The Union, May 21, 2017
Donning a holster with cleaning supplies and a squeegee perfectly poised
in his hand, Nathan Rhoades assesses the large window in front of him
and deems it a candidate for the "butterfly technique."
"The goal is to clean the entire expanse of glass in one swipe," he said. "It's a method I learned from my dad."
With
precision and grace, Nathan carefully executes large figure-eight-like
motions, followed by a quick flick of the wrist at the bottom so as not
to leave any streaks or water stains. Spotless. Perfect. Impeccable.
Anyone
who questions whether window washing is an art should spend a morning
with Nathan, who is a third generation window washer. In the 1960s, his
grandparents started a carpet and house cleaning business in Southern
California. Nathan's father, Ron, was trained by his own father in the
window washing arm of the business, before moving his family to Nevada
County in the id-70s.
Today, Ron's business, "Rhoades Family
Janitorial" has been cleaning offices in Grass Valley and Nevada City
for more than 30 years. At the age of 14, young Nathan began working
with his father to learn window washing, with the goal of opening his
own business upon graduation.
In 2012, at the age of 18, Nathan graduated from Forest Charter School and launched his own business, "Rhoades Window Cleaning."
Despite
the success of his one-man business, Nathan says he's not interested in
adding more employees. Instead he'd rather "keep it small and keep life
simpler."
More than the reward of a job well done, Nathan, a
Jehovah's Witness, says he has used the money he's earned to take two
missionary trips abroad — one to Nicaragua and another to Bali,
Indonesia. More trips are in the works, he said.
While Nathan is currently taking classes at Sierra College, he says he's happy with the rewards of a small business.
