Loren Guillory
Owner of First Stream Cleaning Service; Allen & Allen Transport in Dallas, Texas
As the oldest of five children, Loren knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur at an early age. An avid reader, Loren would soak up her mother’s Ebony and Jet magazines. An article about Will Smith caught 8-year-old Loren’s eye; in addition to being a successful actor, Smith was an entrepreneur with his hands in a number of unique enterprises.
“It just stuck with me,” says Loren. “I would dream up all these different ideas.” When a career in insurance wasn’t fulfilling her, Loren knew the time to start her own business had arrived. She took another cue from her mother and opened First Stream Cleaning Service
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To bolster her small business expertise, Loren began working with her local Small Business Development Center in Dallas, and her business advisor made the introduction to DreamSpring. Capital from DreamSpring provided working capital, marketing support, and payroll as First Stream got up and running.
Loren is committed to making a difference with her business. She hires women and pays them a living wage — allowing them to provide for themselves and their families. “I want to be really intentional,” she says. “I want to create women entrepreneurs for those who want to stay in the service industry and teach them about sales and operations.”
In addition to advancing opportunities for fellow moms, Loren is also advancing herself. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a focus on entrepreneurship and small business. And because running one business while earning a degree wasn’t enough of a challenge, she became the Owner/Operator of her own long-haul trucking company, Allen & Allen Transport, in 2022.
"My son sees what I do, and it does impact him,” says Loren. “I’ve overheard him proudly tell his friends that his mom is an entrepreneur.”