Jezka and John Jadulos call their 2-month-old son, Jaxon, their “CrestClean baby” because he was born the same week they started their cleaning business.
“It was funny because when I was doing my cleaning training, I was pregnant and a few weeks later Jaxon was born,” says Jezka.
The couple are the first CrestClean franchisees to be based in Stratford, where they have lived since immigrating to New Zealand from the Philippines eight years ago.
They bought a franchise because they wanted to have more family time with Jaxon and his older sister Jazmine, 10.
John and Jezka previously worked at the same rest home but shift and weekend work meant that they were seldom home with their children at the same time.
A registered nurse, John gave up his full-time job in the healthcare sector, while Jezka has continued to work as a registered diversional therapist during the day, helping John with the cleaning work in the evenings. Jezka’s mother, who moved out from the Philippines a month ago, helps look after the children.
“We were introduced to CrestClean by a Filipino friend, who is a franchisee in New Plymouth. Time with the family is number one. Before, we were both working weekends most of the time and our daughter complained, ‘You don’t have time for me’. She was really excited when we started the business. She said, ‘I can be your lunch lady Mum and Dad!’ Now, she’s a lot happier,” says Jezka.
“It’s very flexible. We have had the business for two months now and we love being able to manage our own time. That’s very important to us.”
In just 10 weeks, they have doubled the turnover of their business, and are enjoying a higher income while working less hours.
“When we moved to Stratford we didn’t know anyone. It was crazy at first because we had no family here, we started from scratch. We couldn’t afford a car so we rode our bikes with our backpacks on to buy our groceries. Now we are aiming to buy our own home. We’re still renting, but our CrestClean business will really help us to save and be able to afford a house,” says Jezka.
“It’s a good place to raise a child in. It’s very placid and a good environment, safe as well. There’s a Filipino community here which is good and we’re quite active with our friends so the homesickness has lessened.”
Jezka thanked CrestClean Regional Master Franchisee Naresh Mani for his help and support.
“I commend him for being so supportive. Whenever we need something he’s just a call away and he really supports us, especially when we started out.”
Naresh says, with demand for CrestClean’s services growing in Stratford and Hawera, it is great to have a team permanently based in the area.
“I think more people are moving away from busy cities and coming into areas like this where it is quieter. The traffic’s not as busy and the housing is more affordable. It’s a nice place to live,” says Naresh.
“I am really pleased to have Jezka and John on board. They are very active in the community and really focused on their work. They even bought a brand-new van for their CrestClean business! Within the first few weeks, customers were calling and saying how pleased they were with their work.”
