There are a number of reasons why听Chris Rall 鈥�09听went into the cleaning business鈥攁pparently none of which is that he likes to clean.
Rall talked about his work and life with听The Atlantic听. He spoke of his many fellow Carroll School graduates who went straight into lucrative fields such as private equity, banking, and corporate management. He did too鈥攕tarting off as a consultant at the Boston headquarters of LEK Consulting.
But Rall explained that after three-and-a-half years, he began to feel the burnout well known in the consulting world. So he and his brother Matt began casting about for a business they could start or acquire. They looked at convenience stores, small manufacturing, and dry cleaning, finally settling on a housecleaning company in San Diego.
鈥淥ur goal has always been acquire a business, grow it, and then in three to five years sell the business, and do it again. My brother and I are not programmers. We're not inventors. We were just looking for something that we can actually understand鈥攍ike cleaning鈥攁nd put our energy into growing it,鈥� said Rall, whose concentration at the Carroll School was finance. (Older brother Matt has an M.B.A. from Northwestern.)
In short order, the听听surged to #5 on the list of the听听in San Diego County, as rated by the听San Diego Business Journal听in 2013. The Ralls have since diversified by acquiring companies around the country that specialize in residential window cleaning, Christmas light installation, and other services. They have branch offices in Phoenix, Portland, Detroit, and Cape Cod.
A St. Louis native who takes part in Boston College鈥檚 San Diego alumni chapter, Rall is also quick to cite the responsibilities that go with business success. 鈥淲e have 120 employees, and if I鈥檓 not performing to peak performance and something goes wrong, then people鈥檚 jobs are at stake.鈥�
It鈥檚 all very interesting鈥攅specially for someone who purports to be not very interested in cleaning.
鈥淚 never really saw myself in the cleaning business and I鈥檓 not passionate about cleaning necessarily,鈥� he told interviewer Adrienne Green (her piece is part of an听Atlantic听series on work and identity in America). 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e always wanted to own my own business and pave my own way. It was really different from what everyone else in my college classes or at my old job was doing.鈥�
His Boston College friends respect the decision he鈥檚 made and applaud the risks he has taken. And they have an affectionate name for their fellow alum. Rall says they call him 鈥渢he window cleaner.鈥�
Photo retrieved from Boston College Alumni Facebook