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Sharon Brinks on Laundromat Employee Theft, Speed Queen POS Integration, and Beating Cancer — Transcript

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0:00Um, I had a 25-year career prior in in
0:02computers, so I was
0:03a computer nerd before I became a
0:05laundry nerd. Single mom, two kids,
0:07looking for additional income. Um, I've
0:09always been doing laundry for somebody
0:11else. It was something that the
0:12community had always depended on, and
0:14the the appreciation of fixing it up uh
0:16really meant a lot to me. I got
0:18diagnosed with breast cancer in May of
0:202024, started chemo in June, finished
0:24chemo in October, and
0:27kicked the [music] the cancer to the
0:28curb, and doing great. Both my parents
0:31grew up in the depression and
0:33instilled in me the the value that you
0:35you don't steal from anybody. You work
0:37for it. And I've worked my butt off my
0:38whole life, so has my husband. And so to
0:40have somebody want to take a shortcut
0:43>> [music]
0:43>> and try to, you know, take from that,
0:45take from my family.
0:52Hello and welcome to the Laundromat
0:54Ownership Podcast. I'm your host Ian
0:57Gallahan. Me and my business partner
0:59Brian Henderson own Liberty Laundry in
1:01Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's a chain of three
1:03laundromats. We did about 2.5 million in
1:06revenue, top line revenue in 2025, but
1:08we're also the founders and owners of
1:12Wash-Dry-Fold POS, the original point of
1:14sale system for laundromats.
1:16Today we have with us a very special
1:18guest, Sharon Brinks, and
1:22I know Sharon for being a very
1:23successful, one of our most successful
1:25customers over the years, and it was
1:27really gracious and generous of her to
1:29join us on the podcast. Uh, but Sharon,
1:32why don't you introduce yourself and
1:33kind of give people an an idea of the
1:35scope of of your operations and just a
1:38an overview.
1:40Sure. So, I'm Sharon Brinks. Hi. Uh, in
1:42Wichita, Kansas.
1:44Um, I bought my first laundromat January
1:47of 2014. It was a little run-down
1:50zombie mat, if you will. Uh,
1:53I was single mom, two kids, looking for
1:56additional income. I fixed it up, put in
1:58some new equipment. It was already a
2:00Speed Queen store. So, I put new some
2:03new Speed Queen equipment in there,
2:05cleaned it, painted it up. Really fell
2:07in love with the laundry business at
2:08that point. I mean, that was that was
2:11that was the bomb for me. So, uh fast
2:14forward a few years, got married, moved
2:16into Wichita proper. Still had that
2:18little laundromat um about 30 mi outside
2:21of Wichita.
2:22Uh my husband and I built our big
2:25flagship store, The Laundry Station. Uh
2:27opened it in 2018.
2:29Then uh we decided to go ahead and close
2:32the store in
2:34that other little town. The perfect
2:36storm hit. Long story, we'll get into a
2:39little bit of that here on another topic
2:41later, but uh we closed that store, sold
2:44the equipment, sold the building, then
2:46built our second store in Wichita. So,
2:49we have uh two stores. Both are Speed
2:52Queen um touch
2:55stores. We use Wash Dry Fold POS in both
2:57stores.
2:59And uh that second store we opened a
3:00year and a half ago in August of 2024.
3:06So,
3:07there we are.
3:09Thanks for the the quick summary there.
3:10I appreciate that and that kind of gives
3:12everyone an an idea of what how long
3:14you've been doing this and and what
3:16you've done so far. Um
3:18and just to let the the audience know
3:20your stores are very successful and you
3:22also do uh speak at a lot of
3:25conferences and laundromat owner
3:27gatherings and you're you're kind of one
3:29of the original uh thought leaders in
3:31the space. And so, um
3:34so, I wanted to give you I wanted to
3:36give you your credit there as well. I've
3:38taken a little bit of time off here
3:39lately to, you know, just kind of double
3:41down and focus on our operations, but uh
3:44jump back into it probably next year.
3:46So,
3:47yeah. Well, I actually want to go back
3:49to
3:51before you even got into the
3:54laundromat sphere of knowing everyone
3:56back to 2014. What what do you think it
3:58was about just kind of
4:00turning around that little store that
4:02made you fall in love with laundromats.
4:04Was it was it just the
4:06process of making something better or
4:09What do you remember?
4:10Um
4:12So, self-employed at the time. I was a
4:14real estate agent. I had a few rental
4:16properties. Wanted that little
4:17additional, you know, passive income.
4:20So passive, yeah. Yeah, so passive, but
4:23I lived about 20 minutes away. It wasn't
4:24like I lived right down the street or
4:26anything, but uh we were partially
4:28attended at that time.
4:30Uh I inherited two employees from the
4:33previous owner. Um they were getting a
4:35divorce. So, you know, it was kind of
4:38forced the sale to split the the
4:40proceeds. Um I've always loved doing
4:43laundry. I mean, I've done laundry
4:45since um
4:47you know, got married first time around.
4:49So, that's It's been several decades
4:51ago. Um I've always been doing laundry
4:53for somebody else. So, uh I just love
4:55that process of getting clothes clean.
4:57Uh and then this particular laundromat
4:59was It had been a laundromat and a dry
5:02cleaners at the time. Uh years and years
5:05before, but since 1961. So, it was a
5:08fixture in the community. Uh it was the
5:10original laundromat for that little
5:12town.
5:13So, everybody I I had so many people
5:15that would come in and say, "Oh, I
5:16remember being here as a little kid. My
5:18mom would bring here bring me here. My
5:20grandmother would bring me here and we'd
5:22do laundry." So, it was something that
5:24the community had always depended on and
5:26the the appreciation of fixing it up and
5:29making it a lot nicer uh really meant a
5:32lot to me. So,
5:34that was that was fun. So, I love I've
5:36always wanted to be work for myself
5:37anyway.
5:38Um I had a 25-year career prior in in
5:40computers. So, I was a computer nerd
5:43before I became a laundry nerd. So, um I
5:46got laid off due to a corporate merger
5:48and that's what started the whole I'm
5:49going to be a real estate agent, have
5:51some rentals, and then buy the
5:52laundromat.
5:54So, I've always wanted to be
5:55self-employed anyway. So, this just
5:57That was just It just The timing was
5:59right for me. So, You know, it's I love
6:03the laundry business just because of
6:05that.
6:06It makes sense and um,
6:08you know, I I do think there's a lot of
6:10people just like improving the world
6:12around them and whether that's taking
6:14dirty clothes and making them clean or
6:15taking a run-down laundromat and making
6:18it nice. I think there's really some
6:20value there and something to be said
6:22about,
6:23you know, just improve I mean, we all
6:25want to make money. We all have to make
6:26money with what we do, but um, but when
6:28you can actually see that you've made a
6:30difference and that you've made things
6:32nicer for people and that's part of
6:34their day-to-day life,
6:36that part is kind of rewarding
6:38in addition to the the revenue cuz we've
6:40all probably had jobs where we had
6:42revenue, but we didn't get that other
6:44piece of it where we weren't making
6:46anything nicer. We didn't get to see
6:47the, you know, the fruits of our labor
6:49in that way. So, that makes a lot of
6:51sense and also um,
6:53I'm struck by your story even though
6:55it's very unique, uh,
6:59I've heard so many times people come
7:00from software or from real estate
7:02development or like it's like people get
7:04into laundromats from every which way.
7:07There's no standard path to, Yeah. you
7:10know, becoming a laundromat owner and
7:12so, uh, it's it's unique but not
7:14surprising and the yeah, you had the
7:16software background and we actually do
7:18we have so many IT people that have our
7:21software. So many of our customers that
7:23were in IT or or software development at
7:25some point in their lives. Um, Yep.
7:28>> So, tell me then a little bit more about
7:31you sold off the first store and then
7:33you opened the second store and then you
7:35opened the third store after that. Is
7:37that correct? So, you've had three in
7:38total.
7:39>> The laundry station. So, this The other
7:41one was named SuperSuds.
7:42Oh, yeah, that's right. Suds with a Z.
7:45Uh not to be confused with um
7:47the one in California that everybody
7:49knows. Right. Um
7:50>> [laughter]
7:50>> So, Suds with a Z. Um so, SuperSuds was
7:53still open. We decided to build the
7:55second one, and it just wasn't worth the
7:58hassle of driving back and forth that 30
8:00minutes to go
8:01to the other one that that made this
8:03much money where
8:06you know, the population, the money was
8:08in Wichita, not in the little laundry
8:10station, yeah. So,
8:11So, we opened that second one, then
8:13closed the first one, and then opened
8:15the third one. So, that was the order of
8:17events.
8:18That's what I thought. Okay. Yeah.
8:21And the second one did more revenue just
8:24right off the bat from the first one. It
8:26did, yeah. Yeah, the I mean, there's
8:28more dense population in town.
8:30>> it was. Okay. Wichita is a city of um
8:33well, and I I couldn't tell you off the
8:35top of the head what the one the
8:37one-mile radius.
8:39Definitely a three-mile radius, but I
8:40think the one-mile radius around that
8:41second store is probably the entire
8:43population of the
8:45of the city that the first store is in.
8:47So, Right. a lot more.
8:50And how big was that? How big was that
8:52first laundry station? Uh the laun-
8:55the SuperSuds one?
8:56Uh no, the second one. Sorry, the
8:58second. Right. The second store. So, it
9:01has uh 30 washers, 1,400 wash lbs of
9:04wash capacity, and we opened with 35
9:07dryers dryer pockets. We now have 33 cuz
9:10when we retooled,
9:12you know, nobody nobody retooled after
9:14only 5 years, you know, having brand new
9:16equipment. You don't retool after 5
9:17years, but we did. So, I got rid of the
9:2030-lb stacks and replaced those with um
9:22two more
9:23um 75-lb single pockets. So, that
9:25reduced us from 35 pockets to 33.
9:28So, and then our um
9:31newest store is 24 washers with um 1,100
9:36lbs of wash capacity and 25 dryer
9:38pockets.
9:40Did you go with any 80-pounders in that
9:42second store or
9:43>> Second store, we went with two. I
9:45probably should have went with four. Um,
9:47in the first, yeah. At the at the first
9:50laundry station, we have four
9:5180-pounders, but we also have two
9:53100-pounders.
9:54Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I should have went
9:56with two less 20s and two more 80s, but
10:00hindsight
10:00>> Got it. Well, that's been the the story
10:03of our stores as well. It's like each
10:05store we go with the larger machine or
10:07whatever. It's like and and that is very
10:09common of I I think, and this is just my
10:12personal opinion, I think the
10:13distributors, they want to sell you as
10:15much
10:17They want the ticket to be as big as
10:18they can for the the square footage of
10:20that store. Well,
10:22so here's the thing with with me and
10:23anybody who's ever met me knows,
10:26probably gets this, but I I will ask the
10:29distributor, I'll tell them, "This is
10:30what I want. Get me a quote for this
10:32equipment." I've never asked them for
10:34what's your opinion of my equipment mix,
10:36so
10:37Right.
10:38So, that was that was on me. I wanted
10:40six 20s and I should only went with
10:41four.
10:42Um, actually the next store, we're
10:44looking at our third location, we've got
10:46our eye on a spot. Um, we haven't pulled
10:48the trigger yet, but I'm we're I'm like
10:50this close, but it would be a just rare
10:52piece of land and build the building up,
10:54but um, we might start with just 30s or
10:5840s. We might not even have 20s, so.
11:01Don't even get me started on soft mount
11:03horizons. No.
11:04No top [laughter] loads
11:06and no soft mounts, so.
11:08Yes, I I agree 100% and it is funny. I
11:11always talk to people about like, you
11:13know, if you get a
11:15a thousand laundromat owners in the same
11:16room,
11:18they'll argue about everything in the
11:19book, but then if you just put the top
11:2110% in revenue, they'll agree. Like no
11:24top loaders, no soft mounts. Make sure
11:28you get good 80-pounders in there. Don't
11:29do too many 20s cuz we've all made that
11:32same mistake of we've all had that first
11:34store that had had that machine layout
11:36and
11:37Now that being said, we've got eight 20s
11:39at our at our first laundry station and
11:42often they're all in use on, you know,
11:44Sunday afternoon. Would I change that
11:46equipment mix?
11:48I'm not sure. I might take out I might
11:50take out two of the 20s and put in more
11:5140s or just put in more 40s, I'm not
11:53sure. But very first, the Super Suds,
11:56the little run-down store,
11:58top loaders, half of which were out of
12:00order, bunch of the Horizons, and that's
12:03how I that's how I learned my distaste
12:06for those that rubber gasket.
12:08You pull that thing up and the the
12:11smells and the horrific things that you
12:12see under that rubber gasket, especially
12:15when we became an unattended store and
12:17nobody was in there cleaning it. Um you
12:20know, my when I had a cleaning crew I
12:22would have a cleaning crew come in every
12:23couple of days and clean it up, but they
12:25wouldn't get under those gaskets and
12:27that's
12:28Yeah. I I can still remember the smell
12:31and what it would look like. It was
12:32disgusting. So. Yeah. Yeah. If someone
12:35were to say like what why isn't
12:36laundromat ownership,
12:39you know, semi-passive from day one, one
12:41of the first things that would come to
12:42my mind would be machine repair.
12:44Everything in the store breaks, whether
12:46it's a vending machine or a soap machine
12:48or a washer or a dryer, and they all
12:49break all the time and uh
12:51someone's got to fix it. It's either
12:53going to be you or you have to hire
12:54someone to do it. So.
12:55>> And the newer stuff won't fix won't
12:57break as much, but it it will. I mean,
12:59I've had bad water valves and um
13:03the screen cracks, those plastic covers
13:06on the the front of the touch screens.
13:08Alliance, please, for the love of all
13:10things holy,
13:12figure that one out. I'm so tired that
13:14I've got I have a request in and granted
13:17it's covered by warranty, the part is,
13:19but not the labor, and I'm not going to
13:20put those things in. So, I've got about
13:22a request for another eight of them
13:24between the two stores. Again.
13:27So.
13:27>> Again.
13:28But it doesn't affect the controls
13:30underneath just just to be clear. It
13:32just looks like
13:32>> Yeah.
13:33It's it's the
13:34>> That's the good thing. It's just like
13:34the cover that cracks. Um Yeah. Yeah.
13:37We've had some on our 80 lb cuz we got
13:39some new
13:40uh Quantum Touch 80s and we had some
13:43some issues with the door hinges being
13:46overly tight and it was just like really
13:47hard to open and
13:49>> Yeah. Yeah. On the
13:50>> two at the second store, I have the same
13:52problem. Yep.
13:52>> Yep. Yep. We've had We've gone back and
13:55forth on that. So yes, even though new
13:57machines are much better to have and
13:59good to get and we've been very happy
14:00with ours.
14:02Nothing works all the time in a
14:03laundromat. That's just and and that's
14:06going to be with any manufacturer and
14:08any
14:09any situation that you have. It's it's
14:11not semi-passive unless you've built it
14:13to be semi-passive and you have the
14:15right people employed. So let's kind of
14:18transition to that because you're saying
14:20you're building a third store and Well,
14:22we're thinking about it.
14:23>> I I hear that I I get
14:26or you're going to open your third
14:27store. I guess this is your fourth store
14:28to own, but Right. Um
14:31Well, we haven't bought the land yet.
14:32We're looking at the location. We're
14:33thinking about it. We're pondering it.
14:36I do want to do another store. It's just
14:37is it going to be that one or that spot
14:39or not. So Yeah. Well, tell me a little
14:41bit about your your personal motivation
14:44on that cuz this is the this is
14:45something that I think about a lot where
14:47it's like
14:48we have three stores. At a certain
14:50point, it's doing a good amount of
14:52profit for you and your family or at
14:53least that's that's our situation. It's
14:56making good money. Right. And then
15:00do we want to expand and have more
15:03problems and more employees and more
15:07managers and more meetings and more
15:10headaches. And
15:12you know, it's like obviously you want
15:14the revenue. You want to keep building.
15:15There's this thing inside of us that
15:16just wants to keep on
15:18doing well when we succeed at something
15:20and doing what we're good at. But, tell
15:22me what that conversation sounds like
15:24for you because I know you've had health
15:26struggles in the past, you know, 5
15:28years. I don't know how much you want to
15:29go into that today, but Yeah, I'll get
15:32my PSA on. Have your mammograms, ladies.
15:35Here. Yes. I love it. Yes.
15:37But, yeah, it's it's like, okay, I've
15:39had I've had great success first store,
15:43great success in the second store.
15:45Well, let's try it again. So, um you
15:49know, don't But, then on the other hand,
15:51my husband and I aren't getting any
15:52younger, but we're still in great
15:54health. I mean,
15:55you know, just um
15:57you have
15:58kicked the uh the cancer to the curb and
16:01doing great. I'm healthier than I've
16:03ever been, to be honest. But, um lots of
16:06energy, obviously. Um
16:10it's it's the it's the fun of building
16:12it. On the other hand, um
16:16I if you've ever built a house with your
16:18spouse,
16:19and you've survived that, and your
16:20marriage has stayed intact, then you got
16:23a good marriage. So, my husband and I
16:25have built two laundromats together, and
16:27we're still married. So, um
16:30so far, so good. It is um it can be a
16:33challenge. You can butt heads. The
16:35money's nice. Uh we've had success with
16:37the first two laundromats. Um I'm I'm
16:41blessed with a husband who loves to
16:44build laundromats, um but doesn't like
16:46to run them. And I like to run them, but
16:48the process of building them
16:50is is very stressful. Um it's fun. It's
16:54interesting. Um he is a structural
16:57engineer, so that helps a lot. So, I'm
16:59like, okay, I want this many washers, I
17:01want this many dryers, and I kind of
17:02want them in this direction, and okay,
17:04what constraints do I have within the
17:06space, you know, like cuz we have you
17:08have to be cognizant of where's the
17:11So, like the the place we're looking at,
17:13or the piece of land we've already
17:14scoped out, where's the sewer, uh how
17:16big's the water-line,
17:18um where's the storm sewer,
17:21uh we've already got curb cuts and
17:22grassy grass,
17:24um stuff like that. I look up the
17:26demographics. So, I'm also a real estate
17:28broker, so
17:30I look up all the demographics of the
17:311-mi, 3-mi, 5-mi, even 1/2 mi around
17:34there. Um
17:36so, I did I like I like that whole
17:38process of creating and building it. Um
17:43and yeah, don't get me wrong, the
17:44money's nice, too, but I think when you
17:47have one store, you know, you've got
17:49your you've got some brand recognition.
17:51When you have two stores, there's a
17:53little more brand recognition. Then when
17:55you have that third store, you get more
17:57of a brand recognition, which I'm sure
17:59you guys um learned over the years. Um
18:02oh, Liberty Laundry. Yeah, I I know that
18:04one. Um I used to live over by this one,
18:06but now I've moved over by that one. Um
18:08and then if you have some sort of
18:09loyalty program for payments, that even
18:12helps, too. So,
18:14um
18:14>> Yep. Yeah, so.
18:16>> across all three stores in that case.
18:17And that's nice when you have to shut
18:19one down to do a cleaning or some kind
18:22of roof repair or
18:23>> Exactly. Exactly. So, if we've had um
18:27yeah, if you have some sort of horrible
18:29incident, like we had a a water-line uh
18:32problem in the middle one one time.
18:35Uh we could send people to another
18:36store. Or okay, we got a wash, dry, fold
18:39still has to happen. We can go do it at
18:41the other store and still have people
18:43come and do pick up and and drop off at
18:45at the other one. So, it's nice having
18:47that backup location, so. Um
18:50>> Yes. But yeah, my my husband and I
18:51aren't getting any younger. We're in our
18:52early to mid-60s. And uh there'll come a
18:55time when we've like, "You know what?
18:57We're done."
18:58Um will that be in 6 months? Will that
19:00be in a year? Will that be in 5 years? I
19:01don't know, but right now we're in great
19:03health and
19:04you know, we're going to be in Wichita
19:06for the foreseeable future, so
19:08I got nothing better to do, so.
19:11>> [laughter]
19:12>> Well,
19:12people like doing what they're good at
19:14and I think it's clear that, you know,
19:17I think I've
19:18I've finally hit my stride. Yeah. That's
19:19right. You've had a lot of things in
19:21your life really prepare you for this
19:22kind of a thing and to to execute at
19:25this scale and make this big of an
19:27impact on
19:28the physical space. I mean, it's really
19:30a cool thing. I mean, that's not
19:31something that that the average person
19:33gets to do. So, I could I could
19:35definitely see why that would be
19:37satisfying. Um one of the things you
19:39mentioned having the three stores and
19:42having the loyalty card
19:44uh that goes between the three stores,
19:47that may be kind of a good transition
19:49into this next question which was about
19:51the alliance integration with Wash Dry
19:53Fold POS. And
19:55do you have a separate payment system
19:58besides Insights or is it just the
20:00Insights app that they use? So, no, we
20:02just use the Speed Queen app. Um we
20:04don't have a loyalty card, per se. So,
20:07it's just app-based. There's no cards on
20:09it.
20:10Um that's the way they can get rewards
20:11is if they use the app and they can use
20:13credit or debit. Or we have a value
20:15center
20:16um at each of the stores where they can
20:18feed in cash and load that onto their
20:20app as well. Um and that's like an
20:22Insights value center that So, In-
20:25Insights is the software that runs all
20:28this stuff. The app is just the Speed
20:30Queen app. Okay. So, Insights is my
20:33understanding is Insights is what you
20:36and I as store owners use behind the
20:38scenes to program the machines, run all
20:40the reports. Um and there's God, there's
20:43so many reports. You can slice things so
20:45many different ways. It's incredible.
20:47Um machine drain times, fill times, um
20:52how people have paid, who are your
20:54customers. Um and they do have a CRM
20:57which to be honest, I've never used, but
20:59um I've just not really gotten into
21:02that. Um but it's for your um for the
21:05self-service folks. So, at our store, we
21:07have four ways to pay. You can use
21:09quarters at the machine. We no longer
21:11supply quarters. We can talk about that
21:14later as to why.
21:15Um
21:16but you can bring your own quarters and
21:18you use quarters at the machine. You can
21:20do use the Speed Queen app, credit debit
21:22or cash using Speed Queen app. Um
21:25we've um enabled the scan the scan pay
21:28wash, which um
21:30Alliance, I guess I I think I have them
21:32in the Huebsch machines also, but
21:33anyway, Speed Queen started um that just
21:36the last few months. Uh you scan the QR
21:40code on the machine and pay for it with
21:42credit or debit on your phone or
21:45they can pay at the counter.
21:47Right.
21:48>> Which is a really cool thing because
21:50this awesome POS system we have called
21:52Wash-Dry-Fold POS um
21:55has an API um that which is a little
21:59software piece which talks to all the
22:01equipment.
22:02And you can pay at the counter.
22:04Um you know, I have all my machines set
22:06up as to what the pricing is. Um
22:10the customers set the price, they pick
22:12the
22:13additions, upcharges, whatever they
22:15want, the extra cycles on the machine.
22:17They come to the counter, tell me the
22:18name, tell me your tell the attendants
22:21the uh
22:23I start I'm talking fast now cuz I get
22:24all excited.
22:25>> No, you're good. That part I get all
22:26excited.
22:26>> Um tell the attendant the number of the
22:29machines that they want and then um
22:32the attendant just
22:35all or selects those machines, it pulls
22:37in from the machine the price that the
22:40customer selected and then they can pay
22:42at the POS with cash, credit, or debit.
22:44And then it sends the remote vend
22:46command, POS system sends the remote
22:48vend command back out to the machine and
22:50says, "Okay, customer's paid $10 at the
22:52counter."
22:53Um it's just the same as they've put $10
22:55worth of quarters in the machine.
22:57So, all they have to do is go back and
22:58hit start.
22:59So, That's right, yeah.
23:01>> quick. Uh Wash-Dry-Fold POS is reporting
23:03on it as well.
23:05Um,
23:06that
23:08um, numbers also, since it's remote
23:10vend, it's reported back into
23:12um, the insights reporting. So, I can
23:14see what was vended and where. Was it
23:16coins? Was it Wash Dry Fold POS? Or was
23:19it from the app?
23:20So, I can slice it and dice it different
23:23ways, pull it into a spreadsheet that I
23:25keep track of all of our uh, weekly
23:27sales numbers on. It's it's
23:29Yeah, it just makes it a lot easier. A
23:31lot easier.
23:32>> Yeah, the the integration has been
23:34really important, not just for Speed
23:37Queen, but even if it's like a Laundry
23:39Works or a Fast Card or a SpyderWash.
23:41Yeah. To build those integrations has
23:43always been important. I think one thing
23:45that I didn't understand when we first
23:47started building that Alliance
23:49integration,
23:51we thought the main
23:53Well, and this is still a main function
23:55of it, right? We we were really or at
23:57least I was hyper focused on, "Okay,
23:59you need to start the washers and dryers
24:01from the point of sale system because
24:03you need to, you know, have, okay, this
24:05is Jeff's order and I'm going to start
24:07two washers for Jeff and three dryers or
24:10two dryers." And then that all comes
24:12back as ratios of, "Okay, how much did
24:15we spend on that order versus how much
24:17did we bring in?" Right.
24:18>> And you can sort that by employee, so
24:20you can look out for theft and
24:21efficiencies. And I was really focused
24:23on that, I think, because it's called
24:24Wash Dry Fold POS, right? It's not, you
24:26know, so I'm focused on the wash dry
24:28fold piece of it.
24:29>> Right. But then as soon as we partnered
24:31with Alliance, um, because we were the
24:32first ones to build this
24:35machine start integration with them with
24:37at your store, right? Um, Yep. and
24:40That's Jeff's laundry again.
24:42Yes. [laughter]
24:43Right. Yeah, yeah. You volunteer for all
24:45the testing in the industry. All the
24:46stuff was built at at your store.
24:48>> sure.
24:49Um,
24:51we need to get you a shirt that says
24:52like laundromat industry crash test
24:54dummy, like
24:56Yeah.
24:57>> did
24:57>> then just list all the things that your
24:59store has developed or that has been
25:00developed at your store, but um
25:04once once we had it ready and we
25:06released it and we you know, Alliance
25:09started sending us all these customers
25:11cuz as they kind of wind it down their
25:13point of sale software
25:14and trying to get people off theirs and
25:17on to something else
25:19one of the first things they would talk
25:22to us about was, "Well, what if I have a
25:24self-serve customer who wants to start a
25:26machine with their card, but they want
25:29to do it at the cash register?" And
25:31we hadn't really thought too much about
25:33that, but it it became clear that that
25:35was going to be a really central part of
25:36the integration and even part of it um
25:40and you can correct me if I'm wrong on
25:42this, but I think some of the other
25:43softwares out there
25:45they would just send a start command
25:48Yeah. when you paid and so then you
25:50could like add extra washes or add extra
25:53dry time Yeah. and it wouldn't know
25:56because the point of sale system was
25:58just taking in some amount of money and
26:00sending a start command Yeah. and so it
26:02was really important for us when we
26:04built it Mhm. to say, "No, no, no, if
26:06you get $10 at the point of sale system,
26:08you need to send $10 to the washer." And
26:10then if they want to add more you know,
26:13an extra rinse or if it's a dryer and
26:14they want to add more dry time
26:16then that needs to be a separate add-on
26:18and that needs to go back to the point
26:20of sale system. You need to add more
26:21money and so Yeah. we kind of built ours
26:23a little bit different than how it had
26:25ever been built in the past
26:27>> Mhm. by tying uh specific values into
26:32exactly what we're sending back out to
26:34the machines from the point of sale
26:35system
26:37and that seems to be what people want.
26:39We've had you know, we've had multiple
26:40people say, "Hey, you guys did it right.
26:42Everyone else has done it wrong, you
26:43know." Yeah. Um So, for the for Speed
26:46Queen or for the Alliance products, my
26:49understanding is I was told by the
26:51director of IT that we were the reason
26:53the remote vend command was added.
26:55Right. That makes sense. That makes
26:57sense.
26:58>> that exact problem was I it it would
27:01just send the like we would go over
27:04into before you guys had that API in
27:07there.
27:08Mhm. We could still we'd ring up the
27:10sale in Wash Dry Fold POS.
27:12And you know, they pay their $10 or just
27:16figure just make it even $10. So, we add
27:20that to the cash register, but we'd
27:21still have to go over to Insights. I'd
27:22have to get with my attendants access to
27:25Insights and they would go over and hit
27:27start. And yeah, then anybody could go
27:31hit extra wash, extra rinse, whatever.
27:34So,
27:35so they added the remote vend command
27:37and then I had taught them, "Okay, now
27:38you're going to do a remote vend for
27:40$10." So, now they can pick whatever
27:42options they want, but they can't go
27:43over $10. Right. Right. Yeah. So, yeah.
27:47>> that makes sense. POS that they used to
27:49have, we had it too and yes, we were add
27:52that to my shirt. We were test dummies
27:54for that. Also,
27:56they were rolling it out to some of
27:58their other like franchise stores and
27:59whatnot.
28:01So, we some of the
28:03Alliance folks came down and installed
28:04it and trained us on it. So, we had that
28:07for a couple years. We opened our first
28:09store in 2018
28:11with Wash Dry Fold POS. They had you
28:13guys had the PC based version.
28:15And
28:17then
28:19the the cool thing about the Alliance
28:21POS was that they had that API. So, I
28:24knew it was a possibility. Yeah.
28:26>> just put it in the POS system and have
28:29it automatically turn on. So, that was
28:32that was the only reason we went away
28:34from Wash Dry Fold POS was, "Oh, you've
28:37got this cool API and you're going to
28:39you know, we get to be on the cutting
28:40edge of
28:42you know, technology again."
28:44And so, we went with that, but the wash,
28:47dry, fold piece of it just
28:50never got where it really needed to be.
28:53And I'd make suggestions and they
28:54weren't implemented and like I I just I
28:58can't deal with this. So we weren't on
29:01that I think maybe a couple years and
29:03then we went back to you guys cuz you by
29:04then you had a cloud-based system.
29:06Um and
29:09it was
29:10even even with not having the remote
29:12vend command there yet, it was still
29:14head and shoulders above what we had
29:16before. So never looked back. And then
29:18once we got the remote vend command and
29:20you guys got the API in there now, it's
29:22smooth sailing. I love it. Now it's the
29:25best of all worlds, yes. Now it is, but
29:27it it wasn't easy getting there and I
29:29appreciate your patience with us over
29:31the years and in getting there. Um It
29:33was well worth it though. It's worth the
29:35wait.
29:36Well, thank you. It was it was worth it
29:37for us as well and um
29:40you know,
29:42I think
29:43what some people miss is
29:46an Alliance, which you know, I I we both
29:48have spent hundreds of thousands of
29:49dollars with Alliance. So I'm not
29:51not trying to um Yeah. criticize them or
29:54anything, but I I do think here.
29:56Probably
29:571.5 cuz I retooled a store and then
29:59built another one. So we're at 1.5 I
30:01think plus.
30:02>> Yeah.
30:03I think Liberty Laundry over the years
30:04is is probably around two or something.
30:07Yeah, it's it's a lot. Yeah, it's
30:08plenty.
30:09>> stores, yeah. Um yeah, yeah, it's plenty
30:11and we've retooled several times just
30:13recently as well or in several stores.
30:15We we're kind of doing it like all the
30:17washers in one store and then all the
30:18dryers in one store and we're just doing
30:20it in cash. And so we just kind of
30:22slowly retool all three stores that way.
30:24Yeah. But um
30:27what I was going to say is yeah, they
30:29know what they know about washers and
30:31dryers probably more than anyone else in
30:33the world,
30:34but that is actually different from
30:35operating a laundromat on a day-to-day
30:37basis and actually having to manage the
30:39attendants that do the wash, dry, fold
30:42and making sure that they can operate
30:44the software. And then what reports do
30:46you even need? Kind of like you said,
30:47you've got Okay, if you've got 100
30:50different types of custom reports you
30:52can create, the average laundromat owner
30:55is not a
30:56tech guru, and the average laundromat
30:58owner is going to be like, "This is too
30:59many options." And so,
31:02it really does take another laundromat
31:03owner to go in and
31:06um
31:07you know, I think it's
31:09I think the differences in the
31:10development approach there was that they
31:12were
31:14listening to their laundromat owners and
31:17then trying to put that on the road map,
31:18and then trying to get that released.
31:21You know, and eventually they just had
31:22to shut the whole thing down. But that's
31:24a lot different from then if you've
31:25built that specifically to solve your
31:27problems in your laundromats, Right. and
31:29then like just all day, every day,
31:31you're doing the laundromat owner point
31:33of sale thing. Right. That's a little
31:35bit different from if, you know,
31:36manufacturing equipment is your main
31:40revenue stream, and then you're you're
31:42building some software on the side.
31:44>> Right.
31:45And so, I think that's kind of been part
31:47of what um
31:50you know, everyone wants to to just
31:51build what we've built as like a little
31:53add-on, but uh it
31:55it turns out it's hard to do that. It
31:58turns out even with millions of dollars
31:59and and years, Yeah.
32:01>> it is it is very difficult. Um
32:03>> Yeah, I've done
32:05programming, systems analysis, and
32:06design, project management, and IT for
32:09I was just going back and rereading my
32:11old resume, and I was like, "Oh my gosh,
32:13yeah, I used to do that, didn't I?"
32:15And it's it's
32:18it's uh it's easy to criticize, but it's
32:23really hard to do. And and the bigger
32:24the company, the the harder it is to get
32:26stuff through. So,
32:28you know.
32:28>> That's that's very true. And it's easy
32:30to say like, "Oh, well, it just needs to
32:32do this and that. And this I just needed
32:34to do these 10 simple things." And then
32:36by the time you get it in your hands,
32:38it's like, "Well, it needs to do these
32:39other 100 things, too, of course." And
32:40then,
32:41now that we've got it, we want it to do
32:43another 100 things, as well. It's So,
32:44that's just kind of, you know, that's
32:46That's a software company, is you're
32:48just constantly making it do more, or do
32:51what it does more easily. And I guess
32:54that was one of the next questions I had
32:55for you was,
32:57"What features do you end up using the
32:59most, and what features do you feel like
33:01kind of set it apart the most from maybe
33:03other softwares that you tried, like
33:05Alliance says, which we don't need to
33:07pick on theirs, cuz it's not even
33:08available anymore, but But maybe that's
33:10a good reason to pick on it, is is, you
33:12know, we can say, "Well, it didn't do
33:13these things." Yeah, the whole the the
33:15whole tracking of the of the wash, dry,
33:17fold order
33:18from intake, um
33:20you know, you intake, you put the due
33:22date on it, you move it from
33:25Okay, it's to do, we're sorting it,
33:27we're washing it, we're drying it, we're
33:28folding it, we're ready to pick up. Uh
33:31what machines were used, and the
33:34integration like what you had originally
33:36thought of was, I pick the machine,
33:39you know, the washer, and it sends the
33:42command over to start the washer.
33:44Um
33:45Okay, now I move it to the dryer. Okay,
33:46which dryer do you want? Send the
33:48command over to start the dryer. So,
33:50I've got a date timestamp of when the
33:52washer was started, when the dryer was
33:53started. So, if the customer comes in
33:56and says, "Hey, my favorite red sweater
33:57didn't come back."
33:59Um I know what time on my video to go
34:02back and look and say, "Yeah, in 99
34:04times out of 100, your red sweater did
34:06not come in with your order." But I know
34:08what time to go look, at least.
34:11Um People really underestimate how
34:13valuable that is. They're like, "I don't
34:14want to use all those timestamps. I
34:16don't want my ladies to be going back to
34:18the I That's one of the most common ones
34:20I get is like, they have to go back to
34:22the um
34:23the cash register and and select the
34:25machines." It's like, "Are they just
34:27going to be standing by the washer
34:28otherwise? Like, where else are they
34:30going to be in your store besides back
34:31at the register to help people and uh
34:33then select the next But but those
34:36timestamps for exactly what you said are
34:38just It's invaluable. It is invaluable.
34:41And then when is the order done, text
34:43them automatically. Says, "Hey, your the
34:45customer, your order's ready for
34:46pickup." Um
34:49Yeah, who does the order? And I know
34:51some people some places will um
34:55um
34:57keep track of how many people worked on
34:59their order and who gets credit for it.
35:01100% here or 50% 50/50. I don't use any
35:04of that, so Mhm. I I can't speak to any
35:07of it, but
35:08um but yeah, just knowing the progress
35:10of the order and how long it took. And
35:13then has it been picked up? You know,
35:15scan the ticket. I've got barcodes on
35:17the tickets. Scan the ticket, mark it
35:19picked up. Oh, it's not paid. We're
35:21prompt for payment before they send it
35:22out the door.
35:24Um that's always important. Make sure
35:25you get paid before you
35:27release that laundry to somebody. Um
35:29Right. Even having like that That was
35:31one of Brian's big things was like it
35:32needs to say, you know, collect payment
35:34before returning or not paid, pay at
35:37pickup. And And that needs to be the
35:38largest thing on the receipt and on the
35:40sticker. Yeah. So that you don't
35:42accidentally give it back to them before
35:44you collect the payment. And we still do
35:46it occasionally, but not Not as often as
35:48we used to. The [laughter]
35:50labels on the bags, um I can customize
35:53my lines on the labels on the bags. Um
35:57So you do have to be able to count.
36:01If there's
36:02five bags, I need you to count that you
36:04are giving back five bags. So you know,
36:07it's idiot-proof as much as possible.
36:10But you still have to have people that
36:11can read and count. So Yeah.
36:14Well, we always talk about the point and
36:15say method, which uh
36:17you know
36:18when we do have cuz like you said, you
36:21make it as idiot-proof as you can and
36:23somehow still someone doesn't get all
36:25their bags or someone gets the wrong
36:27bags or something and we'll actually go
36:30back talking about those timestamps. We
36:31can look at the timestamp of when it was
36:33picked up.
36:33>> Yep.
36:34And we teach the point and say method.
36:36So you're supposed to say Sharon Brink's
36:38five bags, two hangers. And we can go
36:41back and we can say you're not pointing
36:43to the to the five bags and the two
36:45hangers. Yeah. And if you actually have
36:48them point at it, what will happen is if
36:50they say, you know, Sharon Brink's five
36:52bags, two hangers
36:53and then if you're Sharon Brink's and
36:55you're saying, well, here's the five
36:57bags but where are the two hangers? Oh,
36:59I'm sorry. I got
37:00>> busy. busy. My son's in the, you know,
37:03whatever.
37:03>> Yeah. And so, you know, everyone gets
37:07everyone gets sidetracked every once in
37:09a while but that's why if you point and
37:10say you're involving the customer then
37:13Yeah. to help your employee
37:16get the customer all their items back.
37:18>> I like that idea. We might
37:20>> Yeah, yeah. It's Brian's idea. I
37:22I'm going to take credit for all his
37:23good ideas like I always do but no, it's
37:26>> [laughter]
37:26>> It's really I'll tell the store managers
37:28that I came up with that so yeah. There
37:30you go. You take it from me, I took it
37:31from Brian. Just it'll be your idea.
37:33Next next time you are on stage, just
37:36take full credit for that and as long as
37:38you mention our name, well, we're good.
37:40>> There you go.
37:41There you go.
37:42So,
37:44I know that you guys have have done
37:46delivery and have you scaled that up?
37:50What what part of your store is that?
37:53Like how much of your revenue is that
37:55and how long did it take to scale? Zero.
37:58So. Um
38:00So, you had alluded to me having some
38:01health issues back
38:04So, 20 2024, we're trying to build that
38:08second store and we had a separate pick
38:11up and delivery
38:13business. I only had one employee,
38:14happened to be my stepdaughter.
38:16She was running the whole thing. And I'm
38:21So, I got diagnosed with breast cancer
38:23in May of 2024, started chemo in June,
38:27finished chemo in October, and I tell
38:30you what, the brain fog is real.
38:33Couldn't all I want to do is just sit
38:34and stare at the wall, you know, no
38:35energy, can't think, hard to form a
38:38complete sentence.
38:39Um
38:40got one laundromat we're running, we're
38:42trying to build a second one, I'm trying
38:43to make sure the pick up and delivery is
38:46going smoothly. And I'm like I I'm a
38:50kind of superwoman, but I can't really
38:52do it all, especially not on chemo, so
38:55I gave up, we gave that pick up and
38:57delivery business
38:58um
38:59to my stepdaughter
39:01um and so as of the first of the year of
39:032025, she was she was it was her
39:05business and she was running the whole
39:06thing. So
39:08um
39:09and then last year then she became So
39:12this is kind of timely. Last year um she
39:14got pregnant with her second child and
39:16decided that she's going to be
39:19stay-at-home mom full-time, so she's
39:20shut that business down. This is timely
39:22because she actually gave birth to that
39:24second child yesterday. So
39:27>> Wow, congrats, very cool.
39:29>> we got a second gran- grandson
39:31um from that.
39:32>> That's great. That was yeah, it was kind
39:34of timely there. So um so we no longer
39:37offer pick up and delivery.
39:38Um
39:40the uh I I do think it's a viable thing.
39:43I personally
39:45want to focus on self-service.
39:47I like the drop-off in store. All right,
39:50we are priced to a point to where
39:52I only have to have one person there at
39:54a time to do that drop-off service. If I
39:57was to lower the price,
39:59then we'd have more business. And you
40:01know how it ratchets up. You lower the
40:02price, you got more business. Now I got
40:04to have a second person there. Now I
40:05need more business to pay for that
40:06second person, then it's just
40:08I'm keeping it at one.
40:10So wash, dry, fold in store drop-off
40:14um
40:16supplements the um payroll somewhat, but
40:20also shows that hey, we are the experts
40:22at laundry. You've got a laundry
40:23question, come ask us. You stain, you
40:27know, come talk to us. You not sure what
40:30size machine,
40:31we do laundry all the time, so come and
40:33and let us
40:35help you with that. Pick up and
40:36delivery, I think in our particular
40:38market, I I really believe in the small
40:42commercial um
40:43>> Mhm. Yeah. is is where it's at.
40:46Residential each you live. Um this me
40:49if you're just starting out, I think
40:50small commercial um
40:53you want the people that the
40:55UniFirst, the Aramark, those people
40:57don't want to touch. But like the
40:59specialty things,
41:01um
41:02I would say try to avoid, you know,
41:04places that have massage oils and stuff.
41:06Those are just nasty. Unless you've got
41:07specific chemicals you want to deal
41:09with, but um start with the easier
41:11stuff.
41:12Um but yeah, I do I think it's a viable
41:14business, but
41:16my
41:17um expla- explanation that if you're a
41:18laundromat owner, get your wash, dry,
41:21fold in-store process nailed down to
41:24perfection. You've got to be able to
41:26know your numbers. You've got to know
41:28your numbers. Oh my gosh, you got to
41:29know your numbers on in-store drop-off.
41:31Then,
41:33consider doing pick up and delivery.
41:35I would not recommend doing third-party
41:38Uber type things. That just
41:41I could show you a picture of the Uber
41:43driver that rear-ended our van.
41:45And actually he was a he was a DoorDash
41:47driver. Take that back.
41:49Uh tank top,
41:50um
41:52the tattoos and the cigarette hanging
41:54out of his mouth.
41:55I don't want I don't want that type of
41:57person picking up and delivering our
41:58laundry, and that's the um
42:03the image that you have. It's you know.
42:05Well, that's a best case scenario.
42:06That's if they can actually pick it up
42:08and deliver it. I mean, the the
42:10complaints we hear about cuz you know
42:12our software accommodates that. Mhm. And
42:15we've had to add that feature just
42:16because uh you know other
42:18other players in the industry have it,
42:20but um
42:22since we've added it and we've had
42:23enough people use it, I overwhelmingly
42:26just say don't use it. Don't do that.
42:28Like it's such a bad thing. Um you know
42:30you're
42:31>> works for you, but you're giving the
42:32reputation of your company over to
42:34somebody who
42:36um is doing DoorDash. So, if that's if
42:39you're okay with that, fine. Um you can
42:43rent out your own vehicle. I mean that's
42:45Pick up and delivery is a whole 'nother
42:46animal, but my My explanation of that is
42:48if you remember Star Trek and they had
42:50three-dimensional chess,
42:51it's kind of it's Wash-Dry-Fold up a
42:54notch. That's three-dimensional chess.
42:55There's so many other,
42:57you know, pun intended, moving parts
42:59that are involved with that. You're not
43:01only washing. Um there's also another
43:04trust thing if you're talking about
43:05personal laundry. It's one thing for
43:06somebody to drop off with you and you're
43:09washing their underwear for them.
43:12For pick up and delivery, not only
43:13you're washing their underwear, but now
43:15you know where they live. And not
43:17everybody You might think the people
43:18that drop off in your store might want
43:20that convenience.
43:21There's a lot of people that don't want
43:23you to know where they live. For
43:24whatever reason, they want their
43:25privacy. They kind of want you to be
43:27their closet. We don't really have that
43:29problem a whole lot, but
43:31um
43:32I It's just something that I I can't see
43:35us getting back into. Never say never,
43:37but if we do, it'll just be It would
43:38just be small commercial.
43:40Um Well,
43:42we do it and it's just a pain in the
43:45rear and it's it's no revenue. I mean,
43:48there's there's no way it's 1% of our
43:50revenue.
43:51So,
43:52Steve did a presentation at the CLA's
43:56Wash-Dry-Fold conference on pick up and
43:58delivery and knowing your numbers and he
44:00has a whole extremely elaborate
44:02spreadsheet. He has a spreadsheet. He's
44:05He's
44:05What can I say?
44:06He's a spreadsheet guy. Every possible
44:09variable that you could possibly have
44:12and where you need your price point to
44:13be and
44:15you're absolutely right. It's
44:17extremely difficult. You've got to know
44:20your numbers down to a T and have that
44:22price point high enough that you have
44:24the you can cover all your expenses and
44:26the profit that you want. And most
44:28people don't take the time to to do
44:30those numbers.
44:31And in the models involved
44:33It's like, yeah, I don't I don't need
44:35that this point in my life.
44:38I found that the more the laundromat
44:40owner understands their numbers, the
44:42more bearish they are on delivery.
44:47The more
44:48the more they understand the the
44:50industry,
44:52the more bullish they are on wash dry
44:54fold. And I'm always trying to help
44:58laundromat owners that are
45:00I think what happens is they get they
45:01see all the marketing
45:03and they know that they want to do
45:04laundry delivery.
45:06That's the one thing they know. Maybe
45:08they'll get a laundromat to do it. Maybe
45:09they'll do wash dry fold, too. And it's
45:12like you're thinking about this
45:13literally on its head. Like you'll be
45:15it's it's
45:17I think it's very difficult.
45:19I think 10 times more people fail at
45:22laundry delivery than fail at laundromat
45:24ownership.
45:25Yeah. I've seen laundromat owners that
45:27are really bad. I mean, these people are
45:29really like how do they even have a
45:31business? I don't know. Like the way
45:33they treat everyone and and you know,
45:38when you've got over 1,300 customers
45:40like we do, you get you get
45:42all ranges. You get the best in the
45:44industry and you get the people that are
45:46like, how? How are you still open? Yeah.
45:49And
45:50uh
45:51you know, with the the delivery side of
45:53things, it's like
45:54that's actually really easy to fail at
45:56even if you're a top operator versus
45:59just like owning a laundromat, doing the
46:00self-serve and the wash dry fold.
46:03It's a really low bar. Like, you don't
46:04have to be that good of an operator to
46:06have a successful business doing that.
46:09Now, if you do it well, that's when you
46:11start seeing growth and they're opening
46:13more stores and they're opening these
46:14like super nice stores with new
46:16machines. And so, when you can operate
46:19that well, that kind of separates, you
46:21know, the good operators from the
46:23the ones that are still learning.
46:25Um but the delivery thing, there's just
46:27so much marketing around it and so
46:29there's so much excitement around it.
46:31And I'm I try to not be like, "Don't do
46:34delivery." because I don't want to tell
46:36people what to do, but I am trying to
46:38like help them be like, "Well,
46:41get your self-serve and your
46:43wash-dry-fold. Those two things go
46:44together because they will grow each
46:46other and you need the attendance there
46:49to help the self-serve customers figure
46:50out how to start the machines and make
46:52sure they don't abuse the machines and
46:53make sure they don't crack the screens
46:55and make sure they don't start fires or
46:57when they do, you need your your
46:58attendants there to put out the fires
47:00and
47:00to lower your insurance rate." I mean,
47:02the on and on and on.
47:04But then the delivery is a second
47:07business that is very hard. It's It's
47:10>> very expensive.
47:11>> We actually had a separate LLC for it.
47:13Yeah.
47:13>> Yep. Yep.
47:14>> It is a separate complete and separate
47:16business.
47:17And the margins are very narrow and the
47:19customer acquisition cost is very high.
47:22And the LTV, the lifetime value of the
47:24customer, the payback period is 1 to 2
47:27years. So, you know, it's expensive to
47:29buy a customer and then you've got to
47:31hold them for 1 or 2 years and you
47:33really got to perform at at a really
47:34high level to keep them for that 1 or 2
47:37years. So, if you go into it
47:39buying those expensive customers and you
47:42don't have all your wash-dry-fold
47:43processes down, then um I just see a lot
47:46of people
47:48um
47:49you know, not succeed at that and uh
47:52they end up dropping it for one reason
47:54or another, but then the only people
47:56that go out and talk about it are the
47:58people that, you know, are that top 1%
48:01that are operating. Yeah. And so I
48:04thought it was an important thing to
48:05talk about because I think I do think
48:07and just to be transparent about our
48:08numbers
48:10you mentioned commercial accounts and
48:11that's what I'm always telling people
48:12too like we have a commercial account
48:14that does 50,000 a year with us. Yeah.
48:16And we did some delivery with them and
48:17they're like that's too expensive. We
48:19would rather just drop it off and pick
48:20it up. Yeah. And so we have another
48:23small commercial account that does like
48:24500 a week and that's our main Yeah. you
48:27know, delivery income right there and
48:31it's fine. We do some residential's on
48:32the way to and from them. Um but it's
48:36you know, you're talking about less than
48:38a thousand dollars
48:40a week out of 2.5 million dollars a
48:41year. Yeah. But then you've got
48:44insurance for the van. You've got the
48:45delivery driver. You've got the delivery
48:47process. You've got all the back end,
48:49the software and then you've got to run
48:50the Google ads and you've got to run you
48:51got to get the customers to
48:54it's a lot of extra work for
48:56Yeah. insignificant amount of revenue in
48:59most cases. I know some people have have
49:01done incredible with it and we do have
49:03people that use our platform that use
49:04wash dry fold POS that are doing big
49:06numbers with it and you know, we're
49:09happy for them but but that
49:11is a surprisingly small amount of
49:13>> Yeah. That's that's about our ratios. It
49:14was like this much income from pick up
49:17and delivery versus this much from
49:19self-service and wash dry fold. Yeah.
49:21And it's so you know, to me it's it's
49:23the the business is three separate.
49:25You've got self-service.
49:27The beauty of that is the customers are
49:28their own labor.
49:30That's the easy money.
49:31>> Very capital intensive for the
49:32equipment. Yep. Utilities but
49:35they bring their own labor. Then you've
49:37got wash dry fold. It's a separate
49:40business if you will.
49:41And then you got pick up and delivery.
49:44So but that's another thing that's so
49:46intriguing about this industry.
49:48You can run your business any way you
49:50want. There's so many different
49:51combinations. You can be attended, you
49:53can be unattended, you can be unattended
49:57and have drop lockers for your wash dry
49:59fold. You can just any combination you
50:02can think of. So, our model is we open
50:06at 7:30 in the morning, we close at
50:0710:00 at night. Last wash 9:15. Fully
50:10attended.
50:12The stores are built in such a way that
50:14we can't be unattended. We you could
50:15just walk right behind the counter. Yep.
50:17>> So, fully attended and um
50:21customer service is number one. We try
50:24to be like the Chick-fil-A of
50:25laundromats. We're trying to
50:26>> Yeah. be, you know, helpful and and just
50:30the best we possibly can. Um fun fact,
50:33our first store um our first laundry
50:36station that we opened in 2018 is
50:39patterned off of Liberty Laundry's
50:41Delaware store. So, if you look at
50:43pictures of it, the tile around there,
50:46the whole layout of the dryers in the
50:48back and the washers and the the sliding
50:50doors and everything and um yeah, that
50:54was
50:55So, I always try to give a shout out to
50:57Liberty Laundry and that and your
50:58Delaware store that that was the
51:01inspiration for um
51:03the laundry station on Oliver Street.
51:05So. Well, I really appreciate that. The
51:07laundry station is is probably even
51:09nicer than the the Delaware store, but
51:11every time I see the
51:13the photos of it, I'm like, wait, this
51:14is my Delaware store. And then I'm like,
51:16wait, no, no, no, I see the laundry
51:17station sign. It can't be. It just it's
51:19like such a weird thing, but uh you've
51:21done such a great job. I actually send
51:23people
51:24on like the um pictures of how to set up
51:26your your counter space and your wash
51:28dry fold area. Yeah. I use your setup
51:31probably more often than I use our own
51:33setup as an example of how to do it
51:35because it just it looks so good and
51:37it's done so well.
51:38>> had more room. I would I would do that
51:39differently now, knowing now. Yeah. Um
51:42if I'd known that
51:43>> Ours has a little bit more room, but it
51:44doesn't look as good as yours. Exactly.
51:46[laughter]
51:47So.
51:49Anyway, so I wanted to make sure I got
51:50that shout-out in there to you. Well, I
51:52just wanted to ask you because I I think
51:54that you're telling an inconvenient
51:56truth that honestly
51:59nine out of 10 of the laundromat owners
52:00that I've talked to tell a very similar
52:02story. Yeah.
52:04But it's hard to sell software
52:06if you're not doing the delivery and so
52:10the one out of 10 are are the ones that
52:12get all the the space because there's
52:15software to sell on the back end there
52:17and so the market just kind of pushes
52:19that. Yeah, when we had our
52:21our pickup and delivery business, we did
52:23use a different software. We didn't use
52:25the Wash-Dry-Fold POS software.
52:27>> think we had it back then, but yeah.
52:28>> don't even think you did. And and
52:31shout-out to Simmonses, we used
52:32Curbside. Um worked great. Nice guys. I
52:35liked it. We had a different software
52:36before then that got sunsetted, so we
52:39went over to Curbside and that's
52:41what was what was in use before the the
52:44business folded. And it was profitable.
52:46I mean, we were making money. It just
52:47[clears throat]
52:48wasn't worth the hassle, you know? It's
52:51I
52:52Yeah, just wasn't wasn't worth the
52:54hassle and at that at that time in my
52:55life with
52:57going on the chemo, I just Yeah, I
53:00I that was just one thing I did not need
53:02going on.
53:03We we've got to be able to say that we
53:05understand that that we've done it and
53:07all that, but it is it's it's not easy
53:11it's not the easy way to do things. It's
53:13kind of the it's the business on top of
53:15the business, like you said, and so
53:17Um
53:18there's a few other things that I want
53:20to talk to you about and and
53:22just kind of to come back to the whole
53:25reason why um
53:27the whole premise behind this laundromat
53:29ownership podcast was to talk about the
53:31inconvenient truths of laundromat
53:33ownership and to kind of say the things
53:36that people need to hear and that would
53:37be really helpful, but that no one wants
53:40to say out loud because they're worried
53:42about the industry or they're worried
53:43about the software guys or they're
53:45worried about whatever.
53:47And one of those things is around
53:48employee theft. I know that we've had a
53:50lot of employee theft at our stores over
53:52the years. We fired a lot of people for
53:54it.
53:55What what are your experiences in that
53:57area? And share share whatever you want
53:59to and you don't have to share
54:00everything you don't want to. We
54:02>> [clears throat]
54:02>> We just had a
54:04horrific one from the manager that I
54:06trusted for 5 years.
54:09Uh did so much for, helped out, helped
54:12her family. You think you've built the
54:14bond. Um you know, you you can
54:19trust them.
54:20Um
54:21and then I stumbled across how she had
54:24been stealing from us. Um now, to be
54:27clear, Wash-Dry-Fold POS tracks every
54:29dollar that goes through,
54:30but
54:32you're trusting that person also to pull
54:34the money from the bill changer.
54:36And to write down the morning
54:37reconciliation correctly. And um
54:41I didn't have one of those changers that
54:44um has all the fancy counting and it
54:46just had like a little counter in it.
54:48So, you're trusting them to take the
54:50take the money out, count it, and write
54:53it down correctly. And actually count
54:55the Wash-Dry-Fold POS drawer and enter
54:58in the amounts.
55:00Never count the drawer, took the money
55:02from the bill changer, added it to the
55:04drawer, end of shift would pull the 20s,
55:07pull any extra bills from the bill
55:08changer, put it in her pocket.
55:10I guess she didn't think my cameras
55:12worked
55:13cuz I've spent the last couple of months
55:16documenting the videos, pulling videos,
55:19documenting videos. We have a case
55:22number. Going to submit all that to the
55:23financial crimes department at
55:26Wichita Police Department. But we are
55:27well into felony territory. We're into
55:29>> Yeah. Yeah. It's It's embarrassing.
55:32The the amount and it's embarrassing to
55:34me how much I trusted her.
55:36Um
55:37and uh and she had a prior 10 years ago
55:40she did jail time for.
55:42People can change.
55:44Mhm. That one didn't.
55:46So, um hopefully she'll learn from the
55:47error of her ways, but
55:50there was that one. I had another one at
55:52the Oliver store.
55:54Um had access to the bill changer.
55:56And then remember how I said when I had
55:59my Super Suds Laundromat we opened with
56:02when I bought it I had two employees
56:03that I inherited. Yeah. Yeah, then we
56:06became um unattended completely because
56:09again the bill changer. Every time I've
56:12had significant theft it's from
56:15um at giving them access to the bill
56:17changer. And you can say, well, you
56:19should just always just do that
56:20yourself, have a relative.
56:23We're doing the volume that I am not
56:25going in and dealing with that bill
56:26changer every single day. No. Mhm. No,
56:29and that's what it took was you to fill
56:31up or have two or three bill changers.
56:34So, we're not going coinless, but we're
56:37just not supplying the quarters anymore.
56:40And you know what? Don't be afraid of
56:41that. We have not missed a beat.
56:44We've not missed a beat. The um
56:47she would always direct people to the
56:49bill changer when they wanted to break
56:52like break a 20 or whatever. What we're
56:54supposed to do is, oh, you can pay for
56:57that machine right here at um at the
57:00counter cuz of how Wash Dry Fold POS has
57:02that API and we just start it for them.
57:04She would send them to the bill changer
57:06to load up the bill changer with cash.
57:08Well, now
57:09>> Got it. we have a sign on our bill
57:10changers which I'm
57:12you know, they're for sale if anybody
57:13needs to. Uh we have a sign on them that
57:15says see the attendant. So, then they
57:17you know, new customers will come over
57:18to the attendant and like, uh do you not
57:21supply quarters? I'm like, no, you don't
57:22need to touch those nasty quarters with
57:24germs on them. You can pay right here
57:26for the machines. Just tell me the
57:28number and we can even give you a
57:29receipt for that. Which will love that
57:32especially if they're doing it for
57:33somebody else and they're getting
57:34reimbursed for it or, you know, they can
57:36actually show what machines were used
57:38and how much they paid for it. Um and
57:40then they can reconcile later on. So,
57:43um every time
57:44>> than like 40 quarters. Yes. Yeah, my
57:47my 100 lb machines at Oliver
57:52base price is 16 or 17 dollars, I can't
57:54remember which. And then you can add
57:56extra wash, extra rinse,
57:58extra time, blah blah blah, and it gets
58:01up there. Nobody wants to mess with
58:02those kinds of quarters. So,
58:04uh and that's why all the bill changers
58:06needs attention every single day is cuz
58:08you're dispensing so down in many of
58:09them. So,
58:10um and we only had single hoppers, one
58:12single hopper change machine at each
58:14store. So,
58:15um
58:16access to cash, especially when there's
58:19no reconciliation, there's no
58:22um
58:23accountability as far as a system
58:26that's on a computer.
58:28Right. So, if you're just pulling bills
58:30out of the changer and there's no
58:31accountability there except on camera,
58:33that's one thing, but
58:34access to cash without
58:37identifiable
58:39um
58:40um accountability just makes people
58:42stupid. I don't care who they are, I
58:44don't care about how much you trust
58:45them.
58:47You know, it it's even if it's family
58:49members, you got to think, "Yeah, I
58:51don't know. Now my numbers are off."
58:53I've never had any that problem with
58:54family members, but
58:57um
58:58it just cash makes people stupid. They
59:02make bad choices, so Yep. um That's
59:06yeah. So, that's it's been ugly. We're
59:08finishing that uh episode. Um in the new
59:12store, when we build another store,
59:15we'll even put coin boxes in my
59:16equipment. I don't know. I might put
59:18coin drops in just because people do
59:20like, I don't know why, people like to
59:22bring their quarters in
59:24and use them. On the other hand, I they
59:26to pull those quarters once a month.
59:28They're still bringing in enough that I
59:29have to
59:30pull quarters once a month. But I have I
59:33have the keys to the
59:35to the washers and dryers now. I pulled
59:37all the keys
59:38for that kind of stuff. So
59:41um
59:42yeah.
59:43Just remember
59:44>> cash makes people make stupid choices.
59:47It really does. It really does. One of
59:49the first things we did when we bought
59:51Liberty Laundry from Brian's parents,
59:53you know, when when that Yeah. ownership
59:55transitioned.
59:57We just knew I guess it wasn't the the
1:00:00first thing, but within like three or
1:00:01four months, we just knew we had to get
1:00:03rid of all the quarters because the
1:00:04amount of emptying the machines and the
1:00:08hoppers and the counting and the manual
1:00:11labor. Like you said, it's just too
1:00:13much. When you once you're doing it at
1:00:14scale, it's a full-time job. And so
1:00:17um we just knew we had to get rid of
1:00:19quarters and we figured that it would we
1:00:21would see a substantial drop in revenue
1:00:23because like you said, people love the
1:00:26quarters and they just want to come in
1:00:28with all their quarters and they want to
1:00:29spend them and that's that's their
1:00:30habit. Mhm. And when we went quarterless
1:00:34um we took out the ATMs and put bill
1:00:36breakers and we took out the hoppers and
1:00:38put bill breakers in there instead. And
1:00:40of course the value add centers. Since
1:00:42we've gone quarterless, the revenue's
1:00:44just been up. I mean, we we've gone up
1:00:46when we bought it, it was 2.1 and now
1:00:49it's 2.5 million. And so in just a few
1:00:52years, we've seen significant and
1:00:54there's a lot of things we've done to
1:00:55try and increase that revenue.
1:00:57But one of the things we did that we
1:00:59thought would decrease it was get rid of
1:01:00the quarters just just to make it easier
1:01:02on us. We knew the customers wouldn't
1:01:04like it. We were just like this is just
1:01:05got to be easier to run as a business.
1:01:08And when we did that, we did the big
1:01:10bonus program. So like bring your
1:01:12quarters, great. This is $20 worth of
1:01:14quarters. You know what? I'm going to
1:01:15give you this $20 bill. I'm going to
1:01:17walk you over to the value add center.
1:01:19Yeah.
1:01:19>> You're going to put in the 20 and you
1:01:21get $30 worth of machine starts. That's
1:01:23a 50% bonus. We did it like a 50% bonus
1:01:26for the first month.
1:01:27Now, it's only a 10% bonus. So, you you
1:01:29load $20, you get 22. Yeah. But, if
1:01:32you're worried people are going to push
1:01:34back, then that 50% bonus on that first
1:01:36month Yeah.
1:01:38it didn't really end up costing us
1:01:39anything cuz if you look at your COGS, I
1:01:41mean, your COGS are just like your
1:01:43utilities. And so, utilities were up a
1:01:45little bit that first month or two.
1:01:48But, it's like the actual revenue was
1:01:50not much impacted. In fact, I feel like
1:01:52people spent more because they were
1:01:53trying to get those those bigger
1:01:54bonuses. Mhm. You know, selling
1:01:56Wash-Dry-Fold POS for
1:01:59I sold it for I don't know, 8 years
1:02:01straight. I still sell it, but I'm kind
1:02:03of the more in the marketing ops side of
1:02:05things now. Uh Rebecca does our sales
1:02:07now, but
1:02:09um
1:02:10I would say about once a week, I would
1:02:12get on the phone with someone.
1:02:15And I could usually tell
1:02:18I usually had an idea that I would say,
1:02:19"Well, what what
1:02:21What brings you to contact us today?"
1:02:25And they would say something like, "Oh,
1:02:26well, I just figured it's about time."
1:02:27And I'm like, "No, no one just Yeah.
1:02:29>> thinks, "Oh, it's about time to spend
1:02:31thousands of dollars on a point of sale
1:02:33system and
1:02:34train all my staff on it."
1:02:36And then once we get into the employee
1:02:38theft piece of it and how it prevents
1:02:40employee theft. And if you even look
1:02:42into the history of cash registers, they
1:02:44were created to prevent employee theft.
1:02:46That was the single purpose of them.
1:02:47They do a lot of things now.
1:02:49But, um initially, it was to prevent
1:02:52employee theft. And
1:02:55the number of people I've talked to
1:02:58I would say I've probably talked to 100
1:02:59or 200 that have had hundreds of dollars
1:03:02stolen from them. Yeah. And then people
1:03:04that I've had in excess of $20,000
1:03:07stolen from them.
1:03:09It's got to be 25, 26 laundromat owners,
1:03:13at least.
1:03:14>> Yeah. Um
1:03:15and there's really not that many high
1:03:18performing stores that could even you
1:03:21know have that much revenue to steal in
1:03:22that short of time. So
1:03:24>> is when you're doing enough business you
1:03:25don't notice that it's missing. That's
1:03:27right. That's right.
1:03:28>> one store was still ramping up but the
1:03:31revenue looked flat.
1:03:32So yeah.
1:03:34>> Right. It takes a while to That's the
1:03:36embarrassing part.
1:03:37>> things. Yeah.
1:03:38Well, I I think
1:03:40I mean
1:03:42I don't think there's anything to be
1:03:43embarrassed of just because I think it
1:03:45happens to so many laundromat owners and
1:03:47it's just I mean people
1:03:50when someone steals that's that's them.
1:03:51It's not you that they stole from you,
1:03:53you know. That's that's my personal
1:03:54feelings on it and we've had it happen
1:03:56to us as well.
1:03:57>> Both my parents grew up in the
1:03:58depression and Yeah. instilled in me the
1:04:01the value that you you don't steal from
1:04:02anybody. You work for it. And I worked
1:04:04my butt off my whole life. So has my
1:04:06husband. I'm the I'm the first person in
1:04:08my family to graduate high school let
1:04:10alone college.
1:04:11Wow. Wow. I've worked hard to get where
1:04:14I'm at and for have somebody want to
1:04:16take a shortcut and try to you know take
1:04:20from that take from my family
1:04:22that's uh
1:04:24that's that's the cardinal sin.
1:04:26Yeah. Don't do that.
1:04:27>> You know
1:04:28it's very emotional. It's very upsetting
1:04:30and I think that's why there's not a lot
1:04:32of people talking about it in the
1:04:34industry but being on the point of sale
1:04:36side of things we get to see that it is
1:04:38a big part of the industry that people
1:04:39don't want to talk about and part of it
1:04:41is it's just you know it's just hard to
1:04:43talk about and
1:04:45Like you said it's embarrassing and for
1:04:46us it's like
1:04:47>> Embarrassing, yeah. It's happened to us
1:04:49I don't know how like a dozen times now
1:04:50and so it's like for us we just think of
1:04:52it as well this is part of
1:04:54hiring at that labor. Now if if we were
1:04:57paying our employees $100 an hour do I
1:04:59think we would still see the same amount
1:05:01of theft? Yeah. No, we'd be out of
1:05:03business obviously. You can't you
1:05:04couldn't run a laundromat at $100 an
1:05:06hour obviously. But um
1:05:09I do I it has something to do with
1:05:11laundromats are typically paying, you
1:05:12know, somewhere in that $12 to $20
1:05:16you know, per hour point.
1:05:18>> was well over $20 an hour and had I I
1:05:21was paying her direct primary care um
1:05:24Wow. uh membership. So.
1:05:27>> Which is really Yep. Yep. She was
1:05:28>> But that's also probably the highest
1:05:29she's ever been paid though, right?
1:05:31Probably the highest, yeah. Yeah, I'm
1:05:33I'm guessing. I doubt she was making
1:05:35that much at Dollar Tree.
1:05:36So, before she came to me.
1:05:39Yeah.
1:05:39>> But uh yeah, good had a good job. Yeah,
1:05:42anyway.
1:05:43Her loss.
1:05:44Yeah.
1:05:45>> And we've got a much better staff in
1:05:47place now, man. We We actually cleaned
1:05:49house. I got rid of a couple of others
1:05:51and uh that weren't stealing I well, one
1:05:55one was just a low performer. Another
1:05:57one found a different job and we've
1:05:59cleaned out, man. We got so much a
1:06:02better staff now and everybody
1:06:03understands why we have a better staff
1:06:05now. And um
1:06:08Sharon's feeling it, so.
1:06:10It's work. It's work to get a good staff
1:06:12in place and a lot of laundromat owners
1:06:14don't want to do it. They would rather
1:06:15have the staff that steals from them and
1:06:18that isn't very good Yeah. because at
1:06:20least that's the staff they have and it
1:06:21doesn't require any labor on their part
1:06:24to improve that. And
1:06:26like I said, you can own a laundromat
1:06:28like that and I know a lot of owners
1:06:30that that's how they run their
1:06:31laundromat, but you're not going to
1:06:33really excel like you have um or like
1:06:36Liberty Laundry has Yeah. um if you run
1:06:38your laundromats like that. In fact, it
1:06:40usually those laundromats don't get over
1:06:42250 to 300 in revenue. Yeah. The
1:06:44laundromats that get over 500 in
1:06:46revenue, I know our stores are all over
1:06:48700, so Mhm. um
1:06:51But I think the the
1:06:53to do that, you have to um
1:06:56you have to put in the time to get the
1:06:57right people there and uh I appreciate
1:06:59you being honest and up front even
1:07:01though it's painful on that thing
1:07:03because I do think it helps a a of
1:07:05people and and I mean, just earlier this
1:07:07week we were talking to a laundromat
1:07:09owner. This is embarrassing. Now, if you
1:07:10want to know a story that's actually
1:07:12embarrassing, they they came to their
1:07:14laundromat
1:07:16which was a wash, dry, fold laundromat.
1:07:19It's self-serving wash, dry, fold.
1:07:21And it they weren't down the street from
1:07:22it or anything and some of these owners
1:07:24live a few hours away from their stores
1:07:25which you and I both would never do
1:07:27that.
1:07:27>> Right. Um but um
1:07:30he was he was going to his laundromat,
1:07:32hadn't been there in a week or two
1:07:35and found a point of sale system on the
1:07:37counter.
1:07:38One that he had not bought. Hm. It was a
1:07:41you know, one of those square systems
1:07:42that you can get, you know.
1:07:44>> Yeah. And it was one of his employees
1:07:45was accepting credit cards and I guess
1:07:48who
1:07:49the money was going to? The employee.
1:07:51So, they you know, they he had a point
1:07:53of sale system he didn't even know about
1:07:55and it was you know, one of his
1:07:56employees had opened a square account
1:07:59and was accepting credit cards.
1:08:01So, you talk about embarrassing theft.
1:08:03That's pretty embarrassing as far as
1:08:05employee theft that you didn't even know
1:08:06you had a point of sale system, but
1:08:08>> Yeah, here I say cash makes people
1:08:10stupid and I've always said that. I've
1:08:11never had anybody steal from me using
1:08:13credit or debit card, but that would be
1:08:15an example is if they did
1:08:16>> It happens. It does happen. There's just
1:08:18a lot of theft in laundromats and most
1:08:20of it is employee theft. And so,
1:08:23um I think
1:08:24that's my PSA that I wanted to talk
1:08:26about today. So, I appreciate you giving
1:08:28me the time to that, but I want to hear
1:08:30your PSA about the mammograms. Yeah. So,
1:08:33fo- following on your thing keep an eye
1:08:35on your stores. If you Yeah, it's
1:08:38you can be passive about it, but you're
1:08:40also going to get probably stolen from.
1:08:42The more you're in there
1:08:44you know, I I try to be
1:08:47proactive, be in my stores.
1:08:49Make sure the custom- the employees know
1:08:51that you're watching not just you know,
1:08:53creepy watching them, but you're paying
1:08:54attention to your store. You know, the
1:08:57um
1:08:58if you're
1:08:59uh mice will play when the cat's away
1:09:02type thing. So. You don't want to be
1:09:03totally absentee. If you're totally
1:09:05absentee, they will take advantage of
1:09:07it.
1:09:07>> They certainly will. So. Uh, so, okay.
1:09:10My PSA. Ladies, get your mammograms
1:09:12every year. So,
1:09:14um
1:09:15like I talked about on, um
1:09:17May of 24, I got diagnosed with breast
1:09:20cancer.
1:09:21I just had one tumor.
1:09:23Um, so I want everybody to know I'm
1:09:24healthy. I'm fine. And this is really my
1:09:26hair now, this time. So, uh
1:09:28>> I see that. Yeah. I I did go on a
1:09:30podcast
1:09:31on Jordan Marie's and I actually pulled
1:09:34my wig off. So, this really is my hair
1:09:36this time.
1:09:36>> [laughter]
1:09:37>> Um We won't get the big wig reveal for
1:09:39this episode.
1:09:40>> big wig reveal. It's better to have the
1:09:42real hair.
1:09:42>> But, it does need to be colored cuz
1:09:44that's my natural color. So, it's I'm
1:09:46not a natural blonde. So, surprise. It
1:09:48looks good.
1:09:49I have a good colorist.
1:09:51Um
1:09:52So, um
1:09:54there was nothing to be seen on my
1:09:56mammogram in 2023. 2024, I had one 2 and
1:09:591/2 cm uh, tumor.
1:10:02Um, it had not spread, but it was a good
1:10:05size tumor. That was considered stage
1:10:06two because it was over because of the
1:10:08size. Wow. So, we hit it aggressive. It
1:10:12was the type was HER2-positive,
1:10:14which is treatable,
1:10:16um, but it is an aggressive and
1:10:18fast-growing type of cancer. So, thank
1:10:20goodness we caught it then. Had I
1:10:21decided to get my mammogram in 2024,
1:10:24then I don't know what I'd have been
1:10:25dealing with in 2025. It could have
1:10:28spread and whatnot, but six months of,
1:10:30uh, well, six treatments of chemo, three
1:10:32weeks apart. Um, then I had, uh,
1:10:35lumpectomy.
1:10:37Just the lumpectomy in November of 24.
1:10:40It showed it was all gone. There was no,
1:10:42there were no live, um, cancer cells. I
1:10:45had lymph nodes,
1:10:46uh, biopsied as well in that left side.
1:10:49No cancer, nothing. It hadn't spread
1:10:52even to the lymph nodes. So, but just in
1:10:54case, then I still had radiation in
1:10:55January.
1:10:57February through September of 2025, I
1:11:00had the shots are called Phesgo, which
1:11:02is a combo, it's a chemo type drug.
1:11:05So, I had to have 11 of those, 3 weeks
1:11:07apart. Um during which time I believe is
1:11:10when my the previously forementioned
1:11:12employee started stealing from me while
1:11:14I'm still on, you know, cancer
1:11:16treatment.
1:11:17So, I'm now in that 5-year period post
1:11:19cancer, cancer free of when I just go
1:11:22visit my oncologist every 6 months just
1:11:24to kind of make sure everything's okay
1:11:25and you know, they do some blood work
1:11:27and make sure we're I'm okay. And then
1:11:29they'll release me from everything at
1:11:31the end of the the 5-year period. So,
1:11:33everything's good. It's completely gone.
1:11:36I've lost I was working on that anyway,
1:11:39but lost I think about 60 lb total. Wow.
1:11:42Lost a bunch ahead of time.
1:11:44Chemo didn't help a whole lot, but I
1:11:46then I lost the rest of it after that,
1:11:48but uh yeah, get your mammograms.
1:11:51I I heard some from so many people, so
1:11:54many women and I still hear it
1:11:55occasionally, "Oh, I just don't want to
1:11:56know." Yeah, you do want to know.
1:11:58You do want to know.
1:12:00Cuz if it's spread,
1:12:03the the best quote I saw was from a book
1:12:06it's called and the gal's name is
1:12:07actually Susan Love and it's called Dr.
1:12:09Love's Breast uh Breast Cancer Book.
1:12:12And um she's actually a breast surgeon,
1:12:16but she had had a type of cancer, wasn't
1:12:17breast cancer, but she had had a type of
1:12:19cancer herself. So, it's basically the
1:12:21encyclopedia about all different types
1:12:23of breast cancer treatments and stuff.
1:12:25And the quote from that that I like to
1:12:28give people is nobody ever dies from
1:12:30breast cancer.
1:12:32What kills you is when those cells
1:12:34transfer to travel to vital organs.
1:12:38And then when they're in those vital
1:12:39organs, that's what can kill you. So,
1:12:42Right. Catch those cows before they get
1:12:44out of the barn.
1:12:46>> [laughter]
1:12:46>> Get in there. Catch Catch it Early
1:12:48detection really is key. They always say
1:12:50that. And you know, you hate going in
1:12:52there and having that whole memo and
1:12:55everything getting
1:12:56squished.
1:12:57>> Squished.
1:12:58Yeah, it doesn't sound very fun.
1:13:00>> be bigger than I am now, and it was
1:13:01seriously did not feel comfortable. But,
1:13:04I tell you what, the it was
1:13:06I'm I'm so glad I caught it early with
1:13:08just that one tumor, got it out of the
1:13:10way. I've got a new appreciation of
1:13:11life.
1:13:12Um
1:13:14you know, um
1:13:16I've
1:13:17um
1:13:18>> [clears throat]
1:13:19>> kicked cancer, so
1:13:20what's life going to do to me, you know?
1:13:23Even even having an employee steal
1:13:25a ridiculous [snorts]
1:13:26amount of money from me,
1:13:28I'm I'm still alive.
1:13:31I've still
1:13:31>> still doing great.
1:13:32>> more laundries to build, and heck, I
1:13:34even got my scuba diving certification.
1:13:36So,
1:13:37>> [laughter]
1:13:37>> cancer didn't kill me, so I thought I'd
1:13:38try scuba diving.
1:13:40So, yeah.
1:13:41>> That's right. You You're doing better
1:13:42than you've ever been, and and the lady
1:13:44who stole from you is is probably in
1:13:47in going to be in a little bit of
1:13:48trouble here in the in the near future,
1:13:50but um whatever the case, it'll be
1:13:53interesting, but yeah, I run 2 miles
1:13:55twice a week. I work out with a personal
1:13:57trainer for an hour on on weights once a
1:14:00week, just because, you know, you got to
1:14:01keep the muscles and the bones strong
1:14:03and stuff, and that's I I will not go to
1:14:05the gym and lift weights. I I have to
1:14:07pay somebody to tell me to lift weights
1:14:09and to count for me and stuff, but so
1:14:11yeah, I'm healthier, I'm stronger than
1:14:12I've ever been, so.
1:14:14That's excellent. That's really good.
1:14:16Well, there's one thing that I want to
1:14:18close on, and I I really am glad that um
1:14:22that we didn't lose you to cancer, and
1:14:24that we've got you back and better than
1:14:25ever, because I I feel like you're
1:14:27really
1:14:29really one of the the women that I look
1:14:31up to most in this industry, and and
1:14:33also just uh
1:14:35one of the one of the best voices, I
1:14:37think that we have. Um so, I really
1:14:39appreciate that, and uh
1:14:42but I do want to hear from you the
1:14:44craziest thing you have ever seen
1:14:47or heard of in in any of your
1:14:49laundromats? What's just the experience
1:14:51that you just like I cannot believe that
1:14:53just happened?
1:14:54Well, we've had several.
1:14:57Um two that came to mind was um
1:15:02the little the little rundown the first
1:15:03one was a little rundown laundromat that
1:15:05I had Super Suds. Somebody some guy
1:15:09there ran poker tournaments.
1:15:11And apparently thought it was
1:15:12>> Out of your laundromat? No. No. Okay.
1:15:15Okay. But apparently thought it was his
1:15:17all these poker chips needed to be
1:15:18washed.
1:15:20And he used a one of the aforementioned
1:15:23Horizons
1:15:24and a top loader
1:15:26and
1:15:27>> Okay. washed them which didn't sound
1:15:29like a bad idea until you you realize I
1:15:31don't know what he put in there if it
1:15:32was just the water but the
1:15:34the plastic dissolves and flakes off and
1:15:36there's a metal disc in the center.
1:15:39Okay. That I didn't know that. I didn't
1:15:42know that either. So I had for a long
1:15:44time I had a big bucket full of
1:15:47uh poker chip remains. In fact, it might
1:15:49I might have it in the back room at
1:15:50Oliver. Um
1:15:52yeah, poker chip remains that we scooped
1:15:55out of the washers, scooped out of the
1:15:57drain line. You can just imagine how it
1:15:59clogged up the drain. That's how we
1:16:00found out. Over flowed. Um
1:16:03Surely you're finding those things for
1:16:04months. Poker chips.
1:16:06So yeah, that was that one that that
1:16:09Horizon was never the same. It never
1:16:11>> Oh man. It I mean at the time that was
1:16:14like I don't know what they how much
1:16:16they go for now. It was like a $2,500
1:16:18machine and it was one of my new ones.
1:16:20Yeah. Just ruined that machine.
1:16:22And uh but the other one was um we were
1:16:25on vacation
1:16:26and the attendant um sends us a video
1:16:30and I'm like what am I looking at? And
1:16:33somebody had brought in it was on Sunday
1:16:35afternoon had brought in some blankets
1:16:37from their garage to wash cuz you know
1:16:40they've been all stuffy and stuff.
1:16:42He had laid this one blanket out and
1:16:44comes and tells the attendant, you know,
1:16:46she needs to come do something about
1:16:48this and she comes over and it's a nest
1:16:49of baby mice that are alive.
1:16:53In my laundry.
1:16:53>> Oh my goodness. And so
1:16:57yeah, I don't know where the mom went.
1:16:58So, anyway, we had a little nest of baby
1:17:01mice. I got my center the camera that
1:17:04goes right down the
1:17:06the center aisle on the blanket. There's
1:17:09this little nest of baby mice. So, we've
1:17:12we've had others where the guy passes
1:17:15out on the toilet in the bathroom and
1:17:17Yeah.
1:17:17>> falls off and you got to call 911 or I
1:17:20ask, are you doing okay?
1:17:22And then they answer, I open the door
1:17:24and he's sitting there on the toilet.
1:17:25Could you call 911? That's two separate
1:17:27incidents. It was yeah, just
1:17:30all sorts. That's that's the
1:17:31neighborhood that most of your
1:17:32laundromats are in. That's the people
1:17:34that need it the most. Mhm. You have the
1:17:36awesome customers that bring you cookies
1:17:38and cakes and brownies and appreciate
1:17:40you. Then you have the others that will
1:17:42cuss you out or uh fall off the toilet
1:17:45in the bathroom and need medical
1:17:46assistance.
1:17:48That's right. They're they're either
1:17:49Welcome to our world of customers.
1:17:53>> They're either customers you just love
1:17:55and couldn't live without or they're
1:17:56overdosing in your bathroom. That is
1:17:58kind of the
1:17:59the dichotomy you get there
1:18:01unfortunately, but um Yeah. But uh
1:18:04There's been other stories, but those
1:18:05are the ones that come up at
1:18:07top of my head. I'm sure if I ask my
1:18:08tenants, they'll be like, oh, there's
1:18:09that other time. It's like, yeah, I
1:18:11forgot about that one.
1:18:12>> [laughter]
1:18:12>> Yeah.
1:18:14Well, I so appreciate you spending so
1:18:16much time with us today and um it's
1:18:18really been a pleasure to get to talk to
1:18:20you and I've learned a lot and I've had
1:18:21a really fun time as well. So,
1:18:23>> [music]
1:18:23>> thanks so much for joining us and uh
1:18:25I'll have to have you back on again.
1:18:27Okay, we'll do it when I get store
1:18:28number three up and running.
1:18:30Let's do it.
1:18:31>> Year two, we'll have wash, dry, fold
1:18:32[music] POS.

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