsicles.”

Molly Moran: Great idea.

Sid Graef: Let’s go back toward the beginning of your business career. Was green sweep the first business you started, or did you start before that?

Molly Moran: That was my first business. I started green sweep in 2009, so it’s been a minute and a half. Very first business and pretty random, honestly.

I was a victim of The 4-Hour Workweek, so I was reading it on a beach in Mexico in like 2007 and I was like, “I’m gonna go for it.” And then fast forward six months—I started a cleaning company.

I was in the nonprofit world—program management. My trajectory was like, “I’ll be an executive director someday,” and then I was like, “I actually don’t wanna do this.” I kept getting bored and switching jobs, and decided I should start my own business.

It could have been anything. I had certain parameters: low startup costs, I’ve gotta be able to do it, not high-technology focused. I had hired a cleaning service at my house at the time, came home one day and couldn’t breathe because of the chemicals they used. I triggered an asthma attack and I was like, “Oh, I should start an environmentally friendly cleaning company.” That’s literally how the idea came about.

Sid Graef: When you started, what was the vision?

Molly Moran: The vision was huge from the very beginning. I was living in San Diego at the time, had a sister here in Albuquerque, and we decided to start the business together. Albuquerque seemed like a friendlier place to start a business than California.

Very quickly realized we were better off as sisters than business partners. I got it going and I worked in the business—I cleaned. I wanted to know how to do everything. I didn’t have deep pockets. I was scrubbing toilets and waiting tables at the time—doing a whole bunch of things as I got it off the ground.

Sid Graef: What do you love about owning a business, and what could you do without?

Molly Moran: The biggest thing I love is freedom—in many senses. I get to structure and create my life how I want to. Now versus then, I can work from anywhere. I don’t need to be in Albuquerque to scale my business.

I love the potential—it can be smooth sailing, or I can turn the heat up and we can grow. I love making lots of money and spreading it around—money is a tool for trips and giving and security.

I also love the impact. With cleaning, we impact our staff’s lives—we provide fantastic jobs in a traditionally underpaid, underappreciated profession. We professionalize it, offer benefits, change the narrative around the profession. And the impact we have in the community and on clients.

Sid Graef: Did you have to fight uphill to change the perception and wages?

Molly Moran: When I first got into business, I didn’t know how to run a business. What I made was what was left at the end of the day. I remember sometimes my cleaners made more than I was making and I was like, “Something’s wrong.”

Eventually I got coaching and mentorship and restructured operations—what we were charging, how we paid staff—more expensive for the client but more professional and valuable service.

From a respect/professionalizing standpoint, I’ve always done that. Cleaning homes is about more than clean—it’s about the sanctity of a home and giving people time back to connect and play and do what they want.

Sid Graef: Your customer base is mostly residential?

Molly Moran: Primarily—about 95% residential. We used to be 50/50, but now we’re mostly residential.

Sid Graef: Do you have super fans?

Molly Moran: Yes. We have clients who’ve been with us forever. Some of them know me because I went and did their in-home estimate 15 years ago. They know who we are and what we stand for.

Sid Graef: What was a piece of advice that helped you early?

Molly Moran: Don’t diversify too much. Don’t add too many verticals. We clean houses—that’s what we do. I can refer other stuff out, but I’m not gonna take it all on.

A customer once said, “You’re already in our houses—you should do pet care.” And I was like, “You’re crazy.” There’s enough to do, enough money, enough impact if you stay the course.

Sid Graef: I relate—when you’re broke and hungry, you say yes to everything.

Molly Moran: Totally. On the commercial side early on, people asked if we strip and wax VCT, and I said sure. Next thing I know I’m on a machine spinning around in wax on a Saturday. We made money, but I learned: we don’t do this well—so we don’t do it.

Sid Graef: When did you realize you had something special and wanted to teach others?

Molly Moran: I got into a very specific house-cleaning coaching community around 2018. Before that, it wasn’t specific enough—people would say “you need systems” but not help with the how.

I hit burnout and thought, “I’ll invest massively in myself and the business—last hurrah. If it works, great. If not, I’ll quit and get a sales job.” I implemented hard, grew, and ended up coaching in that world for a bit. Eventually I went my own direction.

Probably four years ago I was like, “Oh wow—I can make a very good living and I’m working four hours a week on my company.” That felt like the dream.

Sid Graef: You’ve got 35-ish employees. Most home service owners never get past five or six. What were the biggest challenges to scale?

Molly Moran: Marketing and recruiting—balancing lead flow and staffing. It’s still imperfect, but we’ve gotten better.

I’m not afraid to spend on marketing for growth. I’ll take profit or my income and pour it into marketing at the beginning of the year to push us into the next level. It pays off.

Sid Graef: In your coaching now—what are the biggest pain points you see for established business owners?

Molly Moran: Profit—they’ve grown but they’re not as profitable as they could be. Freedom—they’re the bottleneck, they can’t turn their work brain off. Tech and work-from-home blur everything, so there’s no break. Then they start questioning: “What’s the point?”

It’s also cool how different it is now—people can get on YouTube, buy courses, and get step-by-step help with pricing, hiring, etc. That wasn’t there when I started.

I used to think, “I’m smart—why am I so dumb at this?” The purpose of business is to make money, and I wasn’t making money. I could’ve fired everyone and cleaned myself and made more.

Now I’m like: there are parts of business you don’t need to be creative on—some of it should be boring.

Sid Graef: How do you coach people out of being the bottleneck—mindset or tools?

Molly Moran: Both. I have a personal development curriculum paired with leadership curriculum. We start with the most pressing business challenges—often money. I’ll have them bring their P&L and we comb through what to cut and adjust so they can make more instantly—paired with mindset work.

Sid Graef: Do you do leadership development inside your own company?

Molly Moran: Not formally yet, but I’m developing pieces. I have a recorded course aimed at owners, but it can translate to managers/leaders too.

Sid Graef: I’ve shifted from thinking “I’m managing” to “I’m coaching.” I enjoy it more and it empowers people. Some owners fear training leaders because they’ll leave and start their own company—that’s scarcity mindset.

Molly Moran: Exactly. Shifting from managing to coaching has been massive for me too. It changes how I speak to people and what they bring back to the team. And I’m fortunate—my company has margin now, so people can learn and make mistakes. I’m not going back to day-to-day operations.

Sid Graef: How did your pricing evolve?

Molly Moran: We use a solo-cleaner model and a pay-for-performance type system. A core commitment is providing good-paying jobs, and that drives pricing. I start from: I want staff to make X, therefore we need to charge Y.

We constantly test pricing, limits, and conversion. We’re focusing heavily on weekly and biweekly recurring right now. Monthly is still sold, but prices are higher. We do surge pricing in high season sometimes. When we start hearing, “You’re way more than ____,” we stabilize. Higher pricing lets us adjust staff pay and do raises more often.

Sid Graef: What are principles you live by—personally and in the business?

Molly Moran: Our values at green sweep are kindness, integrity, community growth, and excellence (we recently changed it from professionalism to excellence).

I’m working on bringing more fun and play into green sweep. My coaching brand “Live Bright” stands for: bold, real, intentional, growing, healthy, thriving. Living bright also means honoring when you’re not feeling bright—it’s authenticity.

Sid Graef: Let’s shift to CleanCon. Why another event—why do we need it?

Molly Moran: The inspiration came from the Huge Convention and Cleaning & Cocktails—those events are amazing at connection, learning, and building real relationships. But they’re largely commercial-focused. There wasn’t a standalone event like that for residential cleaning owners that wasn’t tied to an expensive coaching program.

ISSA exists but residential is a tiny portion of it. We wanted something closer to the Huge/Cleaning & Cocktails feel, but only for residential. That’s CleanCon—Indianapolis.

Our tenants are connection, innovation, and education. It’s structured around residential cleaning company owners of all sizes.

Sid Graef: And Mike Michalowicz is keynoting.

Molly Moran: Yes. I read Profit First in 2018 and it was a turning point. I met him at an event last summer and when we started planning CleanCon, I reached out and we made it happen. His mission is to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty—and there’s a lot of that in our industry. I’m psyched to have him there.

Sid Graef: CleanCon is March 16th, 17th, 18th in Indianapolis, and it’s mycleancon.com.

Molly Moran: Yep—mycleancon.com. Ticket prices are meant to be affordable. And yes—hosting an event is a lot of work. We’re like, “What are we doing?” But it needed to be done.

Sid Graef: What’s the format—panels and breakouts?

Molly Moran: One keynote—Mike Michalowicz—and almost an entire morning with him. Then the rest is panels and masterminding. No breakout rooms for the first one—we’re keeping everyone together. The panels will be interactive and we’re building in other things so it’s not just sitting and listening.

Sid Graef: Last question: what challenge are you facing now, or a connection you’d like to make?

Molly Moran: Biggest challenge right now is still finding space—having room for chill and enjoyment, not just work, work, work—especially while operating at a new level across three businesses in massive growth mode.

Some weeks are crazier, like before going to Mexico for a meditation retreat. Every uplevel throws things off a little, so I’m figuring out how to operate at this level and protect space. I’ll think on the connection point—thank you for asking.

Sid Graef: Anytime you have a worthy project, there’s no end—like an infinite Instagram feed. You have to draw a line and turn it off so you can show up well for your spouse, family, community, and yourself. Work-life balance isn’t static—it shifts, like staffing versus marketing.

Molly Moran: Last year I had some health constraints—massive exhaustion. It forced hyperfocus. Even now that I feel good, I use that filter: focus on the biggest things. I’m trying to be home by five and be more present. Not perfect, but working on it.

Sid Graef: Thanks so much for your time and sharing. If you want to get in touch with Molly: mollymoran.com. CleanCon is coming up. Where can people find you on Facebook and Instagram?

Molly Moran: Facebook and Instagram: Molly Moran Live. And the podcast is The Live Bright Show—you can find it on my website, and it’s on Spotify, Apple, all the places.

Sid Graef: Awesome. Thanks again, and we’ll wrap it up.

Molly Moran: Thanks so much, Sid. What a pleasure.

Sid Graef: Hello my friend, this is Sid. Thank you again so much for taking your time to listen to today’s episode. I hope you got some value from it. Anything that was covered—resources, books, tools—will be in the show notes so it’s easy to find.

I also want to let you know the mission for the Huge Convention and for this podcast is to help blue-collar business owners gain financial and time freedom through running a better business. We do that in four ways:

Number one is our free weekly newsletter called The Huge Insider.

Next is the Huge Foundations education platform—120+ hours of industry-specific education and resources, plus a monthly topical webinar and Q&A with seven- and eight-figure business owners. It’s available for a $1 trial for seven days.

Next is The Huge Convention—every August. This year it’s in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd, 2025. It’s the largest and number one rated trade show and convention for home service business builders, with vendors, tools, world-class education, and the best networking opportunity in the industry.

Lastly, if you want to pour jet fuel in your business, check out the Huge Mastermind—not for everyone. You’ve gotta be over $750,000 in revenue and building toward a million, five million, ten million in the next five years. It’s a network, mentorship, and mastermind of your peers, and we help you implement the Freedom Operating System.

You can get information on all four programs at thehugeconvention.com—scroll down and click on the Freedom Path—or find the links in the show notes.

And if you’d like to support the show, take 90 seconds and give us a review on iTunes, then subscribe and share it. It helps other people like you and me. Thanks again for listening. We’ll see you in the next episode.