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Community Heroes: Tamayo finds balance between success and satisfied employees

Community Heroes: Tamayo finds balance between success and satisfied employees

Yahoo14-05-2025
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Jenna Tamayo is celebrating after her business, Appalachian Maid Services, was recognized as the Small Business Administration's Best in State Woman-Owned Small Business.
It's not just her success, but how she works with her employees that makes her stand out.
'It was just supposed to be a career stop until I could figure out what I was going to do,' Tamayo said.
But she figured out that she had a recipe for success when her business grew quickly and solidly.
'We have grown so much, I think because of the culture that we really try to instill,' she said. 'We try to keep our family culture as much as possible. Our average tech has been here about two and a half years.'
Tamayo also cares about the community. She started the 'AMS Cares' program that sponsors non-profit organizations.
'So I diverted the advertising over to our nonprofits, and they each get a $1,000 check. They get sponsored on our Facebook, our social media, every month there's a new one. So that way, they each have their turn. We also put their logos on the backs of our shirt. So as we're cleaning through our homes and we're traveling throughout the city, we see the look that our clients can see the logos on their backs, and then they know who they're supporting, helping to support in the community.'
'And that's something that I think it's just exponential, the amount of goodwill that we've gotten back just by doing that, and hopefully other small businesses will be like, 'Yeah, you know, maybe we can diversify, our advertising doesn't always have to be with the big businesses. It can be within our community.''
Officer Manager Barbara Hendren said she has felt the impact of Tamayo's philosophy.
'I have never had an employer care so much about me and my family,' she told News Channel 11.
It's a successful business model that keeps employees happy in their positions. A philosophy that benefits people, not just the bottom line.
'We try to take care of our people as much as we can. So I think providing these really good, stable jobs in the community, that would be amazing if we could do that.'
And Tamayo said stability is only possible through comfort in one's job.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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