ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

French correspondent Christian Bouzols on a cleaning company success story.

Behind Méli Pro Net, a cleaning company in the city of Evreux, about 60 miles west of Paris, stands the sturdy woman who made it happen. She is Mélina Jankaskas, whom one could put forward as an example of willpower and determination.

Despite her small frame. Mélina Jankaskas personifies all that the phrase “achieving by dint of hard work” can mean. Hailing from a disadvantaged social background in Evreux, she grew up in a problematic area of town and had to overcome many difficulties, but today she’s at the helm of a cleaning company with a turnover of over €1 employing about 50 workers.

“Having spent many years working for cleaning contractors in Paris and Normandy, I progressively made my way up,” she says. “Then one day an incident made me decide to become independent. I stormed out of a company whose boss was behaving like a real slave driver. As I gave him my resignation I told him, among other things, that I was going to create my own firm to spare other people from being subjected to similar working conditions.”

Entrepreneurial challenge

That was some 15 years ago. When the anger had subsided, Melina Jankanskas spared no effort to respond to the challenge. “I wanted to demonstrate that success has nothing to do with your school curriculum, but everything to do with willpower,” she said. “Whether you’re a woman or a man, from a prosperous family or a disadvantaged background, the doors of success are always open to all. For sure discrimination still exists and there will always be difficulties along the way but experience, and especially perseverance, enable you to circumvent the barriers that arise.

Today,our services are requested by supermarkets and agribusiness companies in the departments of Eure, Seine-Maritime and Eure-et-Loire, and I’m proud to be able to give work to more than 50 people living in disadvantaged areas.”

Only a year ago, Mélina was still on cleaning jobs with here teams. “However 12 months ago I stopped working with my hands”, she explains. “This work had taken a toll on me but it was the only way to be credible in the eyes of my workers.” But her credibility is definitely not a problem among her workforce. “We’re proud to work with her,” they claim. “She’s always prepared to listen. She’s a great lady!”

Next month, Mélina will be transferring part of her shares in her company to her son Lucas and to Corrinne Roussel, a friend who’s participated in this adventure from the very beginning. “I would never sell my company in any other way, despite the proposals that I’ve received”, concludes this female entrepreneur of substance and exemplary success.