Laundry Legacy with Domonique Boone

In this episode, we delve into the inspiring journey of Leslie’s Laundry Care, a business revolutionizing the laundry industry with innovative solutions. Join us as Domonique Boone, founder of Leslie’s Laundry Care, shares her entrepreneurial path from her mother’s washing machine to opening a flagship store in Charlotte. Discover how her dedication to creating generational wealth led to the establishment of a business named after her daughter, Leslie, aiming to set a profound legacy within the community.

Listen in to understand the impact of mobile laundry services and how Leslie’s Laundry Care addresses the needs of both residential and commercial clients in Charlotte, NC, and its surrounding areas. Explore the challenges and triumphs of expanding a local business and how Domonique leverages her platform to support the community and drive social change.

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Connect with Domonique and learn more about her innovative laundry solutions at Leslie’s Laundry Care

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Transcript

Kenny: 0:28

Welcome everybody to another great episode of the beyond normal podcast. I'm your host, Kenny groom. I have a very special guest. This is a full circle moment for me. Uh, my very first guest I had on the platform was, a founder by the name of Domonique boom. She is the founder of Leslie's laundry care. I'm excited to have you back, Domonique. I know this is different than the first time we had a connection, but appreciate you coming on the platform. You've been working on a lot of things. So let's start out, reintroduce yourself to our listeners. Tell them a little bit about Leslie's laundry care and what you've been building over the last couple of years.

Domonique: 1:05

Sure. So thank you for having me. My name is Domonique Boone. I am the owner and founder of Leslie's laundry care. We are a mobile laundry and dry cleaning service here in Charlotte, North Carolina. And we just got our first brick and mortar Leslie's cleaners downtown Charlotte, 605 Baldwin Avenue.

Kenny: 1:23

Congrats. Congrats on that. I've seen, I have used the service myself. I've seen the growth. like you mentioned, a delivery long and service, but I've used the locker system. Now it's exciting to see that, you have a storefront, what does all this growth, mean to you to be able to grow your business from where we were first connecting, right? And you were doing the deliveries and now you see where you're at now. what does that mean?

Domonique: 1:52

It's exciting. I mean, starting from just my mom's washing machine breaking to having a full business, um, successful business. Sometime I just have to pinch myself because, you know, you work so hard and you just really have to celebrate those wins when they come instead of looking at the next one. So what I've been trying to do is just being intentional, taking every moment and realizing, hey, I work so hard, you know, when I hit those milestones, celebrate those fast in the moment and continue to just check in

Kenny: 2:22

I appreciate you, breaking that down for us. Domonique, um, something really cool about your business is that, Leslie is your daughter, right? And so I don't think a lot of, business owners have used this cheat code, but in order for your business to mean something, a lot of times you have to make sure it connects with your actual life and then it has intrinsic value, like it's easier to wake up every day. Yes. So tell us a little bit about, naming the business after Leslie and then, what has she gotten from having a business named after? Let's change it up a bit.

Domonique: 2:57

Okay. Uh, well, I named the business after Leslie just with the intentions to create generational wealth. A lot of times in our community, we don't set anything up for our kids. I just had to really just sit there and understand that I can be the one to change what has been done for generations. And so in my mind, Leslie had to be about six months old when I started Leslie's laundry and she just, Been with me ever since. And it's just good to see the growth. Like she can be talking to her friends, acting like she on a zoom call with her employees. And I see that she really understands what I'm doing. She sees the growth. She sees me working hard, but, um, this year I actually took the opportunity to say, you know, I want her to see the grind and the hustle, but I also want her to see the rewards and understand that part of entrepreneurship. You know, we all going to grind. We're going to make money hand over fist. Um, but I also want her to see. What it can create for our family to be better.

Kenny: 3:50

Yeah, I love that. I have a two year old, as you know, is it too early for me to start her doing things with my business? Well, I want to get your opinion on that.

Domonique: 3:59

I mean, I think it's never too early. Like I said, Leslie was six months kids. What they see is what they do. You can tell them things, but. If you let her help you maybe set up some things and she's a part of it. I think that she would cherish it more.

Kenny: 4:14

appreciate that feedback. one question, you know, as I've looked for founders, obviously we're focusing local now, like Charlotte is my home market and so I'm trying to talk to as many founders as possible. I can't wait for you all to see all the amazing founders that we've been talking to. That's actually one, question I've been asking. You know, every guest we have is, did you have some of these earlier experiences, as a young person, right. As a kid with entrepreneurship, Leslie being an example of that now, right. Like if I were to ask Leslie that as when she becomes an adult and probably runs this business or has multiple businesses, people are usually, people are surprised, You know, it may not necessarily be like we knew a CEO growing up, right? We knew somebody who was a CEO of a fortune 500 company, but that hustle mentality, owning something that's really in a lot of our, DNA, like our genetic makeup, right. being a founder, owning something, embracing the grind, like you said, it's cool to see Leslie on the front lines. Now I've seen it firsthand. She really is not just the namesake of the business. She's willing to roll her sleeves up and figure out how to get the work done. I think last time that we talked, with you being our first episode, we focused on consumer, versus business, and you were trying to transition to more of a commercial, clientele. tell us a little bit about how that's gone. And where you are at now in terms of growing your business, is it more focused on that B2B that you were before? Or, is consumer still to play?

Domonique: 5:49

Well, we still serve as residential and commercial. but the goal for Lesley's Laundry Care is just to be a commercial. We're just to serve as commercial clients. right now, we're probably about 75 percent commercial and 25 percent residential. with the residential clients, it's just hard to just get away because there's a lot of people that has built with me. And so those stories and it's just the trust. so I, I I'm liking where I'm at right now with the 75, 25 split. And I think also with the new space, it will allow me to service more residential walk in, which will bring more revenue. so I've changed it over the years. and it's pretty much it's working out.

Kenny: 6:30

No, that's good. That's good to hear. Um, that split, like you said, it probably doesn't go to 100 percent for most businesses either or. Um, and I'm really excited to see, more black founders. Embrace b2b. I think there's tons of opportunity. I think you can make more money. Uh, that's just my opinion. you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you can make more money, um, more efficiently, I will say. Versus I think consumer spending patterns and consumers are rather needy and so we like custom products and things like that. And so I think you go down that path a lot of times, uh, B2C, but B2B a lot of times we just want it done. And as long as you drop it off by a certain time, we don't even care. We don't even want to see you drop it off at times. being a business owner myself, I definitely see the value in having, other businesses that support me. And, I just think there's tons of opportunity coming in that space.

Domonique: 7:32

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, with the commercial clients, it's a clear understanding on when you're gonna pick up the laundry. How many days a week? you don't have to deal with the residential like, Oh, I want starch. I want heavy starch. I mean, I don't mind, but I'm just You don't want 300 people saying that to you opposed to having an order of 300 pounds, so more so, yes, it's more. I get it.

Kenny: 7:59

you touched on the new, brick and mortar space. congrats on that. what does that do, for your business? what does that solve? a challenge or does it just enable growth?

Domonique: 8:12

Yeah. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it. it establishes growth. and it solved the problem that I had because when I launched the lockers, when COVID hit, I launched laundry lockers. I put them in Carolina place mall, Northlake mall. I was able to process probably up to an additional 15 people laundry, residential laundry orders per day. If the lockers were filled. And so one of the challenges that I ran into was where am I going to process the laundry? I don't have a space. And so I just really, for the past two years, just really been hustling, trying to figure out, okay, well, yes, you can put lockers in 10 different places. You can have a hundred new customers, but you still need somewhere to process the laundry. So I really just had to nail in on my operations and just understand for laundry and also with dry cleaning. How it can be more beneficial and more efficient for myself and also the customer. And so literally I was asked to sit on the board for, CVMS DC. And I was sharing my journey to one of the representatives that was incorporating. They were like, Hey, I have a laundromat downtown Charlotte. And I'm like, Oh really? So that was just really how the connection was made. And everything went through. I always tell people like, share your story. You don't know who you're talking to. You don't know how they can help. If you tell them, Hey, this is my next step. They might know somebody, they might have what you need. So just never be ashamed to share your journey. Cause I think a lot of times where we're at, we're focused on what we're going, but where we're at, we need assistance to get where we're going. Share your journey to everyone you speak to. And it's also a chance to pitch every time you talk to somebody.

Kenny: 9:51

Yeah, for sure. speaking of pitching, like I feel like you and Leslie always come prepared. Like no matter where you're at, your company logo is present. like you said, I'm pretty sure Leslie even has the elevator pitch down at this point. Like you both, if you're around somebody who's a potential investor in your business, you're willing to put that time in and just be ready. I'm curious for, um, you've been really intentional about building community and networking. specifically, I see the local stuff right there in our conversation. So tell me a little bit about, you just touched on it with the laundry mat, but how have some of those local connections that you've made enabled you to grow your business?

Domonique: 10:34

Yeah. So we have Leslie's laundry care foundation where we feed the homeless once a month, Socks and sandwiches, or we just provide a meal for about 100 homeless, unhoused neighbors. I think with the laundromat, we can do more, with the community and it's going to allow us to create senior programs, do life skills with teenagers, youth, even seniors, and just be able to grow within the community, feed the community, and just have access. with health and also wellness. So we have a lot of big things coming. It's really going to be community focused because the Cherry neighborhood is one of the first black neighborhoods in Charlotte that has something going on. And so we really just want to bring that back to the neighborhood. We, as we're working in the neighborhood, women are in their 60s. They're like, my mom used to bring me to this laundromat. And it's just the cultural aspect that I want to bring back to the Cherry neighborhood and I'm ready to do it.

Kenny: 11:27

Yeah, that's dope. Um, We both have been in the You've been here your whole life. I've been in Charlotte, I feel like, for a pretty long time as well. Um, yeah, I think it's really important. Like you said, certain neighborhoods need to keep that, keep that culture, keep that essence. we have a lot of people moving here, who are not from here. that takes me back to the meme I'm seeing online where people are saying, stop moving to my city, Charlotte is at one of those spaces. at a real, turning point now, I actually saw a stat where it was like, Atlanta has probably three or four X amount of people that Charlotte has, but Charlotte has in terms of the land that's readily available for folks, like, two to three X Atlanta. it makes sense. Atlanta is rather dense and then Charlotte has this sprawling opportunity, to build and develop. We're seeing it, every single day. There's stuff going up. I think Charlotte is one of those cities. that's going to be like a good, proof of concept for, how do we build, this, vibrant city while taking care of the people who are from there, And so I appreciate you, the foundation. I was able to go out there, meals and just like the education piece. I think that excites me a lot for the youth and then for maybe even for seniors that are in the area because I definitely see there's a lot of opportunity. Um, with that, I'm pretty sure I'll figure out how to bring my family out and then, uh, Leslie can, uh, maybe give my little one some tips on, uh, business one on one.

Domonique: 13:02

Yup.

Kenny: 13:03

When it comes to, the giving back and, the things that you're doing in the community in Charlotte, what does that do for your business?

Domonique: 13:17

Well, with the give back piece, it's more fulfilling for me, uh, as an individual, Well, like you said, I'm not from Charlotte. I'm from Buffalo, New York. So,

Kenny: 13:26

but you've been

Domonique: 13:26

here. So I've been here since about 99, but I'm from Buffalo.

Kenny: 13:33

You still claim it.

Domonique: 13:34

uh, we moved down here with literally just the clothes on our back and we stayed in a homeless shelter for a couple of days and moved into a house and now we all own homes, my parents, my brother, and also myself. So when I just think about the aspect and the resources that we had when we moved here, it was really only the crisis ministry. And I think about how it just felt as a kid. So for me, it's just tapping into that market and saying, Hey, I can be a resource for you. Whether you're unhoused or not, you know, a lot of people just need, there's a need out here. And so I just want to be that central location that people can come and get some help. A lot of times people are ashamed. You know, I'm sure my parents was ashamed having two kids and just trying to figure it out. But it worked out, you think long haul in the bigger picture, but in my heart, it's just the need, like just helping, like, how can we help? We all can make money, but like, how can you help somebody that has less than, or just in a moment in their life where they may just need somebody to say, Hey, I love you. Hey, you got this. Hey, keep your head up. And a lot of the times we just move on about our lives and we don't even think. Maybe that person might need a hug today. You know, maybe you just need to, I just need to say, I love you. And it might just cure whatever you're thinking. So I just want to be that for the community, however I can. And that's where Leslie's laundry care foundation came about.

Kenny: 14:58

Yeah, I love it. I want to like touch on that for business owners in particular. cause like you said, they're managing their business. They're going through a lot. They probably need a hug some days. They probably need some other resources on other days. the business owners that you're talking to, because obviously you're, you're really ingrained in our local economy. Right. you talk to other founders, Like, what are they needing in terms of support right now? And the reason why I asked that is, I'm going back to B2B. I think that there's ways that businesses can be created to fill these gaps for some of the founders out there. So I'm curious, what are you hearing or in your own experience, as you reflect, what's needed to support founders at this time?

Domonique: 15:40

I think what's needed to support founders, especially Black founders is capital. I think a lot of times, you know, people just think you got it or you hustling or whatever, but if you had, I feel like us founders have plans, we're ready to go, but we might not be our lifestyle, whatever might, you might have student loan debt, 300, 000, but you can't get a loan. You know, you might've just going through a divorce. It just might be different circumstances that may allow where people don't have access to capital to go to the banks. So I think a lot of times, and then when you're, what I'm experiencing, even when I'm going to investors are, okay, well, we want 70 percent of your company for 25, 000. And then it's like, well, That's not even enough. it's not fair. That's not a fair, even evaluation of the company. So for me, and other black founders, I think capital would be the main one. but also, like you said, like being able to just pitch and clearly articulate your business and what you do quickly. a lot of the times we were unable to do that. And even the classes, I probably taken every class on the sun in Charlotte, shout out to the city of Charlotte, but I don't, you're not taught how to pitch. And I think, when you're going to these corporations, you have to be able to really articulate what you can do and what's the problem you can solve, because you may have a good product or you may have a good service, but if you can't tell them that they're not going to hire you, and then just also just being ready. You know, we might say, Hey, I want to do business with Bank of America, but are you ready? You know, and if you're not ready, can the person in the supplier diversity help you get ready? So I just think the connection piece, so to your point, capital, the resources to be able to pitch, but also the supplier diversity gap with a minority businesses.

Kenny: 17:26

Yeah, I like that. you just gave me an idea. I need to have, some supply diversity folks, on the platform.

Domonique: 17:32

Absolutely.

Kenny: 17:33

Yeah, because I think, like what you were saying, like, they're there to make sure there's some opportunities that are given, right? Um, And there needs to be some preparation. Like they need to kind of help us along that process a little bit at times. And so that's a good, thank you for that idea.

Domonique: 17:53

what

Kenny: 17:54

You just, you give him, you know, so much, you being our first guest and then coming back,

Domonique: 18:00

I can tell,

Kenny: 18:01

the listeners as well, Domonique, we were recording some content before and, Domonique was like, yeah, man, like. You need to have like a branded space. Like it needs to elevate a little bit. And so that's where, while we're in this space here, I definitely appreciate you for, giving me that motivation to keep going, because, I'm pretty sure after that first episode, the quality of my product wasn't where I wanted it to be. The sound wasn't good. The video. I don't even know what I was wearing. it was in the middle of the pandemic. You were like, just keep going. and everything you really do right from the community work, even to your business like that, that's motivation for me. So I just want to say, thank you. For, all that you do, you and Leslie, Leslie's not here. but definitely her presence is always felt on the business. Jonna, so what is, you've got a storefront, brick and mortar. You've been growing your business. You've got an even split B2B, B2C. Like you got that optimized. Like what is the next growth? opportunity for the business.

Domonique: 19:11

The next growth opportunity for the business will be growing my team. Uh, I feel like I've struggled with hiring because I hired family and friends, uh, didn't quite work out. Can't go to the cookout now, but, um, hire family and friends. They would just take advantage, you know, but now I am just focusing on hiring quality people where I can keep them all for a year or two more so than contractors for three to six months. So just creating the longevity of a, a good quality team. So I can do less and they can do more.

Kenny: 19:51

Hey, I commend you for, going the friends and family route. I definitely commend you and, yeah, I definitely see that being a cool opportunity for you having somebody full time who's committed. I definitely think that helps business owners out for sure. It's another challenge, right? Because then it's like you gotta make sure you're rallying the troops and you've got the proper structure in place. but that's just a part of growing your business. Right. And so, that's a really cool one. there's so many businesses out there now we know where it's sold for prior to. Right. And then they're the one doing a lot of the work, which is okay. But then eventually you want to make sure like you've got some people helping you to grow your business. And so, that's a cool next step. Like that's a, that's a huge deal. Right. And so I'm glad to see you focusing on that and looking forward to hearing about that, as well. And then continuing to be a customer myself. and support the brand, that way maybe getting out there and, any of your drives, anything like that, that you need support for, you know, I'm always there from that perspective. I think that's you given. Again, you give it so much. I'm like, I don't want to ask Domonique for more. this is the first episode of our relaunch in a new space. new equipment. the space is looking good. It made sense to have you as my first guest for sure. And I'm just looking forward to continuing, from that very first interaction that we had to continue in the highlighting black founders specifically. who are doing amazing things like you, but I appreciate you so much for being on the five four.

Domonique: 21:28

Of course. Thank you so much. And yeah, like you said, it was the middle of the pandemic. Everybody was figuring it out and I'm just so proud to see your growth. So you keep going and the sky's the limit.

Kenny: 21:41

looks amazing, guys. thanks to our listeners. Thanks to you, Domonique, for coming on, everybody for tuning into another great episode, peace.