BusinessEntrepreneurship

Full Cycle

CLA

Formerly the PlanetLaundry Podcast, the new Full Cycle podcast brings you the great stories from inside the vended laundry industry and the perspective you need from outside the industry. A media offering from the Coin Laundry Association, Full Cycle aims to elevate the vended laundry industry through celebrating the success of the modern laundry entrepreneur.

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S2 · E19
September 15 · 42 min
Ken Wimberly on Turning Failure Into Laundry Luv's Community-First Model
Before Ken Wimberly became chief visionary officer and co-founder of Laundry Luv, he watched an $800,000 business go to zero — and had to call every investor to tell them so. On this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf talks with Wimberly about the anxiety and depression that followed, the morning routine and structure that pulled him out of it, and how a real estate deal in Abilene, Texas, turned into a laundromat company built around one idea: the store should feel less like a chore and more like a community hub. Wimberly also shares how his military school background led Laundry Luv to run on EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), why every store manager gets a $50 budget to solve problems without asking permission, and the reading habit he credits with 10 to 15 extra books a year. This episode is sponsored by Eastern Funding.
#19
September 15 · 42 min· Video
Ken Wimberly on Turning Failure Into Laundry Luv's Community-First Model
Before Ken Wimberly became chief visionary officer and co-founder of Laundry Luv, he watched an $800,000 business go to zero — and had to call every investor to tell them so. On this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf talks with Wimberly about the anxiety and depression that followed, the morning routine and structure that pulled him out of it, and how a real estate deal in Abilene, Texas, turned into a laundromat company built around one idea: the store should feel less like a chore and more like a community hub. Wimberly also shares how his military school background led Laundry Luv to run on EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), why every store manager gets a $50 budget to solve problems without asking permission, and the reading habit he credits with 10 to 15 extra books a year. This episode is sponsored by Eastern Funding.
#18
September 1 · 40 min· Video
Brian Wallace on CLA's Legislative Advocacy and the $7.4 Billion-Dollar Impact Report
On this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf talks with Brian Wallace, president and CEO of CLA, The Laundry Association, about a side of the organization's work that rarely gets discussed: legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of laundromat owners. Wallace walks through CLA's new Advocacy Impact Report, which puts a dollar figure, $7.4 billion, on decades of legislative wins. That includes the effort to have laundromats formally classified as essential businesses at the federal level during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing work to preserve state sales tax exemptions in states such as Louisiana, Nebraska and Connecticut, and recent amendments to microfiber filtration legislation in California, Illinois and New York that excluded commercial washers installed in laundromats from the requirement. He credits board member Jamie Sewell with pushing him to quantify work that had largely lived in institutional memory. Wallace also explains why the sales tax exemption, which currently applies in 41 of the 44 states that collect a sales tax, remains one of CLA's most persistent issues, and how bringing legislators into member stores, including visits with a California assembly member and a New York state senator, has helped clear up misconceptions about how laundromats operate and who they serve. The conversation closes with a look at other issues CLA tracks, from coin and currency composition to wastewater and PFAS concerns, and Wallace's advice for owners who want to get involved locally. Listeners can find the CLA Advocacy Impact Report at laundryassociation.org. This episode is brought to you by Eastern Funding, which has provided financing for laundromat purchases, construction and equipment since 1997. Learn more at easternfunding.com/laundry. Thanks for giving us a turn.
#18
September 1 · 40 min
Brian Wallace on CLA's Legislative Advocacy and the $7.4 Billion-Dollar Impact Report
On this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf talks with Brian Wallace, president and CEO of CLA, The Laundry Association, about a side of the organization's work that rarely gets discussed: legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of laundromat owners. Wallace walks through CLA's new Advocacy Impact Report, which puts a dollar figure, $7.4 billion, on decades of legislative wins. That includes the effort to have laundromats formally classified as essential businesses at the federal level during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing work to preserve state sales tax exemptions in states such as Louisiana, Nebraska and Connecticut, and recent amendments to microfiber filtration legislation in California, Illinois and New York that excluded commercial washers installed in laundromats from the requirement. He credits board member Jamie Sewell with pushing him to quantify work that had largely lived in institutional memory. Wallace also explains why the sales tax exemption, which currently applies in 41 of the 44 states that collect a sales tax, remains one of CLA's most persistent issues, and how bringing legislators into member stores, including visits with a California assembly member and a New York state senator, has helped clear up misconceptions about how laundromats operate and who they serve. The conversation closes with a look at other issues CLA tracks, from coin and currency composition to wastewater and PFAS concerns, and Wallace's advice for owners who want to get involved locally. Listeners can find the CLA Advocacy Impact Report at laundryassociation.org. This episode is brought to you by Eastern Funding, which has provided financing for laundromat purchases, construction and equipment since 1997. Learn more at easternfunding.com/laundry. Thanks for giving us a turn.
#17
August 18 · 41 min· Video
Joe Ebanks on Turning an Accidental Laundromat Purchase Into a Growing Business
Joe Ebanks did not set out to become a laundromat owner. A real estate investor for more than 25 years, Ebanks was negotiating a home purchase from a woman named Linda when the deal fell through. Weeks later, Linda called with an unexpected offer: would he be interested in buying her laundromat instead. Ebanks and his wife, Lisa, knew nothing about the business beyond the old assumption that laundromats were reliable cash generators, but they agreed to take a look. What they found was a rundown, un-air-conditioned laundromat in Florida, sweltering under the heat of running dryers. Ebanks negotiated a seller-financed deal, put $50,000 down and agreed to pay off the rest over time, closing on his first laundromat with no real plan for how to run it. With no formal training, the couple learned the business hands-on, repairing machines themselves and eventually writing the standard operating procedures their employees still follow today. A second, larger acquisition followed within months, again financed through owner terms. As the business grew, so did the couple's focus on data and technology. Where many laundromat owners still think in quarters and manual price changes, Joe and Lisa manage pricing remotely and test dynamic pricing that shifts by the day. Their pickup and delivery service has become their most profitable addition, bringing in more than $28,000 in a single month. Ebanks credits much of that growth to a mindset shift away from viewing other laundromat owners as competitors and toward treating them as collaborators, a philosophy that eventually helped his business absorb an entire regional territory. That same instinct led the couple to launch Wealth Off Washers, a venture built to help others break into the laundromat business the way they wish someone had helped them. Looking ahead, Ebanks sees the physical laundromat becoming less central to the business model, describing it instead as the infrastructure behind a broader, technology-driven laundry service, one where unattended locations, delivery routes and commercial accounts can all be managed from a single app. Asked what advice he would offer listeners, Ebanks pointed not to laundry but to personal fundamentals: get closer to faith, take health seriously and eat better, habits he believes make everything else, including business, work better. Thanks for giving us a turn.
#17
August 18 · 41 min
Joe Ebanks on Turning an Accidental Laundromat Purchase Into a Growing Business
Joe Ebanks did not set out to become a laundromat owner. A real estate investor for more than 25 years, Ebanks was negotiating a home purchase from a woman named Linda when the deal fell through. Weeks later, Linda called with an unexpected offer: would he be interested in buying her laundromat instead. Ebanks and his wife, Lisa, knew nothing about the business beyond the old assumption that laundromats were reliable cash generators, but they agreed to take a look. What they found was a rundown, un-air-conditioned laundromat in Florida, sweltering under the heat of running dryers. Ebanks negotiated a seller-financed deal, put $50,000 down and agreed to pay off the rest over time, closing on his first laundromat with no real plan for how to run it. With no formal training, the couple learned the business hands-on, repairing machines themselves and eventually writing the standard operating procedures their employees still follow today. A second, larger acquisition followed within months, again financed through owner terms. As the business grew, so did the couple's focus on data and technology. Where many laundromat owners still think in quarters and manual price changes, Joe and Lisa manage pricing remotely and test dynamic pricing that shifts by the day. Their pickup and delivery service has become their most profitable addition, bringing in more than $28,000 in a single month. Ebanks credits much of that growth to a mindset shift away from viewing other laundromat owners as competitors and toward treating them as collaborators, a philosophy that eventually helped his business absorb an entire regional territory. That same instinct led the couple to launch Wealth Off Washers, a venture built to help others break into the laundromat business the way they wish someone had helped them. Looking ahead, Ebanks sees the physical laundromat becoming less central to the business model, describing it instead as the infrastructure behind a broader, technology-driven laundry service, one where unattended locations, delivery routes and commercial accounts can all be managed from a single app. Asked what advice he would offer listeners, Ebanks pointed not to laundry but to personal fundamentals: get closer to faith, take health seriously and eat better, habits he believes make everything else, including business, work better. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E16
August 5 · 32 min
She Bought a Laundromat Because Doing Airbnb Laundry Got Too Expensive
Catherine Fisher never planned to enter the laundry industry. A longtime real estate agent in Corvallis, Oregon, she built a side business managing about a dozen Airbnb properties, a portfolio that produced an overwhelming amount of laundry. Towels, sheets, blankets and pillows piled up faster than she expected, and for years she paid someone else to handle it at a local laundromat. The math that changed everything At some point, Fisher did the math. She was spending tens of thousands of dollars a year paying someone to wash laundry at another person's business. Her first idea, buying commercial machines for her own house, fell apart the moment she saw the price tag. That's when the obvious question surfaced: if she was going to own the equipment anyway, why not let other people pay to use it too. In other words, why not open a laundromat. Finding a space in a town that didn't make it easy Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, has a population of roughly 55,000, and zoning rules there made finding a location difficult. Laundry use wasn't permitted in most commercial areas. Fisher eventually found a former gym in a strip mall where the original permit language happened to include the word "laundry," which grandfathered the space in for her use. She converted it into a 4,000-square-foot facility with 26 washers and 32 dryers, a build-out that started from the ground up. Building more than a laundromat Fisher named the business Adam's Washateria after a childhood friend who died from complications of ALS, a disease he was diagnosed with during his military service. He lived 15 and a half years after his diagnosis and encouraged Fisher to pursue the business before he died. She wanted the space to reflect his humor and dignity, which shows up in details like a disco ball and neon lighting. Rather than maximizing the number of machines she could fit into the space, Fisher prioritized room for a kids' area, couches and wide folding tables. She also pays her staff well, even though it slows the business's path to profitability, because she wants employees who genuinely want to be there and who build relationships with regular customers. Laundry as a form of connection Fisher describes moments that stand out to her more than the business side of things: helping a customer who was a few dollars short, watching a young couple bring in 260 pounds of laundry they had been putting off because money was tight, and spending two free weeks of laundry service around the store's opening, during which she met a woman washing her hospitalized sister's clothes and bedding. For Fisher, the laundromat became less about the machines and more about offering people a space where they feel seen. In a town that hadn't seen a new laundromat in 20 years despite adding 20,000 residents, she also saw a clear opportunity, one built as much on community as on convenience. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E16
August 5 · 32 min· Video
She Bought a Laundromat Because Doing Airbnb Laundry Got Too Expensive
Catherine Fisher never planned to enter the laundry industry. A longtime real estate agent in Corvallis, Oregon, she built a side business managing about a dozen Airbnb properties, a portfolio that produced an overwhelming amount of laundry. Towels, sheets, blankets and pillows piled up faster than she expected, and for years she paid someone else to handle it at a local laundromat. The math that changed everything At some point, Fisher did the math. She was spending tens of thousands of dollars a year paying someone to wash laundry at another person's business. Her first idea, buying commercial machines for her own house, fell apart the moment she saw the price tag. That's when the obvious question surfaced: if she was going to own the equipment anyway, why not let other people pay to use it too. In other words, why not open a laundromat. Finding a space in a town that didn't make it easy Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, has a population of roughly 55,000, and zoning rules there made finding a location difficult. Laundry use wasn't permitted in most commercial areas. Fisher eventually found a former gym in a strip mall where the original permit language happened to include the word "laundry," which grandfathered the space in for her use. She converted it into a 4,000-square-foot facility with 26 washers and 32 dryers, a build-out that started from the ground up. Building more than a laundromat Fisher named the business Adam's Washateria after a childhood friend who died from complications of ALS, a disease he was diagnosed with during his military service. He lived 15 and a half years after his diagnosis and encouraged Fisher to pursue the business before he died. She wanted the space to reflect his humor and dignity, which shows up in details like a disco ball and neon lighting. Rather than maximizing the number of machines she could fit into the space, Fisher prioritized room for a kids' area, couches and wide folding tables. She also pays her staff well, even though it slows the business's path to profitability, because she wants employees who genuinely want to be there and who build relationships with regular customers. Laundry as a form of connection Fisher describes moments that stand out to her more than the business side of things: helping a customer who was a few dollars short, watching a young couple bring in 260 pounds of laundry they had been putting off because money was tight, and spending two free weeks of laundry service around the store's opening, during which she met a woman washing her hospitalized sister's clothes and bedding. For Fisher, the laundromat became less about the machines and more about offering people a space where they feel seen. In a town that hadn't seen a new laundromat in 20 years despite adding 20,000 residents, she also saw a clear opportunity, one built as much on community as on convenience. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E15
July 21 · 26 min· Video
Operation Laundry Chapter 3: It’s Open
In this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf checks back in with Tim Johnson for the third installment of his series following the launch of Operation Laundry, a destination laundromat in Holland, Michigan. The earlier episodes covered Johnson's decision to leverage his 401(k) to fund the project, the construction process and his approach to building community and staffing systems. This conversation picks up after opening day. Johnson shares that Operation Laundry officially opened on June 1, roughly a month behind his original May target. Construction took about 90 days after a 50-day demolition process he handled himself. He describes the response from the community as overwhelmingly positive, noting the business has collected more than 360 five-star reviews in five or six weeks, which he attributes to building relationships with customers and asking for feedback directly. The conversation also covers the more difficult realities of the first weeks in business. Johnson talks about running the laundromat at a loss while working to reduce labor costs, since staffing is the one expense he can control. He recounts unexpected challenges, including customers who ignore posted signage, an aversion to technology among older customers and two flooding incidents caused by improperly sized bulkheads. He explains the fixes put in place since, including remote water shutoff controls and floor sensors that alert him to leaks. Johnson and DeWolf discuss the ongoing effort to build commercial accounts and wash-and-fold service, which Johnson sees as necessary to move the business toward profitability, since self-serve washing alone is expected to break even. He closes with a piece of advice he attributes to a college football coach: the value of consistently taking action, which he ties back to his own habit of showing up and doing the work even when progress feels slow. Thanks for giving us a turn.
#116
July 20 · 26 min
Operation Laundry Chapter 3: It’s Open
In this episode of Full Cycle, host Matt DeWolf checks back in with Tim Johnson for the third installment of his series following the launch of Operation Laundry, a destination laundromat in Holland, Michigan. The earlier episodes covered Johnson's decision to leverage his 401(k) to fund the project, the construction process and his approach to building community and staffing systems. This conversation picks up after opening day. Johnson shares that Operation Laundry officially opened on June 1, roughly a month behind his original May target. Construction took about 90 days after a 50-day demolition process he handled himself. He describes the response from the community as overwhelmingly positive, noting the business has collected more than 360 five-star reviews in five or six weeks, which he attributes to building relationships with customers and asking for feedback directly. The conversation also covers the more difficult realities of the first weeks in business. Johnson talks about running the laundromat at a loss while working to reduce labor costs, since staffing is the one expense he can control. He recounts unexpected challenges, including customers who ignore posted signage, an aversion to technology among older customers and two flooding incidents caused by improperly sized bulkheads. He explains the fixes put in place since, including remote water shutoff controls and floor sensors that alert him to leaks. Johnson and DeWolf discuss the ongoing effort to build commercial accounts and wash-and-fold service, which Johnson sees as necessary to move the business toward profitability, since self-serve washing alone is expected to break even. He closes with a piece of advice he attributes to a college football coach: the value of consistently taking action, which he ties back to his own habit of showing up and doing the work even when progress feels slow. Thanks for giving us a turn.
#115
July 7 · 39 min
Leaving Private Equity for Laundry
Host Matt DeWolf talks with Amy Knopf and Avi Robbins, co-founders of A+ Laundry in Atlanta, about leaving private equity careers to build a laundry business from the ground up. Knopf and Robbins both spent years in private equity before deciding to strike out on their own. Knopf's background is in commercial real estate, where she spent 14 years as an owner and operator across office, retail and multifamily properties. Her family has also run a commercial laundry business in Ohio for 95 years, giving her an early connection to the industry. Robbins spent about 15 years running manufacturing businesses for private equity firms, focused on launching new products in the medical and life science space. The two have known each other for more than 10 years, and after independently considering their next moves, they landed on laundry as an industry with room to grow. They founded A+ Laundry in February 2025 and spent months evaluating opportunities across the greater Atlanta area, which has more than 300 laundromats. Their first deal came together quickly after a seller who had discovered that laundry wasn't for them agreed to terms within days, though the lease assignment process with the property owner delayed closing until September. They also acquired a pickup and delivery business built on two decades of paper-based routes, which they have since moved to a digital system for online requests and route optimization. Much of the conversation centers on how Knopf and Robbins approached retooling their first laundromat. They redesigned the customer flow, moving the attendant desk and payment center to the front of the store so staff can greet customers as they arrive. New lighting, paint and a dedicated welcome area were part of an effort to create what Knopf calls a better laundry day, whether customers use the physical location or the pickup and delivery service. Robbins and Knopf also discuss the operational lessons they have picked up along the way, including the importance of finding a trusted equipment distributor, budgeting realistically for marketing and community outreach, and building technology tools that let them monitor equipment and supply levels remotely. Knopf notes that A+ Laundry's tagline, "It's about time," reflects their focus on saving time for both their team and their customers. The two close by sharing what has surprised them most since launching the business, including how deeply they have become involved in community events, and by offering listeners a piece of advice each: start fresh each day and give it full effort, and take time to listen closely to what customers, employees and potential sellers actually need. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E114
July 7 · 39 min· Video
Leaving Private Equity for Laundry
Host Matt DeWolf talks with Amy Knopf and Avi Robbins, co-founders of A+ Laundry in Atlanta, about leaving private equity careers to build a laundry business from the ground up. Knopf and Robbins both spent years in private equity before deciding to strike out on their own. Knopf's background is in commercial real estate, where she spent 14 years as an owner and operator across office, retail and multifamily properties. Her family has also run a commercial laundry business in Ohio for 95 years, giving her an early connection to the industry. Robbins spent about 15 years running manufacturing businesses for private equity firms, focused on launching new products in the medical and life science space. The two have known each other for more than 10 years, and after independently considering their next moves, they landed on laundry as an industry with room to grow. They founded A+ Laundry in February 2025 and spent months evaluating opportunities across the greater Atlanta area, which has more than 300 laundromats. Their first deal came together quickly after a seller who had discovered that laundry wasn't for them agreed to terms within days, though the lease assignment process with the property owner delayed closing until September. They also acquired a pickup and delivery business built on two decades of paper-based routes, which they have since moved to a digital system for online requests and route optimization. Much of the conversation centers on how Knopf and Robbins approached retooling their first laundromat. They redesigned the customer flow, moving the attendant desk and payment center to the front of the store so staff can greet customers as they arrive. New lighting, paint and a dedicated welcome area were part of an effort to create what Knopf calls a better laundry day, whether customers use the physical location or the pickup and delivery service. Robbins and Knopf also discuss the operational lessons they have picked up along the way, including the importance of finding a trusted equipment distributor, budgeting realistically for marketing and community outreach, and building technology tools that let them monitor equipment and supply levels remotely. Knopf notes that A+ Laundry's tagline, "It's about time," reflects their focus on saving time for both their team and their customers. The two close by sharing what has surprised them most since launching the business, including how deeply they have become involved in community events, and by offering listeners a piece of advice each: start fresh each day and give it full effort, and take time to listen closely to what customers, employees and potential sellers actually need. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E13
June 22 · 39 min· Video
Building Culture from the Ground Up with Kate Wolfe
Kate Wolfe came to the laundry industry the way many do, by following a thread of curiosity until it became a plan. A TikTok video about passive income sent her down a research rabbit hole, and within a year or two she had identified a laundromat near her home in Pennsylvania, arranged financing, and called the owner before her husband even knew what was happening. That first location, which they renamed Laundry Lane, closed in December 2023. Six months later, they bought the building. Four months after that, they acquired a second location. Wolfe runs both stores with her husband, George, and the division of responsibilities has developed organically. George handles the mechanical side, maintenance, and property management. Kate brings an MBA and a background in people management, process development, and systems design from her years working on a government contract. She wrote SOPs, built training programs, developed flowcharts and job aids, and tracked processing times. That experience translated directly into how she runs Laundry Lane. When they hired their first employee, roughly 18 months in, Kate had already built out a checklist that accounted for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, with specific days assigned to specific recurring work. The goal was consistency, making sure the store looked the same regardless of who had cleaned it. She traces that standard back to a simple test her husband applies: if his 77-year-old mother can feel comfortable there at night, then the space is doing what it should. In this episode, Kate talks about how the culture she is building at Laundry Lane is the connective tissue between her brand and her customer experience. That includes hiring former customers when possible, backing her staff when a customer crosses a line, and making sure employees understand why the standards matter, not just what they are. The two-way security cameras serve as a customer service tool as much as a safety measure. Magnetic locks let late customers finish their laundry without being rushed out. Small decisions, consistently made, have added up to a customer base that sweeps the floors on their own and drives past closer options to use washer number five. Kate is candid about what she and George did not know when they started and how much they learned after they were already in it. The CLA, the Laundromat Resource Podcast, and other industry resources came later, once they had already stumbled through the early lessons on their own. Her advice for anyone new to the industry is to find those resources before you need them. Her closing thought for the episode is a reframe on productivity: rather than measuring a day against a long to-do list, identify the one thing that matters most that day and do that well. Some days that is a business goal. Some days it is being present for her daughter. Either one counts as a successful day. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E13
June 22 · 39 min
Building Culture from the Ground Up with Kate Wolfe
Kate Wolfe came to the laundry industry the way many do, by following a thread of curiosity until it became a plan. A TikTok video about passive income sent her down a research rabbit hole, and within a year or two she had identified a laundromat near her home in Pennsylvania, arranged financing, and called the owner before her husband even knew what was happening. That first location, which they renamed Laundry Lane, closed in December 2023. Six months later, they bought the building. Four months after that, they acquired a second location. Wolfe runs both stores with her husband, George, and the division of responsibilities has developed organically. George handles the mechanical side, maintenance, and property management. Kate brings an MBA and a background in people management, process development, and systems design from her years working on a government contract. She wrote SOPs, built training programs, developed flowcharts and job aids, and tracked processing times. That experience translated directly into how she runs Laundry Lane. When they hired their first employee, roughly 18 months in, Kate had already built out a checklist that accounted for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, with specific days assigned to specific recurring work. The goal was consistency, making sure the store looked the same regardless of who had cleaned it. She traces that standard back to a simple test her husband applies: if his 77-year-old mother can feel comfortable there at night, then the space is doing what it should. In this episode, Kate talks about how the culture she is building at Laundry Lane is the connective tissue between her brand and her customer experience. That includes hiring former customers when possible, backing her staff when a customer crosses a line, and making sure employees understand why the standards matter, not just what they are. The two-way security cameras serve as a customer service tool as much as a safety measure. Magnetic locks let late customers finish their laundry without being rushed out. Small decisions, consistently made, have added up to a customer base that sweeps the floors on their own and drives past closer options to use washer number five. Kate is candid about what she and George did not know when they started and how much they learned after they were already in it. The CLA, the Laundromat Resource Podcast, and other industry resources came later, once they had already stumbled through the early lessons on their own. Her advice for anyone new to the industry is to find those resources before you need them. Her closing thought for the episode is a reframe on productivity: rather than measuring a day against a long to-do list, identify the one thing that matters most that day and do that well. Some days that is a business goal. Some days it is being present for her daughter. Either one counts as a successful day. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E12
June 9 · 40 min
From Corporate Ladder to Laundromat Franchise: Cathy Neilley on Building Spin Doctor
Cathy Neilley spent years working her way through corporate America, from clinical laboratory work at major New York hospitals to pharmaceutical sales, biotech management, and eventually e-commerce and product management at Johnson & Johnson. The training was excellent and the travel was broad, but the path upward grew uncertain, and she began looking for a way out on her own terms. The idea for a laundromat came from a moment of genuine frustration. Returning from a work trip with a suitcase of dirty clothes, she found the building laundry room occupied and uninviting, then discovered a small neighborhood shop offering wash, dry, and fold service. The result changed her thinking: professional women needed a better laundry option, and she was going to build it. That was the beginning of Spin Doctor, which has now been operating for 13 years. The franchise came later, and somewhat unexpectedly. A family relocation dried up the capital she had set aside for expanding her own store count, and her husband suggested they franchise the concept instead. They worked with a packaging company to build out the legal framework, prepared for a slow road, and then watched COVID pause and paradoxically accelerate everything. People reconsidering their careers after the pandemic were looking for small business opportunities, and Spin Doctor now has 12 franchisees in active build-out phases across New Jersey, New York, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Minnesota. Neilley speaks candidly about what it has meant to build this in an industry that has historically been male-dominated, much like the corporate world she left. Women make up less than five percent of laundromat owners, and she has a stated goal of reaching 30 percent female or female-majority ownership across Spin Doctor franchises. Visibility, she argues, is what moves that number. People need to see that it is possible before they will believe it is possible for them. Her closing advice: admit what you do not know, and stay curious. Learning from industries and situations that have nothing obvious to do with your own work has a way of paying off when you least expect it. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E12
June 9 · 40 min· Video
From Corporate Ladder to Laundromat Franchise: Cathy Neilley on Building Spin Doctor
Cathy Neilley spent years working her way through corporate America, from clinical laboratory work at major New York hospitals to pharmaceutical sales, biotech management, and eventually e-commerce and product management at Johnson & Johnson. The training was excellent and the travel was broad, but the path upward grew uncertain, and she began looking for a way out on her own terms. The idea for a laundromat came from a moment of genuine frustration. Returning from a work trip with a suitcase of dirty clothes, she found the building laundry room occupied and uninviting, then discovered a small neighborhood shop offering wash, dry, and fold service. The result changed her thinking: professional women needed a better laundry option, and she was going to build it. That was the beginning of Spin Doctor, which has now been operating for 13 years. The franchise came later, and somewhat unexpectedly. A family relocation dried up the capital she had set aside for expanding her own store count, and her husband suggested they franchise the concept instead. They worked with a packaging company to build out the legal framework, prepared for a slow road, and then watched COVID pause and paradoxically accelerate everything. People reconsidering their careers after the pandemic were looking for small business opportunities, and Spin Doctor now has 12 franchisees in active build-out phases across New Jersey, New York, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Minnesota. Neilley speaks candidly about what it has meant to build this in an industry that has historically been male-dominated, much like the corporate world she left. Women make up less than five percent of laundromat owners, and she has a stated goal of reaching 30 percent female or female-majority ownership across Spin Doctor franchises. Visibility, she argues, is what moves that number. People need to see that it is possible before they will believe it is possible for them. Her closing advice: admit what you do not know, and stay curious. Learning from industries and situations that have nothing obvious to do with your own work has a way of paying off when you least expect it. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E11
May 26 · 36 min
Curiosity and Mentors Make the Difference for Two Women in Laundry Service
In this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with two women who have built long careers on the service and maintenance side of the laundry industry: Jennifer Gonzalez, Senior Manager of Service at Maytag Commercial Laundry, and Jackie McFeely, National Service Manager for Dependable Laundry Solution in Australia. Both guests trace their comfort with tools and troubleshooting back to childhood. Jennifer recalls disassembling her father's lawn tractor at age six, and Jackie grew up helping in her father's mechanic shop. Neither set out specifically for laundry, but both found their way there through a combination of curiosity, good mentors, and an appreciation for working closely with customers. The conversation covers what it has been like to work in a field where women remain underrepresented, how both guests have navigated bias with patience and by simply demonstrating their expertise, and why they believe representation matters as much on the customer side as it does within their own organizations. Jennifer and Jackie also talk about their ongoing working relationship across two continents, and what makes the partnership between a manufacturer and a distributor function well over time. On the question of encouraging more people into the trades, both guests point to the same thing: let people try. Jackie's advice is to have a go. Jennifer's is to remember that there is a video for almost everything, and that most mistakes can be undone. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E11
May 26 · 36 min· Video
Curiosity and Mentors Make the Difference for Two Women in Laundry Service
In this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with two women who have built long careers on the service and maintenance side of the laundry industry: Jennifer Gonzalez, Senior Manager of Service at Maytag Commercial Laundry, and Jackie McFeely, National Service Manager for Dependable Laundry Solution in Australia. Both guests trace their comfort with tools and troubleshooting back to childhood. Jennifer recalls disassembling her father's lawn tractor at age six, and Jackie grew up helping in her father's mechanic shop. Neither set out specifically for laundry, but both found their way there through a combination of curiosity, good mentors, and an appreciation for working closely with customers. The conversation covers what it has been like to work in a field where women remain underrepresented, how both guests have navigated bias with patience and by simply demonstrating their expertise, and why they believe representation matters as much on the customer side as it does within their own organizations. Jennifer and Jackie also talk about their ongoing working relationship across two continents, and what makes the partnership between a manufacturer and a distributor function well over time. On the question of encouraging more people into the trades, both guests point to the same thing: let people try. Jackie's advice is to have a go. Jennifer's is to remember that there is a video for almost everything, and that most mistakes can be undone. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E10
May 12 · 32 min· Video
From Instagram to Open Doors with Catherine Chalpin
Catherine Chalpin came to laundry the way a lot of people do these days: she saw something on Instagram, thought it looked manageable, and started doing her homework. What followed was about as fast a path from interest to open doors as you are likely to find. In this episode of Full Cycle, Chalpin shares how she went from watching someone unload quarters into a bucket to running Pop In Laundry in Poughkeepsie, New York, all within roughly a year. The location she landed on was a zombie mat, stripped of equipment after a dryer fire, but with its infrastructure largely intact. Chalpin, who has a background in project management through years of renovating rental properties, saw the bones of the space and knew what to do. She managed the buildout herself, skipping a general contractor, and opened in January 2026. Her day job selling indoor athletic flooring for nonprofits and athletic facilities has shaped how she thinks about community relationships, and that shows in how she runs her store. In her first few months, she organized a clothing drive with the Salvation Army, launched a summer reading program in partnership with the local library, secured a deal to flyer cars in her plaza, and began providing laundry cards to clients of Family Services of Poughkeepsie. A pop-up comedy show at the laundromat was also on the list. She credits a background in marketing and promotions for her instinct to keep things fresh and community-facing. Chalpin and host, Matt DeWolf also get into the practical side of running a new store: the lint trap surprise mid-construction, the value of a good automated floor mopper, the importance of a simple pricing reference sheet for staff, and the challenge of managing time across a full-time job and a new business. Her advice to anyone just getting into the industry is straightforward: read, listen, network, and learn the permit process in your municipality before you need it. Her final answer on what one thing you can do today to be better tomorrow: get familiar with AI. She's been using it to build frameworks, manage scheduling, and handle operational work since before the store opened, and considers it an essential part of how she runs things now. Thanks for giving us a turn.
S2 · E10
May 12 · 32 min
From Instagram to Open Doors with Catherine Chalpin
Catherine Chalpin came to laundry the way a lot of people do these days: she saw something on Instagram, thought it looked manageable, and started doing her homework. What followed was about as fast a path from interest to open doors as you are likely to find. In this episode of Full Cycle, Chalpin shares how she went from watching someone unload quarters into a bucket to running Pop In Laundry in Poughkeepsie, New York, all within roughly a year. The location she landed on was a zombie mat, stripped of equipment after a dryer fire, but with its infrastructure largely intact. Chalpin, who has a background in project management through years of renovating rental properties, saw the bones of the space and knew what to do. She managed the buildout herself, skipping a general contractor, and opened in January 2026. Her day job selling indoor athletic flooring for nonprofits and athletic facilities has shaped how she thinks about community relationships, and that shows in how she runs her store. In her first few months, she organized a clothing drive with the Salvation Army, launched a summer reading program in partnership with the local library, secured a deal to flyer cars in her plaza, and began providing laundry cards to clients of Family Services of Poughkeepsie. A pop-up comedy show at the laundromat was also on the list. She credits a background in marketing and promotions for her instinct to keep things fresh and community-facing. Chalpin and host, Matt DeWolf also get into the practical side of running a new store: the lint trap surprise mid-construction, the value of a good automated floor mopper, the importance of a simple pricing reference sheet for staff, and the challenge of managing time across a full-time job and a new business. Her advice to anyone just getting into the industry is straightforward: read, listen, network, and learn the permit process in your municipality before you need it. Her final answer on what one thing you can do today to be better tomorrow: get familiar with AI. She's been using it to build frameworks, manage scheduling, and handle operational work since before the store opened, and considers it an essential part of how she runs things now. Thanks for giving us a turn.

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