20 Years of Two Bettys: An Interview With Founder, Anna Tsantir

June 10, 2026

It’s hard to believe Two Bettys has hit its second decade — time does, in fact, fly when you’re having fun!

Our 20th anniversary brings with it a lot of pride and more than a little nostalgia. We recently sat down with our founder, Anna Tsantir, to talk about the past 20 years. Here, she shares where things began, the challenges faced along the way, and how Two Bettys grew from two artists trying to find time for their art into a thriving green cleaning business employing more than 70 people.

Tell us about your origin story — what did those early days look like?

The seed for Two Bettys was planted out of this “aha!” moment I had when I was working for a local nonprofit. 

At the time, I was making a lot of art, and so was my partner, Sam. At work one day, I ran into another artist who asked me, “Why do you keep taking these art admin jobs? It has nothing to do with art, really — you’re not making art.” Then she shared her story of how she had shifted to working in a completely different field. She worked three long days a week, then had three days to be in the studio, and one day off.

It was one of those moments where you hear something and it clicks: “That’s the solution I’ve been looking for.” So Sam and I decided to start a cleaning business.

I was a printmaker, so we hand-carved the first posters, hand-set them on letterpress, printed them, and hung them up in coffee shops all over town. From there, we figured things out as we went. 

Fun fact: Sam and I named the company after my Aunt Betty, because we always used to have jokes about Aunt Betty that had nothing to do with my actual aunt — Sam was just a very funny person and loved the name. There’s not really a lot of sense to it other than humor and fun. 

It started out with me and Sam cleaning — we were the original Two Bettys. Those early days were, honestly, hilarious. 

Neither of us had professional house cleaning experience. (We had both worked jobs where cleaning was part of the work, but not house cleaning specifically.) Neither of us were gifted in organizing the details of running a business, doing the books, etc. And we paid for it. After making some mistakes over the first few years, we found a great bookkeeper and accountant. Needless to say, there was a big learning curve for both of us in those early days.

As we grew, we started offering cleaning jobs primarily as a side-hustle for the artists and musicians we knew, and word got out from there. We went with a contractor model because it was simple and appropriate for what we were doing. 

Although our employment model has since changed, we still strive to offer our employees autonomy. When you give people autonomy, and trust them to do a good job, they generally do. And most people find a lot of satisfaction in that. 

So, in short, we started Two Bettys because Sam and I wanted more studio time. And from there, we began to offer that flexibility to many other people.

Did you ever imagine the business would grow to this point?

NO! I remember telling Sam he was high if he thought I was going to employ another person under my name to go into a home and clean it. Haha! 

If you could go back and talk to yourself in year one, what would you say?

Get a bookkeeper now, friend — please stop touching the accounting! I would tell her to get involved with the community sooner as well. It brings total joy to connect our company to the amazing people working in community with us.

Was green cleaning part of your vision from the start, or did that evolve?

We were green from the start. 

At the time, there weren’t a lot of people doing green cleaning in the area — it was mainly us and one other business. Even though our first cleaners were contractors, we asked them to guarantee that they were using truly green products.

Using green cleaning products has always been one of our values, but over the years we’ve improved on the products we use. Unfortunately, we learned early on what green-washing is (saying your products are green when they aren’t). It was much worse back then, but this still happens today.

How has the conversation around green cleaning shifted since you started?

Once Adi convinced me to start attending an industry conference, I was amazed at how much blatant green washing I still saw on the floor of the product side of that conference. 

But I was also thrilled to see there is now an engaged group of people who are fighting to add more accountability around the products cleaning companies use. These conversations aren’t novel anymore — it’s a standard topic at conferences like this and throughout the industry. It’s great to see the progress.

Do you remember your very first client or job?

Oh yes! I felt so sorry for that woman, because I thought for sure I could do the job in three hours, but I was there for more like SIX hours! I was really honest with her about it, and she understood and was generous enough to hire me again.

You learn as you go. That’s how we learned how to time things out — by trial and error. We’d give a bid, see how long it ended up taking, and adjust our bids going forward. 

What were some of the biggest challenges in the early years?

As Two Bettys grew, we began to realize the limits of the contractor model, and that it didn’t fit the vision we had for the company.

At one point, Carla Povone, who was on the board of Women Venture, asked me to come talk to her class at the Carlson School of Business. Afterward, she suggested I go through a program at Women Venture called Scale Up. So I did, and it was incredible. 

Honestly, Two Bettys would not be where it is today without it! Through that program, I gained a stronger vision and understanding of our potential and the skills and knowledge we’d need to grow.

This is also where I learned about what a social enterprise is. We realized that if we wanted to be the kind of supportive employer we wanted to be — offering benefits, workers comp, etc — we needed to make some changes.

So we took a vote among the contracted staff at the time, and ended up switching to an employer-employee model. While that was great for the company as a whole, we did end up losing some of our stalwart, foundational team members who preferred to continue working for themselves.

Changing our model in this way really ushered in the next era of Two Bettys. 

As an employer of that many people, you really have to level up, so we had to restructure and reorganize the company. This is a time in the growth of a company where a lot of businesses fail. But because I had that experience with Women Venture, I had a good foundation to build on. I’ll forever be grateful for that organization and the women there who taught me. 

My dad was also super supportive in helping me navigate these changes, since he had a successful business of his own. (Side note: He thought it was so funny that I ended up going into business, because I initially went to art school instead of working for him. Funny how things turn out sometimes, isn’t it?)

How did you build a team and culture that reflects your values?

Two Bettys really began to grow into a social enterprise after some conversations I had with my dad.

My dad was an immigrant, and he had worked so hard to get to the United States, get his college degree, and get me through college … and then I went on to become a cleaning lady. At first he was devastated by that — it was a hard pill for him to swallow. 

When we talked about it, I told him that the attitude he and a lot of other people have about cleaning people is a problem. Domestic workers have always been an essentially invisible workforce. Their history is full of sexism, racism, wage theft, and other abuses. And it still happens today. The way that segment of labor is treated can be a toxic mess, especially if you’re on your own without a company backing you. 

So Two Bettys took on trying to make cleaners more valued and visible in several ways:

• We created a bright, attention-grabbing brand.
• We flipped the org chart, putting cleaners at the top (after all, they do the work that pays everyone at TB!). 
• We led with our values, making sure our cleaners were top priority — even when it came to letting a client go because they weren’t treating our cleaners well (thankfully, that doesn’t happen often). 
• We considered what was going on in our cleaners’ lives and what they needed out of their jobs — not just what we needed from them.
• We became Green Seal Certified, ensuring our cleaners would not have to work with toxic and harmful products.

This, for us, is a big part of what it means to be a social enterprise.

We also have a really amazing leadership team now under Adi Tam, who is our new executive officer. I’ve never met a better manager in my 20 years of working with people. He brings years of leadership experience and a great sense of humor and care for employees. He is strategic, excels in finance, and has an unparalleled understanding of running operations for a business of our size. 

With Adi leading the way, we not only brought the company back into profitability but also expanded our benefits, introduced more equity into our hiring practices, and improved our PTO and pay scales. While we had good practices before, I’ve learned so much more from Adi.

If there is one key lesson I’ve learned over the past 20 years, it’s the importance of delegation: finding people who are better than you at certain tasks and entrusting them with those responsibilities. I was great at getting things started, but I have known for a long time that I wanted to find someone who could grow Two Bettys and take us to the next level while honoring our DNA. This is how the entire community at Two Bettyss thrives.

Was there ever a moment where you weren’t sure the business would make it?

Two Bettys experienced some of our most extreme challenges during COVID, and I truly didn’t know if we would survive. I remain deeply grateful to our leadership team and the 350-some clients who continued to pay us just to keep us afloat.

When COVID hit, we quickly pivoted, first to delivering cleaning products and instructions, then to selling concentrated, effective, green cleaning products online to other companies. 

While we dabbled in selling our own products, ultimately the best survival decision was to rebuild slowly. 

We had to lay off 140 people, furloughing 60% of them so we could continue paying partial insurance until the funds ran out. Mentorship from successful long-time clients was crucial during this difficult period. We explored options like seeking capital and selling equity, but the arrival of the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) ultimately saved us. Without it, we would have recovered eventually, but from almost nothing. 

Now, we are better for the struggles of that time.

Next came the uprisings in our neighborhood following the murder of George Floyd. While this didn’t significantly impact our bottom line, it was a pivotal moment that spurred an internal audit on racial equity within our business. This led us to move toward building a more diverse and open company, one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 

The period since 2020 has been one challenge after another. For example, the tearing up of Lake Street forced us to move our business, because our building no longer allowed for parking out front. This move meant an unexpected expense of $20,000 – $30,000. Such costs are a strain, especially since we prefer to prioritize improving staff pay and benefits.

Most recently, the ICE occupation in Minneapolis was devastating, primarily on an emotional and social justice level. Before 2026, about 30 immigrants worked at Two Bettys. We lost some of our best workers due to the tragedy and injustice of the ICE raids. Every one of our cleaners undergoes background checks and I-9 verification. But the threat to our staff, causing many to self-deport or move, is a tragedy in my eyes. 

As the child of an immigrant, this is not in line with the American values I hold dear. These are hardworking people who did nothing wrong. As proud as I am of how the city, community, and everyone in Minneapolis stood up for our immigrant neighbors, the ICE raids caused chaos and so much harm.

What has changed the most about the business over the last 20 years?

The people, without a doubt. While we maintain some of the best retention rates in the industry for a company our size, over 20 years you witness a great deal of transition. 

What’s truly amazing is that at each stage, the people here were the cornerstone of the company. In a business where our biggest asset is the people we work with, the incredible, gifted, honest, hardworking individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside are the one constant in an environment that is always evolving.

Additionally, we have transformed from a tiny group of artists cleaning homes into a social enterprise that has employed over 700 people in 20 years. We are also significantly more active in our community than we were in the beginning. It feels good to serve the community that has lifted us up for all these years.

And from a technical standpoint, we have learned how to operate a very modern cleaning business, maintaining a highly open and transparent culture.

What has not changed: What’s remained core to who Two Bettys is?

We are green and always will be! 

Really green — no green washing here! We have given many talks and posted blogs about this. Probably the biggest honor I’ve received was being asked to talk about green cleaning at the ISSA National Conference last year. It was an incredible opportunity.

What are you most proud of when you think about the Two Bettys team over the years?

I am proud to say that we always walk our talk. And because of that, we have evolved a lot. We started with what we thought was solid pay, benefits, and hiring practices in 2010. Every year since then, we have continued to improve what we offer our staff. 

I am so proud that we figured out how to bring more diversity into our company. And I am also proud that we started to stand up and work for changes in hourly pay and paid leave — and we continue to do so. 

Over the past 20 years, we have created a trustworthy brand that stands the test of time, because we always change, evolve, and pivot when we need to. That makes me really proud.

What are you celebrating most right now?

I am so grateful that at this point I can step back and watch the people who are better at running operations and growing the company do their thing. And yet I still provide a relevant skill set when it comes to maintaining our brand, being a member of the community representing Two Bettys, and working to make the community better for businesses and employees.

Minnesota has over 50% of its population working for small businesses, and I am proud to be one of them! 

Looking ahead, what excites you about the future of Two Bettys?

We have an incredible leadership team and staff right now. I cannot wait to see where we can go! 

It’s a huge change to not be setting the vision for the company anymore (since I handed off the CEO position to Adi). And while Two Bettys will always represent and be steeped in the DNA of our company core values that I created, I am so ready to see where this extremely talented group of people and I will take the company in the future. It’s very exciting. 

Where do you see Two Bettys in the next 10–20 years?

I see us serving more communities and improving every step of the way. 

I personally dream about servicing the aging population with cleaning services to help people who want to stay in their homes longer do so safely. I have had a personal journey with this as my own parents are aging, and the cost of long-term care is astronomical. So of course, as a good entrepreneur I start thinking of how we might find a solution for at least a part of that challenge.

What has this business taught you about leadership or about yourself?

This question could be a book! I learned so much about personal accountability and self-awareness, I wouldn’t know where to start. I’ve also learned what true, clear, positive leadership looks and feels like. And it’s not a box you get to check, it’s an evolution that involves lifelong learning.

What keeps you motivated after 20 years?

The people I work with, for sure. Our original mission still motivates me too: cleaning green as a social enterprise. It’s as fresh as ever to me.

How do you define success today vs. when you started?

Honestly, when we started in 2006, I think I was just grateful to get through a day of cleaning, doing sales calls, and wrapping up the books! But truly, I think success to me, back then, was if I could do my work at Two Bettys and then get to do the work I loved in the studio. 

Something really shifted for me over the years, though, especially after my kids came along. I make art at home for myself now — I don’t show anymore. My art became my life with kids, along with running Two Bettys in a way that was creative and disruptive. 

I still love art, and artists! But personally I made a shift to trying to live artfully. That is the big success story for me.

When it comes to the success of Two Bettys, a few things stand out to me:

• When a cleaner says they have never had a job where they were treated so well, that makes me feel like I have won the Olympics. 
• When I see the company can now run as an efficient and productive operation with a strong leadership team of amazing people, it makes my heart sing. 
• And I am extra proud that there are a few members of my leadership team that started as cleaners themselves!

Those are the things that just feel great at the end of 20 years, and the beginning of the next chapter.