Full Cycle

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.

Full Cycle is a business podcast hosted by CLA, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

CLA hosts Full Cycle, a business show with 100 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #17

  Joe Ebanks on Turning an Accidental Laundromat Purchase Into a Growing Business

  Aug 18, 202642 min

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #17

  Joe Ebanks on Turning an Accidental Laundromat Purchase Into a Growing Business

  Aug 18, 202642 min

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #16

  She Bought a Laundromat Because Doing Airbnb Laundry Got Too Expensive

  Aug 5, 202633 minS2

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #16

  She Bought a Laundromat Because Doing Airbnb Laundry Got Too Expensive

  Aug 5, 202633 minS2

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #15

  Operation Laundry Chapter 3: It’s Open

  Jul 21, 202626 minS2

  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.

  ListenShow Notes

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