From Laundry Loads to Boardrooms: How Laurel Hess Built a Venture-Backed Empire That’s Solving Real Problems

Laurel Hess didn’t set out to disrupt an industry—she just wanted clean clothes and a little breathing room. What started as a working mom’s pain point turned into Hampr, a fast-growing, venture-backed laundry solution now operating in 20 states. In this episode, Laurel shares how she built one of the rare women-led startups to cross $1 million in annual revenue, without a roadmap, without pretending to know it all, and without letting fear stop her.

We dig into what it really takes to scale a business while raising a family, answering to investors, and still centering your team with empathy. From learning what a cap table is to shifting her company from B2C to B2B (and increasing revenue 15x in the process), Laurel’s journey is an unfiltered, deeply human look at what it means to “do it scared.”

If you’ve ever wondered how to grow with integrity, lead with heart, and juggle it all without pretending balance is the goal, this one’s for you.