Today we’d like to introduce you to Flora Bonilla.
Hi Flora, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Our story began in 1997, not with a business plan or financial backing, but with a family doing everything possible to build a better future.
My mom, Flora Bonilla, came to the United States from Mexico, and my father, Raul Bonilla, came from El Salvador. They arrived as young adults, became permanent residents, and had to adjust to a new language, culture, and way of life. They eventually met while working at Joe Corbi’s, fell in love, got married, and began building a family together.
At the time, my mom stayed home to care for my sister Vilma, who was three, and me, Raul Bonilla Jr., who had just turned one. My dad financially supported our family until a workplace accident severely injured his hand and left him unable to provide in the same way.
Thankfully, he had built some savings, which gave our family a temporary cushion. But my parents knew it wouldn’t last forever. They didn’t have time to remain stuck in fear. They had to adjust, get to work, and find a new way forward.
With little English, no business experience, and two young children depending on her, my mom began cleaning houses. It wasn’t because she had always planned to own a cleaning company. She stepped into an unfamiliar industry because our family needed a dependable future, and she was determined to help create one.
From 1997 to around 2002, finding consistent work was difficult. Some clients undervalued her, treated her unfairly, or stopped calling without warning. She never knew whether a cleaning would turn into recurring work, but she continued showing up and proving herself in every home.
During those early years, my mom received some support from her sister, Marisol. Marisol moved from Florida to Maryland and began building her own housekeeping work. While my mom was trying to find consistent clients, Marisol passed along three clients to her: Miss Heather, Miss Deborah, and Miss Virginia.
Of those three families, Miss Virginia and her family have remained with Cleaning by Flora for more than 28 years and continue receiving services from us today. But Miss Virginia is only one part of that story. We are fortunate to still have several clients who have trusted our family for more than 20 years, with some relationships approaching three decades.
Over the years, we have also experienced the loss of longtime clients who passed away due to old age after being with us for two decades or more. Those losses were personal. When you spend that many years caring for someone’s home and becoming part of their routine, they stop feeling like just another client. They become part of your family’s journey.
My dad remained beside my mom through everything. Even with his injured hand, he drove her from one cleaning appointment to another, often with us children in the car. My parents printed their own flyers advertising her services in Baltimore and Howard County, hoping each call might lead to a consistent opportunity.
Before Cleaning by Flora had a name, employees, or official recognition, it was already a family effort.
Around 2002, my mom gained one of her first truly consistent clients and the first client she obtained through her own efforts, Ms. Davidson. She was an elderly woman in northern Baltimore who paid my mom $45 per cleaning.
It wasn’t much for the amount of work involved, but it provided a small sense of stability. More importantly, Ms. Davidson trusted my mom. After years of wondering whether clients valued her work or would call her again, that consistency showed my mom that she could find clients on her own and build something beyond the first opportunities she had been given.
The truth is that finding a cleaning client and maintaining a recurring client are two very different things. A single cleaning provides temporary work, but it doesn’t create long term stability. My mom had to earn every recurring client through honesty, reliability, consistency, and the personal care she brought into every home.
Slowly, one family recommended her to another. Those personal recommendations began creating the dependable client base she had worked so hard to establish.
In 2006, my parents took another chance and moved our family from the Canton neighborhood in Baltimore City to Howard County. By then, my younger brother Daniel was also part of our family. My parents wanted stronger schools, more opportunities, and a better future for their children. Howard County was also where more of my mom’s consistent clients lived, while business in Baltimore had become relatively stagnant.
After the move, the business became more established throughout Howard County. Then, almost unexpectedly, my mom’s name began circulating throughout Baltimore City again. The company continued growing in both areas, primarily through word of mouth.
That is honestly how Cleaning by Flora has grown for nearly 30 years. We didn’t have investors or large advertising campaigns. Every recommendation meant that someone trusted my mom enough to share her name and reputation with another family.
As the business grew, it became more than my mom working from house to house. Employees came and went throughout the years, but today we are proud to have a consistent and dependable team working alongside us. They are an important part of the company, its daily operations, and the quality of service we provide.
Our family remains part of its foundation too. My siblings, Vilma and Daniel, and I have cleaned homes, carried supplies, and stepped in wherever we were needed. Even as our individual lives and responsibilities have changed, our family still shows up whenever the company needs us. That responsibility to one another has never disappeared.
Today, Cleaning by Flora LLC is a registered and bonded, family owned, woman owned, and Latina owned business serving families throughout Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, and the surrounding communities.
We are no longer a family trying to figure out where the next opportunity will come from. We are an established company with nearly three decades of experience, a dedicated team, a trusted reputation, and client relationships that have lasted across generations. Still, we have never forgotten how all of this began.
The years when my mom’s work was overlooked and undervalued shaped the standards we uphold today. We understand what it feels like to work hard and not receive the respect you deserve. That is why we care deeply about the way we treat our clients, our employees, and every home we enter.
Cleaning by Flora represents the strength of my mom, a Mexican immigrant and Latina businesswoman who entered an unfamiliar industry with little English, no financial backing, and every reason to give up, but never did. It also represents the resilience of my Salvadoran father, who continued supporting his family even after an injury changed the direction of his life.
Together, my parents turned a frightening and uncertain chapter into a new purpose. Their sacrifice didn’t just build a successful company. It changed the future of our entire family.
Now, as Cleaning by Flora enters its next chapter, my mom has begun passing the torch to me. She is teaching me more than how to manage schedules, communicate with clients, or lead our team. She is teaching me how to protect the name she built, the quality of her work, and the values that allowed this company to survive and grow for nearly three decades.
Working beside her has transformed our already strong relationship as mother and son into a true partnership rooted in trust, respect, and shared purpose.
I am not simply preparing to take over an established business. I am accepting responsibility for my mother’s name, the reputation she earned one home at a time, our dedicated team, the families who have trusted us for generations, and the future both of my parents sacrificed to create.
What began as our family’s need to adapt and get to work in 1997 has become a legacy. Carrying that legacy forward is not only my responsibility. It is one of the greatest honors of my life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
During the early years, from 1997 into the early 2000s, one of Flora’s greatest challenges was learning how to price services properly without business guidance. Some clients requested additional work after agreeing to a price or tried to avoid paying the full amount. Those experiences taught Flora how to establish clear policies, set professional boundaries, and confidently recognize the value of her work. Today, she leads a highly successful and in demand company with a dedicated team, a strong reputation, and loyal clients who trust the quality and professionalism behind the Cleaning by Flora name.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Cleaning by Flora LLC provides detailed, high quality cleaning services that give clients back their time while creating a cleaner, healthier, and more peaceful space for their physical and mental well being.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Flora deserves the highest praise for building her company from the ground up through nearly three decades of sacrifice, determination, and unwavering hard work. She carried the stress and responsibility of turning her vision into a reality, often facing challenges that required tremendous strength, patience, and perseverance. From the very beginning, her husband stood by her side, while her sister, Marisol, helped open doors by giving her three of her earliest clients. When dependable employees were difficult to find, Flora’s children—Vilma, Raul Jr., and Daniel—stepped in to help, supporting the business throughout their childhood, college years, and adulthood. Alongside the dedicated employees and family members who continue to honor Flora’s legacy, her most loyal clients deserve the greatest recognition. Their unwavering trust, continued support, and lasting loyalty have been essential to the company’s success. We are deeply grateful to every client who believed in Flora, stood by her, and continued to support her throughout the years. Their trust did more than sustain the company; it helped transform Flora’s sacrifices, determination, and lifelong commitment into a lasting legacy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleaningbyflora?igsi=MTR3bW92MjZ4ZW15Mg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19NYo9Sjuh/?mibextid=wwXIfr
