In a world with an ever-growing fear of germs, Jon Tavarez helps minimize cross-contamination through entrepreneurship.

Mr. Tavarez serves as the founder of Pro Housekeepers® and Germaphobix® as well as Limited Partner at TampaBay.Ventures.

Every now and then, we read about the rise of notable entrepreneurs from all over the world. There have been few individuals who have thrived off of their passion and, most importantly, their desire to impact the world positively through their brands and businesses. Among them, we have come across Jon Tavarez from the Greater Tampa Bay area, a booming region in the State of Florida.

Starting a journey online

Jon Tavarez (35) began his online journey while he was a full-time student at USF, making 6-figures through a variety of businesses such as flipping domain names and creating e-commerce stores. One of his career highlights in the industry includes a notable e-commerce store called “iBodyArmor” that sold iPad cases and skins across the world, which was later sold. Thereafter, he created a marketing agency that helped growth-stage startups accelerate and increase their revenue through SEO, content marketing, and PR.

A side hustle turns into a full-time business

In 2015, Jon initiated Pro Housekeepers. The company grew into the top 10 national brands in the cleaning service industry. However, the ongoing pandemic caused disruption in the industry. Amid this setback, Jon saw an opportunity in the cleaning products industry. This led him to start a spin-off company to sell sanitization and cleaning products. In 2020, “Germaphobix” was created. Germaphobix was accepted into Clearco’s limited portfolio of companies. Clearco invests in companies helping businesses grow with the right resources at their disposal. Germaphobix currently serves government organizations, institutions, hospitals, and universities in different states across the United States.

Focused on the future

In 2021, Jon focuses Pro Housekeepers’ services catering to the hospitality and property management industries; this side of the company is now called Harmony. The business has worked with top brands such as Expedia Group, Sonder, Blueground, and many others. In late 2021, Mr. Tavarez became an investor making his first VC investment and becoming a Limited Partner in the TampaBay.Ventures fund for Tampa Bay area tech startups.

What’s next

This serial entrepreneur and investor now aims to grow the B2B side of Pro Housekeepers, named Harmony by connecting with companies that manage a large number of rental properties across the country but may not have the capacity to maintain them efficiently. The goal is to protect property value while increasing guest satisfaction. Also, he is looking forward to opportunities across LATAM for tech startups with seed and/or Series A funding, specifically in the Web3 and fintech space. He is currently working with entrepreneurs and players in the local ecosystem through his Masterminds Tampa Bay organization and TampaBay.Ventures to strengthen the future of the region.

Philanthropy

Since 2018, Jon Tavarez has been on the board of the United Nations Association of Tampa Bay as the Communications Director. Earlier this year, he was elected President of the organization. UNA-USA is a NGO that advocates on behalf of the United Nations across major cities in the country. The Tampa Bay chapter’s unique program is dedicated to helping refugee youth through an annual photography course called Picture My Life®, which allows students to learn professional photography and gives them the opportunity to monetize their skills if they wish. The organization truly believes in activities that can help people regulate emotions in healthy ways after a traumatic experience.

UNA-USA recently collaborated with the Shabangrs NFT project to raise funds for the Picture My Life® program. Shabangrs is an exclusive photographer and filmmaker community with plans to launch their own metaverse. Thanks to this collaboration, the funds raised will be used towards the 2022 program in which students will receive professional equipment they can learn with and keep. Their favorite photographic arts will be silently auctioned at the annual exhibit in Tampa Bay.

To connect with Jon Tavarez, you can follow his journey on Instagram @jontavarez or Twitter @jon_tavarez