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Jessenia Mendez never gave up.
The founder and CEO of Jessie's Clean Sweep Inc., a Baldwin-based full-service janitorial services company, is able to look back and appreciate all her accomplishments, which include dedicated motherhood, growing a company that now boasts seven-figure revenues and even having some time left over to fulfill her civic duty by volunteering with her local fire department.
But you can understand why, at times, it looked like life would get the better of her. Mendez, 35, was raised in a rough-and-tumble Brooklyn neighborhood. At age 16, she gave birth to her oldest child and left school to support him through various odd jobs.
Among them was house cleaning, a service she performed for a few friends and family members - and after more of those opportunities started piling up, Mendez realized she might be onto something.
With her natural entrepreneurial instincts firing, she approached one of New York State's Small Business Development Centers seeking advice. She got something even better: an...