Laundry Love
Sep 30, 2022
Leslie Hearne
Laundry Love

Like any creative entrepreneur, I’m a lot of things, but I don’t like talking about myself.  So here are six very quick things about me and my work.  In, out, nobody gets hurt.

  1. I’m a huge fan of happy 70’s music.  Temptations, Earth Wind and Fire, Frankie Valli – all upbeat messages and tempos.  That’s how I run Laundry Love events – helping people smile and feel a little lighter while they do their laundry.
  2. I have grown this organization from one which serves a handful of people every month into a go-to, respected, and necessary resource in Georgetown.  Quite a rush.
  3. I became director of Laundry Love Georgetown by usurping the position.  The former director was travelling a lot and couldn’t commit to a schedule.  She was stunned and very grateful when I insisted she immediately step aside.  No surprise I’ve earned the nickname Velvet Steamroller.
  4. Doing laundry isn’t my mission in life, but it is rewarding to connect with people over something so simple yet so powerful.  The laundromat reveals our commonality, humanity, vulnerabilities, and dependencies.
  5. This is how I would sum up my job.  I empower people, lift their self-esteem, and restore their dignity.  Period.  Exclamation point.
  6. Outside of work, I’m an intrepid but educable gardener.  After a decade, I now live in peaceful coexistence with drought, floods, heat, ice storms, bunnies, grasshoppers, deer, and armadillos.