Leti Cabrera, grandmother and JUST entrepreneur.
Leti Cabrera is a woman people usually don’t forget. She owns a cleaning business in Austin, Texas and is a proud grandmother. Her peaceful demeanor and friendly smile cover many scars.
“I started this business by accident, my original business was a food truck,” she said. “I lost the food truck after my youngest daughter died. I lost everything and fell into depression.”
When Leti learned how to cope with the pain of losing her daughter, she started cleaning houses.
data-animation-override>“Life is full of things you can’t change, and it’s these things that change your direction and make you reinvent yourself.”
The entrepreneur started cleaning four houses by herself on a weekly basis. Little by little, her business grew.Today, her team of eight serves more than 50 clients per week.
“My clients are always referring me to other people, they have been key to my success,” she said. “I always make sure to leave them happy and pay special attention to the details.”
Leti’s team is growing. Her goal is to mentor as many of her employees as possible so that they can start a business of their own one day.
Leti joined the community of JUST in 2016 and invested her loans in professional cleaning equipment. This allowed her to expand her business and begin serving commercial buildings.
“Seeing other JUST entrepreneurs confidently talk about their businesses, their triumphs, inspired me,” she said. “I would encourage anyone with a dream to surround themselves with ambitious people.”
Shortly after Leti started seeing the fruits of her labor, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Something she now describes as, “another bump in the road.”
“It was at that moment that I realized I could not let my team, my family or myself down,” she said.
The hardworking grandmother and entrepreneur continued managing her business between chemotherapies. Leti beat breast cancer, and shortly after was diagnosed with uterine cancer, a battle she fought and won during the pandemic in 2020.
“Life is full of things you can’t change, and it’s these things that change your direction and make you reinvent yourself,” she said. “Sometimes it’s scary to start from zero, but you have to do it.”
Today, Leti’s business continues growing and evolving, as does she. Recently, she started investing her money in real estate. Her dream is to create a legacy for her grandchildren. And she says, “this is only the beginning.”
“When I look in the mirror, I see my scars, I see how powerful we really are,” she said, “we always have the option to keep moving forward, to evolve.”