Photo above: Crystal Clean, LLC owner shares her past and future dreams.
By Molly Ingram
It isn’t often that you get to meet someone who embodies all those qualities that you wish all your friends had – courage, compassion, empathy, honesty, total dedication and a drive to succeed that outstrips most people. Meet Crystal Dewar, owner of Crystal Clean, LLC.
Crystal was raised in Charleston where she was the co-captain of the cheerleading team and Homecoming Queen. Because she found herself unexpectedly pregnant, she took her senior year off to get her first son, Matthew, off to the right start. She returned to Garrett High School the following year to complete her studies and graduate.
From high school, Crystal began a long career working for Fidelity Investments in Raleigh, NC where she was a member of the Human Resources team. Here she worked with new hires to get them acclimated and comfortably situated in their new company. She took full advantage of all the training that Fidelity offered their employees to add skills to her resume. Classes in call center work and successful business writing have all served her well in the intervening years.
But what I think sets Crystal apart from her contemporaries who have also been successful is that she takes her faith very seriously. “Being a minister gives me the world as my pulpit.” Crystal travels extensively to give inspirational speeches designed to empower women. “I enjoy speaking at Women’s Conferences on issues that face many of us today – especially domestic violence and surviving hardship. Women are incredibly resilient if they can only believe in themselves, but that is a very big “only”.
After a second child, Hezekiah who is, at 21, a new Navy recruit stationed in Michigan, Crystal moved to Lady’s Island to be near her parents. Her mother is a minister as well and her father spent his career in various areas of construction. “As the youngest of three, and the only girl, my mother was the center of my life. She certainly inspired me to live my beliefs but to also share my gifts. And that has come in the form of ministering.”
Crystal is unusual in that she loves to clean. It provides her with a sense of satisfaction that many of us don’t find in our daily jobs. “I approach every cleaning job, whether it is residential or commercial, as if it were my own house. It has to come out to my very high standards each and every time. I discovered that in life, your gift makes room for you. Everyone has something that he or she does that they are exceptional and passionate about. Cleaning happens to be my gift.”
At 40, Crystal had her third boy, Micah who is now three and an adorable terror on wheels. “You know there was a lot of water under the bridge between when I raised Hezekiah who is now 21 and Micah who is three. I thought the Muppets were still the “in” characters. But my three year old quickly disabused me of that notion. Now I am conversant on Frozen and actually looking forward to the next Star Wars chapter.”
Somehow between running her growing business, Crystal still finds time to work-out at LifeFit, part of Beaufort Memorial. “I am always running so to speak. I have to stay fit so I can keep up with Micah and stay on top of my expanding business. This is no easy feat.” But she manages to do it and do it with a smile on her face. As she adds to her client base of her 15 private clients, eight apartment complexes and local office buildings that her company cleans for, it looks like the churning business of summer rental management companies is about to be added to her client list. “The company is ready to take on a huge client or two. We have a solid infrastructure in place already at the offices in Bluffton. What sets us apart from other cleaning companies is that we provide affordable cleaning along with high quality standards, not something you find very often.” And growing her business is paramount for Crystal. She has a one year, five year and ten year plan. “Crystal Clean will become a household name. How can it not when it provides a needed service, high quality assurance and smiles all around?”
“I am not going to put my heart and soul into something and not have it be the best. I learned early in life that ministering was a calling, but it wasn’t my destiny. There was more I could give and share with the world and I am so grateful that I get to do that every day.”
