Our Story

Since 1992, Broomstick Cleaning has provided quality, personalized housekeeping services to the greater Seattle area under the direction and standards of President, Owner Liz Volk. In November 2008, Broomstick’s current co-owner Bruce McQuilken joined the company and together, he and Liz began the journey to refine our methods and materials, expand our market presence and grow the company.

Since then, our local housekeepers’ list of clients has grown dramatically. The standard that began in ’92 with Liz’s sincere personal commitment to each of her clients has been carried forward, enhanced, passed on to all our employees and become the lynchpin of our success.

Simply stated; one size does not fit all.

We retain a clear understanding of the meaning of personalized service, taking a focused personal interest in the specific needs and desires of each and every client and creating a personalized service schedule for each with a detailed list of tasks to be completed on each service day and others to be tended to over time as needed. Our commitment to the highest standards of product quality and client satisfaction are clearly illustrated by our A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau of Western Washington.

Local Housekeepers Only! We Are Not a Franchise

Liz heard stories about the franchises that seemed to have a different crew of three or four housekeepers every few weeks who rushed through the service of their home at breakneck speed, often forgetting to do some things and in general providing an inconsistent to unsatisfactory level of service. She heard stories of the individual cleaning lady that one day just didn’t show up and was never heard from again.

Worst of all, she heard stories of household items that had gone missing or damaged without explanation or admitted culpability. She realized that the Greater Seattle market had a pressing need for something better; a housekeeping service that provided all the customized individual attention given to Broomstick contented clients but, large enough to embrace all of the referrals on her burgeoning waiting list along with other discerning clientele.

The New Broomstick would be large enough, but not so large that its employees and clients were treated like so many numbers on a spread sheet dedicated solely to company profit. In other words, a company with high integrity and real commitment to the wellbeing of both its clients and employees. In order to accomplish this goal Liz knew she would need help at the management level.

Providence took its course and in early July 2008, Liz was introduced by a mutual acquaintance to Bruce McQuilken. Bruce had recently sold a company he founded and developed over a 13 year time frame and was looking for a new business opportunity that could take advantage of his experience and areas of expertise.

After numerous conversations and strategy sessions, Liz and Bruce understood that their individual talents and expertise would be mutually supportive and the management alliance that would lead Broomstick Cleaning into the future was solidified.

So, if you are among those that either have existing housekeeping services that fail to meet your needs on a consistent basis or have wanted to employ a housekeeping service but were dissuaded by fear of the unknown and/or stories of dissatisfaction from friends, then look no further. Broomstick Cleaning is the locally established housekeeping service; the one that knows that the opportunity to serve you is a privilege that must be continually earned.

Our Family

Since the beginning, Liz has always looked at each Broomstick client and employee as part of her extended family and treated them with the respect and commitment that that implies. Both she and her employees have been reliable, flexible, thorough and always committed to doing that little unrequested extra during each service simply because it should be done whether it is part of the routine or not.

All of this and more has always been done with a cheery hello, a big smile, and a sincere interest in the wellbeing of the client and their family.

Our philosophy is simple; well trained, happy long term employees treated with respect and rewarded for their efforts are our best avenue to happy long term clients. Each of them has gone through at least two pre-employment interviews, a comprehensive background check, class room training in the Broomstick “Qualifast Cleaning System ™” and four weeks of strictly supervised field training with co-owner Liz Volk before they are recognized as a professional Broomstick Cleaning Housekeeper and fully accepted as part of our family.

Our standards are continually reinforced during company meetings with both additional instruction and open conversation about clients and how to address challenges that are encountered from time to time. Additionally, our local housekeepers are paid above industry average wages based on profit sharing complimented by a quarterly bonus program based on their integrity, reliability, teamwork and overall job performance.

Our commitment to our employee’s wellbeing and in turn, their individual and collective commitment to our clients and the Broomstick family is the foundation of our success and your guarantee of a responsive, quality, professional housekeeping relationship.

Broomstick Today

Today, the goals and principles we started with remain as they always have been. Our burgeoning list of satisfied clients provides the best evidence of this. We are considerably larger than when we began together, but our approach has stood the test of time. Each client and each employee are still what we care about most and always will be.

As has been said by many, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Even though our larger business has grown each year since our partnership was established, we accomplished our goals incrementally so that the quality of our product and attention to the details has not been lost in the transition.

Our local housekeepers take great pride in these accomplishments and continue to focus on the sense of family and the importance of the well-being of each client and each employee that has brought us to this place and time.