We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Narvis Kennel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Narvis below.
Narvis, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I have owned a business for 7 years now and although it is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, it is also one of the most rewarding. One of the key ingredients to a successful business is a strong work ethic.
A strong work ethic takes a lot of personal responsibility because nobody will hold your hand and make sure you are being the best version of yourself, that is all up to you. Regardless of what is going on around you, when it’s time to lock in, you have to put your best foot forward.
I’ve built my work ethic around the struggles that I had to endure growing up. I promised myself that I would do whatever it takes to change my family’s status in society and my work ethic would lead the way. So, whenever I feel like giving up, I remember where I came from, where I want to be, and how I plan on getting there.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
It all started on a brisk fall day in November of 1993. Some would say a star was born that day. Just kidding! My mother had me when she was 14 so I was raised by both my mother and grandmother. I grew up with 3 other younger siblings whom I love to death! Our childhood was what we made it! We didn’t have everything, but we had fun. My mom and grandmom did the best they could but what child is ever really satisfied? When I lost my grandma, my mom took it really hard and mentally checked out. This made me hold it down for my family. I would skip school to work and do everything I could to make sure my brothers and sisters were ok. It was living through these experiences that made me turn to work and school as my only way to save everyone, including my community.
When I went to Temple University, I took a lot of African American studies classes and literally cried when I realized how much was put in place to see us fail. I realized that I would never make as much of an impact on the world if I didn’t have a voice and influence, so that’s what I did.
I created a successful six figure cleaning business named New Wave Cleaning and I hired my family full time. I taught my community how to start businesses and create generational wealth, and created a nonprofit supporting local businesses. Seeing the struggles that my family went through and learning that the majority of black Americans had similar experiences was one of the biggest key factors in shaping who I am today.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I take a lot of my life experiences and use them to my advantage on my journey to success. Everything can be looked at as “ the glass is half full, or the glass is half empty.” If you look back at any bad situation you’ve gone through you can find a lesson or skill out of that. For example, losing my grandma was the hardest thing in my life, but it forced me to grow up and be more prepared for hardship and difficulty. It forced me to develop a strong work ethic and it made me hungry for something better.
Even working at all the jobs I have has impacted me drastically. I was often the youngest worker and I learned so much from the other employees. We were all making minimum wage trying to support our families and lifestyles. They often gave me advice and talked to me about the real world. I knew that I wanted to be that change and not end up where I already was at 14. Overall, these jobs taught me responsibility, accountability, and communication.
One of the last biggest influences on my life was taking the African American studies classes at Temple. Here is where I learned more about myself and what I really cared about. I was no longer worried about just my family and I becoming successful. I wanted to bring my communities with me. I wanted to teach everyone else what I knew and grow our communities together.
My advice would be to analyze who you are and what you bring to the table. We often have skills and qualities that we don’t even realize. Figure out what you’ve learned from the most influential experiences in your life and make that a strength! Use your life to your advantage because only you have lived it.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My biggest challenge right now is scaling my business. We have been established for 7 years and haven’t seen a major growth in business. We do see a steady increase in growth every year but it just isn’t enough for me. My goal right now is to increase our spending budget on advertising and website development. We also try to be very competitive with our pricing but we start our employees at $20 an hour whereas a lot of other cleaning services don’t. So we are trying to find a balance between competitive pricing for customers and competitive pay for staff.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.newwavecleaningservice.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newwavecleaningservicellc/
- Facebook: New Wave Cleaning Service
- Yelp: New Wave Cleaning Service
Image Credits
New Wave Cleaning photos
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