Meet Jill! She’s a mom, wife, nurse, and former news anchor reporter who has never really lost the sharing side of reporting. Check out Jill Comes Clean on social media and her blog, and you will find easy and practical ways to care for your home. She’s a cleaning expert sharing nuggets of wisdom with her audience, while leveraging the power of social media marketing. With 825K followers on Instagram to date, Jill coins the word Chorgasms™ (see below) and uses the color Pink to help define her brand.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background?
A: I grew up in Pennsylvania and went to school there for Broadcast Journalism and worked as a television news reporter/anchor for a small NBC affiliate in Northern California after college. When my contract ended I felt pulled to do something different. At the time I was planning a wedding (I met my husband at the TV job) and we moved to Cincinnati where he's from so he could go to work for the family business and I, unsure of exactly what I wanted to do next, decided after we got married, to go back to school for nursing. After graduating with my nursing degree I worked at Cincinnati's children's hospital in the ICU and quickly learned that that was WAY more stress than I cared for. So after 3 years there, I had my son and decided to stay home. The irony is that I left the TV job thinking a job that required creativity and filming/editing my own videos wasn't for me, and as soon as I started this career path with social media I realized just how much I love being creative and producing content that helps others in some way. So, while I learned a lot and met great people through nursing, I think I had it right the first time with the journalism degree :).
Q: How did Jill Comes Clean come to be? Was it hard to get started?
A: Prior to leaving nursing and staying home with my son I had always loved blogs so for fun I started one of my own. I would do it here and there. I had no idea what I was doing but I liked to write and share so I just sort of started even though I'm sure not a soul read those early blog posts. Once I left nursing, Instagram had really been on the rise and in particular Instagram stories. I would watch all these girls during late night feedings or throughout the day when my son napped and it inspired me to start sharing more on there too. I have always loved cleaning and organizing since I was young and enjoyed keeping a tidy home as an adult so I just started sharing my day to day and cleaning and organizing was part of that. I began to get questions from friends or followers and I realized not everyone grew up loving to clean and organize and lots of people had questions that I loved answering. So I decided to share more of it and it grew from there.
It wasn't necessarily hard to start because I was always comfortable in front of the camera but in the beginning it was definitely hard to grow. I remember seeing girls with 250k followers and thinking how in the world did they ever hit that number? All the advice I heard was to just keep going, keep doing what you enjoy and the growth will come. So I stuck with it and stayed consistent. Then when Instagram launched reels a whole new world opened up. I could share videos and add more value compared to still photos and that really helped contribute to the success I've had with my business.
Q: Jill Comes Clean is such a fun name--it sounds like it's cleaning confessions lol! Can you tell us how you developed your brand?
A: In the very beginning of this career, before Jill Comes Clean, one of the things I would share was how I was reducing harmful and toxic chemicals in my life. I struggled with infertility prior to having my son and that made me take a long hard look at what could have caused it. I learned a lot about hormone disruptors and ingredients harmful to reproductive health and I started looking at areas in my life where I could eliminate or reduce these ingredients. Cleaning was a great place to start because there's a lot you can clean with basic, natural ingredients. So as I was sharing ways to clean without chemicals (I'm not perfect and still use some but have been able to reduce my use of them immensely) and I realized people really resonated with that as well. I was in the process of starting my brand and needed a name and I love a good play on words so I went with Jill Comes Clean to tie together the cleaning tips and information about the use of cleaner ingredients.
Q: How would you describe your audience?
A: My audience is busy women from all over the world, ages 25-65+ who want a clean and well kept home (or are just learning how to care for a home) but don't have the time (or maybe even the desire) for rigid cleaning routines. They want tips that will help them save time while still achieving the overall look or goal they are after. They love the ease of getting items from Amazon, Target or Walmart but love to support a small business as well. And like me, love a good deal but will splurge for that just right item or something that is going to save them time or make life easier in some way.
Q: Along the brand topic, how did Pink become your signature--there has to be a story there?! (We love it BTW!)
I have always loved the color pink and Barbie! At Christmas I decorate an entire tree with Barbie ornaments (thank you Hallmark for making them year after year). I always liked pink as a kid but I didn't really go all in on it until college.I think it was around that time (early 2000's) that brands were starting to make so many things pink. Before then, even though I loved pink, I didn't have the opportunities to express it like I do today with virtually everything available in some shade of that color. Something about it just puts a smile on my face and truly brings me joy. So, as I was creating my brand I just naturally was drawn to making my fonts and such that color, plus I felt like it helped me stand out. So, I wish there was some unique story to it, but really it's just always been my favorite.
Q: You have grown to well over 800K followers on Instagram. Why did you choose Instagram VS Facebook, or over other social media channels?
A: It's funny because I always had Facebook (aside from MySpace, it was my first social media account I had) but when I was getting started with this business Instagram was the hot new thing and the app I found myself being on the most. So I just started sharing there. At the time TikTok wasn't a thing yet and YouTube I was too unfamiliar with so I just started with what I knew. Now, I try to diversify across all platforms, and wouldn't you know, Facebook is still a great one. I'm starting to dive into more YouTube as well because I love the value I can share in long form videos and I'm working on getting used to the more laid back style of TikTok.
Q: Besides Instagram, where else can people find you?
A: You can find me on nearly all the popular social media channels (TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest) at jillcomesclean. Facebook I have a page that is Jill Koch - Jill Comes Clean or my profile Jill Weaver Koch and of course my blog jillcomesclean.com.
Q: You are a fantastic social media marketer! What made you choose to scale your business this way?
A: Thank you so much! I think social media is such a great way to scale a business because it's essentially free and there is very little overhead to get started. You can just start and learn as you go and I didn't need to invest in a new degree. There are endless resources out there to help you scale your business with social media and it can be entirely what you make it. If you only want to dedicate time to one platform, that works, or if you want to dabble in several to diversify you can do that too. There are just so many areas for opportunity in the online space.
Q: Why cleaning? Your posts make everything look so easy and just plain fun!
A: I'm so happy to hear that! That's always my goal because I recognize that not everyone enjoys it the way I do but it still has to be done, so if I can make it easier or more enjoyable for someone then I'm happy. Plus, cleaning can really help how we feel internally too. When my house is cluttered and messy I feel it. But when it's more put together, I feel more put together and like I can invest my energy elsewhere. And it's something we feel like we have control over when life gets busy or stressful.
Q: What's next for Jill Comes Clean?
A: I am constantly asking myself this question. I've always been a dreamer and I love thinking about the ways I can expand upon this business and how I can help others even more. I would love to write a book, have a line of products and if someone offered me a recurring spot on a tv show I wouldn't turn that down either :). Ultimately, I want to continue expanding in ways that allow me to reach more people and help them feel good in their homes without feeling like it's a big daunting task they can never keep up with and I want to be a resource they can come to when questions come up about how to best care for their homes.
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Jill Koch of Jill Comes Clean is our opener at the Create + Clean Expo 2025! A mom, wife, nurse and former news reporter–Jill is all about easy and practical ways to care for your home. With over 800K followers on Instagram, Jill is well known as "Your Partner In Grime". Hear how she feels Reinvention is key, how you too can reach today’s consumer, and why Pink and Choregasms™ are a BIG deal!
Keynote and Opening Session
February 13, 2025, Grand Ballroom
Horseshoe Resort and Conference Ctr.
Las Vegas, NV
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