Full Cycle

Catherine Chalpin came to laundry the way a lot of people do these days: she saw something on Instagram, thought it looked manageable, and started doing her homework. What followed was about as fast a path from interest to open doors as you are likely to find. In this episode of Full Cycle, Chalpin shares how she went from watching someone unload quarters into a bucket to running Pop In Laundry in Poughkeepsie, New York, all within roughly a year.

The location she landed on was a zombie mat, stripped of equipment after a dryer fire, but with its infrastructure largely intact. Chalpin, who has a background in project management through years of renovating rental properties, saw the bones of the space and knew what to do. She managed the buildout herself, skipping a general contractor, and opened in January 2026.

Her day job selling indoor athletic flooring for nonprofits and athletic facilities has shaped how she thinks about community relationships, and that shows in how she runs her store. In her first few months, she organized a clothing drive with the Salvation Army, launched a summer reading program in partnership with the local library, secured a deal to flyer cars in her plaza, and began providing laundry cards to clients of Family Services of Poughkeepsie. A pop-up comedy show at the laundromat was also on the list. She credits a background in marketing and promotions for her instinct to keep things fresh and community-facing.

Chalpin and host, Matt DeWolf also get into the practical side of running a new store: the lint trap surprise mid-construction, the value of a good automated floor mopper, the importance of a simple pricing reference sheet for staff, and the challenge of managing time across a full-time job and a new business. Her advice to anyone just getting into the industry is straightforward: read, listen, network, and learn the permit process in your municipality before you need it.

Her final answer on what one thing you can do today to be better tomorrow: get familiar with AI. She's been using it to build frameworks, manage scheduling, and handle operational work since before the store opened, and considers it an essential part of how she runs things now.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

Catherine Chalpin came to laundry the way a lot of people do these days: she saw something on Instagram, thought it looked manageable, and started doing her homework. What followed was about as fast a path from interest to open doors as you are likely to find. In this episode of Full Cycle, Chalpin shares how she went from watching someone unload quarters into a bucket to running Pop In Laundry in Poughkeepsie, New York, all within roughly a year.

The location she landed on was a zombie mat, stripped of equipment after a dryer fire, but with its infrastructure largely intact. Chalpin, who has a background in project management through years of renovating rental properties, saw the bones of the space and knew what to do. She managed the buildout herself, skipping a general contractor, and opened in January 2026.

Her day job selling indoor athletic flooring for nonprofits and athletic facilities has shaped how she thinks about community relationships, and that shows in how she runs her store. In her first few months, she organized a clothing drive with the Salvation Army, launched a summer reading program in partnership with the local library, secured a deal to flyer cars in her plaza, and began providing laundry cards to clients of Family Services of Poughkeepsie. A pop-up comedy show at the laundromat was also on the list. She credits a background in marketing and promotions for her instinct to keep things fresh and community-facing.

Chalpin and host, Matt DeWolf also get into the practical side of running a new store: the lint trap surprise mid-construction, the value of a good automated floor mopper, the importance of a simple pricing reference sheet for staff, and the challenge of managing time across a full-time job and a new business. Her advice to anyone just getting into the industry is straightforward: read, listen, network, and learn the permit process in your municipality before you need it.

Her final answer on what one thing you can do today to be better tomorrow: get familiar with AI. She's been using it to build frameworks, manage scheduling, and handle operational work since before the store opened, and considers it an essential part of how she runs things now.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

We are checking in with Tim Johnson and his progress as he builds Operation Laundry. This is the second conversation and a lot has changed since the first one two months ago. Johnson is building Operation Laundry in Holland, Michigan, and the project is moving closer to the finish line. Johnson joins host Matt DeWolf to talk about the current status.

The construction is ongoing but the theme of this episode is community engagement. The community response to Operation Laundry has been something Johnson could not have predicted. We discuss a Facebook post asking residents about their experience with local laundromats that drew hundreds of comments and likes. The Holland Sentinel even ran a front-page profile. Local television reached out to cover opening day. People stop by the job site to drop things off. Employees have applied without any job posting ever going up. Johnson shares the story of one morning, a stranger pulled his car up alongside Johnson's to block him in, just so he could ask about washer sizes and the kids zone.

Johnson talks through what it takes to build a brand before you've served a single customer, including lighting upgrades to the strip mall, co-marketing relationships with neighboring businesses, and the concept of making the laundromat a third space, somewhere people can gather rather than just a utility stop. He also talks about where the real pressure lives, and it is not in the marketing. It is in the financial decisions that happen every day on a construction site, where every call has consequences and there is no safety net.

The conversation also goes into what it takes to sustain yourself through a process like this. 

His advice: find something bigger than yourself, whether that is faith, community, or just putting energy into helping someone else. What you give, he says, comes back tenfold.

We are checking in with Tim Johnson and his progress as he builds Operation Laundry. This is the second conversation and a lot has changed since the first one two months ago. Johnson is building Operation Laundry in Holland, Michigan, and the project is moving closer to the finish line. Johnson joins host Matt DeWolf to talk about the current status.

The construction is ongoing but the theme of this episode is community engagement. The community response to Operation Laundry has been something Johnson could not have predicted. We discuss a Facebook post asking residents about their experience with local laundromats that drew hundreds of comments and likes. The Holland Sentinel even ran a front-page profile. Local television reached out to cover opening day. People stop by the job site to drop things off. Employees have applied without any job posting ever going up. Johnson shares the story of one morning, a stranger pulled his car up alongside Johnson's to block him in, just so he could ask about washer sizes and the kids zone.

Johnson talks through what it takes to build a brand before you've served a single customer, including lighting upgrades to the strip mall, co-marketing relationships with neighboring businesses, and the concept of making the laundromat a third space, somewhere people can gather rather than just a utility stop. He also talks about where the real pressure lives, and it is not in the marketing. It is in the financial decisions that happen every day on a construction site, where every call has consequences and there is no safety net.

The conversation also goes into what it takes to sustain yourself through a process like this. 

His advice: find something bigger than yourself, whether that is faith, community, or just putting energy into helping someone else. What you give, he says, comes back tenfold.

On this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with Tim Johnson, founder of Operation Laundry in Holland, Michigan, for a conversation unlike most on the show. Tim's laundromat is not open yet, and this episode follows his journey in real time, offering a candid look at what it actually takes to build something from scratch in this industry.

Tim's background is anything but traditional for a laundromat owner. A former Air Force officer and cybersecurity entrepreneur, he arrived at the Clean Show knowing no one and knowing nothing about laundry. What followed was a series of high-stakes moves: rolling over his entire 401k through a ROBS structure while unemployed, tracking down and purchasing 43 dryers and 42 washers from a shuttered franchisee near Detroit, hauling the equipment across the state in rented box trucks with his neighbor Rob, and securing a commercial space on a seller-financed land contract. He and Rob then spent 50 days demo-ing 5,000 square feet by hand, removing 22 tons of material, and uncovering a hidden tunnel running beneath the entire strip mall.

Tim speaks openly about the moments of doubt, the constant outflow of money with no income coming in, and the relationships, with his distributor, his builder, his neighbor, local businesses, and community organizations, that have made the project possible. His advice for listeners is simple: walk or exercise every single day. The mental clarity it provides, he says, is worth more than the time it takes.

We’ll be following Tim along his journey as he gets Operation Laundry open for business.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

Host: Matt DeWolf | Guest: Tim Johnson, Founder, Operation Laundry, Holland, Michigan

On this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with Tim Johnson, founder of Operation Laundry in Holland, Michigan, for a conversation unlike most on the show. Tim's laundromat is not open yet, and this episode follows his journey in real time, offering a candid look at what it actually takes to build something from scratch in this industry.

Tim's background is anything but traditional for a laundromat owner. A former Air Force officer and cybersecurity entrepreneur, he arrived at the Clean Show knowing no one and knowing nothing about laundry. What followed was a series of high-stakes moves: rolling over his entire 401k through a ROBS structure while unemployed, tracking down and purchasing 43 dryers and 42 washers from a shuttered franchisee near Detroit, hauling the equipment across the state in rented box trucks with his neighbor Rob, and securing a commercial space on a seller-financed land contract. He and Rob then spent 50 days demo-ing 5,000 square feet by hand, removing 22 tons of material, and uncovering a hidden tunnel running beneath the entire strip mall.

Tim speaks openly about the moments of doubt, the constant outflow of money with no income coming in, and the relationships, with his distributor, his builder, his neighbor, local businesses, and community organizations, that have made the project possible. His advice for listeners is simple: walk or exercise every single day. The mental clarity it provides, he says, is worth more than the time it takes.

We’ll be following Tim along his journey as he gets Operation Laundry open for business.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

Host: Matt DeWolf | Guest: Tim Johnson, Founder, Operation Laundry, Holland, Michigan

In this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with Alex Jekowsky, founder and CEO of Cents, to discuss the company's recently closed Series C funding round, The round finalized at $140 million, and it is the largest outside investment the laundry industry has seen.

The conversation covers what this capital signals about the state of the industry, how Cents plans to deploy the funds, and what operators at every scale should be paying attention to. Matt and Alex dig into the data Cents has gathered processing over $1.5 billion in annual payments across more than 4,500 locations, and what that data reveals about how the best operators run their businesses. They also discuss the rise of private equity in laundry, why consolidation should not be feared, and how independent owners can use agility as a competitive edge.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

In this episode of Full Cycle, Matt DeWolf sits down with Alex Jekowsky, founder and CEO of Cents, to discuss the company's recently closed Series C funding round, The round finalized at $140 million, and it is the largest outside investment the laundry industry has seen.

The conversation covers what this capital signals about the state of the industry, how Cents plans to deploy the funds, and what operators at every scale should be paying attention to. Matt and Alex dig into the data Cents has gathered processing over $1.5 billion in annual payments across more than 4,500 locations, and what that data reveals about how the best operators run their businesses. They also discuss the rise of private equity in laundry, why consolidation should not be feared, and how independent owners can use agility as a competitive edge.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

Host Matt DeWolf sits down with Brian Henderson and Ian Gollahon, co-owners of Liberty Laundry and founders of Wash Dry Fold POS, to explore what it takes to run and grow a laundry operation.

Brian Henderson went from studying chemistry to managing, and eventually purchasing, a chain of Oklahoma laundromats from his family. That journey led to the creation of a point-of-sale system now used by over 1,200 laundromats nationwide. Ian Gollahon shares his transition from sales into the laundry business, and together they cover operational systems, making big changes after a generational transfer, and lessons learned along the way.

This conversation gets into valuing a laundromat, financing a major acquisition, building a strong management team, and why documenting your processes matters for long-term success.

Thanks for giving us a turn.

Host Matt DeWolf sits down with Brian Henderson and Ian Gollahon, co-owners of Liberty Laundry and founders of Wash Dry Fold POS, to explore what it takes to run and grow a laundry operation.

Brian Henderson went from studying chemistry to managing, and eventually purchasing, a chain of Oklahoma laundromats from his family. That journey led to the creation of a point-of-sale system now used by over 1,200 laundromats nationwide. Ian Gollahon shares his transition from sales into the laundry business, and together they cover operational systems, making big changes after a generational transfer, and lessons learned along the way.

This conversation gets into valuing a laundromat, financing a major acquisition, building a strong management team, and why documenting your processes matters for long-term success.

Thanks for giving us a turn.