Inside @Laundromatgirl's Strategy: The Secret to Authentic Social Media Success

Nick D'Ascensao: I have a very special guest here with me today. Cambria and I met in person for the first time like five minutes ago. So if this is an awkward first date, that would explain it.

The real question I want to start with: am I taller or shorter than you thought I was?

Cambria Wengert: Probably don't answer that. I will say this, though—you were my very first fan I ever had.

Nick: And that was literally going to be the very first thing I wanted to talk about, which was not in the questions. So I'll talk about how Cambria and I met, and then I think that's actually a really good starting point for your story.

So this was... it wasn't a year ago.

Cambria: It was like—no, I think it was July of last year. Maybe August. So it's probably a year ago.

Nick: Yeah. So my wife—and she would love that I brought this up here—her job is she's a social media influencer. That's her job. That's her career. That's what she spends her time doing.

And obviously, laundry is a big part of my life, a big part of all our lives, definitely amongst my friends here. And I'm sitting on the couch and Elizabeth's like, "Hey, have you heard of Laundromat Girl?" And I was like, "I've never heard the name. What platform is it on?" And it was on TikTok. And I looked, and at the time, it had 5,000 followers. And I'm reading the content. I'm like, "This is really, really good content." And we'll talk a little bit about why and what's going on there.

And I don't know where—and I never do this—I'm like, I'm just going to reach out and basically say, "Hey, I love your content. I really think you're putting out transparent information. Would you be interested in chatting?"

So from your perspective, we've never talked about this. What was your perspective?

Cambria: So I definitely think I was very shocked because I'm like, "I'm a nobody. Why is this guy reaching out to me?" And I remember you telling me on our video call, you're like, "I definitely want to work with you in the future." And I'm like, "I'm a nobody. I don't think you want to work with me." I didn't feel like I deserved that sort of reach out.

And so you were definitely one to remember going forward. So it definitely was a good conversation.

Nick: And I remember at the end of that phone call, we're chatting and it's like, "You know, I only have 5,000 followers." I was like, "You are doing this the right way. I have a feeling you're going to explode."

Cambria: Yeah, that's true. You did say that. I do remember that.

Nick: Maybe you want to introduce yourself to the crowd with that context.

Cambria: Sure. So I'm Laundromat Girl. I own a laundromat, and I started social media like a year ago in July, and it's worked. It's definitely grown. Everybody loves to see me count money and talk about my laundromat. And so it's been so much fun. I have over 800,000 followers now across all the platforms. And it's just been one of my favorite things I've done lately. So I'm just so happy to be here.

Nick: So one of my favorite questions I like to ask laundromat owners of all types is: how did you decide between car washes, self-storage, and laundromats? And you had a career before this. So tell us a little about your career and what you were doing before entering the laundry space and how you ended up here.

Cambria: So I worked as an RN. I was a bone marrow transplant nurse for 10-plus years. And it was 2020, and I just—I mean, healthcare in 2020 was really hard. And I think it just kind of got to the point where I'm like, "I can't do this job forever." It was very physically and emotionally taxing.

And so I just knew I wanted to have a different type of career, but I also didn't want to go back to school to do my master's or anything. And so I knew I needed to buy a business in order to get out of healthcare. And so I was looking at mobile home parks, actually. I was actually under escrow for a mobile home park. Luckily it fell through. And then I also was looking at storage units.

And I didn't really know much about laundromats. In 2020, people weren't talking about laundromats like they are now. And so when I saw this laundromat listed, I remember calling my brother, who was pretty financially savvy, really smart guy. And I asked him, "Have you ever heard of laundromats?" And he's like, "I think so. Like, I think they're great." And so it just kind of steamrolled from there.

And luckily I had a friend who had an uncle who owned a laundromat. There just—I mean, again, in 2020, there just wasn't a lot of knowledge and education. I mean, Cody Sanchez, I don't think, was even out back then, you know what I mean? And so there just wasn't a lot of info out there. And so I really kind of risked it all and bought this laundromat, and it's just the best decision I ever made. So yeah.

Nick: So let's cover from that point of view: how long did you own the laundromat before the concept of Laundromat Girl existed?

Cambria: So I'd owned my laundromat for about four years, and that was when I started Laundromat Girl.

Nick: Got it. So you were at that point already a successful laundromat operator and working things through. So maybe share with the audience: what was that like? Maybe—I'm going to try this—was there someone else that you saw? Was it just out of scratch? How did that conversation happen, like, "I'm going to try this for myself"?

Cambria: Yeah. Well, a year ago I attended a conference and I met Carlos. If you guys know him, he's Laundromat Money. He's a majority on TikTok. He's so great. And he was like, "You should do this. You're a girl. It's like different." I'm like, "Okay." So I didn't even know why I was doing it, but I'm like, "This might be fun." I kind of toyed with social media in the past a little bit before. And so I kind of just did it, not really knowing where I even wanted it to go. I had absolutely no direction in it.

And, you know, since then I've learned—and when I talk to other people who are wanting to get onto social media—don't go into social media thinking you have a plan, because it could totally pivot in one way or the other. And you have to just be open to it.

I never ever would have dreamed—sitting here, you know, a year ago, if I had attended here a year ago and hadn't started social media, nobody would know who I am. You know what I mean? I'm just a nobody. But that's the power of social media. And that's why I think whether you're trying to talk about laundromats or even just trying to talk about your business to grow your own business, your own pickup and delivery—every business needs to be on social media. And I'm a huge advocate of that because that's really the best way you're going to grow. People aren't looking up newspapers, magazines, you know, websites. People are going to TikTok. They're going to Instagram. So that's the best way to really grow.

Nick: So let me ask you a question. So you sit down, you have this idea, you start putting the time and effort in. Would it be safe to say that it exploded at one point?

Cambria: Yeah. So my second video went viral. It hit over a million views. And so once that second video—that really gave me the gumption to post a third and a fourth, and then it just kind of kept going from that.

Nick: Okay, so that—I wouldn't call it success because success is over time. There's a moment where you got lucky and, I think, found opportunity, right? And when you woke up and there's all those comments and all those views, what went through your mind?

Cambria: Well, the most common comment I get across the board—and still to this day—is, "How do I start? Where do I go? Can you tell me how to do this?" That was by far, again, still the most common question that I get.

And so that's why I've kind of shifted my platform to helping others know how to do it, because I'm literally just answering their questions. And that's where my social media has pivoted because of that.

Nick: So I've never asked this question, as well as I've gotten to know you, but you share stuff so wildly transparently. And also, I've gotten to know you extremely well—you're putting real numbers out that we've all seen together. And it's like, why? Why, of all the things—you had a successful business, I know you didn't go into it to be Laundromat Girl, you went into it because you wanted to do something—why did you decide to be so radically transparent, especially even today?

Cambria: Right. I think because the way social media is kind of going—like, say, five, six, seven years ago, Instagram was very polished and clean and pretty. And now all people want is just raw, you know, behind-the-scenes kind of thing. People don't want to see the pretty side.

And so I've kind of catered to that angle of just being very transparent and like, "I own a laundromat. This isn't pretty. I don't dress up when I go to the laundromat. I don't put makeup on when I go to the laundromat." You know what I mean? And so this is just the reality of the business. And I think people appreciate that. And I get a lot of good comments about it—that this is, at the end of the day, I own a laundromat, and this is just the realness of it. And so I think people really appreciate it because people don't want to get sold to or to be lied to. And so I try to just—I really do try to be honest in everything that I say, in the good and the bad.

Nick: So I'm going to ask you this question. It was not in here, so I'm totally putting you on the spot.

Cambria: Okay, let's go.

Nick: So you, by far, have a much bigger platform than I do. But I do really try to put myself out there, especially when it comes to the comments about our product. I'm out there taking bullets in front of all of you quite often, very publicly. And I can receive a hundred positive things, and one little, "Oh, I don't like this"—it just eats me up inside. The scale of what you're dealing with is just so much larger than what I'm doing. How do you deal with that balance between you're out there doing things, but people have opinions, and sometimes they're knee-jerk reactions and sometimes they're unwarranted? Some of them are just haters. How have you dealt with that mentally or just in general?

Cambria: I mean, I feel overall most of my followers are actually really kind. They're very nice. They're very much like, "Good job." You know, they're proud of me. They really are—the majority are very nice people. Sorry, it's just my mom calling.

And so I feel really grateful and lucky about that. But of course I do get those comments, and I think I've just kind of gotten to the point where I just don't give energy to them. I don't. And I'm also very heavy-handed with the block button. I block people all the time. And I actually got an email two days ago from a guy that I had blocked, and he emailed me to say, "Sorry. Can you unblock me?" Which I still haven't responded. I haven't decided yet.

But yeah, so if someone says something not nice, I will block them. I don't need their follow. But overall, honestly, probably 99% of the comments I get are actually very nice and kind and helpful. And so that's really good.

Nick: I can't use the block button, unfortunately. So you're in business, right? So you think of yourself: you're a business owner, you're a manager, you're running self-service, you're doing pickup and delivery, and you're now running this—let's call it some degree of a social media empire. How do you balance the time between where you're spending your time?

Cambria: It's not easy. And my social media and my laundromat are completely different businesses, and I separate them. I don't try to get new customers to my laundromat through my social media, purely out of safety. I don't want followers to know where I'm located or anything like that, especially because I show money. And so it's literally for safety reasons that I don't share my city or state ever.

But balancing it is difficult. I recently just hired my sister to help with some things. But, you know, social media is more of the creative side—it's kind of fun to think about what am I going to talk about, how am I going to make this video? And laundromat is very much the nuts and bolts, right? Like, okay, we need to do a staffing meeting. You know, how are we going to get a new client or a customer or take on this new account?

So they're completely different sides of my brain, honestly. But now that I'm five years in, I've been able to grow my laundromat and my pickup and delivery, so it's pretty self-maintained. I have such an amazing team, such a great manager, that has been able to help me kind of step away from that. Even though, you know, at the end of the day, my laundromat is my content. So I also can't completely remove myself from my laundromat because I need content, in a sense, you know?

And so I really am more involved in my laundromat now than I would have been had I not been on social media, because I need to be there to show you guys the day-to-day. So I'll never completely remove myself from my laundromat for that reason, so that I can still show you guys what I do. So it is definitely tricky on balancing both. And so it's, you know, my busy season for where I am is coming up into fall. And so this is going to be—it's always a balancing act every busy season for me, managing both of them. So it's just one of those things I just wing it.

Nick: So how has your content evolved from "this is what I've learned" to "this is what I can teach you"? Because that is something I think I've seen over the last six months or so—you start to realize, oh, I've been doing this for a while, and there's things that I'm getting questions about that I have answers to. How have you thought about that? Because it's really putting yourself out there, and no one wants to be seen as a know-it-all. I think you've walked that line incredibly well, but how do you think about creating content where "this is what I've learned" or "this is what I'm teaching you"?

Cambria: Yeah, in the beginning, it was very hard when people would ask me questions because it was kind of that imposter syndrome. Like, I don't know if I'm the best person, you know? But, you know, with every question that I got asked, especially in the beginning when I was still learning how to teach about the business, was that with every question I got asked, I actually knew the answer.

And so I had to—I learned to give myself more credit that I, you know, all the mistakes I made in the beginning, because I had no mentor, no help. I was literally teaching myself that I really did know more than I thought I did after going through all these mistakes and experiences of the previous four years of owning a laundromat. And so it definitely shifted when I gained more confidence on social media in, you know, like, I am—I can teach and I feel like the answers I'm giving are good ones, like these are honest answers. And so I think it just—you know, trusting myself in being able to teach others, it took me a few months to be able to be confident in doing that.

Nick: So actually, I have a question. So like, I spend a lot of time at kids' hockey games. I feel like every time I talk to you, I'm talking about either my son or his hockey game. And we've all been through this experience where, you know, maybe it's not your metaphorical hockey—you're sitting there across the glass and someone's like, "What do you do?" I'm like, "I work in laundry." They go, "Laundry?" I go, "It's cooler than you think." Like, how did you take something that I think the average audience would think of like—putting one bucket—how did you make it palatable? How did you make it—I don't want to call it exciting because I think that'd be mislabeling it. How did you make it interesting?

Cambria: I think storytelling is a really big deal on social media. Even in your own businesses, if you're doing pickup and delivery, find a story, talk about a customer, do the day-in-the-life storytelling, I think is really key. People just want to know or just are intrigued, especially with laundromats. It's so different. Like I have nieces that are like teenagers and they follow me and they like what I do only because it's like, it's not hair, beauty, makeup, you know what I mean? It's something so different that people are just like, "Oh, it's just so intriguing," because people never think about laundromats as a business or as an owner. And so it's just so different that people are intrigued by it.

And so, I don't know, I think storytelling plays a big part and also doing like short clips to keep people's attention. People get, you know, we're in that age where we get distracted really easily. So I make my videos to have really short clips, try and keep people engaged. So there's definitely little tricks in social media, but that's what I've learned.

Nick: So, actually I already asked that one. Has it actually brought you, in your eyes, any more business to your laundromat?

Cambria: No, because I separate them. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't try to get business to come to my laundromat. I do have, like, a lot of my commercial accounts—they'll follow me on my Laundromat Girl page, which I don't like, but it's whatever. But yeah, I don't try to get more business to my laundromat through Laundromat Girl.

Nick: So I'm kind of channeling my wife here as I think about this, because from my experience a lot of people do social and stuff like this and think about like, what's the benefit? Like, how much ad revenue did I make from doing this? And that's a part of it, right? What—so you have not focused on growing the actual laundromat side of the business. So what are some of the fringe benefits, let's call them, that you've unlocked through the industry by putting yourself out there more and more? I think you're sitting next to one of those people, and as your mom called, you might want to pick up the phone and she'd be really proud of you. But like, this is one of those things where you put yourself out there, that's how we met, and obviously we've been as helpful as we can be to each other. But has there been other doors or even opinions? Like, has it unlocked other things that are less monetarily—like, outside of ad revenue?

Cambria: Yeah, so, I mean, I've definitely worked with like Cents or Laundroworks. I've worked with Curbside Laundry. So I've been able to work with some businesses to put into my laundromat, which I absolutely love, especially because I don't just pick businesses because they've reached out to me. It's more like, "Oh, I've always known about Laundroworks since like the first year of owning my laundromat." It was like on my dream board of getting. So I only pick companies that I've always wanted to work with. Like Curbside, I've been with them for five years prior to even, you know, partnering with them on my social media page. And so that's been really nice.

But I also, you know, have been able—like since I've been here for the last just a few hours, I've met so many followers, which has been like so fun. It's just like such a little dream of mine, you know? So yeah, I just love being able to connect with other people all across the U.S. And I mentioned on my stories last week that I was thinking about going on like a laundromat tour and going to other laundromats because on my page I'm only showcasing my laundromat. So all my followers only see my laundromat. I thought it'd be so fun to go to other laundromats, talk to other owners and show, "This is what they did. This is what's working for them." So like, just so many doors have been opened through social media. It's just honestly shocking. And so that's why everyone should get on.

Nick: You should go visit Morgan. I feel like I've not been to her location, but how she runs her operations and her ethos, how she runs it, it is very unique and I think she's also operated because of it. So there's one intro for you. Done.

So I am going to ask some selfish questions here, right? So your laundromat before we met, right? Coin only, card, what was it?

Cambria: Coin only.

Nick: Okay. You added a product.

Cambria: Yes.

Nick: You want to tell me what that wonderful product was?

Cambria: Yes. So I added Laundroworks in April. And so prior, I was only quarter—only coin. And I swear I promise I'm not being salesy when I say this, but once I got Laundroworks, it was like this weight lifted off my shoulders because I never felt—I don't have this huge obligation like, "Oh, it's Tuesday. I probably need to get in. I need to go dump the quarters. My change is probably empty. I should probably get in." And so it kind of really restricted my life. I'm like, "Okay, I can only really be out of town four days a week, you know, four days at a time, because by then I need to go dump the quarters." You know what I mean?

And so, and I trusted my employees, but I also don't want to give them too many opportunities, right? So it's like this limitation. And it's a weird thing to ask other people to do for you. So anyways, having Laundroworks really has completely shifted my long-term lifestyle of owning my laundromat.

One other thing is, so the guy who I bought my laundromat from, he had owned my laundromat for about five years and sold it. And I really think the largest reason why he sold that laundromat is because he lived an hour and a half away from this, now my laundromat. And I really think the reason he sold it is because he got burned out in traveling to empty those quarters. And so because I still talk to this guy probably once a month. We have a really great relationship. And he always talks about how he so regrets that he sold this laundromat.

And so hearing, seeing his perspective on like, literally the reason why he sold this really great business is because he got burned out from it. Anything I can do now as an owner to prevent that from happening in two, three, ten years, I'm going to do it. Because owning a laundromat is such a great asset to have. I want to prevent me feeling the need to sell because I'm tired of it or I'm burnt out of it, because this is something that you keep for a really long time. So having Laundroworks is only going to help me in not getting burned out on it and keeping it long term.

Nick: So I asked a completely self-serving question because I actually did have a real question that came on the back end that's important. So in the early days, a lot of your content, people just loved seeing you dump those coins. And I remember we even talked about it. It's like, "Hey, I'd like all the benefits of the system, but I think about the content that I create. What am I going to create?"

So when you think about, not even just TikTok, but Instagram, and there's going to be another one down the road, and I think we've seen people, even maybe in this building, start on other platforms, and then the tides change. They didn't keep that same level of success. So you always had a material change to your content. How do you think about not only staying up to speed with your content, but also how the world can change?

Cambria: When doing advancements, like at the laundromat, like in tech—

Nick: Just in general, like you made a ton of coin videos.

Cambria: Oh, and I remember, like, adding Laundroworks, like—

Nick: How do you sit down and think about, like, how am I taking my content roadmap?

Cambria: Right? Yeah. I mean, I literally did keep three machines to keep quarter just so I could have the content. So I still do have three machines for quarters. Granted, my customers rarely use them, but I kind of still needed it, you know, because people love that for some odd reason.

But yeah, I really did have to think like, "Okay, how else can I, quote unquote, entertain to keep people intrigued, to keep watching?" Yeah, so it is something that I have to think about with my laundromat and my social media—you know, how can I connect them to give the best value to my followers? Also, I'm also running a laundromat at the end of the day. My laundromat is my number one. My laundromat will always come first over social media. So I really still have to prioritize that.

Nick: All right, so you've mastered the nurse to an entrepreneur, right? So in your eyes, what's next for Laundromat Girl? The brand.

Cambria: Yeah. So again, talking a little bit about laundromat tour—Laundromat Girl going on tour. So that's kind of in the workings. And then I want to say that's kind of like my next big goal, probably. Just, oh, and I want to get a million followers by Christmas. That was another one. So I'm sorry. I mean, you're right. I'm only like 200,000 away. I'm like, "Okay. I think I can do it." I mean—

Nick: There's 9,000 here. Maybe we could do some out there. Right? Okay.

So I feel like you made this jump personally, but I think you did it really publicly. And I think maybe not necessarily this group here, maybe there's some of those, but you made a leap to bet on yourself and you bet on yourself a bunch of times. If someone here or someone watching or someone just coming down the road, like, they're contemplating making that jump, what would you say to them?

Cambria: I say do it, of course. You know, I had a friend tell me not long ago—and I've known this friend for a very long time—she's like, "The one thing that I've really learned about you is that you do things dirty." And I'm like, "You know, you're kind of right," because there's a lot of things I do that I'm like, "Well, I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I'll figure it out." Like, "I don't know how to own a laundromat and I don't know who's going to teach me how to do it, but I'll figure it out. I don't know how to start social media, but I'll figure it out."

So I think just having—just trusting yourself that you can do it and just in the fact that someone else has done it means you can do it as well. And so I think just going in with that kind of gumption of risk and, you know, trusting yourself. I think so many people are more capable of what they're actually doing.

Nick: What is the biggest skill across your laundromat ownership or even Laundromat Girl? What skill do you think you've picked up along the way that came to the nurse, came to the business owner? You look back and you're like, "Wow, I can't believe I've achieved this skill."

Cambria: I would say just having grit, like, you know, as a business owner, the buck ends with you. And so it's like, you know, when someone—as a nurse, when I had a problem, I would go to this person and they would figure it out, you know? But as a business owner, you really—it's like, "All right, it ends with me. How am I going to figure this out? Who am I going to talk to? Who are my resources?"

And so I think just having that grit and just never giving up and just having to figure it out. And there's, you know, owning a laundromat—you don't have to recreate the wheel. It's not a hard business. I wouldn't say it's a hard business. It's actually a relatively simple business. But you just have to be proactive in jumping in to learn it. And so, yeah, I love this business and it's definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. Even without social media, I would still love this business just as much had I not jumped on. So, yeah, so I am so grateful and I'm so excited to be here. This is my first Clean Show and it's already been a blast.

Nick: Actually, I will say this is my first Clean Show as well.

Cambria: Oh yeah?

Nick: And I actually meant to open with this. It's like, it is one of those moments where you built a brand, but this is one of those things too where I think about the time and effort we've put over the last five years, but also really myself the last two years. And the fact that we do these things and we talked about this coming up—you show up, we put these things on. There's no guarantee you're going to be here. There's no guarantee of all the choices you have, you're going to come here. When you wake up and people take time out of their day and their investment and their limited time to come see us, there's a moment where I'm sure you're thinking the same thing I am, which is, "Thank you."

But I also want to say something super nice about Cambria—sometimes you have these people that are out there on social media and you're like, "Is that who this person really is?" I feel like I have known you for a while now and I feel like you are very authentically yourself. And I will tell you right now, what you see is what you get, and that is who this person is. And I feel like I've known you for a while now.

So I want to say, I appreciate the support you've given us over the last two years. I want to say the support you've given me over the last two years. And I want the best for everybody. But every time I see you going further, I am so happy for you. Because I think it's really been a pleasure getting to know you the last two years and I wish you absolutely nothing but success.

Cambria: Oh, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.

Nick: Cool. So thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Cambria: Yay, thank you! Bye-bye.