Jaclyn Houtman grew up around Merry Maids, the residential cleaning services franchise with more than 450 units. Her grandparents originally started with the brand, and her mom and dad later became owners together when she was young. Today, her parents are still owners, along with her uncle, who continues his family's operations in Arizona.
“I’ve known Merry Maids forever,” she said. “I folded towels as a teenager over the summer to earn money.”
When Jaclyn met her husband, Brian, he ran his business in the hotel and restaurant industry. Both were living in Amsterdam at the time. As they started talking about moving back to the U.S. and what that next chapter could look like, they saw Merry Maids as an obvious fit. With Jaclyn being familiar with the model through her family, she felt it aligned with Brian’s entrepreneurial background and the kind of business they wanted to build together.
“I was looking for something that was not necessarily weekends, nights and evenings,” Brian said. “Merry Maids fit right into that. From a business standpoint, we were looking for something that had both an increase in demand and in an area that had a growing population. So for us, Houston hit all of those targets.”
The Houtmans opened their Houston location ten years ago and have grown into Fort Worth,
North Richland Hills, Duncanville, Sugar Land, Temple, Katy, Weatherford and Waco, Texas. At the 2026 Merry Maids Annual Conference, the Houtmans were recognized as Award of Excellence winners, named 2026 Incentive Trip winners to Honduras, and celebrated as Revenue Record Breaker winners for their performance across the business.
While the recent awards recognize the growth of the business, Brian and Jaclyn are quick to point to the people behind it. Brian credits the office teams and technicians across each location who show up every day, care for customers, and make the business what it is.
“The service we perform is an action that is performed by a professional technician with an experienced and caring office team behind them,” Brian said. “At the core of this is the relationship in our office with that technician and how we can support them. Our goal is to make them feel empowered to perform their best at every single house cleaning.”
Because the work takes place in customers’ homes, Brian said relationships are central to everything. The team focuses not only on delivering a consistent service but also on earning trust. That means paying attention to details, anticipating what a customer may need, and creating an experience that feels thoughtful from beginning to end.
One of the most meaningful parts of the past decade for the Houtmans has been watching employees grow within the business. As the company expanded from one location into multiple markets across Texas, many team members grew with it.
“We have pretty low turnover and we very much believe in hiring from within,” Brian said. “It’s about building culture and providing people with the opportunity to rise to the occasion. Seeing people become leaders in our office is like seeing a flower bloom. You put the seed in the soil, you water it, you care for it, you do all the beautiful things. Seeing them grow as individuals is truly a blessing.”
Over the years, the Houtmans have seen how personal the work can become for customers. Cleaning a home often overlaps with major life moments, and Brian and Jaclyn said those relationships are what stay with them most.
“The peace of mind it gives to have a clean home and for us to be able to do that in that life-changing moment for them, that is really crucial,” Brian said. “It’s a beautiful gift to be able to give and to bless somebody with whenever we can.”
They’ve heard from customers who were caring for loved ones with cancer and how meaningful it was for the team to help during that season. Other customers have reached out after having a baby or during a stressful transition at home, simply grateful to have one less thing to worry about.
“More often than not, we also hear a lot of really great positive feedback, even about our office staff,” Jaclyn said. “They call us for things now outside of cleaning because they trust us, so if they need someone to help with Christmas decorating or someone to help with organizing, they love to call us and get our recommendations. I think that says a lot because they trust us with their home.”
While expanding across Texas and being recognized at the brand’s annual conference have been rewarding, the franchise owners believe the greater accomplishment is building a lasting business, with people at its center.
“People think sometimes that success is just winning the rat race,” Brian said. “I’ve always found that you can be successful and just be a good person and do the right thing by people at the same time.”
From the employees who have grown alongside them to the customers who trust them, the Houtmans have been able to build a business that is a part of the community. Ten years after opening their first location in Houston, they continue to measure success less by awards and more by the relationships they’ve built.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/merry-maids
Merry Maids
SPONSORED
After opening their first location in Houston 10 years ago, Jaclyn and Brian Houtman have expanded across Texas by focusing on team culture and customer relationships.
Jaclyn Houtman grew up around Merry Maids, the residential cleaning services franchise with more than 450 units. Her grandparents originally started with the brand, and her mom and dad later became owners together when she was young. Today, her parents are still owners, along with her uncle, who continues his family's operations in Arizona.
“I’ve known Merry Maids forever,” she said. “I folded towels as a teenager over the summer to earn money.”
When Jaclyn met her husband, Brian, he ran his business in the hotel and restaurant industry. Both were living in Amsterdam at the time. As they started talking about moving back to the U.S. and what that next chapter could look like, they saw Merry Maids as an obvious fit. With Jaclyn being familiar with the model through her family, she felt it aligned with Brian’s entrepreneurial background and the kind of business they wanted to build together.
“I was looking for something that was not necessarily weekends, nights and evenings,” Brian said. “Merry Maids fit right into that. From a business standpoint, we were looking for something that had both an increase in demand and in an area that had a growing population. So for us, Houston hit all of those targets.”
The Houtmans opened their Houston location ten years ago and have grown into Fort Worth,
North Richland Hills, Duncanville, Sugar Land, Temple, Katy, Weatherford and Waco, Texas. At the 2026 Merry Maids Annual Conference, the Houtmans were recognized as Award of Excellence winners, named 2026 Incentive Trip winners to Honduras, and celebrated as Revenue Record Breaker winners for their performance across the business.
While the recent awards recognize the growth of the business, Brian and Jaclyn are quick to point to the people behind it. Brian credits the office teams and technicians across each location who show up every day, care for customers, and make the business what it is.
“The service we perform is an action that is performed by a professional technician with an experienced and caring office team behind them,” Brian said. “At the core of this is the relationship in our office with that technician and how we can support them. Our goal is to make them feel empowered to perform their best at every single house cleaning.”
Because the work takes place in customers’ homes, Brian said relationships are central to everything. The team focuses not only on delivering a consistent service but also on earning trust. That means paying attention to details, anticipating what a customer may need, and creating an experience that feels thoughtful from beginning to end.
One of the most meaningful parts of the past decade for the Houtmans has been watching employees grow within the business. As the company expanded from one location into multiple markets across Texas, many team members grew with it.
“We have pretty low turnover and we very much believe in hiring from within,” Brian said. “It’s about building culture and providing people with the opportunity to rise to the occasion. Seeing people become leaders in our office is like seeing a flower bloom. You put the seed in the soil, you water it, you care for it, you do all the beautiful things. Seeing them grow as individuals is truly a blessing.”
Over the years, the Houtmans have seen how personal the work can become for customers. Cleaning a home often overlaps with major life moments, and Brian and Jaclyn said those relationships are what stay with them most.
“The peace of mind it gives to have a clean home and for us to be able to do that in that life-changing moment for them, that is really crucial,” Brian said. “It’s a beautiful gift to be able to give and to bless somebody with whenever we can.”
They’ve heard from customers who were caring for loved ones with cancer and how meaningful it was for the team to help during that season. Other customers have reached out after having a baby or during a stressful transition at home, simply grateful to have one less thing to worry about.
“More often than not, we also hear a lot of really great positive feedback, even about our office staff,” Jaclyn said. “They call us for things now outside of cleaning because they trust us, so if they need someone to help with Christmas decorating or someone to help with organizing, they love to call us and get our recommendations. I think that says a lot because they trust us with their home.”
While expanding across Texas and being recognized at the brand’s annual conference have been rewarding, the franchise owners believe the greater accomplishment is building a lasting business, with people at its center.
“People think sometimes that success is just winning the rat race,” Brian said. “I’ve always found that you can be successful and just be a good person and do the right thing by people at the same time.”
From the employees who have grown alongside them to the customers who trust them, the Houtmans have been able to build a business that is a part of the community. Ten years after opening their first location in Houston, they continue to measure success less by awards and more by the relationships they’ve built.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/merry-maids
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