By Denise Williams | WFBSC Exchange
Lisa Macqueen’s talk at WFBSC’s Global Executive Congress 2026 is an invitation to slip behind the red velvet rope. There, attendees can expect a transformative session as she unlocks the secrets to success in a commercial cleaning industry that too often has been written off as boring and unsexy. “You will go through the red velvet rope as one type of cleaning business owner, and you will leave as a completely different business owner” the CEO of Australia-based Cleancorp promises.
Are you intrigued? Did the descriptive language above raise your eyebrow? Does the suggestion of exclusive access beckon? If so, good for you — you’re already privy to Macqueen’s nearly two-decades-old epiphany: to succeed, you must command people’s attention. It was the first, and arguably the most important, lesson she learned after entering the business.
The Accidental Exec
Her introduction to the world of commercial cleaning almost didn’t happen, Macqueen recalls. She
Lisa Macqueen's ...
No. 1 piece of advice for BSC owners and execs: On the business end, focus on how you attract, how you convert, and how you deliver. If you have those three things locked in tight, you cannot lose. From a personal perspective, be the listener in every conversation — you learn so much more and you contribute so much bigger.
Favorite aspect of the cleaning business: The culture of my team. It’s my impact on them, but it’s more their impact on me and [husband] Hamish and our lives.
Most memorable BSC moment: We’ve won a lot of awards at Cleancorp, but the best was Australia’s Best Place to Work. That was in 2025, and it was huge. We are just a humble cleaning business but we beat out some of the biggest companies, including global companies and brands.
|
was having the time of her life traveling to exotic destinations worldwide as part of a job in the luxury hotel niche when her husband proposed that she swap her glamorous gig for a decidedly less flashy career at Cleancorp, which he had started 13 years earlier. Hamish had done well, leveling the company up to a $700,000-per-year business, but now he needed his wife’s special knack for sales and marketing to breathe new life into an enterprise that had plateaued.
Mortified, Macqueen flat-out refused her hubby’s offer for three months before her resolve wore off. She quit her old position and started her new one, equipped with exactly zero knowledge of the cleaning business. “I think not knowing actually was a huge advantage,” she speculates. “I wasn’t constrained by preconceived ideas, like people who had been in the industry for decades.” Macqueen kept trying different strategies, which kept panning out, and within two years, Cleancorp’s value topped $2 million. Today, she is CEO of the now multi-figure, multi-national company that employs nearly 900 team members in an industry she has come to love.
Bored Yet?
In fact, the title of Macqueen’s session in November, “From Boring to 8-Figures,” is a nod to Cleancorp’s own success. “The reality is that people find our industry boring,” she acknowledges. “But I feel like there’s such a resurgence in the world of business now, looking at companies like ours through a completely different lens. So I want to celebrate the fact we’re boring, that we’re out at unsociable hours doing work that a lot of people think is boring; but ours are businesses that drive tremendous amounts of jobs and profit. We don’t just have a mopper bucket, a duster, and a vacuum; there’s so much more behind it.”
“Boring to 8-Figures is me saying, ‘Yes, I hear you and I know what you’re saying about us as an industry, but let me show you who we really are,’” Macqueen continues.
In addition to how to get people’s attention, her fast-paced, high-energy session at Global Executive Congress promises to touch on many other key aspects of running a BSC, including:
- How to make an extra $10k in 10 minutes. “This process is great for people who are a little newer in their journey,” she says, “because it just WORKS.”
- How to use artificial intelligence (AI) now, but in the language of a regular person — not a technology expert. “What do we use it for? What’s the biggest elevation for a business and the fastest one in our industry with AI?” Macqueen asks.
- How to keep a client. “There’s a whole mystery behind that, that not many people talk about,” she says. “I’ve got it down to a fine art.”
- How to price a contract. Macqueen says she’s “still shocked at how many people in our industry don’t know how to correctly quote a site and leave so much money” on the table.
Just as Macqueen envisions pulling back a red velvet rope to welcome struggling BSCs to the “club,” it isn’t hard to imagine what she’d ask the DJ to spin if the venue was real rather than symbolic. It would be “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which she immediately loved when it was released in 2013 and which still resonates with her today. “That has always been the soundtrack in my mind, ever since I heard the song,” she confesses. “I’m happy in my business. I’m happy in my marriage. I’m happy in my family. I’m just … happy!” Macqueen, who believes there is more than enough business to go around, is also happy to share her tips for success — whether through her Cleancorp Coaching work or through speaking engagements like Global Executive Congress.
Don’t miss Lisa Macqueen present “From Boring to 8-Figures” on Tuesday, November 17, 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. at the 2026 WFBSC Global Executive Congress, hosted by BSCAI’s Contracting Success Conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada.