In childhood, Ms. Kern learned cost accounting from her father who owned a restaurant. He insisted that when she cooked dinner she be prepared to give the price of every item on the plate, from an individual serving of chicken down to the pat of butter and the slice of bread on the bread plate.

When she worked in a union office, she learned the importance of providing steady work. A job call for 200 workers for one day might appear impressive on its face, but before that day and after that day, the workers would be unemployed. Better to get steady, day-in, day-out work for a smaller number of workers.

She took that information with her when she began to search for a business that she could run from home. What kind of work would generate an income from repeat business? As she considered the different kinds of companies she could operate, she realized there were two things around the house that needed regular cleaning; ovens and toilets. Furthermore, the more money a person has, the more likely that person is to have multiple bathrooms and ovens. And the more money, the greater the desire for someone else to take over those responsibilities. With that insight, Ms. Kern not only found her business, she invented a new field, the maid service industry.

Within a short time she became the focus of newspaper and magazine articles and a guest on television and radio programs. She talked about her company in and of itself and also as a representative of home based businesses. An avid reader and integrator of facts and trends, she became a consultant for major corporations who needed advice about cottage industries and the needs of telecommuters and the work-at-homers.

Her appearance on The Donahue Show resulted in so much mail that her local post office was flooded with mail addressed to "The Cleaning Lady," "That Cleaning Person on Donahue," as well as by name. She organized her experiences into a book and began leading classes and discussion groups on starting maid services. At this time she is revising her book in anticipation of conducting a few more workshops before she retires. Among the locations she is considering are Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and Boston, Massachusetts.