Our Story

 

When Robert Lightbourne and Clinton McCartney met at eleven years of age, they could not know that they were embarking upon an incredible journey.  For the next six years they would meet in Grant’s Town each Thursday night for rehearsal with Wesley Methodist Church’s renowned youth chorale. A fun-loving friendship developed, anchored in community, faith, and mutual interests.  

 

At the same time, the two received robust foundations that would mark them for their life.   Robert joined The Boys’ Brigade at seven years.  The organization developed discipline, camaraderie, and spectacular drill-based performances, showcasing the opportunities and outcomes of strong leadership.  On a parallel path, Clinton gleaned practical insights, personal responsibility, and civic engagement through the local Gentlemen’s Club.  The culture of mentorship fostered in youth clubs marked the professional aspirations of both young men.

 

Throughout university, their friendship remained strong, boosted by summer adventures and weekend trips.  Robert pursued Business Management at College of The Bahamas (now “UB”), while Clinton studied Computer Information Systems at Florida Technical University.  

 

After graduation, Robert was recruited by Harborside Atlantis in 2002, where he mastered the finer points of housekeeping.  Within five years, he was promoted to Assistant Business Analyst.  Granted oversight of purchasing, receiving, and vendor accounts, Robert managed hotel inventory for Harborside Resort at Atlantis, the timeshare division of the largest resort in the Caribbean.  In 2012, a mentor at the hotel encouraged Robert to apply for a new role as Tower Manager of Housekeeping, to further refine his leadership.  Promoted again, Robert served as Manager for four years, learning how to lead people, how to manage time and multiple projects effectively, how to delegate and motivate staff for performance, and how to clean, really, really well.  He became an expert.

 

Meanwhile, after university Clinton worked at WesCare, a NonProfit Organization affiliated with Florida’s Department of Children and Families.  He designed a database to track statistics for WesCare’s adolescent mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.  The stats supported various public funding initiatives for the agency.  Eventually, Clinton returned to graduate studies, earning a MBA with a concentration in Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.  For another five years, he worked at The Village, a WesCare affiliate.  Eventually, he returned to The Bahamas to join his father at McCartney’s Pharmacy, a family business.

 

The two men continued to meet regularly, and found that life had drawn them onto similar paths.  Reading the same leadership books and listening to similar podcasts, they remained deeply committed to lives of service.  Each man longed to foster opportunities for others through mentorship.  Over late night meetings at Sharkeez, a popular watering hole in New Providence, they began to recognize that they shared a “mastermind alliance,” Napoleon Hill’s famous term for strategic partnerships with the potential to foster social change.

 

One evening, Robert pitched an idea that had been brewing for some time.  It was  innovative.  It called for all the skills he had honed in hospitality.  He envisioned a professional cleaning company offering top-caliber services, reflecting hospitality standards and privilege, for private homes, commercial businesses, and public agencies.  

This business would deliver elite, economical housekeeping services where they were needed:  when people weren’t on vacation, when they really needed support.  This idea just might turn the whole premise of housekeeping on its head.

 

Clinton felt the idea was audacious, and he knew his friend could pull it off.  Swearing Robert to secrecy, he immediately began business planning.  The two moved their unofficial “office” to The Green Parrot, where they worked out details and contracts after five pm, night upon night.  

 

In a business culture dominated by the hospitality industry, the idea was disruptive.  

 

It was not the idea of housekeeping.  No, generations of Bahamian women had used domestic service to gain an economic foothold, often sustaining their families thereby while husbands and fathers migrated for work.  After Bahamian Independence, women had opportunities aplenty to leverage this expertise as hotel housekeepers.

 

Nor was the notion of men as commercial cleaners unusual.  The late Frank Hanna had already broken that barrier by establishing professional cleaning companies in both the USA and The Bahamas.  In fact, his signature marketing style, dubbed “the Frank Hanna effect”, inspired Robert and Clinton to develop their novel branding strategy.  A true pioneer, Frank Hanna opened doors to profit for other men in the industry.

 

What made Robert’s and Clinton’s idea so innovative was this: their business would return standards ordinarily offered to tourists back to the Bahamian public.  Hardworking families, spent from giving their utmost on the job, could enjoy the simple privilege of being honored at home, gaining much-needed time for rest and leisure.  

 

Another business distinctive was Robert’s commitment to transform Bahamian businesses and public facilities by improving cleanliness, order, and economy.  Clinton saw Robert’s passion, and knew that together they could develop the organization as a powerful change agent.

 

The two both shared ideals for Bahamian economic development, unleashed from its reliance on the hospitality sector.  They believed the business would become a viable model to employ industry-trained professionals, creating long term opportunities for empowerment.  They also saw the concept as an incubator for one of their most cherished values:  mentorship.

 

Robert could literally see the concepts that would distinguish the business.  He credits God with the ideas that seemed to come to him as gifts.  He jotted them down as received, page after page.  He saw how to position themselves in the market in professional business attire, with jaunty bow ties reflecting their fun personalities, research-driven approach, and sartorial style.  It was a tribute to one of Frank Hanna’s big ideas, using flamboyant clothing to gain recognition.  Though a man of few words, Frank never met a fabric pattern he couldn’t have his tailor take to run up a pair of colorful pants.  Robert went “GQ” and decided to work with the bow tie as a business emblem.  

 

On April 27, 2016, Robert and Clinton launched R. L. Elite Housekeeping Services.  The business grew steadily as Robert hit the pavement and made good on his promises.  Customers were blown away, and the word got around.  Clinton stayed on top of licensing, weighed in on financial decisions, and soon joined Robert in contracting work with local residences, businesses, and agencies.

 

In 2025, Robert and Clinton rebranded the company as Bow Tidy:  The Professors of Clean.  Bow Tidy offers impeccable housekeeping and commercial cleaning at competitive rates.  The company’s long term vision is for an international brand offering luxury housekeeping services to residences, with sophisticated commercial cleaning systems, leadership, education, and products that make cleaning fun.

 

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