OUR STORY
What do a bunch of staples, an egg shell and a man named Ignacio have in common?
Growing up in the Napa Valley, I remember helping my grandfather, Ignacio. He worked for for Beringer Vineyards for 35 years, and as a second job he cleaned a couple of offices on the weekends. He would often take us grandkids out to the vineyards to show us what he did. On the weekends we would accompany him to his cleaning gigs. It was a family affair. My mom helped, my siblings and cousins helped. We used to protest and sigh while we vacuumed, reluctantly taking out the garbage, and for our trouble he paid us a small allowance. He wanted to teach us the importance of a work ethic.
My grandpa was picky, a true perfectionist. One thing he got a lot of “eye rolls” for from us kids was when he had us go around and inspect the carpets for staples people had dropped throughout their work day. A good part of my childhood was getting jabbed by those staples. Those staples! I hated those staples! But, as I grew up, I began to understand the value of my grandfather’s teachings. Those crazy staples have come to represent a “staple” of my own work ethic. Now I’m sometimes the recipient of the “eye rolls” I used to give my grandpa, but I’m as unaffected as he was. Greatness is in the details. In the staples, you might say.
When I started working in the wine industry over 20 years ago, I did everything- landscaping, cellar work, bottling, managing, supervising- you name it, I did it. I did everything except cleaning.
One day, I had brought a hard-boiled egg to work. I peeled it, and threw the shell in the garbage can. When I came in to work the next day those shells were somehow outside of the garbage can, on the floor. The sight of them, brazenly ignored on the carpet when I had thrown them away the day before prompted me to ask the supervisor, “Who does your cleaning?” In that moment, I didn’t realize that question would be the beginning of the next great phase of my life, and the opportunity to carry on the legacy of my grandfather, Ignacio Gallegos.
NV Cleaning Services was born.
And, staples everywhere shuddered.