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Want to hear what it’s like to clean a 200-year-old house where history lingers—and sometimes taps you on the shoulder? We sit down with Amber Starr to explore Gaines Tavern in Walton, Kentucky, a city-owned landmark built in 1813 that demands gentle hands, careful products, and a steady nerve. Amber walks us through the reality of maintaining original floors, why harsh chemicals are a no-go, and how seasonal shutdowns shape a deep-clean rhythm that respects the building’s age and character.

The stories come alive fast: faint footsteps in empty rooms, a flicker at the edge of sight, and a moment when a child’s hand was met by another, unseen and small. We trace the house’s layered past, from the upstairs ballroom stabbing to the orchard tragedy of Lizzie Rice, and connect those memories to the practical choices cleaners must make to protect fragile surfaces. Amber shares why she only cleans in daylight, how lamp-lit rooms complicate evening work, and what it means to be both cleaner and caretaker in a place that holds its own narrative. Along the way, we touch on regional lore—Gaines Crossing’s stagecoach days and nearby Waverly Hills—and consider how stories become part of stewardship.

There’s a business blueprint here too. Amber’s contract began with curiosity and community: a ghost walk, a conversation, and a phone call from the mayor’s office. We break down the net

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Erica Paynter is the brains behind My Virtual Bookkeeper, a bookkeeping firm for cleaning companies, and the creator of Clean Co. Cash Flow Academy and the Clean Co. Collective. She’s on a mission to help cleaning business owners make sense of their numbers without boring them to tears! Erica’s all about turning messy books into profit-packed powerhouses.

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Thanks for tuning in to Cleaning Business Life, the show where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to start, grow, and scale a thriving cleaning business without burning out.

Every episode is packed with tips, stories, and strategies you can put to work right away—because you deserve a business that works for you, not the other way around.

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Until next time—keep showing up, keep sh...