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WOMEN CLEANING WINDOWS
(May June 2006)
By R. Bruce Gebhardt
Window cleaning and the industries that supply it are “male-dominated.” No one would argue with that statement, at least numerically. Nevertheless, women play a prominent, positive, creative, and feisty role in most aspects of window cleaning and the companies that do it. After speaking with a number of women in cleaning and supply companies during April, the expectation is that we will see an increase in number and importance in the future.
It is natural to start an article surveying women in the business by terming them “disadvantaged” vs. men. That’s the sort of victimization sociology we commonly read (but not in AWC).
Many women in the industry actually believe that there are advantages to being female. Maybe to some degree they are trying to convince themselves. Yet the fact that they have come to that conclusion after serious thought suggests that they may be on to something. The possibility that males in the business have not yet realized it may itself help women.
The Physical Problem: the Ladder Test
Women who clean windows, or want to, acknowledge just one universal disadvantage vs. men--the physical one. That means reach and strength. Women have adopted a variety of strategies to surmount these handicaps.
Female company owners and managers usually aspire to hire men to supply the strength and the reach that women lack. As soon as they can, most women taking over a window-cleaning business as owner or manager concentrate on customer relations, sales, scheduling, purchasing, bookkeeping and the like, and managing the company. The men clean the windows. This assumes that companies have the finances to divide labor that way.
Managerial women frequently use the line that they “don’t do windows.” Crews of men do. Crews of men that women direct do.
At an earlier or more basic stage of business development, though, women may have to do it all.
Nancy Ochs, Sunrise Window Cleaning, Tucson, is 5’ tall. She advises women to work out to build up their upper-arm strength. She notes that men have to be physically fit too.
“If you’re really going to get into it, you’ve really got to handle the 24’ ladder,” she declares. “There’s so much ladder work. But you can do it.”
“I don’t even know why a woman can’t do high-rise,” she adds.
“And if a woman can perform a physical task, why not let her do it? What takes the strength is getting to the window in the first place. Give her a shot at it. Some women like that kind of work. Don’t ask a woman to sit at a desk.”
The ladder is now the big problem for Nancy Sendler, who owns Alpine Window Cleaning, Missoula, Montana. She was hit by a car not long ago and lost partial use of her left arm and shoulder. She goes to her right easily enough, but has trouble to her left.
She has to hire college students just to move and carry the ladder. She summarizes, “I can get up the ladder; I just can’t get the ladder up.”
She reports that her commercial accounts-—75 percent of her business-—are relatively easy to cope with, but the artsy architecture of residences may cause trouble.
This recalls Ochs’ observation on cleaning at glorious “architectural statement” homes around Tucson. She complained that the architects may not have bothered themselves with how a window cleaner would access fancy glass too many feet in the air.
Some women enjoy cleaning. They prefer it to office-based, executive work. It’s the outdoors, the physical work, and the opportunity to meet people and plan and work with them. They invariably express delight in the challenge of something different in each job in each day, whether they’re cleaning or planning for others to do it. They really like doing windows.
At this point let us pause to remind ourselves that the window cleaning industry is multi-faceted. Many suppliers perform difficult, physically demanding work behind the scenes. This occurred to us as we spoke with Nancy Anderberg, for 20 years the owner of Minnesota’s 80-year-old Harry Falk Co. She saw the company advertised in a newspaper and bought it.
She’s also the janitor, and usually the only employee. She frequently has to move heavy containers of rope and chemical solutions around, though she can often find a distributor or manufacturer who can send ordered items directly to her customers.
She confirms that physical fitness is a requirement for her business too.
Women’s Advantages
Ochs, at 5’, cites one physical advantage that some women have over male competitors: “If you’re small enough and you have to climb on a mission-tile roof, probably you won’t break tiles.”
A more telling advantage may be that women are “more cognizant of people’s homes, and will be a little more meticulous putting things back, protecting furniture, carpets, and whatever.”
She says she doesn’t have many problems with the men who clean for her, but she may still have to tell her clients, “Remember: these are men.” She finds that they tend not to notice details as much as women do.
“Women work as well as any guy. They have a good work ethic,” she insists. One caution: “Women work with men better than they do with women,” she says.
Maureen Newman, VP of Diversified Markets for Mr. Longarm, the Greenwood, Missouri family company where her sister Deré is President and her sister Leigh is Director of Buying Groups & Marketing, acknowledges that the field is male-dominated. She quickly notes that there are “certain advantages to being a woman,” though. She has observed that a woman who walks into a roomful of men is likely to attract attention. She also acknowledges that “It’s always nice to have a door opened.”
Also, she believes that females have an advantage over men in perspective--they are the ones who use much of the equipment the company sells. The company provides major hardware and paint stores with janitorial and sanitary supplies.
Beyond physical presence and sometimes apt experience, she believes that women do have certain inherent psychological advantages over men: “One of the things I want to get across is that an advantage of being a woman is capacity to be multi-functional in our duties. We can perform numerous tasks at once, and we’re good at organizing.”
Is that just the three sisters who work at Mr. Longarm or is it general? AWC asked. She replied, “It seems to be a general characteristic. It’s what works with women.”
Her advice to women in a male-dominated industry is to treat the job like any other, not consider sex differences, and just tackle the job straightforwardly.
“I think the field is wide open. Women shouldn’t be intimidated by the number of men in the industry,” she told AWC.
In viewing family firms, she has noted more daughters taking a role in running things. Small wonder, if she is correct about women’s capacities.
Nadine Bellew, owner of General Safety Services, Dedham, Massachusetts, praises the men who dominate the sector. “This is a man’s industry,” she said. “It’s a little hard to break in. But all the men are wonderful.”
They’re not patronizing, she replied to a question. “They don’t hold back. They’re serious competitors. But I respect them for that and I try to learn from them.” She admits to being pretty competitive herself. Competing with male-dominated firms is “like a chess game. If I can master it, I’ll be OK. It will never be boring!”
She joined some other interviewees in seeing certain advantages for women in the business. Then she considered managerial excellence, as Newman did. “Women have certain advantages,” she said. “I can’t speak for all companies, but women-owned companies are more employee-oriented and care more.
“It’s hard to say without sounding crude, but most companies don’t care about the guys at all. Just ‘Get it Done.’ Women want work done safely and don’t want workers hurt or abused. Women have a different edge on that.”
She finds plenty of tolerance, opportunity, and encouragement for her company, “even from the state,” though her company has not especially benefited as a woman-owned company—-i.e., “disadvantaged because of being owned by a woman.”
She guesses that the benefit “might be more significant if she did more government work, but in the private sector it is not.”
Overcoming Barriers
As noted above, women in the industry perceive the highest barrier to success in the industry as the physical one. But there are ways to overcome this and succeed, because there are many non-physical managerial jobs where women can excel.
Skillful Partnering
A second problem for women is that acquiring the necessary business experience can be difficult, but women have done quite well at it.
Debbie Coleman, Acme Window Cleaners, New Orleans, exemplifies one strategy. She became business partners with someone with 20 years’ experience in building-maintenance, who knew how to deal with men in the business. This enabled her to maximize the profits available and avoid runarounds from those inclined to try them.
A Place They Knew
Many women owners and managers have begun work in a “regular job” in the company. In some cases, this has been as a window-cleaner. Yet female office managers, secretaries, and accountants have also taken over companies and done quite well.
In Bellew’s case, an owner took sick. Bellew was officially a secretary, but she had to step in and keep things organized. Halfway to an MBA, she had some business savvy.
She went on to be an executive in a company that made safety equipment. Then, when that company was bought out in a hostile takeover, Bellew, with $500 and some equipment, founded another company that would combine safety equipment and services with window cleaning. Now her son, a former cleaner, heads the safety-equipment division.
Debbie Coleman worked as a secretary and office manager at Acme in New Orleans. When workers weren’t available, she would go out on jobs. Thus, like Bellew, she soon knew most aspects of the company’s operations. She and her business partner took over a business from a former boyfriend she had worked for.
She has proven that she had a few more things going for her. She has managed to keep her company functioning in the literal wake of Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans
She had built a storage building before the storm. It took on 8’ of water. As of mid-April, three families of workers were camping on the grounds.
Labor continues to be the biggest problem. She desperately sought workers after the flood, and the need continues-—particularly for those with a residence in the area.
She told AWC that it is impossible to know who is going to show up for work each day. She has to reassure customers and beg for understanding when she has to reschedule. There’s a reasonable supply of understanding, since every business in the city has the same problems.
In addition, workers’ average wage rose from $12.25 to $20.00. That’s something else that’s fun to explain to customers. Other costs have also increased in the city.
“It’s coming little by little, but it’s going to take a long time for the city to recover,” she said.
It seems that some women successful in the business have had to work under extreme pressure in some kind of crisis. They have shown the ability to keep things going. This recalls Newman’s observations on the special abilities of many women to manage many things at once.
The Diversification Strategy
Another common pattern, not restricted to women, is expanding services to customers. One mentally amends the previous sentence by adding “...that women can perform as well as men.” It seems plausible that they would shift into things that they had an aptitude for—-or no physical disadvantage vs. men. Yet that may not have been necessary. Those with going companies could assign physically demanding extras to male staff.
For example, Nancy Ochs of Tucson is happy to assign male staff to help owners of homes and mansions who have anything high that needs fixing--chandeliers, fans, screens, and so on.
Every company has its distinctive mix of capacities. Again, not a characteristic confined to woman-owned companies. But women may have an added incentive to diversify their businesses.
It is possible that their general perspective is markedly different from a male-owned window-cleaning company. The latter, having window cleaning down pat, can be more selective in determining business scope. For instance, they might decide to stay focused on window cleaning. Some female-owned businesses might not have the same array of choice.
It would depend on the role of the female owner. If she had crews to deploy, her company might have the capacity to make or reject the same choices as the male-owned business would have.
It’s not a new story that money, organization, and cleverness can overcome possible shortcomings.
De-diversification
While diversification benefits many woman-owned companies, the opposite approach may work in some cases. Barbara Ann Reed of Poway, California, a San Diego suburb, developed a specialty. She preps windows for builders of fine homes. This accounts for 70 percent of her business.
Her specialized construction clean-up service has included mansions destined for giants of the computer industry, pro athletes, fast-food barons, and other super-rich executives who have moved to San Diego or established second homes in the area.
She has a contractor’s license in the state of California and works for the main contractors, not the homeowners. That requires full-time employees, workers’ compensation, high liability insurance, and loads of paperwork. Many window-cleaners would not want to put up with all that.
Besides construction clean-up, her other activities include training homeowner staffs in: home maintenance (the servants, you know); general maintenance; and sales of equipment to homeowners.
She entered the clean-up business when she partnered with a woman to clean-up new apartments at $50 a unit. Her main motivation was to earn money that would enable her to spend summers in Montana. It turns out that Nancy Sendler of Alpine Window Cleaning, Missoula, Montana, as one of her goals, wants to earn enough money to leave Montana during winters!
Reed tried 8-to-5 jobs, but felt “like she was in prison.” The specialty that she developed set her free.
Trend toward Safety
There is general perception of change rumbling through the industry relating to safety of equipment and procedures. Arguably women need protection more than men do because of physical factors. They are certainly active in advocating safety regulations.
Women are quick to credit the International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA) and its safety arm, the International Window Cleaner Certification Institute (IWCCI), for leadership in safety promotion. They appear to have extended their educational efforts outside the window-cleaning industry. Women we talked with welcomed the safety trend, even though it might result in certain short-run burdens for the company in hiring or red tape.
Some window-cleaners have noticed that many customers are cognizant of changes, and come to contract discussions with detailed questions. Says Bellew, “They are demanding more liability insurance, certifications for your personnel, and plans of service that nobody cared about years ago. They want to know how you’re washing, where you’re attaching to, how and where you’re going to descend. Contracts are very involved.
“Pretty soon it’s going to be hard to wash windows if you’re not certified. The industry is turning into a very professional business.” She welcomes that, and supports the point that IWCA has helped to create awareness both in and outside of the industry.
Coleman has also noticed increased sophistication on the part of the property-managers she deals with. She too regards IWCA/IWCCI as the moving force.
Dana Taylor, Past President of IWCA and Executive Vice-President of the Martin Window-Cleaning Co., Houston, told AWC that the firm employs IWCCI-certified workers and has a full-time safety director.
Taylor has worked with the company for 17 years, when Theresa Martin, company president, asked her to work as office manager. Martin invited her to IWCA board meetings and conventions so that she could become thoroughly acquainted with its safety programs. As Executive Vice-President of the firm, Taylor now specializes in sales and marketing. Safety Director Cassandra Huffman has taken many courses and served on safety committees in IWCA and other organizations.
Martin, Taylor, and Huffman advocate not merely membership in IWCA, but active participation. Martin told AWC, “I think involvement with the IWCA and continuing education lends a level of credibility that cannot be overlooked by others....”
Taylor urges window-cleaners to “join the IWCA and get totally involved; attend conventions and network with other professionals, attend board meetings and let their voices be heard, work on committees and give back to the industry, and serve on the board of directors. She recommends that they attend all industry-related safety and training courses and insist that all employees be highly educated in their profession. Finally, she says, they should enroll all their working window cleaners in the IWCCI certification program and help them attain certification.
“This will take a commitment of time and money to achieve, but the value to their businesses is incalculable.”
Some Reasons for Women to Like Window Cleaning
The main reason that women are not more numerous in window cleaning is that they have not discovered the opportunities. Initially it sounds a little forbidding, dangerous, and a bit rough. It’s a little of all those things, but it is also enjoyable once the basics are mastered. And there’s a lot of money to be made. That is its principal undiscovered secret.
Theresa Martin sums it up succinctly: “Although I can only speak from a management point of view, the window-cleaning industry is a great field for a woman. The industry has given me more than I ever dreamed possible, both financially and professionally.”
Dianne Smahlik, Chairman of Ettore, is a little further outside window cleaning as an equipment manufacturer, but her experience and insight into the main business of her customers are unsurpassed. She is the daughter of Ettore Steccone, developer of the modern squeegee, still the company’s big seller.
“I don’t deal with window-cleaning specifically, because we just make the tools. I do see more women than there used to be. Women are also very prominent in IWCA,” which husband and Ettore CEO Michael had a part in creating.
“Window-cleaning is a very good job for a woman. It’s nice to be your own boss. You can be what you want to be. If you want to be big and successful and have a lot of drive, or if you have a family, it’s a profitable thing to get into. Housing and low-rise cleaning can be successful, and women can relate very well to business-owners and homeowners [AWC emphasis]. Many of them raise families and put them through school with window cleaning. Yet it sometimes gets a bad rap.”
“People don’t appreciate how successful you can be.”
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