Meet A Hero: Getting To Know Joe Delatte, President

Welcome to our “Meet a Hero” series, designed to introduce you to some of the key players on the Home Clean Heroes team, and give you some insight into what makes our Heroes tick.

First up is Joe Delatte, Home Clean Heroes President. Joe joined the team in December 2017 as Director of Operations and was appointed President in May 2019. Joe’s business savvy, financial acumen and relationship building skills, along with his background in corporate and franchise business, made him the ideal choice to lead the Home Clean Heroes team. Delatte owned his own home services franchise before joining Home Clean Heroes, and prior to that, held senior-level positions in marketing, advertising, strategic planning and product development for several large media and telecommunications companies.

As the President of Home Clean Heroes, Joe oversees the business and works to drive growth and ensure franchisee support. Now that you have some of his background, let’s find out what makes Joe a Hero:

Q: What led you to work for Home Clean Heroes?

A: I was very familiar with the success story of Buzz Franchise Brands and CEO Kevin
Wilson. I’m a big fan of the theory that you can never know too many smart people so I
reached out to Kevin and asked if we could just have a conversation to share stories and
vision. The timing was excellent as I was in the process of selling my own local home
services franchise. Kevin and COO Brian Garrison offered me the chance to help launch
and build Home Clean Heroes as a national brand. The decision to come on board has
been one of the most rewarding ones of my career.

Q: What are the biggest strengths you bring to the Home Clean Heroes team?

A: Without a doubt, it’s the breadth of experience I have been able to acquire through
various roles in corporate America and entrepreneurship. I’ve been able to draw on
years of training, leadership planning and people management involvement in areas of
finance, staffing, analytics, operational efficiency and marketing that apply to almost
every sector of our business on a daily basis.  I can relate very closely to a franchisee’s
experience, from the initial consideration and transition through to managing even the
tiniest staffing or financial consideration.

Q: What is your favorite part of your position with Home Clean Heroes?

A: It’s hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say it is based in the opportunity that
Home Clean Heroes represents. Opportunity for our franchisees to realize their dream
of business ownership and success. Opportunity to play a part in building that dream.
Opportunity to work with and lead our incredible team and opportunity to build a great
company.

Q: What is your favorite room in the house, and why?

A: Ha. The garage. I’m such a guy. It’s my fortress of solitude, a never-ending battle to
keep clean and organized (it’s rarely either) and the only room I’m allowed to decorate
(with tools). I recently awarded it with its very own Amazon Alexa, which replaced my
1980’s era boom-box.

Q: If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?

A: Time-travel. I’m a big believer that knowledge is power.  Just think of the
knowledge you could gain by jumping back and forth in time. You could make decisions
so much faster and accurately. You could jump back to 2004 and buy that Google stock
at $85 a share. You could jump forward and share in parts of your children’s and
grandchildren’s lives that you likely will not get to see. That would be such a privilege, it would be very cool.

Q: What is a business-related book you recommend and why?

A: Allow me to over-deliver on this one. I don’t have a single book I can recommend
because I haven’t found one book that delivers on everything. Instead I’ve found that I
retain and utilize one or maybe two concepts and allow the rest to fade away. Obsolete
books like Built to Last by Jim Collins (turns out many of the companies he profiled
didn’t last after all) and Stephen Covey’s time-worn Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People both have given me concepts that I draw on to this day. Collins taught me the
value of a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal,” and Covey’s observation of “beginning with the
end in mind” and “seeking first to understand, then to be understood” serve me well
and often. Jack Mitchell’s Hug Your Customers has some very specific insights that are
relevant and valuable to Home Clean Heroes franchisees or any small business owner.
Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch, bills itself as “The World’s Most Practical Small
Business Marketing Guide,” and I would agree.

Q: If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you spend it?

A: I would use my superpower to travel back in time to visit with my parents. Never pass
up a chance to just hang with your parents.

Q: If you could live in any sitcom, which one would it be?

A: Tool time (the original). See answer to my favorite room above. 🙂

Be on the lookout for more ‘Meet a Hero’ profiles in the future! We love giving you an inside look into Heroes that make up our wonderful support team.