Ms. Troi Lynn Waln is of the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe located in South Dakota. It is the home of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate. Ms. Waln is the Founder and CEO of Zaniya Pro Clean LLC, a firm that provides commercial and residential cleaning services, and specializes in cleaning medical facilities, commercial properties, retail stores, and residential living quarters (ex. homeowners, renters, Airbnb, etc.). Initially, Zaniya Pro Clean LLC was named Tidy Team, however, Ms. Waln modified the name of her business to ensure she carried her Native American culture in all she does, especially in all aspects of her business. Founded in 2010, Zaniya Pro Clean was formed in the state of Arizona and offers services throughout Arizona and South Dakota. Ms. Waln is also actively working on securing contract opportunities in North Dakota and on the Navajo Nation for general cleaning services and COVID-19 cleaning.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Zaniya Pro Clean employed a diverse workforce of twenty (20) full-time staff. Like many businesses, Zaniya Pro Clean was affected by the pandemic. Faced with hardship and losing many of her clients, Ms. Waln had to layoff and furlough staff as she continued seeking more contracts and jobs for ongoing and continued work and revenue. Over the past three (3) months some of her former clients have reached out for deep cleaning services, as a few of them are starting to adapt to a level of new normalcy based on the pandemic. This has allowed Ms. Waln to bring back some of her staff. As of today, Ms. Waln employs a team of eleven (11) people who reside in Arizona and South Dakota. With her proven past performance, strong business acumen, and innate ability to lead her staff, Ms. Waln is now actively in the running for new and larger cleaning contract opportunities. Her goal is to purchase newer equipment, train, and employ more staff who live on and/or near reservations.
Ms. Waln is an exceptional businesswoman, natural leader, mother, and daughter, all of which have directly contributed to her success with overcoming adversity. The challenges in Ms. Waln’s life empowered her to become an entrepreneur operating her business with strong ethics and a foundation of client-community trust. She continuously gives back to her community while honoring her tribe and promoting strong family values. Ms. Waln is looked upon as a leader in her community and has truly made a difference in her native Indian Country through economic development efforts.
Born and raised in South Dakota, Ms. Waln worked evenings and weekends at a domestic violence shelter. She worked full-time for a drug and alcohol program. As part of the staff-onboarding process for the drug and alcohol program, she was required to attend a co-dependency treatment program for thirty (30) days. It was at that point she had a vision about her own life; essentially, she wanted better. She wanted better for herself and her children. The epiphany led Ms. Waln to making an immediate life-changing decision. Within days of her vision, she enlisted in the United States Air Force (1995-2007). To do this, she had to voluntarily give up custody of her children for some time while she went through basic training. She also attended a United States Air Force Technical school and earned her Air Force Specialty Code for Health Service Management. As a result of her skills and excellence, she was earned several honorable awards such as Airman of the Quarter, The Sharp Troop Award, and others, which led to her being assigned to work directly under the Wing Commander as assistant Non-Commissioned Officer (“NCO”) for the Wing Airman Leadership School. While in the military, Ms. Waln also served on the Honor Guard while deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Enduring Freedom. One of her duties was performing security and escort duties to members such as General Henry Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Prince of Saudi Arabia during their visits to the Base.
Ms. Waln used her military training and discipline to teach others who are also Native American and other minorities how to appropriately clean homes, medical facilities, retail shops, and more. Some major recent successes include Zaniya Pro Clean being awarded contracts with very high-profile clients, including the following:
- DaVita Dialysis Center
· Michael Kors Retail Stores
· Arizona Utilities Company (Electrical District #3)
· Maricopa Irrigation District
· Leon Maxx Retailer at Wildhorse Pass
· Residential & Airbnb Cleaning
Ms. Waln believes in empowering those who want to learn. She has taken this thought process to heart and has provided extensive training to her staff, which is a diverse blend of Native American’s from multiple tribes and Hispanic/Mexican individuals. Training a diverse workforce has made a significant contribution to the economy on and near reservations. To support this, the Native American staff employed by Ms. Waln were able to keep a portion of every dollar earned on the reservations. For instance, on reservations and in Indian Country, the purchase of fishing and hunting licenses, spending at the Rosebud Hotel & Casino (and other reservation specific hotels and casinos), restaurants, and gas stations, convenience/grocery stores, child care, and more.
Ms. Waln was initially introduced to us by way of our Native American Community Liaison, Mabel Tsosie of Spottedhorse Infosystems, a company that provides direct growth opportunities and assistance to Ms. Waln and her company Zaniya Pro Clean. Ms. Waln also provided a very emotional testimonial of how she got to where she is now, and some information was even shared during a live broadcast with Mr. Mark Kelly*, a 2020 candidate for United States Arizona Senator. Ms. Waln detailed how she made a split-second decision to join the United States Air Force and her decision to drive her and her children 1,300 miles from South Dakota to Arizona with less than $700 to her name based on “potential” opportunities. Ms. Waln also detailed hers and her children’s stay at a motel when they arrived in Arizona, and how she made the motel her temporary home. Ms. Waln kept her entrepreneur spirit alive by finding work and requesting work through Craigslist. Within months and by Christmas, she was able to save enough money to rent a home and purchase a car, all while growing her business exponentially.
*There were numerous businesses in the running to be part of a roundtable discussion with Mr. Kelly. Upon hearing Ms. Waln’s story, combined with the fact that she is a Service Disabled Veteran, Women Owned Small Business, Native American Women Owned Small Business, and true entrepreneur, she was asked to join the discussion (https://youtu.be/E865weWtM-I).
Ms. Waln also received multiple SUCCESS grants totaling approximately $2,000 from our AIANNH grant Operator, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber selected Ms. Waln based on her scope of work and her request to use the funds to immediately purchase additional equipment and bring on staff, enabling her to secure additional contracts with medical facilities. As a direct result of being awarded the grant funds, Ms. Waln was able to pay cash for her new equipment and retain staff. We have also made formal introductions to the offices of Senator Sinema and Senator McSally for additional support services with helping Ms. Waln obtain her Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (“SDVOSB”) certification.
