María Jose Reyes Montes, center, poses with her cleaning crew at Super Girl
Housekeeping. Montes started her business with the help of Los Gatos
resident Kendal Grey.
They say it takes a village, and one Los Gatos community is a testament to the truth behind the adage.
In 2017, less than a month before she was scheduled to give birth, San Jose-based housekeeper María Jose Reyes Montes found out the company she worked through would not provide paid maternity leave or other protections she had anticipated. Montes and her crew, who would also be without work or pay, showed up to their final cleaning of the day despondent.
Montes already had one young child at home, 6-year-old Aidan, and she sent money to family members Nicaragua each month to help cover their expenses.
“I was so scared and extremely stressed,” Montes said, “very nervous and concerned for the future that I would not have the money to live.”
Montes’s client that afternoon was Kendal Grey, who had recently moved to Los Gatos with her 9-month-old daughter. New to the community and largely confined to the house caring for her infant, Grey had developed a close bond with Montes. Realizing the urgency of the situation, she vowed to help Montes create a business of her own.
As the owner of her own company, Montes could hire her original crew and set her own schedule after delivering her baby. She immediately applied for a business license. Grey came on board as the first customer of Super Girl Housekeeping, but she knew they had to secure more clients for Montes, and fast.
She published an impassioned post on NextDoor, an app that allows neighbors to communicate digitally about local happenings. In her post, she alerted her neighbors to Montes’s situation and called for anyone in need of cleaning services to contact her.
“It wasn’t the most elegant writing,” Grey said, “but it was a callout to my neighborhood saying, ‘This really good person was greatly wronged. Please help me help this woman.’”
Grey received 120 responses to her post, and 90 people signed up for Montes’s service. Those who didn’t need a new cleaning service responded by offering donations of baby clothes and asking how else they could help.
“In this community that I myself didn’t even really know, a huge wave of support came for this woman who is such a hard worker and couldn’t be more deserving,” Grey said.
As her due date loomed, Montes became busier than ever. She was working nonstop, answering emails, taking calls between medical appointments and procedures. She knew she couldn’t afford to turn down any new business.
On Aug. 15, 2017, Montes gave birth to her son, Fabio. As she recuperated, her husband and crew handled the cleaning jobs. After just two weeks, she returned to work. Although she had no experience running a business and had to overcome a language barrier, Montes turned out to be a shrewd businesswoman.
A year later, Super Girl Housekeeping has a steady client base. Montes was even able to visit her home in Nicaragua for the first time in 10 years, where her parents could meet their two grandsons for the first time.
“There are so many bad things in the news, and I think not only is this a really uplifting story about community, but it’s certainly one of the coolest things I’ve ever been involved with,” Grey said. “I felt like a conduit for something bigger and something greater for this person who is really deserving of help.”
Montes notes that, a year out, she faces challenges as a business owner, a mother of two and a wife. But despite the troubles, she is able to provide more for her family than ever before.
“It is difficult, but I love my job and I love to help people,” Montes said. “I am very grateful for gifts I have been given.
