Stratus Building Solutions to StratusClean
A four-year transformation that started with trust and ended with a new name.
- #1×4Entrepreneur’s Fastest-Growing Franchise, 2023 to 2026, while Mike was VP of Marketing at Stratus
- 3.4→4.7Google rating across the Stratus franchise system, from when Mike started to when he left
In brief
For four years Mike Millett ran marketing at Stratus Building Solutions, a franchise system of almost 100 master franchisees and more than 5,000 unit franchisees.
Stratus ranked #1 on Entrepreneur’s Fastest-Growing Franchise list in every one of those years.
The work ended in a new name: StratusClean, live in April 2026.
The problemThe market could misunderstand the company before the conversation started.
Mike saw it early in his tenure: the name itself was a positioning problem.
“Building Solutions” read as construction, franchise buildouts or facilities contracting. Not commercial cleaning.
The organization was not ready to change it.
The rename took four years.
What could change firstThe company did not have to wait four years to improve.
While the name remained, the marketing work continued.
The team focused on:
Reputation.
Franchise recruitment and training.
HubSpot and better system data.
Accountability.
Social strategy.
Brand consistency.
Regina Gutiérrez Wilson, the company’s Marketing Manager, worked on every item on that list with Mike. She brought the vendors.
The naming problem stayed on the table.
Everything else in the trust environment moved while the larger decision worked through the organization.
The rebrandThe name was the final visible change.
Mike Millett and Regina Gutiérrez Wilson rebranded Stratus Building Solutions as StratusClean: Mike as VP of Marketing, Regina as Marketing Manager.
The StratusClean direction won the organization over.
Mike drew the core logo direction and lettering in Adobe Illustrator and wrote the taglines.
A professional designer refined the final artwork.
Regina pushed back hard and loved the initial version. Only small changes followed, and StratusClean is better because of her.
The identity went live in April 2026.
The logo is the visible part. The four years underneath it are the lesson.
The results
- #1 × 4Entrepreneur’s Fastest-Growing Franchise, 2023 to 2026, Mike’s four years as VP of Marketing
- 2×+system revenue, 2022 to 2026
- 3.4 → 4.7average Google rating across the franchise system, the reputation work his team owned
Entrepreneur’s Fastest-Growing Franchise list, number one four years running. Entrepreneur records the fourth as a first in the history of the list. Badges are Entrepreneur Media, LLC, used with permission.
With Rob LancitRob Lancit led franchise development at Stratus while Mike ran marketing.
The lessonThe brand had to move before every part of the organization wanted to.
The Stratus experience became one of the foundations for Mike’s thinking about Adaptive Brand Management.
A business rarely gets to change everything at once.
It still has to keep observing, deciding, adapting and verifying while the larger transformation is incomplete.
That is what the four years taught him.