Yolanda and I met through an on-line business networking group in late 2020. She and her husband run RB Eco Cleaning, a carpet, upholstery, and door-to-door dry cleaning business on the north side of Chicago. I had gotten to know her as an incredibly passionate mother of two teens and partner to her husband in life and business. Yolanda was managing all schedules inside and outside the home, supporting the family and company’s team in all ways possible.
I also heard her personal story. Yolanda’s parents moved to Chicago from Mexico City when she was a one-year old to create the American dream for her. She was raised on the north side of Chicago. She met and married Ron, also from an immigrant family, and they began their company by renting carpet cleaning machines from local Jewels. For over 25 years they’ve been in business, raising a son and daughter who both attended a northside Chicago private high school and left for college.
Every conversation with Yolanda revolved around how busy they were. She shared her concerns for her husband’s health as his body aged given the demands of handling the equipment and workload. She expressed her desire to find a younger, dedicated crew to help with the work. She worried about how they could afford that crew, maintain their standards, and continue building a client base so that, one day in the distant future, they could sell the business and retire. She shared her hope that this would all happen before Ron’s body forced an alternate plan. All these themes are part of the common story for mom-n-pop businesses across America.
RB Eco Cleaning maintains a standard to ensure their products are best helping families who are concerned with allergens. They have a simple motto on their website. “Our company is a family owned business providing services to the Chicago land area and surrounding suburbs. Our goal is to provide excellent customer service and quality work at reasonable prices.” Their company policy is to leave driers overnight, which is uncommon in their industry. A nice touch.
Yolanda’s portrait was captured in a local Forest Preserve symbolizing their “Eco” name. The trail of carpet tiles are from Interface Flor, a company committed to being zero carbon by 2040. Upon understanding our project, they donated the tiles for this image.
While Yolanda rarely handles the heavy equipment of RB Eco Cleaning, her daily efforts as Director of Administration is full of so much heavy lifting. Her story is a common one of a hard working immigrant providing much needed high-quality services for the community around her, while simultaneously raising a quality future generation of hard working contributors to our world.
Photographed July 2022