NEW YORK – Ingrid Murray is the driving power behind Prospect Cleansing Service Inc., a profitable business cleansing firm primarily based in New York. She took on the total management function in 2019 after her husband was recognized with most cancers, a pivotal second that showcased her outstanding energy and imaginative and prescient.
As a proud Jamaican-American entrepreneur, Ingrid’s journey exemplifies resilience, management, and a dedication to creating a significant affect.
Underneath her management, the corporate skilled super progress, increasing by over 789%, incomes a coveted spot on the Inc. 5000 checklist, and broadening its attain throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Even after the heartbreaking lack of her husband in 2024, Ingrid has continued to guide with unwavering grace, ardour, and function. Ingrid’s affect extends past enterprise success.
She can also be a serial entrepreneur and the founding father of Shantor’s Temper Candles & Issues, a wellness-centered model targeted on mindfulness and emotional therapeutic.
Moreover, she runs Elijah’s Oil, a philanthropic basis that helps communities within the U.S. and Jamaica by quarterly initiatives, starting from back-to-school drives to the cherished annual “Week of Kindness.”
Her journey from Jamaica to the US was marked by unimaginable tragedy when she fled after her daughter turned a sufferer of human trafficking. Out of that ache, Ingrid rebuilt her life with love, braveness, and an unwavering dedication to her group.
Now a mom of 5, a mentor, and a trailblazer in a male-dominated business, she conjures up others by each chapter of her story.
Ingrid’s accolades embrace:
- Inc. 5000 Honoree – Brooklyn Energy Girl Award
- Caribbean Influence Award – Greatest Girl-Owned Enterprise
- NYS Aggressive Edge
- Congressional Certificates (Rep. Yvette Clarke)
- Brooklyn Borough Proclamation (COVID-19 Hero)
Q&A with Ingrid Murray
Profound private challenges have marked Ingrid’s journey from Jamaica to the U.S. But, you might have reworked ache into function.
Q: How has your story influenced the way you lead and serve your corporation and group?
A: I have to say it has been difficult, to say the least. This enterprise was the brainchild of my late husband. I took it over after his first bout with most cancers. Now that he’s not right here, I’ve struggled drastically to get again into it.
I felt overwhelmed with the duty of maintaining every thing because it was, but I had this sense of betrayal by the enterprise. I took a couple of months off to rediscover my why, as he was the unique.
I noticed that he had been getting ready me for this particular time for some time. I reconnected with my workers and engaged in lengthy conversations with my present purchasers, and got here up with a brand new solution to reconnect my ardour to serve them.
As for my group, my household and I’ve determined to develop a scholarship for younger Black males inside our group for abilities coaching, which we need to launch this fall.
Q: Underneath your management, Prospect Cleansing Service skilled extraordinary progress—over 789%—even whereas dealing with private hardships. What mindset or methods have helped you navigate this demanding chapter whereas scaling the enterprise?
A: All I can say is that I’ve spent most of my time praying, asking God for steering and permitting myself to belief the method. I’ve reconnected with my imaginative and prescient, and this has allowed me to reconnect with my enterprise, leading to new methods to scale and proceed progress.
You’ve launched a number of ventures, from business cleansing to candle making and philanthropy. What fuels your ardour for entrepreneurship, significantly as a Caribbean-American lady in male-dominated industries?
As a baby rising up, I used to be all the time made to really feel that I’d by no means quantity to something in life. I by no means had individuals who believed in my capabilities. It was very onerous for me. I turned a mom at 19, and by the point I used to be 23, I had three kids and failed relationships. I used to be a single mom, and defending and offering for my kids turned my driving power. I needed to be self-sufficient, and creating earnings was my accountability.
After immigrating to the States, I skilled tradition shock. Nevertheless, I noticed that I had the chance to develop into something I set my thoughts to. I discovered love in probably the most sudden means, and the chance to develop into a enterprise proprietor fell into my lap. I took my alternative and made the most effective of it.
Subsequently, with my husband by my facet and his perception in me, my ardour to win was propelled.
How can we higher help women- and minority-owned companies all year long?
A: As a lady, I’ve had the chance to sit down on the desk with ladies of various races and cultural backgrounds. Nevertheless, one fixed stays: the dearth of help. Ladies, it appears, are all the time made to compete, whether or not for consideration or equality.
The second the goalpost comes nearer, the system manages to impose some technicality to maneuver it a bit additional. The necessities are all the time completely different for males due to their ego-imposed rule about the place our abilities, abilities, and talents must be allotted with out our enter.
To get forward, we should first shed the mindset that we’re enemies. We should always concentrate on our commonalities. Particularly, understanding we aren’t the identical. We could give you related concepts, however we by no means envision the identical design; we have to leverage our uniqueness and individuality to our benefit. This may generate our distinctive clients and purchasers. We are able to all survive; it could by no means be equal, however all of us get to reap the rewards in a healthful means.
Q:By means of Elijah’s Oil and your varied initiatives, you might have been a strong power for giving again, from New York to Jamaica. How do you steadiness enterprise with social affect, and what’s subsequent in your mission to uplift others?
A: I noticed from an early age that I had the power to make an affect. Being sort doesn’t require any effort when you have no expectation of being repaid. Giving requires love, and I’ve been blessed with the innate potential to like unconditionally. This enables me to offer freely however with knowledge.
My enterprise creates the means by which I can generate the funds to help my varied initiatives. So long as my enterprise continues to run, I’ll all the time be capable to keep dedicated to my calling of being impactful and making a distinction.
My late husband was uneducated however believed within the energy of an informed thoughts. This was our best commonality. I used to be in a position to develop into educated by his help, which resulted in my astute enterprise savviness.
I’ve determined that one of the best ways to honor his legacy is to create a scholarship fund. This fund will assist college students be taught new abilities or proceed their schooling beginning this fall.
For extra details about Ingrid and the Prospect Cleansing Service, Inc., go to https://therealingridmurray.com https://prospectcleaningnyc.com.
