Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden. And on today’s episode, we have Dusta Rhymes, who has started a new podcast around Clayton, North Carolina called Down Home Dirt. And it’s also the owner of a commercial cleaning company called our mother’s.
Dusta Rhymes: The Other Mother.
Jonathan Breeden: The Other Mother Commercial Cleaning in and around Johnston County and Wake County. We’re going to talk to her about, why she started her podcast. Her goals for her podcast? And some of the different types of cleaning that her commercial cleaning company provides.
But before we do that, I want to invite all of you to like, follow, or subscribe to The Best of Johnston County podcast, wherever you’re seeing this podcast. Whether it be on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any other social media page that may belong to The Best of Johnston County podcast. So, that you’ll be aware of future episodes of The Best of Johnston County podcast.
The Best of Johnston County podcast comes out every single [00:01:00] Monday. So, be checking back every Monday for new guests, and go back and listen to some of our previous guests. We’ve had a lot of great guests over the past year have been on Johnston County. And if you love Johnston County as much as I do, I think, you will find the guests fascinating. From Butch Lawter, Johnston County Commissioner Chairman. Commissioner Patrick Harris. County Commissioner Ted Godwin.
We’ve had Chris Johnson, The Economic Development Director of Johnston County. Adrian O’Neal, County Parks and Rec Director. We’ve had small businesses like Dentist, Dr. Tim Sims. Fascinating guests have been on this podcast, and I think you will enjoy it, go back and listen to them, and the guests we have coming up in the future.
Also, if you would be so kind as to leave us a 5-star review down the bottom, wherever you’re seeing this podcast, so that are visibility will increase and more people will know about it. And if you wouldn’t mind, also sharing it on your Instagram stories and tag The Best of Johnston County podcast.
That is how we will grow the subscribers to this podcast. So, more and more people [00:02:00] will learn about how great Johnston County is. Welcome, Dusta.
Dusta Rhymes: Thank you for having me today.
Jonathan Breeden: I’m glad, I podcast recently from Melissa Overton, she’s a previous guest on The Best of Johnston County podcast.
She’s a tremendous speaker and medical trainer. So, I was glad to be able to have you come on. So, tell us a little bit about your name, where you’re from. What do you do?
Dusta Rhymes: So, I’m Dusta Rhymes and I got that because I clean for a living. And I also like to rhyme because if it ends in a rhyme, it’s a win every time. So, I started doing rhymes in my 30 seconds, and somebody was like, Oh, you’re like Busta Rhymes, but Dusta, and I said, I’m taking that.
So, I took it and ran with it, it has been absolutely fabulous. And I’m originally from Sarasota, Florida, and I lived there for 27 years. I’d never seen snow a day in my life. And so, I figured, why not move towards snow all the time? So, I moved to Asheville, and then I quickly decided that wasn’t for me. And so, I came down 40 and I was like, you know what? Raleigh looks good, but Raleigh was really expensive and it didn’t have that home feeling, like, it felt like another city.
And while I [00:03:00] love Raleigh, I feel at home in Johnston County. I feel like, again, I guess home, it’s somewhere I can leave and come back and not saying it doesn’t change because it does, but it just still has that same small-town feeling that I’m missing.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s cool. So, you grew up in Florida, and I think, you started a cleaning business straight outta high school. Is that right?
Dusta Rhymes: That is true. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s something that has always been in me because I never understood, why I had to work 40 hours a week to get my paycheck. If I can get it done in 2, why can’t I just do that? So, when I was 18, I was like, I’m gonna start my own business.
So, I did. I started at Southern Belle Cleaning Company. And I laughed about that because Florida is the only place you have to drive North to get to the South. But I wanted to bring the Southern to it. So, I was Southern Belle Cleaning, and then I ended up taking a break from being an entrepreneur.
I had some children early in life, and I thank God I did because I love it. I work with my daughter now. I’ve always worked with her since she was 14. We did the whole cleaning company we have now together, and we do the podcast together.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s great. So, when did you come to Johnston County?
Dusta Rhymes: In 2016. [00:04:00]
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. And when you came to Johnston County, did you start a cleaning business? What did you do?
Dusta Rhymes: So, initially, I was living in Garner in a rental, and my ex-husband at the time wanted to buy a home. And so, we looked around and we thought, we don’t really want to live in this area. It’s too much money.
So, we look towards Johnston County because we used to go to Clayton downtown and do their events and stuff. And I love the small-town charm. So, he’s like, we’re doing it, we’re buying a house there. So, we buy a house there and a year goes by and we’re in this house. And I’m thinking, okay, I want to start a business.
I’m going to do it. So, I go, and I file all my paperwork, and I’m ready to go. This was February 2020. I’m like, cool, I’m going to be a commercial cleaning company, Oh, I guess I’m not. So, in order to pivot as one would do as an entrepreneur, you have to notice your deficit and make a move. I did it pretty quickly, I started thinking to myself, like, okay, we’re in our homes, we’re working, we’re educating, we’re doing literally everything.
What is something we’re missing? And call me old fashioned, but I love [00:05:00] Alice from the Brady Bunch. And she does it all, right? She makes sure that the family works and does everything they need to do. Hence the outfit, I love to dress like a 1950’s housekeeper. And I started this business where I was being Alice from the Brady Bunch.
If you look at our logo, we have the little maid with the hat and the duster. And so, I did that, pivoting really quickly to being a residential housekeeper. And we’re considered full-service and a luxury housekeeper because we’re not just like a cleaning company that comes in, we go above and beyond. We do laundry, we’re doing the soap pumps, we’re checking the towels, and toilet paper, putting tabs in the toilets, above and beyond.
Jonathan Breeden: I got you. When did you pivot? I know you do no longer do residential. So, when did you pivot from residential back to commercial?
Dusta Rhymes: It’s been a year.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Dusta Rhymes: I have some health problems, I found out that I have Lupus and it became an issue for me to work every day, single day cleaning. Because I’d provide the service myself. I don’t hire anyone just because I have OCD and it’s really hard. I’m not going to lie, I tried.
Jonathan Breeden: I know a little bit about OCD, I know a little [00:06:00] bit about that. It can drive your family a little bonkers.
Dusta Rhymes: Yeah, my ex has said that.
Jonathan Breeden: But it could be great if you’re cleaning.
Dusta Rhymes: So, I kept cleaning our house and I was like, I need to make money off this because this is just driving everybody crazy. So, I started the cleaning company, and I decided to pivot then during COVID. And we took off exponentially just because of the community that’s in Johnston County, like, everybody wanted to help me build my business, even though I was new and they didn’t know anyone.
They were like, let’s do this, come on, how can I help you? So, I did all that. And then, like I said, last year with the Lupus, I ended up discovering that I can’t work as much as I would like to. So, we’re pivoting, I should say, back to commercial.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. And that’s because commercial accounts are often clean once a week.
Dusta Rhymes: Once a week and also in the evening, I’m photosensitive, being out in the sun. I’m a vampire, essentially.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, okay. I got you. Yeah. I’ve had the same subcontractor with Jan-Pro for 20 years. And so, I definitely know the benefits of having that. And when I started out, I used to have them come every other week. And then, once they start coming every week, now, I’m thinking, maybe they should come twice a week. Maybe just for the amount of [00:07:00] trash, the number of employees we have here now creating this business or growing so fast.
That’s awesome. Are there particular types of commercial accounts or certain sizes, I mean, are you shooting for 1,500 to 2,000 square feet? You’re looking for bigger? What kind of commercial accounts are you looking for?
Dusta Rhymes: So, I’m looking for small to medium-sized businesses. No warehouses, nothing like that. Looking specifically for offices, no medical, we don’t do things like that because that takes a different type of license, actually, I found out. So, we don’t want to do anything medical. But just looking for small to medium-sized businesses that would like to have us come in, and take out the trash, handle the toilets, the sinks, the carpets, making sure that everything is fresh for them to work.
Jonathan Breeden: And that business is called The Other Mother, not your Other Mother. It’s The Other Mother.
Dusta Rhymes: It’s The Other Mother. And the reason I named it that is, my daughter’s name is Coraline and I love the movie, Coraline. And when I was looking for a name for the business, I kept thinking to myself, everything I wanted was taken. Cause I went on The Secretary of State and I had to check first, right? So, I’m checking, I’m like, swept away, no, like that. And I was like, looking at some other ones and I was like, looked at her, and I went, Oh, there’s the answer.
Cause in the [00:08:00] movie, I know that it’s like dark, but the other mother took care of everything because her actual mother was busy working. So, I was like, that’s great for advertising.
Jonathan Breeden: So, does that company have a website?
Dusta Rhymes: Yes.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. What’s that website?
Dusta Rhymes: It’s TheOtherMotherCleaning.com.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, alright. What’s its phone number?
Dusta Rhymes: We are 919-205-8520.
Jonathan Breeden: And it’s still taking clients?
Dusta Rhymes: Absolutely. So, we are looking for commercial clients currently. And you can text that phone number to as probably as easiest way to get ahold of me to be honest. But we are looking for new clients. Right now, we have a contract with the town of Selma, which we love.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh man, that’s awesome.
Dusta Rhymes: I love them so much. They’re great to work with, we actually do the train station.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, they just did the ribbon cutting for the reopening of the train station in Selma just a couple of weeks ago.
Dusta Rhymes: Yeah. We got to clean it beforehand, I was so excited.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s awesome. I want to go see how they redone it. I know they’ve made it look just like it did a hundred years ago.
Dusta Rhymes: Yeah, it was a centennial. That’s what it was. I remember now.
Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, so that’s cool. I was going to try to go to the ribbon cutting, but I had something else because I thought, [00:09:00] that’d be pretty neat. It’s a big deal for Selma. A lot of great things going on in Selma. I talk about Selma all the time on this podcast. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the mayor on here before too long.
He’s a really nice guy. So, let’s talk about your other business that you’ve now started, this podcast, Down Home Dirt. Tell me a little bit about where did the idea to start a podcast come from.
Dusta Rhymes: I love listening to podcasts, my mother’s paralegal, so I learned a lot of little Isms throughout the years. And one of them was, the education is free if you just pay attention. So, I was listening to a lot of podcasts and I was getting a lot of great information.
I was feeling like a connection to these people without actually having to know them in real life. And I started thinking about, how I know a lot of entrepreneurs in Johnston County. But I know so many, and I’ve heard their stories, and I love their stories, and I want them to share those stories because, usually, when people look at a business, they look at it for what they can do for them.
And I want to humanize the fact that they’re a small business owner and that they have a story too. And that they have a reason why they’re doing what they’re doing. So, we go on the podcast and I just started recording with some friends. And I have gone through some questions that I had for myself.
I want to know [00:10:00] about their inspirations. I want to know what their marketing strategy is. I want to know what they do when they find a situation where they consider it a failure, cause I always say that failure is the door to success. So, I want to share those stories so that I can inspire other entrepreneurs, or someone who may be feeling alone in this whole, cause sometimes, you do feel like you’re on an island by yourself.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s true.
Dusta Rhymes: And I just didn’t want them to feel that way. I was like, no, I’ve listened to your story. I think it’s great, you should share it. So, I started the podcast and we were just sharing stories and doing that at the time. And now, we’re doing filming so that we can come to your location, film in there and you can really feel comfortable in your space and tell us about your business. And it’s advertising for you as well.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s awesome. And one of the reasons I started my podcast, is the same reason you started yours. I wanted to tell the story of this community, community members, small business owners that have stories to tell. They’re always fascinating.
That’s one of the things I’ve tried to do with this podcast. You’re a small business owner, I’m a small business owner. The one thing that you will learn as you talk to entrepreneurs, and you know this, and everybody listening, if they don’t know, it should know it is, my business is no [00:11:00] different than yours.
Dusta Rhymes: Exactly.
Jonathan Breeden: And the problems I have are the problems you have, whether it be staffing, inflation, cost of goods, services, pricing, collections. All of that stuff affects all small businesses, regardless of who we are, what we’re doing. And so, I think that’s the thing that I hope people get, that listen to the businesses are on here. The struggles that these businesses have and their pivots like you open a commercial cleaning company 30 days before COVID shuts the world down.
But you pivoted to residential, which there was a greater need for. And now, you’re not in a position to do the residential anymore, you’ve now pivoted back to commercial. My office, I started out doing criminal defense, and I did family law was on the side. But at some point, I began to realize that my passion really was in helping children, and being more involved in helping families than it was helping criminals.
And so, we ended up pivoting to just doing family law now. We’ve all got these stories to tell, and I think it’s great. I’ve listened to your podcast. I really enjoyed it, I listened to the one [00:12:00] with you’re a local roofer, I forget his name. The story of how he started his business, and trying to grow it is tremendous.
And I’m gonna go back and listen to some more, because you’re putting out one episode a week now?
Dusta Rhymes: I am, on Tuesdays. We have a new episode every Tuesday, and most recently, have gone to the Chamber of Commerce in Clayton. And I interviewed with Dana so that I could spread the word about different programs, if you want to start it, you want to continue growing it, if you don’t know what you’re doing.
They have so many great programs. So, my whole goal with the podcast is to inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s great. And the Clayton Chamber of Commerce is awesome. Dana Wooten was a previous guest on this podcast. She did a great job talking about what they’re doing to help people. And her story is a great story as well. So, one of the things, when I was listening to one of your podcasts, you talked about TANG and how much TANG helped you. But I didn’t know what TANG was. Tell the listeners about TANG.
Dusta Rhymes: TANG is short for Triangle Area Networking Group. And it was started, I believe, in North Raleigh, and they brought it to Clayton, and this was during COVID when they brought it to Clayton. And it was one [00:13:00] of the only two options that I had available for networking at the time when I started in 2020.
With the shutdown, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. Now, there’s plenty of opportunities for networking. But at the time, there was two. And so, TANG was one of the ones that was great. It has the same similar structure as BNI, but it’s the people that want to refer you because they want to, not because they’re required to because you’re in the group. And that’s what I loved about it.
It built a sense of community and they meet right downtown on Tuesday mornings from 8 to 9:30 at Manning’s Restaurant. So, you can go in and just pop in and visit, and tell them that I sent you. But it’s a great group of people that just want to see the community grow. They just want to help each other. They just want to network.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, that’s great. And they still meet, still currently. That’s awesome. Manning’s another great restaurant in Downtown Clayton. So, what did you learn there from that networking group? I think everybody should be involved networking groups. I have been since I started here in 2000 between the Chambers of Commerce and different things. What did you learn from that group that you’re able to use today?
Dusta Rhymes: Oh, a [00:14:00] lot. Because when I first started my business, I used to say the words, anyone is my client, not everyone is my client. I learned how to funnel it down to get a niche to make sure that I was conveying the message that I wanted to in my 30 seconds. That’s why I love TANG, it was such a good community of people that would come to you. They’d be like, Hey, can I offer you some advice? Yes, absolutely.
Tell me what I could do to make myself better. And that’s the whole thing about it. I love them because they helped shape me to who I am now and create this entire business that I have. And give me feedback, one of the things that I started out with is I noticed that there was nobody had a checklist.
Now I’m ADHD, so I need a checklist. And I noticed with cleaning companies, they’d say, yeah, I’ll clean it. Okay. But what are you doing? There was zero accountability, right? I’ll dust this. What does that mean? They helped me formulate this entire checklist that goes room by room so that when I go to a client’s house, I show them exactly what I’m accountable for, what’s going on, what I’m going to do. And they have a hard copy of it and I have one. So, it was just very nice for my business from nothing with them.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s awesome. What advice would you give, [00:15:00] Since you interview entrepreneurs and I interview entrepreneurs, we do this every week. What advice would you give somebody thinking about starting a business based on your experience, starting more than one business, and talking to all these business owners on your podcast?
Dusta Rhymes: I’ve noticed a common theme in mind, everyone says the same thing, and I agree with them, which is just do it. I have always been a risk taker because I am not interested in waiting around to see the consequences sometimes. So, when I think about having a business, I’m like, all right, here’s how it’s going to do. We’re not thinking about anything else. None of the negativeness, none of the what ifs. No. You jump in, you do it, and you figure it out. Because everything is figureoutable. I know it’s not a word, but it’s something we’ve made up.
Jonathan Breeden: Right, I don’t disagree. And I think the biggest thing I’ve learned in being an entrepreneur is you have to make decisions. And not making a decision is a decision, right? You could sit here, and you can get this sort of paralysis by analysis, and you can tell your things, all the things that are going to go wrong, and have all this anxiety, and not go anywhere, but you have to make a decision to be better [00:16:00] today than you were yesterday.
And if things start to go wrong, you’re going to pivot just like you did before you go off of a cliff. You’d run through all these scenarios in your head, but in the end, none of them are actually going to come to fruition because you’re going to make a different decision if you start going down a path that you don’t like. But people don’t start down any path for fear that they’re going to go down the wrong path.
Dusta Rhymes: I’ve noticed that a lot too. And that’s another reason why I try to educate entrepreneurs and tell them, Hey, you started it, right? Maybe you don’t know where to go. Maybe you don’t know, but here’s some information on how you can get there. And always ask questions, and always talk to other people because education is there, you just have to pay attention.
Jonathan Breeden: There is no doubt about it. And you listen to a lot of podcasts, I listen to a lot of podcasts. That’s one of the reasons I decided to start a podcast like you did. And I get a tremendous education from just listening to the podcasts that are out there. And there’s tons of them out there. The best mindset podcast I’ve found is The Mindset Mentor with Rob Dial Jr.
I think it’s the number one mindset [00:17:00] podcast in the world. He’s out of Austin, Texas, and it comes out four times a week. And it talks about the power of positive thinking, and how to overcome negative thoughts, and making decisions, and taking a step forward. Maybe overcoming some of traumas from your childhood that we all have at some level.
And it’s really been helpful for me, there are another mindset podcasts out there that can help as well. I like to listen to Creating Disney Magic with Lee Cockerell. He was the Executive Vice President of Disney World. And he was at Marriott and Hilton, and he was a hotel guy, and then ended up running Disney World, and he didn’t have a college degree, and he just worked hard and was from Oklahoma.
And just all the things about level of service that Disney provides, and how it does it, and the procedures, and the checklist, and all of that type of stuff. And leadership has been a really helpful to me. So, there’s a lot of great podcasts. What are some of your favorite podcasts?
Dusta Rhymes: Oh, they’re not appropriate.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. All right.
Dusta Rhymes: I like Dumb Blonde Podcast. And I know that a lot of people think whatever they want to think. But when she starts bringing on people, [00:18:00] and they’re talking about their traumas, and even though they had all that, they still were successful.
That’s the kind of things that I like to listen to. So, I listened to that. And then there’s also a podcast that I love to listen to called NDPNDNT. And it’s Connor Price, he is a rapper that I absolutely love. But he’s an independent artist from Canada, and he started a podcast in order to do the same thing that I’m doing with other independent artists.
And I was like, that’s fabulous. So, I started listening to all those. That’s where I got my education from.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, that’s great. There’s several podcasts if you’re out there listening to us and podcast land that you might want to look up and subscribe to and see if you might like to hear what they have to say.
So, the last question I ask everybody on this podcast is, what do you love most about Johnston County?
Dusta Rhymes: It’s a tough choice. But I think I’m going to go with the community because that has served me much more than obviously the food. Got myself in trouble with eating a little too much, but that’s okay.
But I love the community. And I love the fact that I came in as somebody who had no roots here at all, I had no connection. And I came in, and I just started being myself, and telling them that I need help and that I’m doing this. And they lifted me up, they helped me [00:19:00] build a business, they’ve connected me with even more people and it feels like home.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s great. And it’s a tremendous community, and we have a lot of great people in Johnston County, and it’s been my home for the last 24 years, has been your home for the last 5 years as well. And I think that’s what everybody listened to this would agree is that the people and the community is what makes Johnston County special. Anyway, your podcast is on Apple? That’s where I found it is on Spotify too?
Dusta Rhymes: It’s on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, all right. Down Home Dirt. So, definitely, go and search for that. I’ve listened to it, I’ve enjoyed it. It’s other community members just like my podcast here. So, we’d like to thank Dusta Rhymes for coming on and being our guest on today’s episode of The Best Johnston County podcast.
As we always do, we’d like to remind you to like, subscribe, or follow this podcast, wherever you see it, so that you’ll be aware of future episodes of The Best Johnston County podcast. Until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.
