Sundell started with one cleaner in Linden Hills

Karin Sundell cleaned houses on her own from 2008. In 2013 she hired Hodan, put her family name on the company, and kept her one rule while Sundell grew to 29 people.

Book a clean
Work with us
Supply room with shelves of gray cleaning caddies, microfiber cloths sorted by color and red canister vacuums

The rule

Karin’s first clients were three houses on Xerxes Avenue South. One belonged to a retired piano teacher who ran a finger along the window sill after every visit and said nothing if it came back clean. Karin began checking the sills herself before she left. Then she began photographing them.

When Hodan joined in 2013, the photo went from Karin’s habit to the company’s first rule. Every team lead still wipes a sill with a white cloth at the end of a visit and texts you the photo. It takes forty seconds, and it is the simplest proof we know that the dull parts got done.

We stay small on purpose: 12 teams, one office on Tovell Avenue, no franchise. Growing slowly lets us keep teams together, which is what clients tell us they care about most.

I’d rather say no to a new client than break up a team that works.

Karin Sundell, owner

How we hire and pay

A background check before the first shift

For every hire, run by a national screening service and kept on file.

Two weeks of paid training

New cleaners work next to a team lead before they clean on their own. Kia runs the program.

$24.50 an hour to start, plus tips

Paid drive time between homes, paid time off from month one, and workers’ comp.

Same teams, on purpose

We build schedules around our teams. Recurring clients see the same two people each visit.

Supplies we pick and pay for

HEPA vacuums, color-coded microfiber and fragrance-free products, refilled every evening.

A few of the people you’ll meet

29 people work here. These six have been with us longest, and most clients talk to at least one of them.

Cleaning since 2008

Karin Sundell

Owner

Still cleans one day a month to remember what the job feels like. Wrote the checklist and the sill rule.

Joined 2013

Hodan Ali

Team lead

The first person Karin hired. Trains every new team lead and takes the homes with the most rules.

Joined 2016

Molly Brekke

Office manager

Answers the phone and the texts, and remembers who prefers a call and who prefers a text.

Joined 2015

Kia Vang

Trainer and team lead

Runs the two-week paid training. Has firm views on streak-free shower glass.

Joined 2018

Diego Morales

Team lead, move-outs and offices

Takes most of our move-outs and runs the after-hours office routes.

Joined 2019

Ben Halvorsen

Scheduling and operations

Builds each morning’s routes so teams stay together and nobody crosses I-35W twice.

Insurance and paperwork

$2 million in general liability, a janitorial bond and workers’ comp for every employee. Condo boards and property managers often ask for a certificate; we email it the same day.

Request a certificate