October 10, 2019

The Story of Periwinkle

by: Jordo Evans

The Story of Periwinkle is truly one of a kind.

You’ll really wanna hear this, I’ll tell it to you in a rhyme.
Now Seth and I were eager. I should say eager-beaver.
Entrepreneurs at heart, we can’t live, we can’t breath or
Stomach the idea of always being an employee.
We would rather get an attorney. Pull-off some insurance fraud-and live off the money.
Don’t worry. That’s a joke. I Intended it to be funny.
Anyway, back to the point. I am trying to paint a picture.
We are the type of guys who’ve always dreamed of something bigger.
And dream we did. Every morning on a call.
Seth in San Fran, I in Tulsa. We didn’t stall.
Ideas kept coming. They were flowing. Milk and honey.
Side note: The best part about ideas is, they didn’t cost us any money.

Enter Cole Johnson, an old high school friend.

He went to college, worked hard, played sticks and got the short end.
He was laid-off by his employer due to budget cuts.
So Cole was left wondering “Okay, now what?”
Word travels fast and it caught my attention.
The problem wasn’t Cole. It was economic recession.
“Seth, our friend Cole was laid off and unexpectedly. What can we do to help him?
He isn’t having any luck and he--”.
Seth interrupted me. He said, “Maybe we should start a company.”
A company… I had no reluctancy.
In fact, if I recall correctly, I jumped with glee.
A company could be the answer.
It was, luckily.

So off we go, we scrambled up as much cash as we could muster.

$1,600. Humble beginnings, but it was more than enough, Sir.
To start a business in a nation that is truly great.
We have the freedom to build our dreams in the United States.
After a year of garages, we needed to change our name.
The name we had was boring. Do you remember it? “It was lame.”
Back to the drawing board for a name that could outlast us.
We asked people what they thought about “Periwinkle”. It was disastrous.
I kid you not, every single person laughed at us.
Garage cleaning? Periwinkle? That is preposterous.
Though we did appreciate everyone being honest with us.
Yes, it’s a crazy name. That’s why it dawned on us.

We went all in with Periwinkle. We changed our name over night.

Our name is anything but plain and simple. Just the way we like.
Periwinkle perfectly provides customers with a promise.
We promise exceptional customer experience. Honest!
We built our business from the ground up around this purpose.
We don’t just clean garages, we provide a trust-worthy servie.
We are smashing the competition. No contest.
So next time you stand in your garage and sigh with stress.
Behold the sight of the mess, the dust that seems to caress.
All the junk in your “garage”, home-sweet-home for pests.
Yes mice, sometimes rats, but count on a spiders nest.
I must confess, owning a business has been quite the test.
But our persistence is a testament to our relentlessness.
Be our guest and question this. Witness how our energy is infectious.
You know the saying: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”?
In confidence, we predict a global service dominance.
Your garage depends on Periwinkle’s competence.
It’s common sense, that we’ve developed quite the tolerance for a mess.
Every homeowner deserves a garage that they can digest.
Sorry for getting off track there for a bit. I digress.
Where was I? Oh yeah.
Next time you stand in your garage and sigh with stress.
Pick up the phone, dial us, and take a deep breath.

Now let me tell you about how we got the word out.

It wasn’t cold calls, billboards, or card stock handouts.
Believe it or not, our company was in the local paper.
The Tulsa World proved to be a game changer.
A few months later, we were featured on the local news.
Channel 6, you made us shine. Kudos to you and the crew.
We also got on the radio and did some podcasting.
ALL of this was free, by the way… cue the gasping.
Last but not least, we managed to get on TV.
PBS, a show called Start-Up. “Look mom! I’m on TV!”
All of a sudden, Periwinkle was on everyone’s radar.
Calls from NY, California, even Canada! Need I say more?!
All this to say that we are enjoying every moment.
The best part about Periwinkle is that it’s completely ours and we own it.
But there is no better feeling than helping out a customer.
Spilled milk in your garage? That’s nothing to throw a fuss over.
Remember to treat others the way you want to be treated.
We live by that quote. It’s in our manual. Here read it.
We hope that everything we do for the world comes full-circle.
We’re exceeding expectations. Want proof? It’s in the Purple.