Meet our Franchisee: David Johnston

David Johnston has always had cleaning in his blood. When he was growing up, he’d go to work after football practice. “I would sweep, mop, and take out the trash every night for a local car dealer,” he said.

After graduating with a BS in Systems Management, David began a 12-year career at Walgreens. “I started out as an assistant manager, worked up to store manager, and continued all the way through the last five years there as a district manager,” David said.

During his time at Walgreens, his responsibilities included managing a $50M business that included six stores with approximately 200 employees. His dedication to cleaning didn’t end while he worked for Walgreens. “I was known as the clean-up man,” he said. “I went so far as to wax my stockroom floors.”

In 2011, David pursued his master’s degree in business. “I didn’t see a long-term career in the brick and mortar retail world anymore,” he said. After graduating in 2015, David accepted a Division President position for a Property Management Company where he worked for the last three years growing that business.

During that time, David also started to look to buying his own business. “It’s been a long-term, lifetime goal of mine,” he said. “I actually kind of fell into The Cleaning Authority. There was a resale opportunity in my area, and the numbers looked promising to me.”

David really enjoyed the Discovery Process during his time investigating The Cleaning Authority. “I really fell in love with the reporting, and I felt that it would allow me to know where I’m at and what I need to do,” he said. “I’m very competitive, so I’d like to know that I can rank myself and know I need to hit this number to be in the top 10 percent. I have the ability to know where I’m at and to be able to create those stretch goals and really stretch myself.”

David is looking forward to growing The Cleaning Authority further in Arlington. “I would say population growth in my specific market is going to help,” he said.

With cleaning already being an important part of his background, it was the perfect find. David is excited to start his next journey with The Cleaning Authority of Arlington.