Instead of spending their weekends and free time hanging out with friends or playing video games, seniors Will Galef and David Ivory are often found meticulously scrubbing windows or moving furniture. The two began their company, Main Line Window Washing and Yard Services, in March 2024. The company offers a variety of services including window washing, brush removal, plant transplants, mulching, weeding, pressure washing and furniture moving.
“I went out to dinner with my family and told them about the idea and they thought it was so stupid, but I didn’t really listen to them,” Galef said. “I went out, bought the equipment and then the next day I went out with David. Ever since then, everyone’s believed in us because (the business) took off really quick.”
Initially, Galef and Ivory used door-to-door sales as their main method of customer acquisition, beginning in their own neighborhoods and then branching out to other areas throughout the community. They also run Instagram and Facebook accounts to post photos before and after the renovations. Ivory highlights the positives of owning a business as a highschooler, believing that it has given him a lot of experience in leadership.
“Being young in a sense is a good thing. Not having the experience of someone who has done this their whole life gives us the advantage of doing everything totally voluntarily, because we aren’t forced by a company to be doing this,” Ivory said. “There are a lot of people who like what we’re doing — that makes us want to keep doing it. Hearing someone say, ‘I love what you’re doing, I wish my son did this,’ or ‘I wish my grandkids did this,’ is a really good thing to hear.”
Both Galef and Ivory start ed competing on the Conestoga boys’ swim team in their freshman year. Katie Galef, Will Galef’s mom, believes their personalities and experience on the swim team have contributed to their successful business, emphasizing their ability to balance multiple commitments.
“They (Will Galef and Ivory) have such a work ethic, and neither one of them likes to sit around,” Katie Galef said. “Both are swim team guys, so they train six days a week, year-round. I’m really proud that they’re out and about, training, studying, building a business, working hard and making money. They really have great character traits, and they’re hard workers. Sometimes it’s a lot, so they have to be careful about when they schedule jobs so that they can handle it all.”
Looking ahead, Will Galef and Ivory plan to expand their business by recruiting independent contractors when taking on bigger projects. Both plan to use their experience from the business in their future careers. Will Galef plans on majoring in finance in college and going into business, and Ivory aims to be a restaurant owner using the skills he has learned from running a business.
“These two are going to be successful at anything they do,” Katie Galef said. “I love that they have learned real world work experience outside of school because what they’ve learned from their business is going to take them really far.”
Isabelle Emmanuel can be reached at [email protected].
