I want to share a moment with you to celebrate a Dallas Maids team member. Esther Kim was with us from the beginning. She brought life, ingenuity, grit, and laughter to our business during our first years. Esther succeeded in her role, both as an office manager, substitute cleaning aid, and overall teammate. She moved on to work elsewhere some time ago but her ethic, life, and creativity had seeped into our DNA.
I learned recently that Esther passed away after a battle with liver and kidney disease. I was heartbroken when I found out precisely because I was reaching out just to catch up and relive some of our shared memories. I’ve said all along that top talent makes us a premiere business. Esther was a part of that in the early days. More than just a co-worker, she was our friend. She worked early mornings and late nights to help us grow. She made us laugh. She sat with us in moments of anxiety. She innovated with us. She taught me to be a better boss. She was nothing less than marvelous and I want to share a bit more of her story on our website so that she can live on with us in some small way.
Excellent from the Start
Esther was one of the first potential office managers I ever interviewed to work as the founding team of Dallas Maids. She interviewed well, sharing her experience and charm along the way. One story though, I thought was too good to be true.
Esther was an Olympic Taekwon-Do athlete. I remember rolling my eyes mentally when she shared the story. “Okay” I thought. “She’s nuts.” But after the interview I looked her up and was shocked to learn the truth.
In 2000, Esther found herself at the Olympic trials for women’s Taekwondo. Through a series of events, her teammate and opponent, Kay Poe, was injured before their final matchup. Esther could have easily won the match as Kay had dislocated her left kneecap in the prior match. Faced with a free pass to the Olympics, Esther forfeited the match.
Her hard work and determination had led her to the dream of her lifetime. Her opponent was ranked as the top female Taekwondo athlete in the world. Seeing the pain in Kay’s face as they prepared to face off, Esther decided to forfeit the match. She could have won easily as her opponent couldn’t stand up, much less fight.
Esther graciously conceded, allowing Kay Poe to win the forfeited match and take center stage at the Olympics in 2000. Four years later Esther would compete in the trials again but was unable to make the team.
When faced with a dream opportunity at the expense of a teammate, Esther responded with humility and excellence. She was excellent in her character first and foremost.
Esther’s character was rewarded when the U.S. Olympic committee recognized her integrity in 2000 and named her the U.S. Olympics female athlete of the year. While her dream didn’t pan out the way she might have hoped or expected, her commitment to being a good person of excellent character, was ultimately recognized.
Getting Started Takes Grit
If I had to sum up one of Esther’s greatest strengths, I would simply say she is “stubborn as an ox.” Esther knew how to buckle down and outwork the competition. That determination led her to the Olympics.
After hiring Esther to join our team, she brought the same fierce stubbornness to our business. I’ll never forget Esther recommending we advertise by delivering flyers to local homes and apartments early in the morning. In 2024 that sound ludicrous with the wide use and advanced state of the internet. But in 2004, it worked.
I liked the idea so we went for it. I didn’t like waking up at 3 or 4am to get started. We would work a few hours and then break for coffee as folks rushed out of their homes to work. Then we would get back in the car and keep going. Long story short, it worked. Our fledgling business began to grow steadily and we began to develop longstanding relationships with our customers.
As we continued to grow, we got our own office space. To call it that would be quite generous. It was more of a utility closet. But with Esther’s determination, we made it work. We had two small desks and two cubicle walls we put up to make a supply room for our cleaning materials. It wasn’t fancy. But it worked. It took grit, and Esther had plenty of that to bring to the table.
Speaking Her Mind
One of the advantages of owning and running a small business is the connection I’ve built with my team. Even 20 years later this work builds a trust and community I think is often lost at larger corporations or enterprises.
Another advantage of that close trust is the freedom to speak openly. Esther would happily offer her opinion on this situation or that, even if I didn’t ask for it.
But she had advice and insights I trusted. Can you say “I need your help with xx…” instead of “Can you do xx…,” she once insisted. Good managerial advice for a fledging boss still learning communication etiquette. Or her enthusiasm on passing out flyers daily. In Taekwondo you find the opponent’s weakest point and you hammer on it until they are beaten. So, we woke absurdly early every morning, hammering on and sure enough, we were able to provide Anna and Maria, our first cleaning team, a full schedule and a stable livelihood. We broke through barriers in certain areas and began to generate business. All because Esther spoke her mind from her experience.
She also spoke her mind about other issues that you wouldn’t dare discuss at a larger company. She weighed in on who I was dating, how the office was arranged, or any other host of topics that corporate America tends to stifle.
While it might not have always been appropriate, her open communication made us better and more often than not, made us laugh. Her blunt force honesty coupled with her humor and zeal was an incredible gift those early days.
Moving On
After those early years of hustling to stay afloat, Esther transitioned to a fully office-based position to support our business. We had managed to make it past the early days of wondering how we would pay the light bill. We were growing and even beginning to thrive, despite our missteps here and there.
During our first year, you could often find Esther on the phone with customers, encouraging our cleaning teams, or sharing a funny story. She worked well with others and built not just professional relationships, but meaningful ones. While I was always “the boss,” Esther maintained her open communication with me and near the end of her time with our company disclosed that she saw me more as a friend than her employer.
Esther eventually moved on from Dallas Maids under good terms. There was no fiery or scandalous exit. She had done her part and was moving on to another adventure in life with her family and career aspirations.
We kept in contact for a while. Though, as often happens, life took over for both of us and we fell out of touch. I was overwhelmed with grief when I tried to contact her and discovered she had passed away. While we hadn’t spoken in years, I felt the same way I had when she was at Dallas Maids. She was still a beloved, cherished, valued member of the team. She was still my friend, despite the time and distance.
Remembering Esther
I hope this short post will do Esther the honor she deserves. I hope it highlights her spirit which was so defined by ingenuity, determination, laughter, zeal, and life itself. I’ll never forget working long days and Esther insisting that we go grab drinks as a team afterward. She knew how to put in the work and celebrate it together.
Dallas Maids looks a lot different 20 years later. Our team is bigger. We have a respectable office space, great customers, and a quality team. We’ve grown, adapted, changed, evolved. We have done all those things because Esther gave us the opportunity to do them. She sacrificed. She worked long hours. She dreamed in those early days of what Dallas Maids could become. She helped lead us to where we are today. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
While Esther has passed on, her contributions to our team have become a part of our DNA. When we interview new candidates, we look for that same spark of greatness and excellence not just of work, but character. We laugh together. We speak our mind. We share ideas. We refuse to give up when something doesn’t work the first time. Those are the lessons Esther helped us learn. They are lessons that we live every day. In that way, we keep Esther with us and honor a life and teammate we love.