Inspiring Conversations with Abel Serrano of In and Out Express Cleaning LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Abel Serrano.

Hi Abel, 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?
I started my company back in 2020 when I lost my job due to COVID. Starting my own business was the best decision I ever made for myself. I am of Mexican descent and all my life I was told that to get ahead in life you needed school and a college degree, and if you didn’t get that degree then you needed a job and to climb up positions and promotions at that job. Hearing that all my life I started to believe they were right. So after I graduated I wasn’t always the best in school so I went straight to work. Tried to scale up the ladder and it just wasn’t for me. So after 4 years I decided to go back to school and started attending college. I started with automotive technology and attended for 2 years before dropping out I just wasn’t cut out for it. Thought maybe changing my major would help so I choose industrial Welding. I was 1 semester away from graduating in the summer of 2020 when it all went down the drain. Schools closed down and also lost my job due to the pandemic as well. Mind you I had just bought and closed on my first home that same spring. So I lost my job, held back from graduating and just closed on my first home. I was without income without able to go out and work and find a job due to the quarantine. Then the idea came to me that cleaning became a huge priority to people with the spread of COVID and that’s how and when In and Out Express Cleaning came to be. We started vary vast with the cleaning jobs we would do and search for. From carpet cleaning to offices to apartment cleaning and house it was becoming to much. With just one truck we started with it, it was just to much equipment that we needed. So we decided to narrow down our services. That’s on how we decided on just cleaning restaurants. That’s when I decided to just clean Chick-Fil-A’s. For numerous reasons. 1 reason is because they have a higher standard when it comes to cleanliness than other restaurants, and 2 is because all my life growing up all the women in my family worked at CFA from my mother to 3 of my 4 sisters worked there. Like 20 of my aunts worked and currently work there. All my girlfriends worked at a Cfa so I thought to myself. What if I continue that cycle but instead of working for CFA I can work with CFA and that’s on how my The CFA Cleaner journey started. I got my first Cfa and that one turned into 2 and then those turned into 4 CFA’s and it just became a snowball effect. Now I’m I clean CFA’s all over Ga in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Cumming, Decatur, Johnscreek, Locust Groove and other great cities. I’m on my journey on becoming the official
Chick-Fil-A cleaner and all their cleaning needs. My company is going on its 6th year and growing strong and expanding. It’s only a matter of time till.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely been very difficult to get where I am today. As an immigrant kid that came to the US and learning everything from 0 already behind in life. To all the competitive companies there is and everyone trying to get ahead in life. Being the head of my household and also taking care of my parents and younger siblings all while trying to grow a business from scratch is always difficult. When the quarantine started all I had to live of off were my credit cards because I had no income coming and had just bought my first house so spent my savings there. So I ended up 25k in credit card debt in just under a year. from paying bills and equipment and everyday things.So off the rip I was already started from behind and playing catch up. At one point after the quarantine was lifted I was working 2 jobs apart from my cleaning business to stay afloat and pay off the credit card debt I had. Working graveyard shifts at a staffing company to going to work morning shift at orylies auto parts in the morning and cleaning jobs on the weekends or after work to be able also to buy the equipment I needed. Everyone always trying to tear you down and negativity. Many didn’t believe but it didn’t matter because I believed in myself. Another thing was Always trying to keep my legal Status current and active because at that time I only had a work permit also known as DACA that I had to constantly renew every 2 years and pay a renewal fee a task that many other don’t have to worry about.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In and Out Express cleaning has grown and became a major company in the cleaning business. We started out a Carpet cleaning business to a pressure washing business, but now we service all cleaning services that a restaurant could use/need. We specialize in providing all cleaning services from pressure washing to exhaust vents hood cleaning, parking lot line Stripping and also kitchen cleaning as well. We’re different and stand apart because We have become a one stop shop for restaurants and we offer the maintenance plans in GA. Our main costumers are Chick-Fil-A’s but we also work with other restaurants. We work all over Ga and soon to be expanding across the south east and hopefully become the official Cfa cleaner nation wide

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me ? This might sound cliche but family is the most important thing. Growing up with 5 other siblings in Downtown Atlanta wasn’t the easiest. My parents were there but basically weren’t. My pops worked 2 job so barely was home and my mother would work double so often as a housekeeper at a hotel. That’s the main reason I started my company so that I’ll be able to have that freedom to spend time with my family and future family as well. The most important isn’t the money it’s the freedom, also I want to inspire all my young Latinos. Want them to see that’s it’s posible to do anything you put your mind to. That we don’t always have to be the employees that we can also the employer and the business owners. All it takes its dedication and commitment to your craft.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.inandoutexpresscleaning.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inandoutexpresscleaning_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17km8bBWe4/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cfacleaner