How she shines: Zeynep is an inventor and entrepreneur who has brought innovation and fresh thinking to the cleaning industry. As Founder of Silver Defender, she works closely with EVS leaders, infection prevention professionals, distributors, and frontline teams to advance high-touch surface hygiene. Her leadership, resilience, commitment to independent testing, and ability to turn real-world challenges into practical solutions make her a true Woman of Clean.
Years in the industry: 8 years
Job responsibilities: Zeynep “Z” Ekemen is the Founder, CEO, and Inventor of Silver Defender, where she leads the development and growth of antimicrobial surface protection solutions for high-touch environments. She oversees product innovation, manufacturing, strategic partnerships, distribution, sales, and education, working with professionals across commercial cleaning, environmental services, healthcare, hospitality, and facility management.
Zeynep remains directly involved in product development, independent testing, and real-world implementation, with a focus on an often-overlooked challenge in environmental hygiene: what happens to high-touch surfaces between routine cleaning and disinfection cycles. Her work is centered on giving facilities a practical additional layer of surface protection that complements, rather than replaces, their existing cleaning programs.
Career path: Zeynep’s career has never followed a conventional path. She began in public accounting before making the leap into entrepreneurship and founding Z Realty Group in 2009. She built this commercial real estate company from the ground up and developed a career representing and advising companies on development and expansion across the country.
Her path into the cleaning industry began with something completely different: an idea. She recognized an overlooked problem with frequently touched surfaces and began developing what would eventually become Silver Defender. She had no background in manufacturing or the cleaning industry, so she taught herself, found the right technical and manufacturing partners, and turned the concept into a real product.
In 2020, she officially launched Silver Defender. What began as an invention became a nationally and internationally distributed antimicrobial surface technology used in healthcare, commercial facilities, hospitality, government, and other high-touch environments.
As the industry evolved after the pandemic, Zeynep evolved with it. She has worked to move the conversation beyond emergency response and toward the everyday role high-touch surfaces play in environmental hygiene. She continues to invest in independent testing, product development, and real-world applications while working directly with EVS professionals, infection prevention leaders, distributors, and facility teams.
Her career is ultimately a story of reinvention. She went from working as an accountant to operating as a commercial real estate entrepreneur to becoming an inventor and manufacturer by being willing to enter industries she knew little about, learn them from the ground up, and build solutions where she saw an unmet need.
Best advice received: The best advice Zeynep has received is that no one is coming to build your dream for you. If you believe in something, you have to be willing to take responsibility for it, keep showing up, and figure things out as you go. She has carried that mentality throughout her career. She believes you do not need to know everything before you start. You need the courage to start, the discipline to learn, and the persistence to keep going when the outcome is uncertain.
Fun fact: People might be surprised to learn how much of Zeynep’s success has been self-taught. She had no background in manufacturing, antimicrobial technology, or the cleaning industry when she began developing Silver Defender. She learned by asking questions, researching, finding experts, and refusing to be intimidated by what she did not know. That curiosity is still a huge part of who she is today. She is never afraid to be the person in the room asking the question.