Olean Carpet Cleaning co-owner: ‘We recognized the business’s potential and took a leap of faith’

By JOHN BARTIMOLE

Special to Olean Times Herald | November 15. 2025

(Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of eight articles spotlighting the businesses making up the 2025 Laine Business Accelerator cohort.)

OLEAN — She traveled almost 3,000 miles away from her home in Trinidad with her husband to the United States, with dreams of settling here and opening a restaurant, specializing in the unique Caribbean foods and flavors of her home country.

“Food is definitely my love language,” said Sharon

Tom, who is co-owner with her husband, Murphy Tom, and office manager of Olean Carpet Cleaning, a member of the 2025 Laine Business Accelerator cohort.

“I really wanted to open a restaurant,” she continued, “but life had other plans. I have not written off the concept of a restaurant, but it has been placed to the side as we focus on our businesses and raising our son in this lovely place.”

Indeed, life did have other plans. Those unforeseen other plans included resuscitating a business faltering from a negative review, building up its image and making it profitable.

“We recognized the business’s potential and took a leap of faith” in buying the business. “Neither I nor my husband had any experience with commercial carpet cleaning, but we recognized the potential the business had.”

So, the couple underwent extensive training before purchasing the company, and that by trusting in their “strong work either, determination, and shared belief,” they could make any endeavor work. And it did.

But Tom said the early years of the business were challenging.

“We’ve worked tirelessly — often from dawn to midnight, seven days a week — to restore customer confidence and establish a foundation of trust and excellence,” she said.

To do that, Tom and her husband decided to run Olean Carpet Cleaning as a “traditional mom-and-pop establishment, where kindness, trust and personal connection come first.”

“I always take time to chat with clients, understand their needs and tailor cleaning packages to suit every home or business,” she said. “We want to be known for our reliability, excellent work, personal touch and exceptional customer service.”

Tom said they take great pride in being flexible with scheduling, cleaning after hours for businesses

and collaborating with residential clients to determine a time convenient for the homeowner. And there is no shortage of possible uses for the service.

“Pet accidents, kid’s messes and the area around husband’s recliners are some of the more popular reasons residential clients call us,” Tom said, with a laugh. “Life happens—it’s our job to make it a little cleaner and easier.”

Olean Carpet Cleaning provides a full suite of floor and fabric care services — carpet and upholstery cleaning, tile and grout cleaning and resealing, VCT floor stripping and waxing, and hardwood floor cleaning and finishing, using state-of-the-art cleaning equipment, including a powerful truck-mounted carpet cleaning system that ensures deep, thorough results.

Tom is enjoying her experience with the LBA, citing the camaraderie it inspires as one of its most important benefits.

“I’m in the office all day, so it’s like I’m operating in a bubble,” she said. “The LBA is like therapy… they ask difficult questions that force us to think about aspects of

our business that we are usually too busy to ponder. We learn so much from each other.”

A highlight of the LBA experience so far was the full day the cohort spent visiting each other’s businesses. “Some of us carpooled, so we got some quality time together to bond and learn more about each other.”

With regard to Olean and the surrounding communities that they serve, Tom says, “It is absolutely beautiful here. We love it. This community has embraced my husband, me and our son with warmth and friendship. My son always jokes that I seem to know everyone everywhere we go.

“We operate our businesses as a family (including a second business that her son is very much involved in), and my husband and son are the most important people in my life.”

Tom may have not opened a Caribbean restaurant (yet), but she and her husband’s move to the United States opened more than that — it opened up a way of life for them and their son