Secret Academy Episode - Kristen Hadeed“It all started with a pair of jeans,” Kristen recounts: a statement that most college students can relate to. When she was a sophomore at the University of Florida, her parents told her she needed to get a job if she wanted to buy herself “fun” – but unnecessary – stuff, like expensive jeans. Determined to get what she wanted, Kristen knew she had no choice. If pricey jeans were going to be in her future, then so was a job! As finance major with a challenging course load and little free time, Kristen needed a job that was flexible enough to accommodate her demanding schedule. However, working for someone else had never been her strong suit.
Kristen is the founder of Student Maid™, a unique house-cleaning and concierge enterprise that solely employs hundreds of college students who maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher. A year later, Student Maid™ employed more than 350 students and had grown into more than just a cleaning company or a source of income. Today, Kristen devotes much of her time to mentoring Student Maid™ team members. As a boss who is close in age to her employees, Kristen can provide lessons in leadership while motivating, inspiring and guiding them on how to make it on their own in a way they can relate to.
- Why failure is the best way to learn.
- How she grew a small idea into 350 employees.
- How to stay motivated through curiosity.
- You can’t do it alone, surrounding yourself with positivity.
- How to merge your belief with your business
- Why you should only work on things that you are passionate about.
- How to find opportunity in each failure.
- How she lost 75% of her staff at once and her learning from it.
- Lack of business experience doesn’t dictate your success rate.
- How to manage 350 employees.
- How to increase your employee retention rate
- Why being a fair leader is the key to growing your staff.
- Her take on education, and how to balance school and entrepreneurship.
