Today we’d like to introduce you to Araceli Milan.
Hi Araceli, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My Journey with Heritage Janitorial Services.
When I arrived in this country, my mother introduced me to residential cleaning. Before getting married, I cleaned homes and provided childcare, even living with families who needed assistance. After starting my own family, I returned to cleaning because it offered the flexibility I needed—I could drop my kids off at school, work, and be back in time to pick them up and support them with homework and activities.
During the pandemic, everything changed. After months without work, two clients brought me back and recommended me to their friends. I hired my first helper and slowly began building a team.
The real turning point came four years ago when a friend recommended business classes at the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Those classes gave me the tools and confidence to formalize my business. I founded Raíces Group LLC in 2022 and launched operations in 2024.
The name “Heritage” honors three generations of women in the cleaning industry. My grandmother, a single mother, provided for her family through domestic cleaning. My mother continued this legacy when she came to the U.S., supporting my sister and me after her divorce. When my grandmother passed away six years ago, I chose “Heritage” to honor the knowledge, work ethic, and expertise passed down through our family. As the third generation, I bring over 20 years of hands-on experience.
Today, we’re vendors for the Diocese of Dallas, providing janitorial services for a Catholic church in Allen. We’ve also completed post-construction cleaning projects and work with local realtors, preparing homes for sale. As CEO, I’m focused on positioning Heritage as a recognized commercial cleaning company in Dallas, known for personalized service, while honoring the legacy that brought us here.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road—there have been real challenges along the way.
One of my biggest obstacles has been the language barrier. Most of my clients speak English, so I’ve had to push myself to learn and improve my communication skills. This meant managing my schedule to take English classes while still being present for my children and running the business. It’s been a constant balancing act, but I knew that to grow Heritage, I needed to communicate effectively with my clients.
Breaking into the commercial cleaning sector from residential cleaning was also difficult. Building credibility and getting clients to trust in my work and expertise required persistence and proving myself repeatedly. Each new client felt like starting over, showing them that we could deliver the quality and professionalism they needed.
Financially, formalizing the business was a significant challenge. I’ve had to invest in proper equipment and manage funds carefully to afford the required insurance, especially to meet the strict requirements for clients like the Diocese of Dallas. Honestly, without the classes I took at the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I wouldn’t have known how to navigate the legal and financial requirements of running a legitimate business.
Another ongoing struggle is finding and retaining qualified staff. The cleaning industry has high turnover, and finding people who share our commitment to quality and personalized service isn’t easy. Learning to delegate has also been hard for me. Even though my husband is part of the team, letting go and trusting others to maintain our standards has been a process. I’ve had to invest time in training my team properly to ensure they deliver the same level of service our clients expect.
Entrepreneurship can feel isolating, especially as a Latina woman in this industry. But every challenge has taught me something valuable and made Heritage stronger. The struggles have been worth it because we’re building something sustainable that honors my family’s legacy while creating opportunities for others.
As you know, we’re big fans of Heritage Janitorial Services. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Heritage Janitorial Services specializes in personalized commercial cleaning solutions for businesses, religious institutions, and property managers throughout the Dallas area. Our services are built on three generations of expertise in the cleaning industry.
What Sets Us Apart
What distinguishes Heritage is our commitment to personalized service and attention to detail. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all approaches. Instead, we take time to understand each client’s specific needs and create customized cleaning plans that work for them. With over 20 years of hands-on experience and knowledge passed down through three generations, we bring a level of expertise and work ethic that’s reflected in everything we do.
Our Services
We offer comprehensive solutions, including daily office cleaning, specialized floor care (stripping, waxing, carpet cleaning), power washing, window cleaning, deep cleaning, post-construction cleanup, and green cleaning options for environmentally conscious clients.
What Makes Us Proud
I’m most proud of the long-term relationships we’ve built with our clients. We’re vendors for the Diocese of Dallas, providing services for a Catholic church in Allen, and we work with local realtors preparing homes for sale. These relationships are built on trust, consistent quality, and genuine care for our clients’ spaces.
Heritage isn’t just about cleaning—it’s about creating healthy, welcoming environments where businesses can thrive. We treat every client’s space as if it were our own, bringing professionalism, reliability, and three generations of expertise to every job. Whether you need daily maintenance or specialized services, Heritage delivers personalized attention with the detail-oriented approach that comes from decades of experience.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Perseverance has been the most critical quality to my success. When someone tells me I can’t do something, it pushes me to prove—first to myself, then to others—that I can. That mindset has carried me through every challenge Heritage has faced.
I’ve learned to view obstacles not as roadblocks, but as lessons. When something doesn’t go as planned or when I face rejection, I ask myself what I can learn from it and how I can improve the situation. This approach has helped me grow from cleaning one house a day to running a commercial janitorial company. Every setback has taught me something valuable that’s made Heritage stronger.
Attention to detail is another characteristic that defines my work. It’s a strength I’m known for, and it’s what keeps clients coming back. I don’t just clean—I notice what others might miss and take pride in delivering exceptional results every single time.
There are moments when I feel like I’m not growing fast enough or making the progress I hoped for. But then I step back and see the results of our work—the satisfied clients, the clean spaces we’ve transformed, the team I’ve built—and it reignites my motivation. Those results remind me why I started this journey and inspire me to keep pushing forward, to keep giving my best in every single service we provide.
Perseverance isn’t just about working hard; it’s about refusing to give up when things get difficult, learning from every experience, and staying committed to excellence even when no one is watching. That’s what has brought Heritage this far, and it’s what will carry us forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.raicesgroupllc.com
- Instagram: @heritagejanitorial
- Facebook: Heritage Janitorial Services
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/araceli-milan-20b40814a
Image Credits
All the photos are mine. One is with my mom, with a grant that we received, and another is with my husband and son at an event of the Chamber. The last one is when I graduated from the ScaleUp Success Accelerator Program from the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in January 2023.
