DD · DISINFECTANT DIVE: SEPTEMBER 2025

Voices from the "OP" Frontline

OUR SEPTEMBER PLATFORM ARTICLE · WRITTEN BY: Jason Hochstedler, Dir. of Strategic Growth

I knew about Office Pride’s Core Values long before I had an Office Pride email address. For over a year, I worked alongside our Kokomo Operations Manager and our CEO on hiring projects, and in that time I didn’t just get a peek at the culture—I got baptized in it. And here’s the thing: once you’re around Office Pride of Greater Indy, Kokomo, and Muncie, you don’t just watch the culture, you catch it. Doesn’t matter if you’re an employee, a vendor, or just a partner dipping your toe in—you’ll walk away with it stuck to you like dust on a freshly waxed floor. The owner lives it, the CEO drives it, the managers echo it, and the entire sales and operations team carry it into every single account.

So when it came time to put together a September article—right after a Labor Day weekend of cookouts, fireworks, and probably too much potato salad—I thought, what better way to honor work than to let the real workers do the talking? Forget the suits. Forget the polished sales lines. Let’s hear directly from the people who keep dealerships, clinics, offices, and warehouses looking like someone actually cares. These folks rarely get the spotlight, but they are the culture. They’re the reason you don’t walk into a conference room and wonder what died under the table.

We asked our cleaners two simple questions: What do you enjoy most about working for Office Pride? and What’s it like working with your manager? Their answers say more about culture than any mission statement ever could.

Joelle · Dealership/Retail Cleaning Specialist · Muncie Office

At the All-American Cadillac Dealership in Muncie, luxury isn’t optional—it’s the expectation. Joelle is one of the trusted crew under Wesley Griffin who makes sure the showroom shines as much as the cars. For her, it’s about more than a checklist—it’s about pride.

“There’s structure here, and I know I’m supported,” she says. “When I see the dealership buzzing with customers during the day, I feel proud knowing I helped keep it running. If the Cadillacs shine on the lot, the showroom should shine too.”

And on her manager? Joelle doesn’t hesitate: “Wesley supports me well. If I could give him anything, it’d be a reminder machine—something that pops up every hour and says, ‘Wesley, don’t forget!’ Between the two of us, someone’s bound to forget, and it’s usually him.”

That’s culture—structure, support, and a little good-natured ribbing that keeps the team grounded.

Dixie · Medical/Ambulatory Facility Cleaning Specialist · Kokomo Office

For Dixie, a mom of four, culture shows up in flexibility. Office Pride allows her to balance family life without cutting corners on her accounts. “I enjoy working for Office Pride because of how flexible it is with start times,” she explains. “With four kids, being able to start when it works best for my family is a huge help.”

She covers an impressive list of CPN accounts: OBGYN, H&V, Pulmonary, Endo, and Gastro inside Howard Community Hospital, plus Pain Management, Altra, and OFPG. Through it all, she points to her manager as the glue. “Sonji is amazing—always willing to help and make sure everyone enjoys what they do. We work really well together, communicate easily, and when problems come up, we find solutions that keep our accounts running at the quality they deserve.”

That’s culture too—flexibility, trust, and leaders who don’t just manage but actually partner with their people.

If you want to understand Office Pride’s culture, you don’t start with the mission statement—you start with Joelle and Dixie. You start with the cleaners who measure pride in shining floors and smooth teamwork, not in titles or corner offices. Culture is built when leadership shows support, when managers stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their crews, and when cleaners like Joelle and Dixie take personal ownership of the spaces they serve.

That’s the real story this Labor Day season: culture isn’t written on the wall, it’s mopped into the floors, polished onto the showroom glass, and carried in the pride of the people who do the work. Special thanks to Joelle and Dixie for taking the extra time to speak about Office Pride.

What Is Encapsulation Carpet Cleaning?

OUR SEPTEMBER DEEP DIVE ARTICLE · WRITTEN BY: Cristino Bravo, Vice_ President of Operations

Walk into any dealership, medical office, or corporate lobby, and the first thing you notice isn’t the ceiling or the lighting—it’s the floor. Carpets carry the story of a space. They tell you whether a facility is cared for or neglected, whether it whispers “professional” or screams “we gave up a long time ago.” At Office Pride of Greater Indy, Kokomo, and Muncie, we know this truth well: culture shows up in the details, and nothing showcases culture like a spotless floor.

That’s where encapsulation carpet cleaning comes in—a process that’s as efficient as it is effective. If traditional carpet cleaning is like taking your carpets to a day spa, encapsulation is like sending them to the gym: quick, practical, and built for results.

What Exactly Is Encapsulation?

Picture this: a specialized cleaning solution packed with polymers is applied to the carpet. These polymers act like tiny magnets, latching onto dirt and stains. Then, as the carpet dries—usually in 30 minutes or less—the solution crystallizes, trapping the soil in hard little shells. A routine vacuum later, and the dirt is gone.

No sticky residue. No lingering dampness. Just crisp, clean carpet fibers that look like they actually belong in a professional space.

Why It Works for Facilities That Never Sleep

Think about high-traffic places like hospitals, dealerships, or 24/7 offices. They don’t have the luxury of “closed for cleaning” signs. Encapsulation fits the pace. With its low-moisture method, carpets are ready for use almost immediately—no more waiting hours (or worse, overnight) for them to dry.

Even better, encapsulation doesn’t just clean—it protects. By preventing sticky residues, it keeps carpets from attracting more dirt. That means fewer stains resurfacing, less wear and tear, and longer carpet life. In other words, it saves money while keeping appearances sharp. It’s not glamorous, but it is effective—and in the cleaning world, effectiveness is culture.

Culture in Every Fiber

Encapsulation fits the DNA of Office Pride’s culture: structure, pride, and support. Just like our cleaners show up every night to make sure spaces look their best, encapsulation shows up to keep carpets healthier for longer. It’s smarter, faster, and more sustainable—using up to 70% less water than traditional extraction.

For us, carpet cleaning isn’t just maintenance. It’s about protecting reputations. A dealership wants customers to step into luxury. A medical office wants patients to feel trust. An executive space wants to reflect professionalism. Encapsulation makes that happen without interrupting the workday grind.

At the end of the day, floors matter. They carry the weight of first impressions and the culture of your business. Encapsulation carpet cleaning may not be a headline grabber, but it’s the kind of behind-the-scenes hero that keeps businesses looking sharp and running smoothly.

At Office Pride of Greater Indy, Kokomo, and Muncie, we don’t just clean carpets—we help our clients protect their brand, their investment, and their culture. One fiber at a time.

Shine Squad MVP's

PERLA MOLINA

NOBLESVILLE OFFICE

SHINE SQUAD MVP

MELISSA JONES

KOKOMO OFFICE

SHINE SQUAD MVP

KIMBERLY HOPPER

MUNCIE OFFICE

SHINE SQUAD MVP

Muncie Office Special Announcement

Inspired by the success of last year, we decided to expand our project. We've now partnered with LifeStream Services to identify and reach even more seniors who are forgotten at Christmas. In addition to revisiting our original 31 nursing home residents, we will be extending our outreach to 200 seniors who are still living in their homes across the three counties our Muncie franchise currently serves: Blackford, Delaware, and Madison. Our mission is to try and ensure no senior

feels forgotten during the holidays.

Coming in the October Disinfectant Dive

To deliver real perspective, we’ve tapped into the expertise of Austin Whitehead, Manufacturing Operations Manager for our Kokomo branch. Austin leads one of our largest and most complex accounts—StarPlus Energy—where the demands of scale, precision, and compliance in janitorial services closely mirror the advanced manufacturing processes themselves. His experience highlights how cleaning at this level is not about routine—it’s about strategy, planning, and execution that align directly with production and safety standards.

Joining Austin in this month’s Deep Dive is Indiya St. Clair, who plays a crucial role in managing frontline execution and quality assurance. Indiya ensures that every detail—from daily task completion to compliance checklists—is carried out to standard. Together, Austin and Indiya bring a dual perspective: the operational leadership that designs the program and the frontline oversight that ensures it delivers.

Their insights cover the unique challenges and best practices that keep advanced manufacturing facilities both clean and compliant:

Dust and particulate control in production environments, where even minor oversights can affect equipment or product quality.
Breakroom and common area sanitation, ensuring employees have safe, healthy spaces to recharge.
Cleanroom maintenance requiring precision, consistency, and adherence to strict standards.
High-traffic floor system care, where safety, durability, and appearance all converge.

Through their experiences, Austin and Indiya demonstrate how janitorial excellence impacts more than appearance—it safeguards employee health, protects sensitive equipment, enhances production efficiency, and reinforces the reputation of the facility itself.

This October, as we celebrate the role of manufacturing in our economy, we invite you to step behind the scenes with us. Maintaining advanced manufacturing environments requires more than a mop and bucket—it requires specialized knowledge, coordinated teams, and an unwavering commitment to compliance and safety.

Stay tuned as Austin and Indiya guide us through the unseen but essential side of manufacturing: professional janitorial cleaning that powers production.