Owner: Terry Thomas
Previous Occupation: Corporate Attorney
Territory: Bellevue, WA

The theme of scrapping the corporate nine-to-five and starting a small business is nothing new for AdvantaClean franchisees. In fact, in today's economy, it's a trend happening all over the world of business. Success in many industries means our franchisees have gained a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience they bring with them to help grow their AdvantaClean businesses. For Terry and Cindy Thomas of Mukilteo, Washington, a Seattle suburb located on the Puget Sound, that departure from corporate America came after a conversation with the owner of a painting franchise who left behind his days at the office to become his own boss and never looked back.

Cindy's list of work experience includes five years as a stock broker and 25 years as a special education teacher. Terry, a lawyer, spent five years in the courtroom before moving to positions in international business and corporate ethics, with a stop as a University of Washington professor. Terry and Cindy were no strangers to professional success, but, after so many years in such structured work environments, they decided to break free.

In February of 2011, AdvantaClean of the Eastside opened its doors for business. Cindy handles the finances. Terry takes care of the sales, marketing and project estimates. Their operations manager, Jeremy, ties it all together. Although they've only been in business for a little more than six months, the Thomases have already put together an extensive list of satisfied customers and some good stories to go along with it.

"After a pretty serious flood, a homeowner called us in after she had already begun to clean up the mess," Terry told us. "As we were setting up, ready to get to work, the woman and her children were trying to save the rest of their damaged possessions. The situation was still dangerous, so we pleaded with the woman to take her kids to a safer location. Understandably, she was very upset about the damage, but for their own safety, it was necessary for them to leave the area. Finally, after quite a bit of pleading, we taped off the area like a crime scene and put on our HAZMAT suits. Suddenly, everyone else left the house!"

Owning an AdvantaClean franchise is a serious - and often dirty - business, but Terry and Cindy attack every day with a sense of humor that matches their desire to succeed. Although no one has confirmed Terry's claims of owning a life-size cut-out of AdvantaClean CEO Jeff Dudan or that he toured the country as a rockstar in his early 20s, one claim is irrefutable.

"I put up with Terry," says Cindy.

A good sense of humor indeed.

Terry Thomas