Experience the transformational magic of meticulous tile cleaning with Kate and Les Logan from Grout Beautiful, who join us to share the intricate dance of grout and tile restoration. They're not just cleaning; they're redefining the canvas of your floors. Les unveils the story behind his leap from Whirlpool Corporation to reimagining a company that's now synonymous with the revitalization of tiles across South Florida and beyond. Together, they explain the detailed process that not only cleans but color seals tiles, offering an awe-inspiring before-and-after that has garnered a loyal following from homeowners to hospital administrators.
Step into the world of a thriving family business where Kate's entrepreneurial flair in marketing and expansion is breathing new life into Grout Beautiful. Off the clock, she's strategizing, ensuring every floor shines with a flawless finish, enhancing the aesthetic appeal of any space they touch. Their unwavering commitment to quality service is evident as they discuss how they maintain a respectful and professional approach to every project, leaving a lasting impression of excellence. Kate's dual dedication to the family enterprise and her personal career ambitions showcases a balancing act as seamless as the grout lines they perfect. Join us for an episode that promises to leave your appreciation for floor artistry nothing short of beautiful.
Experience the transformational magic of meticulous tile cleaning with Kate and Les Logan from Grout Beautiful, who join us to share the intricate dance of grout and tile restoration. They're not just cleaning; they're redefining the canvas of your floors. Les unveils the story behind his leap from Whirlpool Corporation to reimagining a company that's now synonymous with the revitalization of tiles across South Florida and beyond. Together, they explain the detailed process that not only cleans but color seals tiles, offering an awe-inspiring before-and-after that has garnered a loyal following from homeowners to hospital administrators.
Step into the world of a thriving family business where Kate's entrepreneurial flair in marketing and expansion is breathing new life into Grout Beautiful. Off the clock, she's strategizing, ensuring every floor shines with a flawless finish, enhancing the aesthetic appeal of any space they touch. Their unwavering commitment to quality service is evident as they discuss how they maintain a respectful and professional approach to every project, leaving a lasting impression of excellence. Kate's dual dedication to the family enterprise and her personal career ambitions showcases a balancing act as seamless as the grout lines they perfect. Join us for an episode that promises to leave your appreciation for floor artistry nothing short of beautiful.
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolff.
Speaker 2:
Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to the Good Neighbor podcast. I'm your host, jeremy Wolff, and I've done this is I think we're coming up on episode number 216. So I've done quite a few of these podcasts and I've had all sorts of businesses, nonprofits, organizations on the show to talk about their businesses and their stories, but I've not yet had a business in the category of today's guests. So I'm sitting here today with Kate and Les Logan, and Kate and Les are, with Grout Beautiful, actually a father-daughter team, so looking forward to getting into this today. Guys, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:
Thank you Good morning Good morning, good morning, and thanks, as always, to our listeners for tuning in. So, kate Les, please tell everybody a little bit about Grout Beautiful.
Speaker 4:
Well, grout Beautiful is a service business and we clean and color seal ceramic and porcelain tile for our customers, whether they be residential or commercial customers. And what we do is typically you look at your floors there's usually a dark grout line around the tile itself which creates a grid on the floor, what we call a square, square. Square is visually what the consumer would say. And we come in and prepare the tile before we clean it and grout brush the grout lines to get all soil up and then we put down after we extract everything with a wet vac, we put down a penetrating acrylic color seal. It's a color that blends in with the color of the tile. So then, when we get done with our process, the consumer's floor looks like a contiguous flow of tile. It looks pretty amazing. And instead of all these squares on your floor you have a flow of tile that just blends in. The grout lines blend in with the tile, so it looks amazing.
Speaker 2:
I can speak from experience, because I've had my tile floors and the grout cleaned in the past and I've noticed just what you said before a very unsightly presence, and then, after it's cleaned, it does look like brand new. So that's pretty cool. So, les, how did you get into this business? Talk a little bit about the background, how you form Grout Beautiful and how you're sitting here today with your lovely daughter.
Speaker 4:
Well, 20 plus years ago, my wife and I had our floors cleaned and color sealed by another company. Yeah, it was amazing and it turned me in. We had a discussion with the owner of that company. That was a service business and they were going to get into manufacturing a product and get out of the service business totally. So at that point in time we decided to buy the assets of that business and start our own company, which is Grout Beautiful, and Grout Beautiful is basically what you end up with all the time. It's a pretty amazing process.
Speaker 2:
And before that, yeah, I was going to say, but prior to purchasing Grout Beautiful, had you always been in business for yourself, or was this your first leap into the world of entrepreneurship?
Speaker 4:
It was pretty much my first leap. I was with Whirlpool Corporation for 20 plus years major home appliances and I ran a major market for them in the country and but Grout Beautiful was something that seemed like a great opportunity to do something. The name of the company before we bought it was Grout Perfect and we changed it to Grout Beautiful. That was more of a recognition of what we do, just in the name itself. And so we started at 20 plus years ago and we grew from An independent small company to where we are today as far as doing both residential and and commercial business.
Speaker 2:
Now are you servicing residences and commercial businesses in all of South Florida? Is it specific to Broward County? Where do you guys operate?
Speaker 4:
Well, we were primarily in three county area and date Broward and Palm Beach County, but we've gone as far as Maryland before to do jobs for oh wow. We used to go over to Tampa to do work for Tampa General and we would go over there for weeks at a time with my crew. We only have three technicians but we do amazing work and a large portion of our business comes from referrals Customers. We've done that. Their friends come into their home and they first question they have is when did you replace your tile? And the answers always know we had this done and most people don't really know anything, much more than a maintenance cleaning, which I think you mentioned you've had done before. In a maintenance cleaning doesn't actually remove the discoloration and staining that's on a customer's floor. All it does is improve the look better than soil Once it's stained. It's always stained, unless you actually do our process, which is to use a penetrating color seal to blend in with the tile itself. So I can explain to you what our process is if you would like that, jeremy.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, please go for it, because I think a lot of people who might have this issue. They look at their floor and they think to themselves well, I could just kind of figure this out and do this on my own, and you know I'll just take care of it and watch a YouTube video and put some chemicals down and see what happens. Why don't you walk everybody through kind of the process, Like you said, that you guys go through, to make sure that everybody's floor is shiny and beautiful?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, well, the process is when we first come into your home or one of the things is, we're very dedicated to keeping a time schedule, so we don't like to do like the cable companies do set appointments and tell customers that will be there in between eight and 12. If we say at eight o'clock in the morning, our guys will be there right at eight o'clock in the morning and they're gonna. And this is once we've set an appointment to do the actual process. So there's a number of steps before that, but once we've set an appointment to do their floors, our texts will come in, walk through the customers, home with them, explain where they're gonna start and what their process is gonna be, so that we've got our customer totally in concert with what we're doing and not finding surprises as they go through the day. But we're gonna come in and we're gonna mop your floors Last time water ever needs to be put on your floor once we do our process, because afterwards all you need to do is damp, mop your floors and it's gonna pick up any soil that's on the floor itself or the grout lines.
Speaker 4:
But we go in and we mop your floors, we grout, brush the grout lines to get any surface soil off of them. We don't wanna be color sealing on soil itself. So we prepare your floors, we machine scrub the tile to get the tile back to close to its original condition as possible. We wanna get any chemicals that have accumulated on the tile over time from cleaning processes and products, so we get it back to its original condition. We extract everything with a wet back, dry your floors with blowers and then we apply two coats of our penetrating sealer. The first coat that's going on is absorbing into the grout and permanently sealing it. When that dries to a touch we do a second application of the color itself again, and that gives you color consistency throughout the entire home. If you look at your floors in different light, they look differently in different rooms because of the amount of light that's in it. If it's artificial light, it changes what color looks like versus natural light. So the second coat we put on gives you consistent color throughout your home and if necessary, when we're done, we'll buff out your floors.
Speaker 4:
If there's any residue that got on the tile from the color seal process, that's removed and when it's all done it looks absolutely amazing and it changes the entire dynamic dynamics of the inside of your home. Not only is it cleaner and brighter, but it makes it look more spacious because you've taken this grid off your floor. And so to the consumer that's had a floor cleaned in the past, when you do it just a cleaning, it's not going to change the color of the floors not the tile, but of the ground itself. That blends in with the tile. So typically cleaning will just show an improvement over soil, but it's still gonna be stained. So we wanna cover that stain with the color that compliments the color of the tile so that once it's went all done, it looks like a contiguous, slow tile. It's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:
Now sounds like a pretty involved process. Is it safe to say that once a client has this done I mean I'd imagine it would last for quite some time Do you ever have to come back and redo it? How often would you recommend doing this? Or is it something that you just kind of play by ear?
Speaker 4:
Well, we have an extended warranty which is given to every customer.
Speaker 2:
Currently it's 10 years, that's what you say about 10 years.
Speaker 4:
But we offer maintenance cleanings from time to time. So whenever a customer feels like they'd like us to come back, and we do that we do just the traffic areas in the home so we don't move furniture again like we do in our initial process. Initially, when we do it we move furniture from side to side and room to room so that we do all areas. One of the services that we also offer is if, for instance, a customer has a big credenser or something that they don't want to move and we just do up to site line so that it looks like it's been done but it hasn't. If they ever decide to redo their furniture or sell their home and the areas will be exposed, it will come back and do it underneath those areas at no charge. So when we do a maintenance cleaning, so it encompasses everything as far as supporting the customer needs down the road.
Speaker 2:
OK. So, kate, don't want to feel like we're leaving you out here.
Speaker 3:
No, no, Look, he's the mastermind behind the whole business.
Speaker 2:
So obviously you guys are doing something right. You've been doing this for 20 years and now Kate has I don't want to say I don't know if I should say recently, but I think sometime over the last couple of years has kind of joined the team and looks to be kind of, I guess, taking over the operation. So, kate, why don't you talk a little bit about your background and what you're bringing to the table now, coming on board to grab beautiful yeah, sure, no problem.
Speaker 3:
I've always watched my dad be a businessman through and through, so it's been pretty awesome when he actually took this step to own his own business, learned a lot from him, highly respected him through his whole career. My current career is in a completely different industry, I think, but my business background when he started talking to me about this, really propelled me to grasp onto it and join the venture. So about a year ago we kind of put this plan into motion a little bit more. Wasn't going to stop my full-time job, but knowing that this would probably be more of an after-hours thing and a lot of work on the weekends, it still made me really excited to get involved. We've had a lot of fun, kind of learning from each other and blending our ideas.
Speaker 3:
I think I almost haven't ready to do his own social media posts. So we're progressing in that matter, but it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:
Kudos to you for that, because I know it's difficult. It's a jungle out there on social media. That could be a very interesting. Very steep learning curve. For sure it's been fun.
Speaker 3:
But he's been the face of the company. Still he handles the day-to-day operations. I've had a lot of fun really expanding our marketing and advertising and trying to dig more into the commercial segment of the business. We're just getting started. There's a lot more to come with this dynamic team right here. So what is that?
Speaker 4:
Jeremy, part of our team is that we have two estimators, one of which I'm one of two, and I have another manager that's out there doing estimates also. But one of the things about Grow out Beautiful is we're very user-friendly A little pat on the back. Everybody loves us. A majority of our business is coming from referrals, and where people see something that another customer has done and they just can't believe it and what the look is that we create Aesthetically it's unlike anything that they could ever imagine, and so the first thing out of a customer's mouth whenever they see the complete job is wow, yeah, it's just something that they didn't even anticipate.
Speaker 3:
They thought they'd have cleaner floors.
Speaker 4:
They didn't realize that we could accomplish what we did.
Speaker 3:
I think that was a lot of nuts and jerky to have, but a lot of it was. When you look at the reviews, they mentioned my dad's name. They mentioned Danny's name. It's really one of the things that I love about this business and it's a small family business but the authenticity of it. I think when you call the office, you're going to get my aunt. That's the person answering the phone. When someone goes to your house to do an estimate or a commercial business, it's going to be my dad or Danny. The texts are incredible. They are so attached to this business and their attention to detail and commitment to providing 100% satisfaction Customer satisfaction is what drives them forward. They never want to do a half what job. They're going to do the job to the best ability that they can. That's what I really love about this. What you see is what you get at Grab Beautiful.
Speaker 4:
I think that's one of the advantages of being a small family on business and our mantra is we try and be professional all the time, and so we're very conscientious about the customer. We respect their time and we respect their home and property. When we're out there doing the actual job, I mean, we're very conscientious about how we do it and what we do so that when we're done, it's nothing but an amazing experience that they've had with Grab Beautiful servicing their home.
Speaker 3:
And I have to say I've never looked at floors so much in my life. But I also think I'm not outside the norm. I don't think a lot of consumers look down and say, oh, that's dirty. I think over time, just because the color changes on the grout lines, that must be what it's supposed to look like.
Speaker 2:
And they forget. Yeah, you used to it, yeah.
Speaker 3:
Great. So I believe a lot of people. I mean, what do you see when you first walk into a home or business? Honestly, if you look down, it's the floors, and what we do is make that clean again. To put it in the simplest terms is, take a dirty floor and make it beautiful, but that can change the whole impact of the appearance of a business or home. But on the flip side, a dirty floor can be a complete turnoff. So I mean walking into your dentist's office, your local church, a restaurant, the lobby of a hotel, and looking down and seeing a dirty floor can make you start to wonder about what their services are, what they're providing. At times I heard this the other day it's almost like getting all dressed up for a wonderful event and a full tuxedo and a beautiful ball gown, and then you get to your shoes and they're just shoveled in a mess. It doesn't complete the look, and so I kind of think with this process it completes the full look. It gives it that full, beautiful picture.
Speaker 2:
Nice. So you had mentioned that you're bringing an entirely different background to this business. Are you planning on transitioning to this business eventually full time and taking over? Are you still going to continue with your other life? And what is that in life? What is your other background?
Speaker 3:
I love my other life. I actually people might call me crazy I thrive on being active and always kind of doing something and having my hands and everything. My other side is I'm a full time division director for A1 and spirits distributor. Completely different, very phone, very time consuming, but I'm fully committed to that as well. So this is where you know working on things around that schedule, but I'm complimenting both.
Speaker 4:
An amazing acquisition of the part of Grand Beautiful.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I'm having KTV part of the team.
Speaker 2:
It's fantastic and she spoke at the beginning of the when she started speaking a little earlier. Clearly she has a lot of love and admiration for you and what you've done and for her to kind of come into the business and bring a fresh perspective and then work together as a father and daughter. I mean you get that feeling of it is a true family business, right? And you said you know your customers are so utmost importance to you and you do. You know you really treat everybody a really high level.
Speaker 3:
So for sure, and he's not ready to retire yet, so he's going to keep. I'm sure he would like to.
Speaker 4:
She keeps tugging on me to stick around for a while and I, I mean I enjoy it and that's. I think continuing to do something that you love keeps you young younger.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely yeah, right, if you enjoy it and you love doing it right and you still can, yeah.
Speaker 4:
And I don't know why, but you reminded me something you're talking a few minutes ago. Whenever we do a lead which she was talking about, suzy when customer calls the office for the first time and she'll do what we call lead, which is an information sheet on the customer name, address, email, all those kinds of things I'll call a customer or Danny will to set up an appointment. One of the questions I always ask the customer is by the way, what color is your tile? I can't tell you. The majority of people don't have a clue. They have to look because you look at it every day and you just get used to the discolored grout that's there. But even the color of the tile they don't remember until they really take a look at it again.
Speaker 2:
So it's, but the and then once it, and then once you guys finish your work and get clean, it completely transforms.
Speaker 3:
Anyway, the colors might be in white Right, true, but we have some incredible before and afters. It's hard to describe it. I mean you're talking dirty grouts to clean, but it's amazing the transition. So if you really look at that before and after shot, it's nine day. Yeah yeah, it's it's.
Speaker 4:
It's an aesthetic process. That's amazing when it, when you're done with it and it lasts, and definitely as long as the customer takes care of it. And it's really pretty simple household cleaning with old fashioned cotton string mop and some reusing the right product, which is a neutral pH cleaner. It'll protect the color seal. It'll last indefinitely as long as you take care of it. It's going to hold up and we can come in and assist the customer with periodic maintenance cleanings if they'd like to have it done.
Speaker 2:
All right. Well, as we wrap up here, guys, before we go, is there anything new in the future coming for Grout Beautiful that you want to share? Or, if not, just leave our listeners with the one thing that you'd like them to know about the business?
Speaker 4:
It's just more the same, which is amazing floors when we're all done with it and something that they can maintain on a continuing basis A lot of our customers, by the way, jeremy, or people that are getting ready to sell their homes, sure, the comment I always get is why didn't I do this before? I was selling it? To enjoy it while you live there, right?
Speaker 2:
Because what it?
Speaker 4:
does to the home that they're trying to sell is it makes it look a lot more spacious, so it takes that grid off the floor and it helps sell the homes. I can't tell you how many people have called me afterwards and said our home's sold in five days.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, we have a lot of realtors who have him on speed dial. But outside of anything new, I would venture to say, the process and the business is the same. The marketing and the advertising is perpetuating forward or changing a little bit. We've done a complete revamp of our website, made it a lot more user friendly. You can see a lot of again those before and afters and contacts us very quickly through the site. So you'll see some more social media come into play and things like that.
Speaker 2:
Very cool. So has anybody done this for many people that are selling their house and then I should have done this sooner? Has anybody ever done the floor and then said wait a minute, I don't want to sell anymore, I want to continue living here because it's so beautiful. Has that ever happened?
Speaker 4:
I'm sure it has, but it's happened after we've left.
Speaker 2:
Okay, well, why don't you leave everybody with your contact information? Anybody out there that's listening, that's staring at their floor right now and saying why didn't I do this sooner? I should really get this done. It's been bugging them for a while and they just haven't done anything. How could they reach you guys?
Speaker 4:
Well our phone number is 954-792-8556. And typically when they call that number they'll get Susie, who's my office manager and sister-in-law, and then either Danny or myself will be giving them a personal phone call back to set up appointment. Come out and do a measure and an estimate at their convenience, and we'd love to be able to show you what we can do to enhance your home and make it look amazing.
Speaker 3:
I'm going to throw my website plug-in, because it's definitely just wwwgrapbeautifulcom as the company name, and there is a contact sheet on one of the pages where you can submit your information and we'll call you right away as well. So give us a call, shoot us a message. We'll be happy to help and call you back right away.
Speaker 2:
All right, we will of course link in the description to all of your contact information. Kate Les thanks so much for coming on the show. It was a pleasure.
Speaker 3:
Thank you.
Speaker 4:
Have a great day, Jeremy. Thanks for having us Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:
Of course that's what we do, and thanks to our listeners for tuning in and we will catch everyone next time. Take care and have a wonderful day.