If you have spent any time on Fresno social media lately, there is a good chance you have stumbled across Suhaila Mendoza. She is the face behind Pure Essence Cleaning Company, and she has been quietly (okay, not so quietly) going locally viral for giving people an honest, behind the scenes look at what it takes to run a cleaning business while still living a real life. I recently had the opportunity to interview Suhaila to hear her story and walked away inspired and eager to share this local business owner’s story with you, too, FresYes friends.
Suhaila started Pure Essence with her partner Josh, and today the two of them run the business with the help of recent hire and long-time trusted friend Jennifer. Their business started not with a grand plan, but more out of necessity. “Josh and I wanted something that belonged to us,” she told me. They did not come from a family of business owners, so everything they learned while starting Pure Essence was through trial and error. Their success story started with just a few cleaning supplies, a car, and a whole lot of willingness to work hard.
Sohaila says, “it stopped feeling like a side hustle and started feeling like a real business was when clients kept calling them back and referring their friends and family.” That is when it became clear they were not just picking up jobs anymore, they were building something people trusted and relied on.
Suhaila actually had professional cleaning experience before starting Pure Essence, having worked for another company for about eight months. She taught Josh everything she had learned about the job about how to clean on a professional level, however, knowing how to clean and knowing how to run a business are two very different skill sets, she explained, and she had to teach herself the rest: “marketing, pricing, scheduling, bookkeeping, hiring, all of it!”
These days, Suhaila and Josh have settled into their own natural roles. She handles the behind the scenes work: pricing, scheduling, and content creation. Josh keeps morale high, as they work closely together on every clean, and reminds her not to take life too seriously — it is a partnership in every sense of the word, at work and at home.
When I asked her what she wants a first time client to notice, she will tell you it’s the intention behind the work — Pure Essence is not about rushing through a checklist, it’s about cleaning they way they would for family and friends, and taking care of the extra details like steam cleaning baseboards and doors, detailing shower glass, and wiped down light switches and door frames, the kind of details most people never think to check but that contribute to a lighter, fresher and relaxing home space once completed.
One of the biggest misconceptions Suhaila runs into is that new clients think they need to clean before the cleaners show up — they do not. And if you feel a little awkward having someone in your home, she wants you to know there is zero judgment. “Life gets busy. Kids happen. That is exactly why Pure Essence exists.”
Of course, no interview about a home service business would be complete without a good story, and Suhaila did not disappoint. “During one clean, a client’s newly adopted rescue dog was still adjusting and feeling protective. Everyone was doing their best to give the dog space until Josh turned around for one second and got a quick nip on the backside!” Startling in the moment, hilarious in hindsight, and still a story they laugh about today.
At just 25, with a full calendar and a business built from the ground up, Suhaila is already looking toward what is next. She wants to grow her team, create more jobs in the Fresno community, and keep speaking openly on her social media accounts about mental health, something she cares deeply about and that ties to the why behind her work, given how much a clean home can impact someone’s well-being.
If you are looking for a cleaning team in Fresno that treats your home like it matters, keep an eye on Pure Essence Cleaning Company. Suhaila, Josh, and Jennifer are proof that hard work, honesty, and a little bit of social media charm can build something real.
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