OUR COMPANY

Learn about The Maids, a leading residential cleaning company
The Maids, founded in 1979, is a leading residential cleaning company in the U.S. and Canada. The Maids is a quality leader among the many cleaning companies in the industry, with more than 180 franchises serving over 90 major U.S. and Canadian cities. The Maids offices can be found in over 40 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.


Our History
In 1979, Daniel J. Bishop, a self-made entrepreneurial success before the age of 21 with his janitorial company, Bishop Building Services, founded The Maids in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. The Maids focused on bringing residential deep cleaning to everyone. With four-person cleaning teams and a recognizable yellow company car, Bishop’s business quickly went national as he began franchising his residential cleaning company one year later. Today, The Maids offers deep cleaning services to over 90 major U.S. and Canadian cities.
Efficient Approach Through Team Cleaning
Before starting The Maids, Bishop researched the cleaning process. Through time and motion studies, his research determined that the most efficient way to clean a home is through team cleaning. Bishop trained each member of his home cleaning company to clean with a system based on four primary functions:
- Dusting
- Bathroom cleaning
- Kitchen cleaning
- Vacuuming
Through this regimented home cleaning system, The Maids home cleaning teams were able to clean quickly and efficiently.
In 1995, The Maids became the first home cleaning business to clean for health. This was accomplished by using environmentally preferable cleaning products and a state-of-the-art back pack vacuum. The vacuum was developed especially for The Maids. This resulted in the development of our unique 22-Step Healthy Touch® Deep Cleaning System, which set new standards for quality deep cleaning and revolutionized the industry.
With over a quarter of a century of experience, The Maids continues to research the best ways to serve its customers. We continue to stay at the forefront of the home services industry and remain a model organization in the franchising world.
Executive Leadership
Since our founding in 1979 by Daniel J. Bishop, The Maids has grown to be one of the largest domestic cleaning companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. We are dedicated to providing you and your family with state-of-the-art home cleaning service options and continue to lead by example, leaving other cleaning companies scrambling to offer similar services.
Our Philosophy
As a customer taking advantage of the leading cleaning services offered by The Maids, we want you to have the best possible customer experience every visit. We know our customers choose us to provide reliable house cleaning services, and we accomplish our goal in three ways. Contact us today for more information about our premium cleaning services.
The Three Ways We Provide Optimal, Reliable Home Cleaning
- First, we make sure The Maids management and team members are focused on meeting or exceeding our customers’ expectations and providing thorough, efficient, reliable house cleaning at every visit.
- We make sure all staff are trained to treat our customers (and fellow employees) the way we would like to be treated. This includes always having empathy for our clients; understanding their needs and feelings; offering them reliable house cleaning; being efficient, friendly and courteous; treating every customer fairly and with respect; and being open and honest in all of our communications. We respond to customers’ needs, requests, concerns and complaints regarding our premium cleaning service in a timely, polite, caring, friendly and professional manner.
- We provide the most thorough cleaning of your home compared to any company in the industry. When our teams leave customers' homes, customers have the peace of mind of knowing that they and their home has received the healthiest, most thorough clean possible, from a team of people who care about the quality of their work. The house will smell clean, look clean and feel clean. Everywhere customers look, they see the evidence of our premium cleaning service and know that they have just received the finest, most professional and reliable house cleaning in the entire industry.
We are committed to ensuring that customers choosing our premium home cleaning services trust us, are loyal to us, and are so pleased with our services that 96% of our customers feel confident saying, "I am proud to recommend The Maids to my friends and relatives."


A pragmatic businessman with expertise in financial services, Dan Kirwan joined The Maids International in January 2001, and is now the President and CEO. He came to The Maids with over 15 years of experience in accounting, business development and banking. He is well-versed in and remains current within all areas of business strategy, technology and leadership. An avid reader and non-traditional thinker, his personal goal is to educate and challenge the organization and himself to continuously improve, grow the business and refine the operational model. His personal, one-on-one approach with franchise partners and corporate staff motivates and inspires the entire franchise system. Mr. Kirwan earned his Master's Degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant.

Ken Doty joined The Maids International in July 2013 as Vice President of Business Intelligence, and was promoted to Chief Information Officer in February 2020. He is experienced in business intelligence with over 20 years of experience in consulting and information technology. Mr. Doty’s specialties are working with small to medium size business improving business process flow, implementing software, overseeing project management and he has a keen intellect for strategic process and development. His professional career started as a consultant for Paragon in 1991 where he was responsible for selling, creating, implementing and supporting assessment and training for customer and hospitality organizations. He then operated Sirius Insites from 1999 to 2013, a business software consulting firm. In addition to operating Sirius Insites, Mr. Doty served as the Executive VP of Intelligence and Product Development with EC3H, Inc., from January 2011 to Sept 2012 and as the Director of Business for Central Data Storage from July 2012 to July 2013. Mr. Doty holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Ashley Williams joined The Maids International in 2012 as General Counsel. In her role, she is responsible for all legal and compliance matters pertaining to The Maids International, Inc., which include providing legal advice and strategy, as well as supporting day-to-day corporate compliance, initiatives and long-term strategy. Ms. Williams obtained her bachelor’s degree from Creighton University and her law degree and MBA from Drake University. She is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, Nebraska State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Zara Black joined The Maids International in November 2016 as Employee Experience Manager. She came to The Maids International with over six years of experience in human resource management as a certified professional in Human Resources through the Society of Human Resource Management and Human Resource Certification Institute. She was later promoted to Director of Field Operations within the company store division before being named Director of Company Stores in March 2020. In this role she oversees assigned company store locations to achieve revenue growth and profitability, while implementing new initiatives to meet company objective. She earned her master’s degree in business administration in 2013. Prior to joining The Maids International, Ms. Black served in HR roles at Kellogg’s, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, and WEX.

Brad Braun joined The Maids International in 2015 as the Director Company Store Division. In his role he oversees operational and finance activities for the company store division including human resources, sales, operations and marketing. He also leads efforts for all store acquisitions. Brad was previously an area/regional manager with Adidas-Group and a district manager/group leader with Collective Brands Inc. Mr. Braun holds a business administration degree in business management and finance from Buena Vista University. He is also very involved in the broader Omaha community serving as treasurer or the Papillion Legion Baseball organization, a consultant for the Lightning Athletics, Bellevue Elite Softball and Powerhouse Indoor Athletic Facility, and well as a coach for Junior Titans Girls Basketball and Junior Titans Football Youth Organization.