He arrived from Cuba with virtually nothing; now he owns the Triangle's largest janitorial company

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- When it's quitting time in downtown Raleigh, Jorge Goti's crew is just getting started.

It's responsible for cleaning office buildings where thousands of people work and visit every day.

Goti owns MG Capital Maintenance, a janitorial company with 600 employees, cleaning 200 Triangle buildings.

"I am very grateful to be a janitor," Goti said.

Goti arrived in Raleigh from Cuba in 1989 with a college degree, leaving behind a career as a coach for the Cuban national swim team.

"The reason I went into janitorial work is because Burger King, McDonald's, Bojangles, I couldn't apply for a job with them because back then I didn't speak a word in English," said Goti. "So finding a job as a janitor was the very first thing that I could get."

He went on to create the Triangle's largest janitorial company.

Goti chuckles when he explains his success was made possible by the "PhD" he brought from Cuba.

"It's not the PhD you get from an Ivy League," said Goti. "It's a PhD that you learn from being poor, hungry and you need to be determined to succeed."

Goti has workers on his janitorial staff who are doctors, lawyers and engineers who came to the United States from Latin America dreaming of a better life.

"We try to help everyone that comes," Goti said. "The only requirement is you cannot be ashamed to clean a commode."

We first met Goti's family on one of our ABC11 trips to Cuba in 2016, at their home outside Havana, where they struggle to live on just a few dollars a day.

His roots in Cuba keep Goti grounded.

"I am humbled by what I got. And what I got comes from hard work, but also comes from all the people that for some reason, they saw something in me, and they just helped me out," Goti said.

His gratitude fuels his commitment to financially support many Triangle charities.

His team at MG Capital Maintenance built a Habitat for Humanity home last year, and Goti is especially passionate about helping communities after natural disasters, traveling to places hard hit by hurricanes.

"Right now success for me is all about what else I am able to do for the community, not what other building can I clean," Goti said. "It comes from this deep, thankful appreciation that I have for what I have been able to accomplish."