The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex - How A Single Mom Built Multiple Empires And Changed Her Life Forever Tasha Antell

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

From sleeping behind a McDonald’s at 16 to being featured on the cover of Forbes Canada, Tasha Antell (@iamtashaantell) is living proof that your past does not define your future. In this episode of The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex, Tasha opens up about her incredible journey — escaping an abusive childhood, becoming a single mother of three, and transforming pain into power. Starting with one cleaning job that earned her $300, she went on to build multiple thriving companies across industries — including janitorial services, IT, marketing, biomedical, and chemical manufacturing. You’ll learn: 🚀 How Tasha built systems and processes to scale six businesses at once 💡 The mindset shift that turned her struggles into success 🔥 Why “work-life balance” is a myth — and what harmony looks like instead 👑 How to lead, delegate, and create an empire built on purpose, not pressure Her story is raw, inspiring, and unforgettable — a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and faith. If you’ve ever felt like the odds were stacked against you, this episode will remind you that you’re one decision away from changing your entire life. Your Network is your NETWORTH! Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024 Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGhDAD1JyGGzSQUPD9lc9HQ LinkedIn: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024 Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur? Check out: www.CashSwipe.com FREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold – The New American Dream”:www.officialPaulAlex.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My stepfather was very physically abusive. My mother was an addict. She would go away for a day or two at a time. And one time she just didn't come back. Our power went off. And then the water went off. When we were evicted from our home, I was 16. I slept in the dumpster.

And then I would get up to school. I'd go shower at school and pretend like everything was okay. I had to. I had no other option. What I went through as a kid would have broke a lot of people. I have an IT company. I am not good at IT. I created a business and I hired someone to run it.

I have a marketing company. biomedical company and then a chemical company. Just yesterday, Forbes Canada came out. We're on the cover of that. It's such a huge honor. I look at the girl I used to be looking at her. There is nothing stopping you from achieving everything you ever wanted. The only person that is stopping you is you.

Hey guys and welcome back to Lovell podcast. This is Paul Alex. And today we have another phenomenal guest goes by the name of Tasha. Tasha is actually going to be speaking at our Swipe to Freedom event in Dallas. And she has a phenomenal story of taking diversity, critical. incidents and when life hits you, it hits you hard, guys. So she's going to show you how she was able to transition from all these critical incidents and turn into success. Now going ahead and building multiple businesses, being able to exit from three businesses, have five beautiful

children, and show you how you guys can do this as well in 2025. Tasha, welcome to the show. Thank you, Paul. It's great to be here. No, absolutely. So Tasha, tell us exactly who you are. Oh, gosh, where do we start? Uh, so, um, so, um, I am a serial entrepreneur. I am a business strategist. And I am someone who loves growth. I seek it all the time. Most importantly, I am a wife and a mother.

And, yeah, just I am ready to build an empire. No, I love that. So when you say to people currently right now and running six businesses, I'm exiting three, I'm a mother of five beautiful children, are married. What do people say to you? How on earth do you do it all? Yeah, because I think that's everybody's question right now.

They're right like, how does she do this? And I can't even handle one job. So break it down. How can you handle all this? Well, it really breaks down to how are your systems and how are your processes. If you have a solid enough system, then the processes take care of everything.

You create this system that is operating on its own. I really think of a business. like a body, the whole is the system. The processes are each individual organ is your, Michael would love this. If your heart is working properly, then that attributes to other things in your body, that attributes to your energy and everything else. And so having those solid systems in place create a very operational business. And so for me to operate that many businesses, it's really come down to having solid systems and processes. Wow. That's a very, amazing. And what would you see is your core business right now? It would definitely be the janitorial

business. So we do commercial and residential cleaning, a lot of post-construction cleaning. I love that. And how did you get into that? So it started as a means to take care of my family. So I was presented with a situation where I found myself getting ready to become a single mom. and with three amazing boys looking to me for guidance and to take care of them. I went on lots of job interviews. I hadn't finished my degree yet. And so I was going into the workforce with 12 years as a stay-at-home mom and no college degree. Wow.

So at this point in your life, Tasha, you were a stay-at-home mom, 12 years, three beautiful children. You were about to become a single mother. And what was your thought process at that time? I don't know. When life puts me against the wall, I just show up swinging. So while I didn't know how I was going to make it work, I knew I was going to make it work. Life has taught me over and over that I will show up for myself. And I can't count on anybody else to do it and do the work for me. So I've always had to show up authentically. And even if I don't know the next step, I still take it. Yeah. And so I've learned to love that part of entrepreneurship and motherhood and all the things, not knowing the next step, but being willing to take it anyways because you figure it out. Yeah.

No, absolutely. So at that time, you're looking at different ideas. Was it a mentor? Did you have a mentor at the time? Did you have a friend? Did you have a family member that told you about janitorial cleaning? No. honestly it was my ex-sister-in-law who was moving and she said hey do you know somebody that can clean my house

yeah and I was like well I'll do it and she was like no no I can't have you do it I was like no seriously I'll do it right I made $300 in three hours wow now going on all these job interviews where I was getting the job but it was for $17 an hour all of a sudden I saw an opportunity yeah and it took um I wouldn't even say humility because I was willing to do what was necessary to take care of my kids. Right. So I went and cleaned that house three hours, made $300, fed my kids for the week. And then the next day I went on Facebook and saw somebody asking for a good house

cleaner. And so I went after that and got that job, made another $300. And I came home and was like, that's it. This is what I'm doing. And so I started all of Cleaning Co. And when I was trying to come up with the name, for me, faith is very important. And so I thought of Noah. And when he sent off the dove, the dove brought back an olive branch.

And it was a sign of hope and a new life. And so I was like, this is my hope. This is my new life. And one job turned into two jobs, turned into 20 jobs, turned into I couldn't do it on my own, working 14 hours a day. So I hired another person. And now we have 25 people and we run 400 jobs a week. At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health.

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I love that. So basically all the pieces were coming together as you, you were going forth and taking a perfect action. So at that time, when you made the first $300, I mean, that's $100, you send three hours, so $100 an hour, which is phenomenal, right? I remember back being a PD, I was making about $38 an hour, time and a half on overtime. That was probably around 70 bucks. So you were killing it.

Yeah. Sure, sure, sure. So you go ahead and you build this phenomenal company. Where did you learn how to actually structure? of the company. How did you learn how to go ahead and do delegation to even hire people? Because I think hiring people is the hardest thing. Oh, gosh. It really is. I'll say that I didn't have a mentor. I figured it out as I went. And I made a lot of mistakes and I've learned a lot. And it's one of the reasons why I decided to become a coach for other people is the money that you pay for a coach

will save you so much time, so much money and so much headache, learning how to create. Learning how to create the systems and the processes and how to hire the right people. Yeah. I think one of the most expensive lessons in business that I learned was wrong person, wrong seat and hire slow and fire quick. Yeah. I had to change my mindset because I used to think of all my employees as family because I do. I love them.

I want them to succeed. And what a blessing it is for me to give jobs to people who were in my position. Yeah. But I've also learned that they will show you. who they are. And no matter how much potentially you see in them, unless they see it in themselves, there's nothing I can do. And so we give them opportunities. Yep. And it's up to them to make something of it. Yeah. And that's life, right? So, but I, I've had to learn how to properly hire people, too. And I'd say we have it pretty down, down pretty well because we have some

amazing staff members. Yeah, no, absolutely. So now you transitioned from building the business. And you're still doing the business, but now you're transitioning more into coaching people. So now are you coaching people on showing how to go ahead and start janitorial services or cleaning companies or are you just showing them more on entrepreneurship or leadership or what exactly are you coaching them on? It's definitely how to run a business. Business, whether you're doing janitorial or you're doing painting, it doesn't matter. Business is the same.

Yes. The industry may be a little different, but the customers are the same. And the systems and the processes that you have to have are the same. So I really coach people on one, getting out of their own way. Yeah. Because how often as entrepreneurs do we, we limit our self and our growth sometimes because we don't even know. Yeah. And I want to save people the time and effort and money that I spent figuring it out for myself,

being here as a mentor for someone else. Oh, absolutely. What would you say is a great story that you have. have of you helping somebody and then them being able to achieve either starting a business or something positive in their life. Yeah. Well, I hope he doesn't mind me sharing because he's in the room. But I had this wonderful friend who I was watching and he does such phenomenal work.

Yeah. And he is an amazing videographer. And he takes the most beautiful photos. But he was undercharging. undervaluing himself. I love that. Because he was living in a bit of a scarcity mindset. Yeah.

And I just showed him, you are worth so much more. And so we talked about what he was struggling with in business. And all I did was flip the switch of look how easy it can be if you get out of your own way. So first thing we did was we went to his processes and how he got clients and even what he was charging clients. and we just set solid prices because boundaries are wonderful and important in business. And he made those changes. He went to his current clients that he was scared of losing. And I said, you are so valuable.

They're going to see that. And if they don't, they're not your clients. So it's okay. It makes room for clients that see your value. And he did that. And he told me last month that he actually not only made the goal that we set for him monetarily wise, but he surpassed it by quite a few thousand dollars. I love that.

I love that. I think that's one of the best feelings is being able to help people achieve their goal that they didn't believe they could achieve themselves. And a lot of it is just because we get in our own way. Yeah. Right? Do you agree with that? Yeah.

Yeah. So let me ask you, like, what's your background? How were you, you know, as a kid, as a teenager? Because I'm a true believer that our environment shapes us for the future, right? And depending on whether our parents, parents were mentoring us, whether our parents were a negative impact on us. I mean, it really shapes who we are. Yeah.

Right. And I know with a lot of entrepreneurship, it could go both ways. It could go either, you know, your parents believed in you. They told you, hey, you could do anything you want. And yeah, they'll become ultra successful, right? But then you also have the entrepreneurs that take pain from negative environments, just probably having no support and then be able to twist that around and use it as power and fuel, right? Yeah.

So what about your background? Well, I believe that no matter what you've been through, I believe no matter what you're going through, you can use it as an excuse to fail or a reason to succeed. And so I want everyone watching to know that you are capable no matter where you've been or what you're going through. For me, I had a very difficult childhood. My stepfather was very, very physically abusive. Wrent cigarettes out on me, things like that. My mother was an addict. And she would go away for a day or two at a time.

And then one time she just didn't come back. And so I'm sitting there. I've got a younger sister. She was 10 years old at the time, turning 11. and our power went off. And so we'd sit by the candlelight and we'd have dinner. And I'd say we were having a romantic dinner. And then the water went off.

And we'd run through the sprinklers and, you know, lather up. And I'd say, let's see who can jump the highest. And I was always trying to help her see the good in all the situations. Right. I'm thankful for that because of her. I had to. I had no other option. And when we were evicted from our home,

I took her to live with a friend and I bounced around a couple homes I was able to get a job one job turned into three jobs in high school and how old were you? I was 16. 16? Yeah.

And when my friend's parents started asking questions I decided to start living behind my job at McDonald's. I slept in the dumpster. Wow. Like the little enclosure area. And then I would get up to school. I'd go shower at school

and pretend like everything was okay. And unfortunately, that survival mechanism translated into my marriage and everything where it wasn't going super great. And I would pretend everything was okay. And I've learned that attitude is everything. What I went through as a kid would have broke a lot of people. Oh, yeah, for sure. A lot of people would have been asking for help. They would have been like, hey, like, you know, who can adopt me?

you know, especially at 16, and you were able to overcome that. And I think that's very powerful. Is it because you had good friends around you? Do you think you had a mentor back then? Now that you reflect on this, you know, as an adult, because I do a lot of reflection. You know, I'm like, well, why is it that in my 30s,

I went ahead and I was like, boop, the lights turned on of age of 30, it was just like, all right, we're going to get this done. Yeah. Right? And then every year, just progression, progression, progression, progression. But then in my teenage years to 20s, I was, oh, I'm just living. Right?

So what would you say for yourself? Did you have a mentor back then? Did you have a close friend that was just like, you could do it, Tasha? I wish I did. I didn't keep anybody close enough. But I will say, as not good of a mother that I had, she was my role model. She was my role model of what I did not want to be. Oh, that's powerful.

Oh, yeah. I took everything she taught me and I flipped it. Yeah. And I saw where her life was. And I'm so grateful for having that perspective because I truly, it could have gone very different for me. It did for my sister. Yeah. But she showed me the kind of mother that I want to be.

And I'm a fantastic mother. I love my children. And I'm so grateful that they'll never understand the struggles that I went through. Yeah. And that they're not going to be given obstacles. they're going to be given opportunities. I love that. Yeah.

That's so good. That's so good. So Tasha, let me ask you, how is it balancing being a mother and also an entrepreneur? It's not easy. Most people go, I'm busy, right? But they don't have kids yet or, you know, they do have kids. And then that's, they use that as an excuse to not start a business. So let's talk about that a little bit.

How is it right now juggling six businesses, exiting three businesses, and having a total of five kids. Yeah. You know what? There are moments where it's a little crazy. We've got football games and we've got volleyball games and we've got things pulling us in multiple different directions. But what I would say has helped us the most is we establish understanding. I do not believe in work-life balance.

I don't think it's possible. And I think if you strive for that, you'll fail. I think there can be work-life harmony, though. And so every Sunday, we sit down as a family and we have our family meeting. And we discuss what our week looks like. Right. And so if mom has to work late on Tuesday, I let them know, hey, guys, Tuesday is going to be a busy day for me. And so I'm going to need you guys to step up and help with dinner and help with cleaning.

Can you do that? They're always like, yeah, mom, no problem. And then I ask them the same thing, because this is a two-way street. And as a successful family, I need to know what my son's goals are. And I'll ask him, hey, what do you have going on this week? Do you have a test? Do you have any goals for this week that I can help support you in? And like Tyler, my middle son, he said, Mama got a football game on Wednesday and I need some protein.

And so as silly as it was, you know, such a small ask, it was important to him. Yes. And so I made sure to get him protein powder and some good healthy protein bars and make sure that he had what he needed to be successful in what he was doing. Right. So that has been monumental in creating this harmony in the home. Now, I'm not perfect. I still mess up. There was a wonderful gentleman by the name of Carlos Reyes.

And he asked, you know, do you take calls in the home? And I was like, yeah, of course I do. I get calls all the time. You ask anybody who knows me, my phone goes off. I will probably have 75 missed calls by the time I get out of here. But he said, and I love this and love to share his thoughts on it. that when you walk in the door, put your phone down. Show up for your kids in the ways that you can control.

Business is going to be busy. And sometimes we're going to have busy nights and whatnot. But there are still very solid foundational rules that you can create that show your children that they are more important than these businesses. Because at the end of the day, I can fail in business, but I will not fail at being a mom. And I will not fail at being a wife. That's very important to me. And I'm still learning.

So this thing that Carlos mentioned was something new that I've done. implemented and it's been great. It shows them that they're the most important thing to me, no matter what else I have going on when I walk in the door. So. Yeah, no, it's great perspective. You know, me, I'm going to be a new dad with my first son coming in here in the next two and a half months. So I already have in my mind the structure that I'm going to have in my household. But it, but it comes down with just being more of a visionary, a founder, just like yourself, you know, whether you're a hybrid model. That's a good question. Are you more of a visionary or are you more of an implementer?

Definitely a visionary. Yeah. I'm okay with what I'm good at. Yeah. And I'm okay with what I'm not good at. I love people that are what I'm not good at. That's so good, Tasha, because a lot of people don't get that. No, and you're only going to grow in large as your team is.

Exactly. So if you want to be big and you want to do big things, find the things that you're not good at. I call it a time inventory. So you look at your day and figure out just inventory for a week. What are you doing throughout the day? And then see what you can offset to someone else. And that frees up your time to do the things that you're good at and the things that will help scale and build your company.

No, absolutely. So, Tasha, on this portion of the interview, I should want to do a quick little master class because a lot of our viewers, they're either aspiring entrepreneurs, a lot of 9-25ers, a lot of first responders as well. And they're always looking for different business concepts. Okay?

So the fact that you were able to start a pretty good size janitorial service company, let's say if somebody, if you were to go back and mentor or Tasha. Okay. Okay. Tasha in the very humble beginnings when she first started in an aha moment of like, hey, I can actually run a business out of this, right? What would be the first initial five steps you would tell beginner Tasha in janitorial service is like, okay, this is exactly what you need to.

do to start generating cash flow and establish a business. Yeah. So first thing, set up your business properly. Holding companies are beautiful and wonderful things that will protect you and future businesses that you have. So that would be the first thing. Structure properly. We cannot build a skyscraper of a business on a foundation that's built for a teeny tiny

house. Yes. So foundation important. Two, I would say focus on your marketing. Leads are important. They are. Very. If you're not focused on your marketing and how you're bringing in leads, and it can be organic at first. But make sure that's a big focus. So focus on leads.

Three, find a mentor. Find a mentor that can help you through the difficult moments, somebody that can guide you when you run into a wall because you're going to run into a wall all the time. Business is the cha-cha. Sometimes it is one step forward and two steps back and vice versa. I love that. So definitely find a mentor. I would say four, learn to love the dance. There are some days I want to burn the business down. And that's okay.

And that does not mean that you are a failure. It just means that you are doing big enough things that bad things are happening or hard things are happening. So love the dance, love the game of it. And my fifth thing, I think, would be find ways to integrate spoke businesses into your business. So if you think of a wheel, you've got a hub, which is your main focus of your business. But you can create spoke opportunities that like cash swipe, having merchant services where you bring in money that you're not having to pay someone else, that is a spoke opportunity where you're not leaving money on the table. And it's also there so that when business dips, because it does, you have something else to hold you through. And so those would be the top five things that I would say are very, very important in starting on new business.

I love that. That's great beginner tips, guys. Make sure to take notes on this, replay this portion of it because it's very simple steps that anyone can execute. I think it's a, I think these are gems. I love it. Thank you. So let's go into spoke businesses. Yeah.

Okay? Because you do have six businesses are besides your janitorial service business or the remaining businesses, would you say? spoke businesses. I think they all help my, well, most of them help my current business, yes. Okay. And would you mind sharing what they are? Yeah, no problem. So I have an IT company. It's all of IT solutions. And obviously, I am not good at IT. My husband will tell you that all day long. And that's okay. So I created a business and I hired someone to run it. Yes. So that opportunities that we have inside the business don't have to leave the business. Got it. They can be you know, sent inside. And then we've got other clients coming to us because we do a lot of

amazing things. And I have a marketing company. So I have a lot of friends that are always like, who are you using? What are you doing? And I was like, well, okay, I can't keep sending that outside. We need to bring that in-house. Yes. So that would be another spoke business. But I own a biomedical company as well. That is not a spoke business. That is a different industry. That is me creating more wealth in different industries. So spreading my eggs, if you will. Yes. And I'm trying to think what the other one is.

So we have the biomedical company, and then I have a chemical company. And have you ever heard of hypochloric acid? Yes. Okay. So we are the only product on the market that is certified organic and the shelf life on it is one to three years.

That's very big. And the reason why, the only reason why I even know about this, guys, you guys are listening. So I used to work for a major corporation called EcoLab. Okay. EcoLab, that's all they did was cleaning chemicals. So I got that job when I was from 21 to 26, went up through the ranks, and I was a soap guy. Literally, I was a high-clorified soap guy, right? They paid me a lot of money to close a lot of deals for that.

So as soon as you said, I was like, yep. But the fact that you guys were able to do an organic version, that's really big. especially for the future. A lot of people look for organic. They want less harmful chemicals. And if you're able to give the shelf life for that long, that's good on you guys. Thank you. Yeah, the chemist that we have, he created an amazing product.

And I really want to get into products where they're not big on the market yet. I want to be first. I want to pave the way. So I'm very excited about that. We have some wonderful things coming up with those. I love that, Tasha. I mean, you're a gem. So I know you got on some publications.

What were the publications you got on? Well, just yesterday, Forbes Canada came out. Congratulations. Thank you. We were on the cover of that. That is such a huge honor. It's amazing because when I look at that, I look at the girl I used to be looking at her. And I'm like, that's right.

Oh, yeah. And that's just the tip of it. I am building a massive empire. So I'm really excited. I tell my coaching clients that you should always always. always look at yourself on the top of stairs. And you should always be going after that person. And hopefully you get to that person. And then you create a new person. You're never going to achieve your full potential. And at least I don't ever want to. I want to keep growing and

striving to become more than I thought I was. We increase our limiting beliefs to allow us to become these new people and get out of our own way. But then we reevaluate that and say, okay, and now what way can I grow? Right. What am I supposed to do now? And the more you do that, the bigger impact you can make. Right. I want to build an empire, not just because I want to, you know, take care of my family and retire

my husband, but the more that I do, the bigger impact I can make on people. Absolutely. And my mission in life, what I have decided and I learned over and over is to inspire people to know that there is nothing stop. you from achieving everything you ever wanted. And the only person that is stopping you is you. Yeah. That's you versus you.

That's right. I always say that. Yeah. You know, that's good, Tasha. So what would you say, okay, for anybody that's watching this right now, they're probably in a bad situation or let's say like they've been stuck on just starting, starting a business, starting an idea, maybe jumping into a new venture, just like how you're able to jump into these different industries.

What would be some words of encouragement from you that you could tell our audience to level up? Well, I would say if you have imposter syndrome, learn to love it. You don't have to be or know all the steps in front of you to become the person you want to be. You don't have to know perfectly how to run a business to start one. The only thing you have to do is start. So start, figure it out along the way. hire amazing people, learn, hire coaches that can help guide you. There is nothing stopping you from becoming the best version of yourself.

And there's nothing stopping you from becoming an amazing business owner who can do it. I didn't know anything. Honestly, I dropped out of high school. I got my GED when I had my first son because I didn't want to give him a reason why he shouldn't succeed. I have an 11th grade education. I went on to graduate from school. I became the Valada Victorian. But you don't need all that to start.

And I just think people don't start because they don't know what the next step is. Get excited about not knowing the next step. The imposter syndrome is something I chase all the time. Because if I am not striving to do something that I don't know how to do, I am not growing. Yeah. No. I love it. Love the imposter syndrome.

It's the journey. I always say I was the happiest and entrepreneur. in the very beginning of all of this. And then as you go, I'm not a macro manager. Yeah. I'm not an operator. No, I'm a visionary guy. So that's why, just like yourself, I always jump from different concept, different ideas, the spoke system.

Yeah. Yes. I love the way you say that. But Tasha, where can my audience find you? They can find me on Instagram at I am Tasha Antel. They can find me on Facebook under Tasha Antel. and thanks to my videographer, they can now find me on TikTok. Love it.

I think it's I am Tasha Antel. So, but they are also welcome to reach out to me. My website is Tashaantel.com. They can fill out a form. I am happy to give all of your listeners a 30-minute consult. Love it. I talk to and find out what they got going on. I appreciate that.

Now, that's great, guys. Guys, make sure to follow Tasha on all social media platforms. Make sure to follow her on her website. And then Tasha, you're also coming out with a book pretty soon? Or it's in the works. It's in the works. It's in the works. It's pretty amazing. Yeah.

I think that when you go through something hard, it's important that you share your journey. Because compliments and hard times, once you figured them out, they're not meant to be kept. They're meant to be shared. No, absolutely. And stories change people lives. You know, you inspire them and you're able to show that you're human, right? So I love that. Guys, and there you have it.

Make sure to leave a five-star review on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and on YouTube. Thank you. We are currently ranked number one in all categories and number one in business currently because of you guys. All right? We're trying to make it to $5 million downloads. That being said, my name is Paul Alex. This is the level up. We'll catch you on the next one.