Preston Knight Is an Air Force Veteran, Practicing Attorney and MaidPro Owner; Here’s How He Did It and Why You Can, Too

Preston Knight, a United States Air Force veteran, practicing attorney and current MaidPro franchise owner, has followed an admittedly unique path to business ownership. Ultimately, Knight says his family’s goal is to grow to a point that will allow for a bit of outsourcing and more time with the family — it hasn’t always been so simple. But even through the more complicated or trying times, MaidPro’s business and support model lends itself to franchisees’ success.

In 2009, Knight joined the Air Force. After training, he would spend the next five years stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, working as an air traffic controller. When he completed his enlistment commitment in 2015, he had achieved Staff Sergeant rank and was ready to take on law school.

“I went to law school in Phoenix, and while we were down there, we were kind of disappointed in some of the retail and service offerings,” he explained. “We were missing the ones we were used to having in Utah, so we were looking at that gap in the market as a franchising opportunity.”

Though Knight and his wife quickly realized that the retail space wasn’t quite what they wanted, they were able to discover MaidPro, which would allow them more freedom — flexibility on nights, weekends and holidays.

The duo began this investigation during Knight's first year of law school, a notoriously demanding time, and continued due diligence through the following months. The pair officially opened their MaidPro business as Knight finished his 3L year.

While law school and new business ownership is certainly a lot to juggle, Knight attributes the resiliency and ability to keep a calm head to the skills he developed while serving in the military, which have been crucial to this entire journey.

“As an Air Force traffic controller, you have multi-million dollar airplanes with lots of people on them flying around at 400 miles per hour. And my job was to put them in line and make sure they all landed safely,” he said. “When you think on this scale, if someone doesn’t get their house cleaned or a Pro quits, it’s unfortunate, but if I’m able to keep a calm mind when I have giant airplanes flying at each other, moving a couple of cleanings around or adapting to COVID restrictions is not a lot to ask in the grand scheme of things. It’s always easier to keep perspective.”

During his last year of law school, Knight was balancing his education, business ownership and the practical sides of the business — going out to the front lines to clean homes. Leveraging this experience alongside the leadership skills he developed in the military has empowered him to lead in a compassionate, relatable way.

“Don’t be afraid to let your people see you get in there and do the work. Yes, I’m the owner, I’m a veteran, I’m a law school graduate, I passed the bar — all of these things,” he said. “But I’ve also been face to face with someone else’s toilet because it needed to be cleaned, and that’s important, too.”

To other veterans who may be considering franchising, Knight says, “It’s important to look for something that’s a good culture fit, but just know that the basic skills to run any sort of business are already instilled in us.”

The culture fit only sweetens the deal. In a system like MaidPro, franchise owners enjoy a strong connection to and support from established owners, and the purpose of the business provides a sort of persistent guidance.

“On the personal side, we obviously want to grow our business and get to that level of freedom that all business owners aspire to,” Knight said. “But the most important thing is to keep your purpose in your mind. It’s easy for little things to grind you down… ‘This person locked us out,’ ‘That person canceled a cleaning.’ But we’re really making people’s lives better. We have elderly clients that literally cannot do the cleaning, and we’re making their quality of life better. We’re cleaning for busy families so that they can spend what little time they do have at home focusing on what’s important instead of cleaning. Keeping that front and center in your mind, I think, is the most important thing.”

For more information on franchising with MaidPro, visit https://www.thresholdbrands.com/maidpro.