From the Ground Up: Celeste Interrante's Triumph in Reinvention
Have you ever wished for guidance in effectively growing your business and managing your finances? Or wonder what it takes to succeed as a female entrepreneur in finance? Then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to Women of Law, where generational wisdom meets ambition. I'm Ali Romo, your millennial host.
Hawley:And I'm Hawley Woods Gray, your Gen X host.
Allie Ramo:Using our combined backgrounds in insurance and financial services, we will share what we've learned to give you the tools
Hawley:you need to grow your business. Join us, and together, we will help you discover practical strategies for financial leverage, business growth, and securing your future.
Hawley:Hey, wealth warriors. Are you ready to redefine wealth and master your money mindset? Welcome to Women of Wealth. I'm your Genex Host, Hollywood's Gray.
Allie Ramo:And I'm your millennial host, Allie Ramos.
Hawley:Today, we'll be talking to Celeste Interante about her journey as an entrepreneur.
Allie Ramo:Celeste, I I heard about you. I didn't get to actually meet you a couple years ago at the EU Women, networking conference. And, so I'm really excited to get to know you more. Can you just share a little bit about your list, a little bit about your journey to our listeners?
Celeste Interrante:Sure. I, have been living in Las Vegas for the past seven years. I'm originally from Southern California. I've been somewhat of my own boss, self employed, you could say, for about the last ten years. Maybe it's been twelve now, in some form of fashion, either like a solopreneur or having a team, or brick and mortar business or one that meets a coffee shop.
Celeste Interrante:So I've always kind of ate what I killed, I guess you could say. My, kids are grown, so I have two dogs. I'm a dog mom. I just rescued one about five months ago. It's my first large dog.
Celeste Interrante:Normally, I have smaller dogs, but, I rescued a border collie, and he's a love. Just absolute joy. And, I really just love supporting other women who are, you know, on this journey to business, you know, development and setting their own path in life. So I'm I'm happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
Hawley:Awesome. Well, let's talk a little bit about some of the businesses that you've owned in the past. So what did you start off with? Because I don't think when I met you, I knew exactly what the first business was that you started. I know about your lawn care lawn care business.
Hawley:So talk to me about what you did before that.
Celeste Interrante:Gosh. I've always done something. Like, I remember, you know, being 12. My dad was a business owner, and so I always had some kind of hustle, mowing grass, babysitting, doing windows, cleaning, all of that stuff. You know, my dad always wanted me to make a living somehow.
Celeste Interrante:And so for the last ten years, I've done a lot of business consulting. One of my superpowers, I guess, is business development from an organizational standpoint. I'm very analytical that way. And so I would, consult with small businesses throughout Southern California on improving their operation flow, efficiency, how to motivate their teams. So just kind of a self employed person, doing a lot of different things with business owners.
Celeste Interrante:Always business to business, though.
Allie Ramo:So was your first business, like, consulting other businesses since you were so organized and you had a background in did you have a background in operations?
Celeste Interrante:I didn't. I I think working in my dad's, business when I was a teenager kinda gave me that bird's eye view of what working long hours and putting in the work to, you know, then see the end result. So I had a really good basis for what what, you know, things should look like. And when I went to college and graduated, I went straight into leadership and into management. And so I would just be a sponge every time one of those corporations had a training.
Celeste Interrante:I'm like, just give it give it to me. I kinda got my, my MBA, so to speak, in working in the working world.
Allie Ramo:Well, I'm curious. What was your last w two job, and what what caused you to transition to solopreneur?
Celeste Interrante:So my last W2 job was actually out here in Vegas. I had a, when I moved out here in 2018, it was really hard, to break into Vegas because it's such a transient city, and it's a big little city. So everybody knows everybody. And unless you have an inn somewhere, it's challenging to start, you know, and and sail and and get that momentum going. So I went to work for, a turf company in Las Vegas, and that was my last w two job in 2019.
Allie Ramo:And and then was that the that transitioned into turf envy?
Celeste Interrante:Correct.
Allie Ramo:So tell me a little bit about that transition.
Celeste Interrante:So what was interesting is that I was pretty happy, working for this, he's a millennial. He's the same age as my kids now. I think he's probably 31 or 32. And when I went to work with him, I, you know, I brought all my skills of entrepreneur entrepreneurship, and I ran my book of business like my own business. And he said he set the bar of nobody in my company has ever blank.
Celeste Interrante:And I said, okay. I'll be the first. And I did, and I did it in ten months. And he just about hit the floor. And so I told him three months into it now mind you, I'm making $35,000 commission checks every month.
Celeste Interrante:I'm I'm making more money than he is at this point. And I said to him, it's a system. Like, systems build businesses. It's a system that I'm using. I could teach it.
Celeste Interrante:So if you want, let me start helping you grow into the areas you wanna grow, and I'll go and be your sales trainer. And he looked at me and he said, you would walk away from this money. And I said, sometimes it's not always all about the money. I mean, it's about the money, but it's not all about the money. And he told me that there's no other place in his company for me.
Celeste Interrante:Perfect. And I was like, okay then. I can build a better mousetrap. So I took what I learned. And in October of twenty twenty, I left that company and started my own.
Allie Ramo:Amazing. And then did you have how long have you been had you been living in Vegas at this point to be did you have that community to support you while you built this business?
Celeste Interrante:Not like I do now. No. I I did have a $3,200,000 book of business that I took with me, because you build relationships. Right? When you're in sales or a business, you just build relationships.
Celeste Interrante:So I just let every people everybody know that I left after the fact. I kept my integrity intact and didn't do it while I was there. And, you know, 85% of the people left and came with me because they knew the service that they would get, and that helped us launch in a big way. Because when you've got that many customers that are already, you know, aligned with you, it's it's still filling in the gaps, but now you've got different problems to solve.
Hawley:Yeah. Absolutely. So in Vegas, for those of you that don't know, regular grass, like you have in California, it's pretty much nonexistent. Especially for new, constructions, they have a rule that you can only have 25% of your, lawn space be real grass. So turf is a very popular commodity out here.
Hawley:And, Celeste actually did our yard, so that was really cool. We brought a new construction in 2021, and I had met Celeste at an eWomen Network event. And we got to know each other pretty quickly. We have a lot of the same, type a personality that drives other people crazy. However, we get along just fine.
Hawley:So, so we were able to hit it off and be friends right away. And then, you know, of course, with my husband's background in construction, Celeste was a natural fit for our family. I mean, she's been over for, holidays like Easter and other things. She went to she's been to church with us and and all that good stuff. So not only are we, business bosses together, we are also friends outside of work.
Hawley:So, Celeste, I know it's it has been a journey for sure. I'm not gonna say I'm not gonna put any emotions on it. You can do that. However, I know that your current business is not the business you were doing when I met you. So let's just talk a little bit about, you know, what it takes to make the tough call to shut down a business.
Hawley:What are some of those, you know, some of those fears and the courage that it takes to rebuild? So let's just talk a little bit about shutting down your, your turf business and, you know, that transition and how, you were able to make the pivot, to being successful in, like, six to eight months in what you're doing now. So share a little bit about that with us.
Celeste Interrante:Sure. When I started, the turf and landscaping company, I had a partner. And, in the middle, like, summer of twenty two, he decided he had a different direction for the company. So we looked at we had two companies with the landscape and the turf company. So we looked at each taking one, and we basically divorced our companies.
Celeste Interrante:And I took Turf Envy. And Turf Envy, at that point, was in a contract dispute litigation with a company that left us with an AR of about a million dollars. And, it's still being litigated. And that is a really hard thing when you don't have the landscaping company to feed in and buy supply. So I thought about it, and I thought, okay.
Celeste Interrante:Well, I could just dissolve the company, or I could give it the good old college try, on my own. And so I decided to go all in, and I took all the money that I had, a quarter of a million dollars that I had, and I put it all into the company because I was betting on me. And when I did that, things were starting to go in the direction, but it's hard when you do something like that. Like, we were doing, 2 to $3,000,000 a year in sales, and that's a big ship. That's a Titanic.
Celeste Interrante:And it's really hard to pivot in a quick way to make things happen because there's this huge time factor in manufacturing and processes and stuff. And I couldn't get the ship to move fast enough to where I then got outplayed in the market by two large competitors that came into town. And when that happened, I just saw the I saw the sales no matter the relationships because landscaping out here is so competitive. I couldn't get my pricing down enough to be as competitive as these other billion dollar corporations were that, at that time, then I just had to make a decision. And, in August, I shut my doors.
Celeste Interrante:And it was hard because it was, like, August 2. I got up and I was like, wait. I'm not going into what do I do? Who am I? I've I've been the turf girl for four years.
Celeste Interrante:Like, what what am I gonna do now? And it was it was a lot of emotion. It was it was grief, and it was like a breakup, and it was heartache, and it was I was mad. You know? Like, there's all these emotions.
Celeste Interrante:And, you know, life happened for a few months. And in February of twenty four, I decided, okay. I didn't God didn't give me this far to get me this far. Like, this isn't the end of the road for me. Like, there's something else.
Celeste Interrante:And nobody in town wanted to hire a previous business owner. That's why. They just don't. So I always knew that my purpose in life was to create jobs. I just feel like I'm a job creator, not a job taker.
Celeste Interrante:So, in talking with Holly and talking with some of my friends and putting forth the idea of starting a cleaning company. You know, we do residential, commercial, and construction, so it keeps me in construction. I just kinda started working out the details of of the company. And, by August, we had our first customer, and that really launched the business because it was a construction job, and those are a little bit more profitable and happened to be one of my e women sisters that said, hey. Come and come and do this for us, and let's let's give you a try.
Celeste Interrante:And I could tell you the learning curve. Thank goodness that there's a curve because I learned a lot that first job. A lot. I have no background in cleaning. So
Allie Ramo:I like that you said that you were a job create or that you were a job creator. Like, that's your motivation in life because I we talk to a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners, and I think a lot of people start business ownership or entrepreneurship to chase, like, freedom. And for you, it sounds like you're really wanting to just provide for other people, and you know that you know your systems, and you know you could build a business. And now you're you're basically giving back to your employees. So what were some key moves, that helped you grow your cleaning business so quickly?
Celeste Interrante:Well, I understand that systems build companies, and it doesn't really matter the the gadget or the widget or the product or the service or whatever the tangible is. It's having the systems that, give you the foundation and the base. Right? So that's where I started. So in in March, April, May, June, I worked on I worked on my systems.
Celeste Interrante:I worked on putting together my SOPs. I I did a lot of research trying to educate myself in the industry doing so I wanna play on the social media side of the residential. How do I wanna be different? Right? We make our own cleaning products, so I was researching and trying out different formulations and blowing up my kitchen with making products in my kitchen, just to try to figure it out.
Celeste Interrante:And so, you know, it also comes with a mind shift. Right? Like, understanding that just because the business shut down doesn't mean that I'm a failure. It's really about, okay. That didn't work.
Celeste Interrante:So what's next? What's in front of me? Because now I've got this clean slate, and I can create anything that I want. Right? We're given that ability to to create and figure it out.
Celeste Interrante:And at this time, I do have a tribe. I have a very solid core business, professionals, businesswomen, friends, people that I could call and lean on, and I've called and leaned on them all. And so they're all part of that journey. But the but the thing to remember is that you don't have to do it alone. We sometimes feel obligated to do that, but, really, the power comes from the people that you are connected with.
Celeste Interrante:And so those are just the mind mind shift changes that, I had to really lean into.
Hawley:I think it's really important too. I mean, gosh, we've had so many conversations, Celeste. But, I mean, for me, it's like, I always tell the people on my team, as long as you don't quit, you haven't failed. Right? So it doesn't really matter.
Hawley:Like you said, no matter what the Gidget or Widget or whatever it is that you're selling, it doesn't really matter what that what that is as long as you don't give up on yourself and you don't quit on yourself. So I really love that mindset. So let's talk about it. So, August, you had your first job, and how are things going now? I know I already know this, but share with our listeners, like I mean, we're talking six months later after your first job, and I know one thing that happened.
Hawley:You can talk about that. So for those of you that don't know, my husband used to be in construction. I think he might have talked about it a little bit on our first podcast, but that was a long time ago. So, he came in and helped with some bidding and whatnot. So, hey, just talk about where you are now because you're bidding in some big jobs.
Celeste Interrante:Yeah. Man, I can't believe it's just six months ago. I feel like I've been doing this forever now. Yeah. I haven't Bobby come in and and I had never read plans in such a way that getting into the minutia like, I could look at a set of plans and go, oh, there's a building and there's a restroom and there's this.
Celeste Interrante:But then actually getting into and understanding what plans are. Right? So he did. He came over and really gave me a lesson on this is this and that is that and, you know, this is what you do and here's how you look at it. And a lot of it's been trial and error, and I'm really grateful that I did not win some of those early bids because I probably woulda lost my shorts, knowing what I know now.
Celeste Interrante:And we got our first real break in August, and that allowed me to take because I I self funded this while I was on unemployment. And let me tell you, as a business owner, put yourself on payroll and pay those unemployment taxes. Because had I not done that, the first six years of 2020 first first six months of 2024 would have been way different for me. But I did, and I was like, you know what? That was something I paid into.
Celeste Interrante:I'm not embarrassed about it. I'm gonna take that unemployment. And I took it for the whole six months, and I used that money, what little money I had to buy the domain and get the LLC and do all the emails. And every time I had a little extra, I went without for six months. And so when I got that first job, it allowed me some breathing room to start buying some equipment, pressure washers, mops, rooms, things that you need when you have, you know, a cleaning company.
Celeste Interrante:And it's it's a really interesting story about how how the company has just really stayed busy and is growing exponentially. So we had our first twenty thousand dollar month in November of twenty twenty four. So we started in August, and by November, we are doing 20,000. And, in January, we did 30.
Hawley:Awesome.
Celeste Interrante:And that's, you know, that's sales. It's not necessarily all the money coming in right now, but I'm talking about generating the revenue. And now I've got $1,300,000 in my funnel of bids that I've that I've put put out there.
Allie Ramo:That's incredible. Yeah. In just a short period of time, what did you have, like, a branding or marketing strategy? I know because you you had started the company, on paper in February of last year in 2024. Correct?
Allie Ramo:Correct. But did your first job was in August. So what was the process of of building, you know, the brand and marketing, to be able to have that system to support you growing in such a rapid amount of time?
Celeste Interrante:So we rebranded in December. I brought on a a fractional COO, to help us because I was drowning in just operational work. And so we brought her on, and we decided to redo our logo and redo our brand colors to align more with, you know, just streamline things. Right? Because that's important.
Celeste Interrante:I can tell you, though, that we haven't done any marketing well, I take it back. We've done one marketing strategy and the or one marketing, event. See, that's how much I know about marketing. I don't even know what it's called. You don't have to be great to do to do this.
Celeste Interrante:We did a postcard mail out where I got a list of I hired an admin to get names and addresses of all the licensed contractors in Nevada, and I did a mass mail out of four by six postcards saying, hey. Here we are. This is what we do. Right? And I've got one job from that, and that one job has already paid for that whole marketing campaign.
Celeste Interrante:That's what it is, campaign. So I haven't really I haven't really done, like, a formal marketing blast PR. We haven't we haven't done a lot of that stuff yet.
Allie Ramo:So do you have any you it sounds like you've built the the foundation to be able to scale even more so now. What are your plans for expanding Lady Luxe?
Celeste Interrante:Yeah. So the initial concept was to, like, franchise. Right? To have multiple distribution points across The US and then just take a little bit of a whole lot of places. That's that's really where freedom comes in.
Celeste Interrante:I I believe that now so I read this book, Who Not How, and it talks about bringing the who's in, not necessarily figuring out the how's, because the how's keep it singular, the who's multiply. So I now have four amazing women that participate with me in Lady Luxe that we have weekly board little mini board meetings. We talk about last week what's coming up, you know, where we're focusing our our efforts. And in that, I don't really wanna get involved with the SEC and do filings and all the things required for franchising. So we're just gonna start opening corporate stores, and I think we have our next site set on Reno.
Celeste Interrante:So I'm hoping by the end of this year that we open up a second location in Reno. We just opened, well, we just signed a lease on an office space out in Boulder City because we're getting a lot of work out in Boulder City. And, Eastern Henderson and those kinds of areas. So it makes sense to finally move out of my kitchen and my garage into a space. But that's that's kind of the next plan.
Celeste Interrante:And in five years, we wanna be in five states. So we figure if we do one a year, that's a steady growth that that way we can, you know, really hone in on the quality and make sure that everything we're doing here and now is scalable.
Hawley:That's great. So, Celeste, what's the biggest lesson you've learned about resilience and entrepreneurship through this journey? Trust yourself.
Celeste Interrante:Like, I remember when I wanted to start the turf company, I was still in the mindset of I'm not good enough. And so I thought I had to have a partner, that I needed somebody to help me do what I needed to to do. And then when we separated in '22 and I started out on my own, I realized I don't need a partner. I just need to bring people in to help me with the running of this, like, that know how to do things that I don't know how to do. And so now starting Lady Luxe, I definitely have a, gosh.
Celeste Interrante:What's the word? I have a strength about myself that I know that I could do this if I had to by myself. It's a choice to not do it by myself. It's really a choice to bring other people along, that wanna be part of what it is that you're doing, and understanding that we're all, as women, that we're all capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. And I still have those days where I'm like, okay.
Celeste Interrante:Is this really what you wanna do? Like, I'm exhausted. I just I don't know if I could do this again, and then something great happens in the business. And you're like, yep. It's exactly what I I knew that was gonna happen.
Celeste Interrante:Right? So I think for me, resilience is just understanding that I didn't come this far to come this far and that there's something more for me. And every day that I wake up, I'm given a gift to keep on to do it again, to do more of it.
Allie Ramo:Celeste, there is a unique calmness to you that I don't know if people can pick up listening. But if you if you watch the the stream on YouTube, that, that will be up eventually. She's just kind of it's nonchalant. Like, it is it happened. It's like, I'm going to do this.
Allie Ramo:There's it's, a, like, a humble confidence in you, and it's really inspiring. What would you what's advice that you would give to someone who's maybe thinking about building a business, but the feel of fear of failure is getting in the way?
Celeste Interrante:Well, first of all, thank you for those kind words. I I've had a lot of tragedy for, a year. I went through a lot. And I think that's where my or I know that that's where my strength comes from because I survived it. Like, I look back at that, and I'm like, wow.
Celeste Interrante:Like, I I made it through. You know, the fear of failure is actually made up. It doesn't exist because it's not we don't fail at anything. We're perfect beings. We're perfectly perfect, right, or imperfectly perfect.
Celeste Interrante:And so it's really the fear of trying. So it's not the failing because how do you know you're gonna fail? You've never done it before. But I think for a lot of people, it's the fear of trying, the the fear of I don't know or I'm not good enough or what's gonna happen, the unexpected. Yes.
Celeste Interrante:All of that's gonna happen. I find that for me, it's really about what what are you really trying to do. Right? What is the important thing that keeps you going? For me, it's I don't have anybody to take care of me.
Celeste Interrante:I gotta take care of myself. So along the way, I'm gonna, excuse me, I'm gonna take care of some other people too. Right? Just come on for the ride. Let's just do some epic stuff.
Celeste Interrante:But I know a lot of people are are afraid. Right? And there's really nothing to be afraid of. Once you get to that point where you just eliminate the fear, like Yoda says, there's no try. Just do.
Celeste Interrante:Just do it. These are said than done. I know. But just do it. Who knows the phone?
Celeste Interrante:Yeah. Meet the person. Ask for the sale. Like, you gotta do that too.
Hawley:Absolutely. Well, Celeste, this has been an incredible, interview. I love talking with you. We do have a lightning round. However, before we get to that, do do you have any way for those that are in our area in Nevada now or going forward can reach out to you?
Hawley:Or you have any kinda offer or anything you want to tell people? Because I do know you have your, cleaning products as well that people can get. So you wanna talk a little bit about those and how people can get in touch with you?
Celeste Interrante:Yeah. My, my email is celeste@ladyluxecleaning.com, of course. You can also call me. The number the office number is (702) 333-5822. So (702) 333-5822.
Celeste Interrante:Text, call, the cell phone, office phone. And I do. If you go to ladyluxecleaning.com, I have all of our products listed there, and I'm developing, a glass cleaner. All the products are nontoxic. They're all the stuff that our great grannies used to use and the stuff that works before all these chemicals, and it's really important that we have good things in our homes to keep our keep ourselves healthy, and the people we love healthy.
Celeste Interrante:So if you reach out to me and you wanna buy some product and you heard it from the podcast, I don't have necessarily specific offer, but what I'll do is I'll definitely hook you up with something really good. It'll be a surprise. So I have a surprise offer. Nice. We love that.
Allie Ramo:Alright. Well, thank you. And then we're gonna are you ready for the lightning round? Sure. Alright.
Allie Ramo:So just simple answers. Some of them are, like, one word answers. Some of them are short detailed answers. Okay. The first one is cash or credit?
Allie Ramo:Credit. Real estate or stocks?
Celeste Interrante:Real estate.
Allie Ramo:If you want a million dollars today, what would be the first thing you do with the money?
Celeste Interrante:Invest it in real estate.
Allie Ramo:What's a fun impulse buy you've had recently?
Celeste Interrante:I bought a new purse.
Allie Ramo:Nice. What's a fun money saving tip that you swear by?
Celeste Interrante:If you don't have the money for it, you shouldn't buy it. But what
Allie Ramo:if you don't have money to start a business?
Celeste Interrante:Buy the money. Find the money.
Allie Ramo:That was an off topic one. Sorry. We'll get we'll get back on track. What's your biggest financial fear?
Celeste Interrante:Not having enough at retirement.
Allie Ramo:Holly and I can help you with that.
Celeste Interrante:I put it all into Tarfetti, so that's why. Yeah.
Allie Ramo:What's your biggest financial goal for the next year?
Celeste Interrante:To build up my savings again and get back into, investing.
Hawley:Awesome.
Celeste Interrante:Alright. Well,
Hawley:again, Celeste, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you. Love you. Yes. My little heart's here.
Hawley:Ali, anything else?
Allie Ramo:No. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really
Celeste Interrante:enjoyed for having me.
Allie Ramo:Getting excited. Great. Yes.
Celeste Interrante:Yeah. No. This is great. Thought I could help.
Allie Ramo:Thank you for joining us on this week's episode.
Hawley:We'd love to hear from you, so make sure to follow and tag us on Facebook and Instagram at women of wealth podcast.
Allie Ramo:Your support means the world to us. Until next time, remember, your financial future is in your hands.
Hawley:Stay informed, stay inspired, and embrace your wealth. See you on the next episode.
