History & Leadership
How Two Bettys Began: The Ultimate Side-Hustle
Anna Tsantir founded Two Bettys Green Cleaning with her business partner, Sam Meyers, in 2006. Anna was working in the non-profit sector, putting in long hours for little pay, and Sam worked at an art supply store where raises came in five-cent increments.
Anna and Sam both wanted to work part-time so they had leftover energy to spend in their art studios. They needed to make a living wage, be able to set their own hours, and be respected by a manager. They weren’t finding anything that fit that description, so they created it themselves. They were the original Two Bettys!
Sam passed away in 2013, and Anna became the sole leader of Two Bettys. Through hard work and immense growth, Anna’s side hustle has become a full-time, thriving business. Two Bettys now employs a leadership team (called NSYNC) of 5, over 130 cleaners and 25 HQ staff, and cleans over 1700 homes and businesses in the Twin Cities. It turns out that being an entrepreneur requires a lot of creativity and inventiveness, just like making art.
Anna continues to disrupt business as usual. She advocates whenever and wherever she can on behalf of workers and families, and on behalf of racial equity, and economic, social, and environmental justice.
Anna Tsantir
Founder, Owner, and CEO of Two Bettys
Anna started out cleaning houses, doing all the in-home estimates, and training in new cleaners. Now, she leads a collaborative leadership team, who leads an HQ team, who all lead a very large cleaning staff. What’s it like to be the Captain Betty?
Here at Two Bettys, we embody a leadership philosophy known as Servant Leadership.
“I came to Servant Leadership without knowing what it was called until a mentor told me, ‘Hey, this is what you do,’” says Anna.
“Servant leaders are more like a captain and less like a boss. Leaders are looking at the long view and organizing, planning, and budgeting for the road ahead. The main intention of a servant leader is not for material possession or ranking, but a desire to serve and support.”
