Kristen Hadeed

Kristen Hadeed

Founder and CEO of Student Maid  |  Author  |  Entrepreneur
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About Kristen

“Kristen Hadeed is the founder of Student Maid, a successful cleaning company that has em- ployed thousands of students over the last decade and that is known for building the next generation of ...”

Kristen Hadeed is the founder of Student Maid, a successful cleaning company that has em- ployed thousands of students over the last decade and that is known for building the
next generation of leaders.

When Kristen started her journey, she had no idea what she was in for: The average turnover rate in the cleaning industry is 75%, and profit margins hover around just 15%. But even with the odds stacked against her, she built a company that blew the industry benchmarks out of the water. Her people love coming to work, they stick around for years, and some have even turned down dream jobs to join the executive team and build careers at Student Maid.

Kristen believes Student Maid’s success boils down to one thing and one thing only:
creating a place with humanity at its core. A place where people feel accepted for who they are, where they are encouraged to fail and embrace their imperfections, and where they are empowered to reach their potential. Now she spends most of her time helping leaders and organizations around the world create similar environments for their people.

In 2017, she published her first book, Permission To Screw Up, in which she offers an unapologetic account of her biggest mistakes in leadership. She hopes that her vulnerability will give others the courage to open up about their own “perfectly imperfect” moments and proudly embrace them as the tremendous learning opportunities they are.

Kristen and Student Maid have been featured in news outlets including PBS, FOX, Inc., NBC, TIME, and Forbes. Her first TED Talk has more than three million views on YouTube.

Kristen's books

Permission to Screw Up: How I Learned to Lead by Doing (Almost) Everything Wrong

Permission to Screw Up: How I Learned to Lead by Doing (Almost) Everything Wrong

The inspiring, unlikely, laugh-out-loud story of how one woman learned to lead–and how she ultimately succeeded, not despite her many mistakes, but because of them.

This is the story of how Kristen Hadeed built Student Maid, a cleaning company where people are happy, loyal, productive, and empowered, even while they’re mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. It’s the story of how she went from being an almost comically inept leader to a sought-after CEO who teaches others how to lead.