- May 13, 2025
Monica Garcia, owner of Monica Clean LLC, is about to celebrate four years in business.
“Our fourth birthday is May 21st. Just look at where I’ve come in four years,” she said. “I’m very, very blessed.”
Garcia has come a long way indeed. Born in Colombia where she lived with her aunt and uncle. Coming to America with her birth mother when she was 6 or 7. Moving to Miami sometime between 10 or 13. She’s not sure when exactly. She had a traumatic childhood and has memory gaps. She was placed in foster care and bounced around from foster home to foster home.
She attended Miami-Dade College, went to police academy and became a corrections officer in Daytona Beach. She played tackle football for the Orlando Mayhem of the Independent Women’s Football League for several years. At 5-foot, 128 pounds, she played on both sides of the ball, from linebacker to receiver and even noseguard when needed.
She eventually got into the cleaning business, working for Jen Rodgers, who owns Just Peachy Clean in South Daytona. After Garcia moved to Flagler County, Rodgers urged her to start her own cleaning business.
“I said, I wouldn’t even know what to do,” Garcia said.
But Rodgers helped her and about a year after Garcia started her business, they both joined Cleaning Business Fundamentals, a cleaning business coaching service.
“It wasn't, ‘OK, here's a mop and a bucket. It's literally, your labor calculator, your supplies calculator. How do you price for profit? How do you pay your employees fairly so that they're not struggling? It was a lot of information. I’m still learning so much,” she said.
She has three full-time employees, and as of late April, she was looking for a fourth. While politicians and residents bemoan that Palm Coast’s property tax base is mostly residential, it doesn’t hinder Garcia’s business model. Her clients are 95% residential.
“We have a couple of commercial accounts,” Garcia said. “But with commercial accounts, you have to work weekends or nights, and I don’t want my employees working weekends and nights. We value our employees’ mental health and work-life balance. I want them to enjoy time with their family, their kids, their friends. So, if a commercial account is able to be serviced Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., we'll take it. Otherwise, we find someone to refer them to.”
Monica Clean services only Flagler County plus Halifax Plantation and Plantation Bay, and Garcia hires only Flagler County residents, because, she says, “If you earn your money here, then spend your money here. That keeps our economy strong.”
Garcia has become an active member of Cleaning For a Reason, a charity which matches cleaning companies nationwide with cancer patients to clean their homes for free. Cleaning For a Reason is operated by Debbie Sardone, who owns a cleaning service in Texas and also runs Cleaning Business Fundamentals.
“No one pays for the cleaning, but the cleaner still has to get paid, so they don't try to overwhelm your schedule,” Garcia said. “Usually they send me about two cancer patients a month to service, and then if I can take on any more, I can call them and let them know.
“It’s very emotional,” Garcia said. “When you’re on the phone with someone going through cancer, the first thing they say is, ‘I’ve been sick, so I haven't been able to clean my house, and I'm ashamed.’ What? Don’t be. But I get it, because I don't want my mother-in-law coming to my house if it’s not clean. But you're ill. Your immune system is at its lowest, and that's where you're more susceptible to catch a cold or a sinus infection or anything. So, please let us come in and sterilize your home so that you can heal better.”
God took those memories from me for a reason. I’m good. I love who I am. Let's not ruin that.
— MONICA GARCIA
Garcia said her employees love when they’re assigned to a Cleaning For a Reason home. In fact, they fight for it, she said.
“They know, if they feel the least little bit of a cold, they might be getting a sore throat, don't go to that house. I will switch their schedule,” Garcia said.
Monica Clean is a member of the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Garcia is a member of the Chamber’s Ambassador’s Committee and has a small office at the Chamber.
She is a big advocate of supporting small businesses.
“If you're going to shop for a gift for someone, shop a small business. Walmart has enough money,” she said. “I get that you have to go there sometimes, but try to boost up the economy with the other entrepreneurs in town.”
Kelsie Lombard, the Chamber’s operations manager, is a Monica Clean client and has become a close friend of Garcia’s.
“I love her drive,” Lombard said. “It motivates me. She leaves notes in my office: ‘Good morning, you’re amazing.’ She’s funny but very truthful. The way she treats her employees is amazing.”
Garcia is looking forward to the next four years of her business, or 10 or 20. She doesn’t like looking back. When someone suggested that she undergo hypnosis to regain her lost memory, she declined.
“I said, ‘You know what, God took those memories from me for a reason. I’m good.’ I love who I am. Let's not ruin that.”
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