Dallas Sunrise Maids was founded by Emily and Kent Davis, who relocated to Plano in 2020 after living in Panama for over 15 years. The couple learned that the key to success in both business and life is to surround yourself with great people.
Kent and Emily currently live in Plano and are raising their three sons. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Kent is a graduate of James Madison University and is the owner of Dallas Sunrise Maids and Panama Equity Real Estate. Originally from Panama City, Panama, Emily is a systems engineer and licensed social worker. They moved to Texas in 2020 and have been actively involved in the community ever since.
After interviewing about 30 candidates, Emily and Kent considered returning to Panama, but discovered the perfect husband-wife team, Jason and Ana, who became their first cleaning team. Jason and Ana embodied the qualities they were looking for, including honesty, a strong work ethic, and meticulous attention to detail. Kent says that without Jason and Ana, Dallas Sunrise Maids might have remained just a small, family-owned housecleaning company in Plano. Since joining, the couple have cleaned more than 500 homes and been promoted to management positions.
Local Profile recently interviewed Kent about what it means to be a small business owner in North Texas and how the community influences his burgeoning business.
How does North Texas impact your company?
The North Texas community is truly amazing. As non-Texans, we were welcomed into the business community through organizations like the Plano Chamber of Commerce and of course Local Profile. We found a church we loved at St. Church and have built lifelong friendships here.
The best thing about North Texas? The dust! And it’s easy to see why.
What is the most challenging aspect of working with your spouse?
I think it’s a phrase you probably hear a lot, but I think it’s about stepping away from the business, because when you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to become obsessed, so in the early days, and to some extent still, it was a daily topic of conversation after work, but as we’ve grown, we’ve been fortunate enough to have built an administrative support system so that we don’t have to be as involved in the day-to-day cleaning of the house as we did in the beginning.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business?
It’s not a bad idea to have a network of supporters (and potential customers) to help you get through the first few months. For example, we offered free house cleaning to our neighbors, church members, and other business owners in Plano to help solve their business pain points and of course build local buzz. And we celebrated our early 5-star Google reviews around the dinner table with our three sons.
What’s the biggest mistake small business owners make as they advance in their careers?
To be honest, I can’t speak for other small business owners, but we made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, and to be honest, one of the Davis family philosophies is to always make new mistakes (rather than repeating the same ones), reflect on them thoroughly, and pivot if necessary. And we still make mistakes.
What has been the hardest decision you’ve made in your career so far?
One of the hardest and best decisions we made early on was to be selective about the clients we worked with. Coming from a sales background, it was a big change for me, but it saved me countless headaches and enabled me to retain my most valuable asset – my cleaning team. Focusing on customers who shared our values created a positive work environment and fostered a team of 34 satisfied house cleaners. I learned that I don’t need to work with everyone. Focus on clients who respect your business and the rest will fall into place.
What is a challenge you have faced recently and how did you overcome it?
In a community like Plano, where house cleaning services are widely available, it can be difficult to meet expectations. Some customers have experience with other companies, and we need to fill in the gaps. For example, if a customer expects us to move heavy furniture (which we don’t do for safety reasons), we always respond with empathy. We explain our policies, make them feel heard, and guide them to the right solution. It’s important to balance professionalism with genuine care for both our customers and our team.
How has your industry changed in the last five years?
AI is a game changer. For example, I didn’t even have to think about these interview questions. I just let ChatGPT do it for me. Just kidding. The great thing about house cleaning, especially here in Plano, is that it’s an old and very diverse industry with small operators and large franchise players. We use AI for a variety of efforts, from pre-screening potential employees to analyzing marketing strategies and even analyzing quality issues to determine how we need to restructure our training and quality checks.
What do you have planned for the future?
Looking ahead, we have exciting growth goals – by 2026, we hope to clean over 1,000 homes per week and establish ourselves as Plano’s most trusted house cleaning company. We’re also working on some philanthropic efforts that are currently kept under the radar, but that we hope will make a lasting impact on the community we love.
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