Donna Allie works to scrub away assumptions about 'diversity'

Former cleaning lady Donna Allie, 59, took a big step, or a leap of faith, to go from scrubbing bathrooms in Bryn Mawr to washing down stadiums in Philadelphia.

Allie, president of Team Clean Inc., told a contractor her firm could provide 200 workers to clean Veterans Stadium when she had only eight workers, dispatched to homes on the Main Line. Team Clean now has 700.

Given Hillary Clinton's nomination at next week's convention, what do women need to learn to lead?

We don't think big enough. Sometimes I fall prey to that, as well. While the guys are talking about their next contract for $100 million, we're talking about our next contract for $10 million. We need to think big. We need to dream big. We need to walk big.

Any other advice?

Go for your dreams and don't let anything stop you. When people are speaking negative about your dreams, run like they have the plague.

Tell me more about that.

There are people we call dream-snatchers. It's because, for whatever reason, they don't want you to succeed. Maybe they can't see themselves succeeding and they verbalize it. Now all that negative talk and negative energy is on you. You've got to shake that off and stay away from them.

The idea of starting a business scares people.

I say, 'What makes you think you can't do it?' They say, 'Oh, I need a business plan.' A business plan is no rocket science. All it is is a map to where you're going. Don't let people fool you and make you think it's all complex.

How did you learn about business?

A lot of times by trial and error. I knew cleaning. Then I learned how to hire people to clean. Then I learned the rules of HR. I had to learn about bidding and estimating. At some point, I had to learn about taxes and incentives. That's another thing I would tell people to do. Just read.

Any other way to learn?

When I first started Team Clean, I went to Wharton and they put me with a team of business students. They helped me out with my finances, how to keep my books, every aspect of business marketing. There's a lot of free advice. I always took anything that was offered. Every seminar. Every training. I was there.

The Democrats made much about minority contracts. At the last minute, you got one to help clean the Wells Fargo arena, after months of being disappointed.

I'm really excited.

What are your thoughts on the whole issue of minority set asides?

My thoughts are "Thank God we had this, or I'd still be cleaning houses on the Main Line." Thank God, the city of Philadelphia had this [Office of Economic Opportunity] program and monitored it and allowed me the opportunity to succeed. And every mayor that has been in office since then and has held up OEO, I thank God for them.

Do you believe that you are legitimately given the work, that you're not just . . .?

A front, because they need a minority? Oh, absolutely not. Every relationship I've been in, I consider myself strong where they are weak.

How does it work out?

I'm talking to a large majority-owned firm and I said, "Listen, you need a diversity spend, but I don't just want to be your diversity spend. I don't want to go whoring around being the diversity person for everybody. I want to have a meaningful and substantial partnership."

Do you judge people's homes you visit socially based on their cleanliness?

Just a teeny bit. I'm looking at the corners and edges, and general tidiness. And the front door. If the front door is clean, I'm fine.

Did you ever clean the house of anybody famous?

I was in [former Inquirer owner] Walter Annenberg's house. I was upstairs working in the bathrooms and I heard this tick, tick, tick, and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' I went over to the commode and there, next to the toilet, was a ticker tape - one of those old machines and the paper was coming out.

Interview questions and answers have been edited for space.

jvonbergen@phillynews.com

215-854-2769

@JaneVonBergen

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Home: Bryn Mawr

Family: Husband, David Rivers; daughter, Mia Allie Phillips.

Diplomas: Haverford High School, Wilberforce University, sociology, vocational development.

What matters: Her church, Household of Faith Deliverance, Ardmore.

In her office: Photographs of her with Presidents Bush (the first), Clinton, Obama.

Favorite: Bill Clinton. "He has this way about him."

Most handsome: Barack Obama. "He's fine."

Cleaning tip: Clean from the top down, from ceiling to floor. Vacuum your way out of the room.EndText

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Where: Philadelphia

What: Commercial, office industrial, school cleaning; event services. Founded in 1983. Employs 700.

Major clients: Philadelphia City Hall, Liberty Property Trust buildings.

Revenues: $19.5 million.

Big break: Got hired to clean Veterans Stadium when she had eight employees, but promised to deliver 200. She did it.

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From cleaning lady to CEO: A literal rags-to-riches story. www.philly.com/jobbing

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