Mrs. Poland’s Cleaning Service: A Family Business Built on Work, Trust and an Unlikely Love Story
Photo of Magdalena and Jo'el Scott courtesy of Facebook
Jo’el and Magdalena Scott Raises Family, Successful Business Hand-in-Hand
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a part of our series of stories highlighting businesses of color during National Black Business Month sponsors by CompleteCare Health Network, where FRNJ is recognitions minority businesses across South Jersey.
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
VENTNOR — In a shore community where word-of-mouth can make or break a small business, Magdalena and Jo’el Scott have built one of the most trusted cleaning services in Ventnor, Margate, and Longport.
They did it not through advertising campaigns or large crews, but through something far more old?fashioned: hard work, deep cleaning, and genuine human connection.
Today, Mrs. Poland’s Cleaning Service is known for meticulous detail, reliability, and the unmistakable warmth the couple brings into every home. But the story of how this business came to be — and the family behind it — is as compelling as any love story, and as gritty as any tale of entrepreneurship born during the COVID?19 pandemic.
A Business Built on Detail, Trust and Family
Magdalena (Magda) and Jo’el run their company as a two?person team — no rotating crews, no subcontractors, no strangers entering clients’ homes. When customers ask who will be cleaning, Magda answers simply: “You’re looking at the crew.”
Their approach is rooted in deep cleaning, not surface-level tidying. As Magda explained in the interview, “We don’t recognize regular cleaning. We clean under everything — sofas, corners, tops of refrigerators. I’m OCD, so details matter.”
Clients quickly noticed. After Magda cleaned her first Ventnor beach home, the owner posted a glowing review online. Within hours, the couple’s phone “did not stop ringing.” That single post launched a business that now cleans six to nine homes a day in peak season, often working until midnight.
Trust is the foundation. Clients hand over keys, alarm codes, and access to multimillion?dollar homes. The Scotts treat that trust as sacred.
“Trust is number one,” Magda said. “We’re in their personal space. They know our kids. We know their families. It becomes more than cleaning — it becomes a relationship.”
Their four children — Antoni, Amelia, Aurelia, and Alexander — are central to the business. The couple schedules work around school events, sports, and family time. Entrepreneurship has given them something the casino industry never could: freedom.
Jo’el put it simply:
“This year we went to every football game, every basketball game, every track meet. That was the most amazing moment of my life.”
COVID: The Turning Point
Before the pandemic, both worked in Atlantic City casinos — Jo’el as a VIP host, security officer, and server; Magda as a cashier. When COVID shut down the industry, they lost their jobs overnight.
They watched Shark Tank one evening, heard Mark Cuban say that a good business “solves a problem or helps someone,” and everything clicked.
Magda’s mother once owned a cleaning business in Poland. Jo’el’s father had a cleaning business in Pleasantville, where Jo’el cleaned movie theaters as a child. The path was right in front of them.
Magda started with one house. Then two. Then dozens.
When she became overwhelmed, Jo’el left his job at FedEx to join her full?time. They named the business Mrs. Poland’s Cleaning — a tribute to Magda’s heritage and the pride she carries in it.
“I’m very proud I’m from Poland,” she said. “That’s who I am.”
Going Above and Beyond
Their service extends far beyond cleaning. In winter, they shovel snow for seniors in Ventnor, Margate, and Longport — refusing payment, though clients often insist on tipping. They’ve formed bonds so deep that losing a client feels like losing family.
“We don’t call them clients anymore,” Jo’el said. “It’s friendship.”
Their work ethic is relentless. When their truck was totaled in an accident, they spent months cleaning houses using a small Honda Accord that barely fit their family of six. They worked until 1–2 a.m. every night to save enough for a new truck.
People saw the new truck and assumed success came easily. It didn’t.
“Nobody knows how hard we worked,” Magda said. “But we made it happen.”
The Family Behind the Business
The Scotts’ four children attend Ventnor and Atlantic City schools. Antoni and Amelia attend Atlantic City High School, Aurelia is at Ventnor Middle School and Alexander attends Ventnor Elementary School.
Their kids have grown up watching their parents build something from nothing — learning entrepreneurship, responsibility, and resilience along the way.
Even their pets — Stitch, Bambi, and Simba — are part of the household rhythm, waiting by the door each morning for Magda’s tuna and salmon treats.
The Love Story That Started It All
Though the business is the headline, the couple’s personal story is unforgettable. The couple seemed worlds apart – Jo’el an African American growing up in Pleasantville and Magda born and raised in small town in the Eastern European country of Poland.
Their worlds, however, came together unexpectedly in 2004 at Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino, where Magda was serving as a J?1 student from Poland working in EVS while Jo’el worked as a bar porter training to be a bartender.
Their first interaction was a tug?of?war over a trash bag that ripped open on the floor.
“She walked in with a trash bag,” Jo’el recalled. “She was the most beautiful girl I ever saw.”
Magda barely spoke English. Jo’el didn’t know where Poland was. But they connected instantly — discovering their birthdays were two days apart.
When Magda returned to Poland, they talked for hours every day on calling cards. Jo’el flew to Poland despite having no money and no passport experience. Her family welcomed him like a son.
Magda took him to Auschwitz, where Jo’el broke down in tears seeing the children’s shoes and hair — a moment that changed him forever.
She took him to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, where chandeliers hang underground and history echoes through the tunnels. They kissed in Chopin’s park for the first itme and the rest is history.
They married in Atlantic City on September 20, 2005 — a simple ceremony by the aquarium, with Jo’el’s family helping Magda get ready. This year marks 20 years of marriage.
The Future of Mrs. Poland’s Cleaning
When asked what the next five years look like, Jo’el didn’t hesitate:
“It looks amazing. We know what hard work is. We know where we came from.”
Magda added that the business is more than cleaning — it’s service, community, and compassion.
They hope to continue growing, helping more families, and teaching their children the value of honest work and kindness. Mrs. Poland’s Cleaning Service is not just a cleaning company. It is a family story, an immigrant story, an Atlantic City story, and a love story — all woven into one.
It is proof that entrepreneurship doesn’t always start with a business plan. Sometimes it starts with a ripped trash bag, a leap of faith, and two people willing to work until 2 a.m. to build a better life.
And in Ventnor, that kind of story — and that kind of service — travels fast.
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