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Having a kid can completely transform a person’s life. And for some people, like Yazmin Lopez of Fitchburg, having kids led her towards an unexpected career.
When Lopez was 16 years old, her family moved from Mexico to the United States. She went to Verona Area High School, which she said was a great experience. She talked about this as a part of a storytelling partnership with Midwest Mujeres in Madison.
“After high school, I saved enough money because I wanted to enroll in college,” said Lopez. “I wanted to be a teacher. But instead, I became a mom.”
Lopez’s goal shifted. Now, she wanted to be the best mom she could be.
Years later, Lopez met her current husband and had a second child. She was happy being a stay-at-home mom, but eventually she became restless.
“I realized that I was doing the same thing: put the kids to bed, wake up in the morning and clean the house,” said Lopez. “I think I was in some sort of a postpartum depression for a while. I was so stuck on doing all the mom stuff that I really didn’t pay attention to it. I realized that I really didn’t have many friends.”
So, she went online to find mom groups. Lopez said meeting other parents helped her come out of her shell and stirred something up within her. She met moms who were selling homemade goods so they could make money while staying home with their kids.
This intrigued Lopez. She was thinking more about her kids’ college fund … and her own retirement savings.
Yazmin Lopez on the UW-Madison campus just before recording her “Wisconsin Life” and Midwest Mujeres story on April 13, 2023. (Angela Major/WPR)
“I helped other people clean their houses and organize them before and they were always like, ‘Oh, you should do this as a business,” said Lopez. “So I started learning more. I started taking courses and classes. I really didn’t want to open a business, but a lot of people kept telling me, ‘Just do it! You’re really good at it!’ One day I said, ‘Well, I’m going to start doing it, but I’m just going to take it one day at a time.'”
Then, her husband registered an LLC for her. There was no turning back.
Lopez started Katharisma Cleaning in Fitchburg.
She said it’s rewarding work, since she sees the changes in her clients’ lives.
“I have noticed that a lot of clients that I help, after we been serving their homes, they start decluttering. Or, they start reorganizing stuff,” said Lopez smiling. “I can see that they don’t worry about all the other work that they need to do. Now, they can focus on cleaning the garage. Now, they can focus on cleaning the closets or now they’re going to paint the walls in their house. I really like seeing those changes.”
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Lopez loves her work, but wishes one thing would change.
“House cleaners are not seen as professionals, which is not true. A lot of us have to take certifications (through OSHA),” said Lopez. “When COVID hit, there were certifications how to properly sanitize areas. You can’t just go and bleach anything, it’s not safe.”
Katharisma Cleaning owner Yazmin Lopez (l) and Madison community organizer Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores present at the Midwest Mujeres event “Yo Quiero Dinero” in 2023. (Courtesy of Midwest Mujeres)
Plus, there are a lot of specialties in the cleaning world: some professionals focus on crime scenes, others specialize in cleaning after fires and some prefer working with an aging population. Lopez has created an online community to bring this diverse group of professionals together.
“We want to be able to open a network where individuals and businesses can make connections with each other and they can help each other grow,” said Lopez.
Lopez doesn’t see the businesses as competition, but as an asset to one another.
In some ways, building that community within her industry was inspired by those mom groups she joined years ago. But, it’s also part of Lopez’s driving philosophy in life right now.
“I think we just really have to get back to our community. Just get to know your neighbors or talk to them. Say hi to them. Just be a kid again because kids do that. They just go and start talking to somebody without being scared or afraid. I think that can solve a lot of problems that we have,” said Lopez.
Yazmin Lopez shared her story with us as part of a partnership with Midwest Mujeres in Madison. “Wisconsin Life” has partnered with the organization to share stories of women who live in southern Wisconsin.
The Midwest Mujeres cohort just before recording their stories for Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Life” on April 13, 2023. (top l-r) Yazmin Lopez, Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores, (middle l-r) Araceli Esparza, Angela Morgan, Katalina Sanchez, (bottom) Samantha Green. (Angela Major/WPR)
