In this episode of Jump 180 you will hear from someone who went from politics, to retail sales management, to owning his own cleaning company franchise.  You will hear how being a "generalist" can be beneficial as a leader and learn the importance of developing your creative side to help drive innovation and change.

John Hanson is the owner of a The Maids franchise in Kansas City. He is married to Deanna and has four children: Ashlyn (19), Joshua (16), Caleb (15), and Jonathan (13). He is an active member of Faith Community Church.

Prior to co-founding the Maids of Kansas City with his parents in 2003, John Hanson was a Regional Sales Manager for Western Wireless, a precursor to T-Mobile.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Park University with degrees in Finance and Accounting. The Maids of Kansas City grew rapidly from the outset and achieved one million dollars in revenue in its third year. It is currently one of the largest single location residential cleaning companies in the country.

John’s focus in building the business over the past 17 years has been creating a culture of empowerment that allows members of the organization to grow and develop their leadership potential. He has brought together a richly diverse group of men and women who speak four languages, are from four continents and over a dozen countries. Nothing brings him greater joy than seeing his people overcome the unique challenges of a business where hourly employees work together on small four-person teams working independently spread throughout the city.

In 2016 John retired from day to day operations at The Maids to focus using his experience to support the entrepreneurial community both in Kansas City and internationally.