Sask. sisters celebrating two years in business this International Women’s Day

Saskatoon’s funkiest car wash was created by two sisters who were raised by a dad with a concrete business and a mom that traveled the carnival circuit.

Drivers can see the influence of both of Jamille and Jacoba Taylor’s parents when rolling up at JJ’s Express Car Wash on 51st Street. Bright lights and sweet smells beckon cars into the wash where cheery carnival vibes envelope cars in the form of vibrantly multi-coloured soaps and suds — all against the industrial car-wash background.

It was designed to give customers the “carnie” (short for “carnival”) experience, Jamille shared. The two sisters travelled the carnival circuit with their mom, managing three booths around Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta until they were about 13 years old.

“We would trade dole whip, shaved ice, coffee to go on any ride for free,” Jacoba said.

“It’s just fun, we love it,” Jamille said. “We love the people.”

“The lights, the carnies, the atmosphere,” Jacoba said, continuing her sister’s thought, before Jamille jumped in with “the food.”

The girls say they were well-known on the circuit and still have lots of friendships from that time in their lives.

“We can tell you which booths to eat (at) and which not to,” Jamille said with a laugh.

When it came to making a big career move, the car wash business venture wasn’t the girliest idea the sisters had. The move only worked out because Jamille, now 29, decided it was time to return to Saskatoon from studying urban planning and marketing management in Halifax at the same time her sister, Jacoba, was having the same thoughts —armed with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology with a minor in psychology from Kelowna.

But struggling to find jobs in their fields, the sisters spitballed ideas like opening up a franchise or starting a cosmetic line.

“This is just something we both agreed on and thought was interesting,” said 27-year-old Jacoba, who said they got the idea from their dad. “And now we have a car wash.”

Inside JJ’s Express Car Wash in Saskatoon on Mar. 18, 2022. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

It’s their unconventional upbringing, balancing school and the circuit, that inspired the sisters to take the road they’re on now.

“Everything we learned, we learned from our parents,” Jamille shared. “They took us to work everyday growing up, so we were involved in their business, always being there, seeing how they do things, seeing how people respected them.”

That was something Jamille and Jacoba wanted themselves, too. So their family immersed themselves in learning everything they could about the car wash business. The girls made a plan with their dad that they would travel to the U.S. to work and train in the business before breaking ground on their own.

Then COVID-19 hit, and the family had to go ahead and break ground on their project without that assistance.

Jamille and Jacoba said their hands were on every aspect of building their business, literally from the ground up.

“We did all the dirt work, we were in the rock trucks … legit, Jacoba and I were yelling, crying, screaming putting the crane on,” Jamille said with a laugh.

The new owners of JJ’s Express Car Wash and Oil Change explained they had a lot to learn when they started. It took about a year for the two girls to have enough staff — and feel comfortable enough — to start letting others take over operations enough that they weren’t spending every waking minute tending to the wash themselves.

“It’s our baby,” Jamille joked as Jacoba talked about how hard it has been to learn to leave work.

The sisters joked constantly with each other, ribbing each other over who was older (Jamille) and who worked harder on school projects (Jacoba), but affirmed each other seriously on important matters, like hardships they’ve had since opening their business.

They say the business is “getting there” in terms of profits as the business becomes more successful. The two have been busy making improvements and changes to it since opening, though — adding pressure washers and employees to pre-spray to try and get cars that pull into their wash as clean as possible, and merch to market their brand.

“We’re just trying to get our name out there,” the sisters said.

Both women stop by once a day to check in, at the very least. The two handled snow removal themselves at Christmastime this year to avoid calling employees in over the holidays.

And the Taylor’s do truly enjoy working as a team, something they’ve done since running their mom’s carnival booths as kids. Jacoba and Jamille have coached gymnastics together, bartended together and even bought houses just two blocks away, although Jacoba sometimes needs time away from Jamille’s loudness.

“It hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies,” Jacoba said, looking at Jamille. However, the sisters shared that each works just as hard as the other and share the same drive to succeed — which helps mitigate potential conflicts when they do arise.

Jamille (right) and Jacoba Taylor are sisters who own and oeprate JJ’s car wash in Saskatoon. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

On March 8, Jamille and Jacoba will mark two years of running JJ’s. The date also marks International Women’s Day.

That was a coincidence, the women shared, but not one they’re upset about. Both Jamille and Jacoba called the work they do empowering.

“It makes me feel strong, I want other people to feel strong from hopefully seeing us do it,” Jacoba shared.

“In my head, it’s 2023 and things have changed, and I hope things continue to change and people can do what they want.”

Jamille agreed, adding that any woman who owns a business is helping to normalize women in non-traditional roles, especially when those businesses don’t fit the mold of what a woman might be expected to be interested in.

The women encouraged others to not stop pursuing their goals, and to not be afraid of failing and learning a lesson from it, as they’ve had to do themselves.

Despite making mistakes and making corrections, the Taylor sisters know what they’re doing. Not every customer treats them that way, however.

“All the time. People look at us like, ‘This is what you do?’” Jamille said. “We wouldn’t bring a product in or a service that would do damage to people’s cars.”

“We got some backlash,” Jacoba said, thinking back to when they opened. Some media coverage on their wash led people to make comments about the girls “just being two young females running a business.”

The girls have had some interesting complaints in the time they’ve been in business. Everything from being blamed for damage on vehicles that was previously obscured by the dirt their wash removed, to angry calls about vehicles that became dirty again after being driven home in mucky weather.

One woman was irate with the women after her car was washed because her groceries got wet in the uncovered bed of her truck.

Whether because of their age or being women in an unconventional business, Jamille and Jacoba said they’ve had some customers demand to speak with an owner and not accept that they occupy that position.

“It’s sad to see that people just don’t believe us sometimes,” Jacoba said, adding that people will sometimes tell the women that they don’t know what they’re doing.

Those negative comments usually fall on Jamille’s plate in the division of responsibilities between the sisters.

“Jamille is so good at dealing with people,” Jacoba said as Jamille laughed. “People can yell and scream at her …”

“I”ve been yelled at, threatened,” Jamille interjected. “She’ll just roll it off one shoulder and go about her day,” Jacoba finished.

Jamille, on the other had, thrives handling the numbers side of the business — including paperwork, payroll and other office tasks.

But the women try to take negative comments like water off a duck’s back, and have received the opposite, too. Comments of “you go, girls!” and praise from customers who love their product and want to support local have gone along way towards encouraging the women, who say they’re always working to learn more about the industry they’ve entered.

The sisters are having fun with their business and employees. In interviews, they’ll ask potential hires whether they like making TikTok videos.

“When it’s slow and cold, we do lots of TikTok videos,” Jacoba shared. Jacoba added that their employees — many of whom are high school students who pick up a shift or two a week for spending money — are full of ideas about fun ways to promote the wash on social media.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t enjoy it,” Jamille said.

In fact, the women are enjoying the business so much, a second location is in the works, though particulars can’t be shared just yet.