Kansas startups take the stage with pitches to connectors
Joanne Velez, Founder of Maid Strong Cleaning and 2024 Customer Traction Cohort graduate; photo courtesy of Fernando Salazar.
After years of watching her mother work as a teacher and clean homes on the side, JoAnne Velez wanted to change things up. When her mother retired in January, she took over her business, Maid Strong, and changed the emphasis.
Along with residential, Velez decided to focus on cleaning businesses and corporations and putting her attention into growing the organization.
Velez spoke Monday about her rebranded business before a few hundred people at an event hosted by NXTUS, a Wichita organization that helps startups. She was one of about 40 innovators in or around Kansas attending the NXTUS Gamechangers and Champions event at WSU Tech's NICHE facility downtown.