Now serving yours.
We didn't start in a strip mall. We started at the center of the world's most-watched sporting event, serving 3,500 international media professionals under live-event pressure — and we brought every lesson home to Dallas.
Every great club has an origin. This is ours.
First Eleven Cleaners is named after football's greatest idea — eleven individuals who move as one, each in the right position, at the right moment. We built this company on that principle: every garment in the right process, every step documented, every customer informed.
We were selected to operate the garment-care facility at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ International Broadcast Centre in Dallas. For twelve consecutive weeks, we served 3,500 accredited international media professionals — journalists, producers, and broadcast crews from around the globe — completing 27+ transactions per day, zero documented disputes, and a signed Vendor Performance Confirmation at close.
Twelve weeks under live-event pressure taught us what no business plan could: that demand data beats assumptions, documentation is destiny, labor discipline decides profitability, and evidence defeats disputes. These aren't values on a wall — they're operational disciplines wired into every system we built.
We took every lesson from the world's biggest stage and built a company around them. The same photo-intake protocol, the same two-checkpoint quality system, the same AI-assisted operations — now available to every home, salon, gym, and hotel across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Founder, President & CEO — Lydia Painting, LLC d/b/a First Eleven Cleaners
Dr. Itiola brings a rare combination of academic rigor and operational discipline to the garment-care industry. A Project Management Professional, LEED-Accredited sustainability specialist, and combat-experienced veteran, he designed the systems that powered the FIFA World Cup IBC operation — and rebuilt them from the ground up as the foundation of First Eleven Cleaners.
His operating philosophy: “If it is not written, it does not exist.” Every process is documented, every price is published, every garment is photographed. That discipline isn't policy — it's the standard the World Cup demanded and that our customers now receive.
Six principles. All proven under pressure. None negotiable.
Every garment is photographed at intake and return. We proved at the IBC that photographic evidence ends disputes in thirty seconds. That protocol is now your Garment Passport — a visual record of every item, every cleaning, every handoff.
Every price is published before checkout, always. We watched competitors surprise customers with fees they never saw coming. First Eleven's founding contract with you is simple: you see the total before we charge it. If you weigh more than estimated — you see the new ticket and photos before we touch your card.
Our operations run with a live dashboard tracking labor as a percentage of net sales, with a hard ceiling of 32%. This isn't a quarterly report — it's a daily discipline we learned at the IBC, where that single metric was the line between a profitable operation and a loss.
At the IBC, international media crews needed confirmation in minutes, not hours. We delivered that manually. Eleven — our AI concierge — delivers it automatically, around the clock, in your language. Six status messages from booking to delivery: every stage, every time.
Inspired by Chewy's legendary customer service. Our "Make It Right" button is on every receipt — one tap opens a claim with your garment's photos already attached. We don't make you argue. We make it right.
Uber doesn't ask permission by ZIP code, and neither do we. Any address in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex can book on Day One. Dense zones earn daily service. Emerging zones get scheduled service days. Every accepted booking gets a committed window — never a rejection.
Our certification portfolio opens institutional doors no ordinary cleaner can walk through.
Our SDVOSB and Veteran-HUB certifications make First Eleven eligible for VA Vets First priority procurement and SDVOSB sole-source contracts — categories in which qualified garment-care vendors are scarce across North Texas. We are the only provider in this market that can attach a FIFA World Cup Vendor Performance Letter to an institutional bid.
In football, the Starting Eleven is the coach's highest expression of confidence — eleven individuals who train relentlessly, execute precisely, and trust each other completely. No star player wins alone. No single process saves a garment alone.
We named this company after that idea because great garment care is a team sport: the AI concierge who books your order, the driver who photographs your doorstep, the intake specialist who documents every item, the quality inspector who checks twice, and the system that messages you at every stage — that's the Starting Eleven. Your clothes deserve nothing less.
Boundaries are how trust is built.
