The Real Work Behind A Clean Home with Kelsey Kovaleski

You can learn a lot about a community by listening to the people who keep it running between the big moments, and few jobs are more “behind the scenes” than professional cleaning. We talk with Kelsey Kovaleski of Platinum Shine Cleaning Services, a fully licensed and insured Northeast PA cleaning company serving the Scranton and Moscow area and nearby towns. If you have ever wondered what you are really paying for when you hire cleaners, Kelsey gives a grounded look at the time, tools, and attention to detail that separate a quick wipe-down from a true reset. 

We get specific about the kinds of work most people don’t think about until they need it fast: post-construction cleaning that tackles stubborn fine dust, move-out cleaning that helps you leave a place the right way, and Airbnb and short-term rental cleaning where consistency matters every single turnover. Kelsey also shares the origin story behind Platinum Shine, from professionally cleaning in the past to deciding to build something of their own after the Dixon City Red Lobster closed, all while raising small kids and needing a flexible schedule. 

We also dig into practical small business lessons, including how they use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, a website, and Yelp to reach customers across Northeast Pennsylvania. But the biggest takeaway is their standard: they clean with care, with no judgment and no shame, because real life is busy and sometimes you just need help. 

If you like meeting local business owners and learning how they think, subscribe, share this conversation with a neighbor, and leave a review. And if there’s a business we should feature next, nominate them at GMPNEPA.com.

Transcript

Welcome To The Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Joe Longo.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Longo.

Meet Platinum Shine Cleaning Services

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Are you in need of maybe your property to be cleaned or a new cleaning person for your property? Well, we have one closer than you might think. And today I'm with Kelsey. Kelsey, tell me your last name.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Kovaleski.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Kovalesky. There we go. And Kelsey, you are with Platinum Shine Cleaning Services. Thank you so much for being here. Could you tell us a little bit about your business and what y'all do?

What They Clean And Who They Serve

SPEAKER_01 0:47

So Platinum Shine is um we're fully licensed and insured. Um, we're a cleaning company serving Northeast PA. We specialize in uh post-construction cleans, move out cleans, Airbnb, short-term rentals, residential. We're trying to get into the office buildings now, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

How They Started After Red Lobster

SPEAKER_02 1:04

That's awesome. How did you get into this business?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

So actually, um, my co-owner and I have um professionally cleaned in the past, and we were actually both working at Dixon City, uh, Red Lobster, and they recently closed. So we're like, should we find new jobs? Should should we start the cleaning thing again? And then we're like, we should just do it for ourselves, you know? We've we've done it professionally before and it's worked out, and we both have small kids, so the flexibility really works out for us.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

So when when we say Northeast PA, it's pretty big.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

It is.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Is there an area that you guys kind of focus on?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

So we're based in Moscow and Scranton, so any anywhere close to there, you know. Goulsboro, we get a lot, Scranton Clark Summit, we get a lot, um, Dixon City, we get quite a few.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Wonderful.

Why Cleaning Is Harder Than It Looks

SPEAKER_02 1:50

And uh, what are some maybe misconceptions about the cleaning industry?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

That it's easy, that it's that it's light work, that it's that it's service level work, you know. The the biggest thing is like it takes a lot of detail, and especially like the post uh construction cleans and the move out cleans, like it takes a while to get that dust up. So you have to go through it once and then go back through it. I've heard, you know, oh well, it's just cleaning. I we don't understand why the price is so high. It does, it's really time-consuming work and it's hard work.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

And I mean, even what you just said right there is something that I never even thought of the post-construction clean.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Yeah, those are the big ones for us.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

You know, and probably something that a lot of people aren't aware of that really there's all kinds of of cleaning available.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

You get a brand new house, you don't want to, you don't want to go in there and do it yourself. You want to hire somebody, make sure it's all it's all spotless and ready to move in, you know.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Right,

Marketing With Facebook And TikTok

SPEAKER_02 2:44

right. So we all know that marketing is at the heart of every business. What are you doing to target your customers and attract them?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

So we started off on Facebook, and you know, Facebook gives you, like you said, NEPA is a big area, but it does give you a real wide range of people. So then we kind of narrowed it down to uh, we're on Instagram, we're on TikTok. Um, I think marketing is so much easier nowadays with the access to social media that we do have, you know. Um, we have our own website, um, and we're also on Yelp. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Have you ever thought about having a cleaning podcast?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

I didn't. No, this is my first introduction with the podcast, and I'm terrify I think it's going well, but I'm terrified.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

So oh, you're doing you're doing great. You're doing great. So outside of business, what

Family Life And The Care Standard

SPEAKER_02 3:28

are you doing for fun?

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Um, I definitely spend time with my family. You know, that's that's my my number one when I'm not working. Um, my husband owns his own business too. Uh I have two small kids, so we just enjoy, you know, hanging out at the house in the backyard. The kids love going to the beach, so wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Can you tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about you and your company?

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Um, is that we care. We we genuinely care. We we go in and we clean people's houses like we clean our own as moms, you know. Um, there's no judgment, there's no shame, there's no if people need help, that's what we're here for, you know? Because at the end of the day, waitressing and cleaning and being a mom and being a nurse, they all have the same level of care involved, you know. So we just want people to know that we understand, and life does get busy, you know, especially with kids and family and you know, elderly people, yet people get sick.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

It's certain it's it certainly does. So, how can our listeners find you if they need your

How To Find Them And Nominate

SPEAKER_02 4:28

services?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

So we are on Facebook, it's uh Platinum Shine Cleaning Services LLC. Um, we have a website, uh, that's Platinum Shine Cleaning Services LLC.com. Um, and they can also find us on Facebook and um TikTok, Instagram and TikTok too.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Great, great.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

I have a hard time keeping up with all of them.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Right. There are so many of them these days. Well, well, Kelsey, from everyone at the Good Neighbor Podcast, we wish you all of the luck and success moving forward with everything that you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GMPNEPA.com. That's GMPNEPA.com. Or call five.