
ABOUT
The story from our creator
Kenneth, the Founder, CEO & President of KenCleanCan
I was walking out the door one day when my girlfriend told me to take out the trash before I left. With the full trash bag in hand and already halfway out the door again, she yelled, “Put a new bag in the trashcan!”
At that moment I knew there had to be an easier way of doing that daily chore. I went for a jog but kept thinking about how to solve this problem. I was determined to solve this problem for myself and millions of consumers who forget to change the trash bag after throwing out the trash, which inevitably, aggravates the ones we love!
Within 30 minutes I had the idea in my head. I turned around and ran back home. I knew I had a great idea but now I needed to turn it into a great product. KenCleanCan in the new modified trash can that I proudly invented.
The KenCleanCan
When you remove the full bag of trash, a new bag is already in position ready to take its place; you simply need to detach the bag and open the new bag for use. No more walking to the other side of the kitchen to get trash bags which may or may not be stored under the kitchen sink or in the pantry or somewhere else. Now your kids won't have an excuse for not putting a new bag in the trash can.
The other part of KenCleanCan is the caddy. It is the starting point for the bags that will be inserted into the trash can. The caddy also serves as a storage area for an extra roll of trashbags. Now you will always know if you have trashbags or if you need to purchase more. In addition to the caddy, there is an open slot at the bottom of the trash can which allows for water to drain after you have washed out the inside of the trash can. Now the KenCleanCan has given consumers what they have wanted in a wastebasket...true convenience
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
KenCleanCan is committed to diversity and equity in all our lives. A multi-dimensional community is always welcomed. DEI gives all individuals regardless of race or sex an opportunity to build a better future for their family. Our mission is to build a better workplace as diverse as the world we serve, ensuring that everyone has an equal seat at the table, regardless of background or race.
A Message from a great Civil Rights Leader: Strength lies in differences, not in similarities;
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
MEET OUR CREATOR:
Kenneth, the creator of KenCleanCan, is an avid jogger currently living in Los Angeles, California. He is not an engineer or a designer, he is simply your average person who found a solution for a common inconvenience. He worked on his invention on weekends and after getting home from his regular job.
In his spare time he was able to make prototypes, which received many compliments from the public. At times, he was forced to call in sick to his job in order to focus on his invention. Kenneth recently left his job, which enables him to work around the clock to bring his invention to market. The KenCleanCan Trashcan & KenCleanCan Trash Bags will be in homes around the world before you know it!
Years before creating KenCleanCan, I was the first male in the family to attend college. Like most college students, I ended up getting a job in the summer and I never returned. Over the years I’ve worked normal jobs for many Fortune 500 companies. I’m always asked by many of my coworkers, why are you working here, you don’t belong here, you are a smart person that should be working in a professional environment. I liked doing manual labor work because it keeps me in shape, also I couldn’t see myself sitting at a desk in a cubicle for hours.
I’ve had the entrepreneur spirit before but it never worked out. Every place I worked my coworkers would say, you are a smart guy, you shouldn’t be here. I remember meeting an attorney about a workplace issue. The attorney said to me, you are smart, go to law school and when you graduate you will have a job at my firm.One day I decided to go back to college and follow a passion of mine. Because of the history of racism in this country and witnessing how employers, managers and supervisors treated their employees in the workplace, I knew I wanted to become an Employment & Civil Rights Attorney. Years after graduating high school and dropping out of college, I decided to see how smart I really am. I decided to go take the school entry Law School Admission Test (LSAT), which assesses reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning skills.
All these people say I’m a smart person and I’m about to find out. (lol)
I took the test and I was told to come back in an hour for the results. I thought I did well but I wasn’t sure. I was afraid to return because who actually likes getting bad news in person. When I arrived back at the law school, the administrator smiled and said, congratulations, you passed the test.
I was excited about starting law school and I was on my way of becoming an attorney. After getting my classes set up and buying my books, I decided to not attend two weeks before school started. There were several reasons for me not attending which were factors in my decision.
After going back into the workforce and being laid-off many times, I knew I had to do something different. My brain finally kicked-in again and I started to become creative. Kencleancan Trash Can is not my first Invention. I invented another product for avid runners. I will share this product with you after getting KenCleanCan off the ground.

KenCleanCan Founder’s Journey
My path to starting my own company was a lonely & painful journey. With no support and help from family members or friends, I knew how difficult it would be. My family members do support me in other ways. The burden of wearing many hats can take a toll on you mentally & physically. Your body has limitations but your mind doesn’t. There were days where I was exhausted where I could feel my body hurting but my mind wouldn’t let me give up. I kept pushing myself.
After working my normal job from 7am to 7 pm, I would go home and work on my startup company. I would create prototypes, work on designs and do research until 1am in the morning knowing I had to be at work early the next morning. On nice sunny weekends in California my friends would say, let’s go to the beach, let’s go to dinner, let’s go to starbucks and let’s go to a night club. I had to make those sacrifices in order to achieve my dream. I had to reset my mind to think like an entrepreneur 24/7.
I finally crashed and burned as they would say in the business world. I went to bed around 8pm Friday night and slept until 5am Monday morning. I slept the entire weekend. If there was a break-in at my apartment , the thief would have had an easy time stealing whatever he wanted, the thief could have taken a shower or made a sandwich without me ever waking up.
Another weekend I stayed inside the whole time without going out to get something to eat. I felt like if I went out, I would be taking time away from my R&D, Research and Development.
Saturday: Breakfast, cake & diet coke-Lunch, cake & diet coke-Dinner, cake & diet coke.
Sunday: Breakfast, cake & diet coke-Lunch, cake & diet coke-Dinner, cake & diet coke. I know, it’s not a healthy way to live or work.
I started to experience burnouts, conflicts, funding challenges, market rejection and the difficulty of finding product-market fit. The financial strain of running out of money and investors & venture capitalists who don’t think it is wise to invest in a startup company in the beginning stages.
I hired three attorneys to do work that involved patents, legal issues, business name, taxes, etc.
They all ended up taking my money and provided inadequate quality of work. I got a phone call from a colleague of one of the attorneys who took my money to apologize for the attorney’s actions. The colleague said he wasn’t aware of what happened to me until the colleague invited everyone out to dinner joking and laughing saying Kenneth paid for this. I could have taken legal actions and fought back but I didn’t want that headache. I had many headaches trying to start my company. Isn’t it Ironic, I wanted to become an attorney? There’s bad apples in every profession.
I tried reaching out to my competitors asking them for help with my product, asking them to invest in my startup, asking them to partner with me but my emails were ignored. As I would go around meeting with small manufacturing, machinists, designers and workshops owners, they all would say the same thing, you can’t compete with corporate america, they are too big, they have powerful lawyers and they have lots of money.
I would say, it’s not about competing with your competitors, it’s about stealing their customers with a better product at a better price.
I had many motivating factors that drove me to build a successful startup company. The main motivation factor was that I was tired of reading about new startup companies with bad ideas and products being valued in the billions without ever making a profit. Investors & Venture Capitalists investing in Founders & CEO’s simply based on their race and education background but ended up being DEFRAUDED by these individuals.
The dark side of the business world is where you will find some of the most evil people there are. Money brings the worst out of people. I’ve endured so many setbacks, roadblocks and obstacles but I wasn’t giving up. There were days where I would say to myself, if you don’t slow down, you are going to die from stress. I knew I needed help but I couldn’t find anyone like me who was willing to sacrifice a normal life for the 24/7 life building a startup company.
I remembered there was an owner of another company who wanted a partnership and licensing agreement for my product. The owner of the company was so excited about merging both companies together. When negotiations started and the owner finally realized I wasn’t going to accept a lowball $3 million royalty offer, his true side emerged.. The owner said, you are nobody, you will never be successful, you will always be poor and go back to your neighborhood. I wasn’t surprised by his behavior. The lesson is, you never know your business partner’s true intentions until money gets involved. Be careful who you work with as a business partner.
Early in 2020, I was laid off again but I wasn’t disappointed. I was happy because I was close to launching my startup company. But something happened, the Covid-19 Pandemic became an Epidemic and the world was at a standstill. I was still excited about starting my company until something else happened shortly after Covid. I became ill shortly after Covid-19. I was like, NO, here we go again with another setback.
In 2022 I was hospitalized with an unknown illness. After 3 surgeries, 30 days in the hospital and 1 year of painful recovery, I thought KenCleanCan would never see the day of light. But I thought about the amazing team of doctors, nurses and other staff members who went above and beyond to care for me. Everyone was pulling for me to get better. I didn’t want to let them down so I started back working on KenCleanCan again.
My journey of creating a successful company has finally affected my health. I became very ill and for three years my body had turned on me. I could see my dream slipping away.
I’m here and I have unfinished business. I almost gave up. My message to other entrepreneurs and startup founders, don’t go alone on your journey of building a successful company, find others you trust and surround yourself with a loyal team. I only wanted a team that shares my vision and passion of creating a successful startup.
In the beginning of your journey, no one believes in you, your idea or your vision. No one believes in you in the beginning, It’s only after you put in the hard work to invent a viable product and startup company that gets people’s attention. Why didn’t they see my vision in the beginning?
A young lady saw my vision years earlier. I posted an Ad about help with a startup through a job posting platform. The young lady’s words brought tears to my eyes. She said, you are creating something special, I like your product and I think your company is going to be successful. Please hire me, I will answer the phone, make coffee, clean the office & cafeteria and take out the trash for FREE until you are able to pay me. I want to be part of something special. I couldn’t believe that someone would work for free for a chance to say I work for that company. I’m going to search through my old emails to find this young lady and I’m going to give her a Senior position at my company. She’s a special person every company should want.
My message to my competitors, I came to you for help but you ignored me. You saw me and my startup company as nobody. Soon (KenCleanCan) will be somebody. I only wanted you (my competitors) to open the door and give me a seat at the table to hear what I have to say. DEI: Diversity-Equity & Inclusion.
My message to my former employers, I went above and beyond to perform my job at a high level, I put in long hours and worked weekends to satisfy your customers.I was overworked, underappreciated, underpaid, overlooked for promotions, denied bonuses and received small pay increases.
Thank you for showing me how I will not treat my employees at KenCleanCan.
I can see where I’m going now and I like it. I did it my way. I will never forget what I had to overcome to get to this point in my life.
Question: I ask myself why starting a startup company is so easy for some but hard for others. I don’t have that answer yet.
Kenneth, Founder, CEO & President of KenCleanCan

HOW IT WORKS?
When you pull the full bag from the wastebasket, an empty bag will be pulled into place…no need to go search for another trash bag! Simply tear off the old bag at the perforation and set the new bag in place.
KenCleanCan is also ideal in a commercial environment where efficiencies can be improved in the repetitive nature of emptying trash cans.



