Arlete Turturro has a degree in merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and a real estate license from Queens College. But these days she’s not working in fashion or real estate. She’s the owner of Night Owl Cleaning Services, and has been for over 30 years.

She started off at B. Altman’s department store on 5th Avenue where she quickly rose through the ranks.  At 23, she became the buyer of the bridal department.  Arlete left B. Altman’s in 1975 when her first daughter was born and continued her education at Queens College to obtain her Real Estate License.  After her second daughter was born in 1977, she became a commercial broker with McDonalds and CVS drug stores.

Arlete Turturro enjoyed the good, natural life growing up in the city of Sao Paolo, Brazil.  In the summer of 1960, her family moved to New York City.  It took her years, but Arlete conquered the language barrier and after high school headed to the Fashion Institute of Technology where she majored in merchandising.  It was then off to B. Altman’s department store on 5th Avenue where she quickly rose through the ranks.  At 23, she became the buyer of the bridal department.

Arlete left B. Altman’s in 1975 when her first daughter was born and continued her education at Queens College to obtain her Real Estate License.  After her second daughter was born in 1977, she became a commercial broker with McDonalds and CVS drug stores.

In 1987, Arlete moved to Westchester County, New York and got a job with the Liverzani Group in Armonk, New York as a  marketing representative and then marketing director of the real estate development firm.  One of her tasks was to hire and manage cleaning companies for the buildings the firm managed.  She realized that these kinds of companies required more elbow grease than capital and figured it was something she could handle.  So, in 1987, while still working for Liverzani, she started Night Owl Cleaning Service.  Her first client was a surveyor’s office.  Then, solely through word-of-mouth, she gained more clients.  It was three years of working by herself before she hired her first employee.

Arlete battled age discrimination and gender discrimination but was determined to prevail.  In 1991, she incorporated Night Owl and since it has been growing and growing.  In 2004, Arlete was inducted into the Westchester County Business Hall of Fame as the recipient of the “Westchester County’s Women in Business Success Award.”  Night Owl offers a huge array of services, like commercial cleaning, providing party attendants, plus 24-hour emergency services, too. Turturro was featured by the Westchester Business Journal and awarded their Woman of the Year Award in 2004. She’s still going strong.

The Me In Team Insight:

You can plan for a certain future—and end up in a totally different place. In Turturro’s case, she changed fields, somewhat drastically, a few different times before finding the business that worked for her. And it’s paid off. She realized through her employment experiences the most effective ways to expand her future business. The Me In Team owner is always sensitive to opportunities, and willing to explore additional income stream options. Always be sensitive to new opportunities even though it may take you in a totally different direction. Starting off by cleaning homes and offices by yourself on the weekends isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, but it is an important one, and it led to Turturro owning her own business.