Ty Hookway is founder and president of CleanCraft, a commercial cleaning company based in Rochester, NY. CleanCraft was founded in 1995 and currently employs over 300 people. Throughout the years of growing and expanding Ty was, and continues to be, in awe of the numerous people he has worked with. He believes in the incredible talent and inherent good of CleanCraft’s employees. As a company CleanCraft strives to create life changing relationships by loving, coaching, mentoring and upholding best practices throughout the organization. The company’s guiding tenet is that there is infinite power, dignity and healing provided by work and that gainful employment adds impressive and positive benefits to the human experience. Ty and CleanCraft are pioneering social enterprise in Rochester with innovative hiring and employee development practices. In 2015, Ty felt a passionate desire to adjust the mission statement to better reflect his commitment to making a difference. The mission of CleanCraft is "to create quality of life and peace for all." Ty is certain that the mission statement and running a successful, profitable enterprise are not mutually exclusive. Ty, and CleanCraft, support a conscious capitalism model and continually strive for a win/win relationship with all stakeholders. Ty is a serial entrepreneur with successful ventures in consulting and other small business enterprises. He is a member of various boards and active within his church. Ty has a math degree from Holy Cross College. He grew up in Rochester and resides there with his wife Elizabeth and their children. He enjoys golf, reading and is an ardent lifelong learner.
[2:20] Ty's first entrepreneurial venture and how he found his way to commercial cleaning
[5:00] Re-articulating a higher purpose for CleanCraft in 2015 - "Quality of Life and Peace"
"It had to fit not just what sounds good for the company, but really at my soul level...It's so easy to live your life when the business is aligned with the personal...right to my lowest worker, any decision you have to make in the company, you can go to the mission and vision."
[9:30] Bringing the purpose into his leadership style and the daily practices of the business
[11:45] How purpose and culture have generated growth and value for the CleanCraft
[20:30] Open Hiring at Greyston Bakery - coming to Rochester through CleanCraft!
[28:30] Barriers to Conscious Capitalism - "Not a hand out, a hand up"
"Holding people accountable and being tough, hard-nosed, fair and consistent, is what the Open Hiring model does, and some CEOs think you can't do that and have this great loving culture, but I think it's the opposite. If they believe you have their best interests at heart, you can actually be tougher on them."
[32:00] How to create a culture where people are willing to admit mistakes and be open to giving and receiving feedback
Astro Teller TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/astro_teller_the_unexpected_benefit_of_celebrating_failure
[36:00] Ty's EVOLution as a Conscious Leader
"Truthfully, my failures have made me more and more conscious as a leader"
[39:00] Being honest and transparent during a crisis to reinforce conscious culture
[42:30] The future for CleanCraft and Open Hiring in Rochester
[46:00] The employee response to the conscious culture at CleanCraft
[49:00] Getting started on the conscious journey and staying consistent
Learn more about CleanCraft: http://cleancraftllc.com/
Learn more about Greyston Bakery and Open Hiring: https://greyston.org/open-hiring/