TAMPA, Fla. — Laundry industry veteran Jamie Sewell reports she has acquired Laundry University, an online training platform focused on professional laundry services, from founder Colleen Unema.
Unema is retiring after building the educational resource and leading its growth since its launch. Sewell will guide the platform through its next phase of development.
Laundry University was created to help laundry professionals standardize and scale wash-dry-fold operations. The platform offers four levels of structured coursework covering the fundamentals of establishing and scaling laundry services, culminating in certification for employees and teams.
Complementing the core curriculum is the Laundry Library, a growing collection of specialty courses covering topics such as elder-care laundry, washing delicate fabrics, and caring for specialty items like shoes. The platform also hosts virtual owner meetups designed to help operators share ideas and learn from one another.
Laundry University addresses a challenge familiar to many laundry business owners, according to Sewell.
“Every owner has felt the pain of a bad hire or inconsistent wash-and-fold services,” she says. “When your team is trained right and gets up to speed in a fraction of the time, everyone wins — the business, the employee and the customer.”
Sewell’s vision for Laundry University is centered on helping operators reduce training time, improve service consistency and strengthen customer retention through better employee preparation.
Unema launched Laundry University after identifying a gap in training resources while operating her own laundry business. A former high school biology teacher, she applied her educational background to create a structured learning system for laundry professionals.
The platform was relaunched in 2025 and has gained traction among operators seeking to streamline employee onboarding and improve operational consistency.
Reflecting on the transition, Unema expresses confidence in its future under Sewell’s leadership.
“Building Laundry University has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my career,” Unema says. “I knew when the time came to step back, it had to be someone who not only understood this industry but genuinely loved it. Jamie is that person. She’s going to take what we built and make it something this industry has never seen before.”
Sewell has extensive laundry industry experience, having helped bring new technologies to market and participated in developing what the company describes as the world’s first cashless laundromat.
She owns a laundromat here in Tampa, serves on the CLA board, and consults with laundromat owners across the country.
Under Sewell’s leadership, Laundry University plans to expand its curriculum, strengthen its community offerings and broaden its reach throughout the laundry industry.
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