Small Business Questions from a Young Learner

We stumbled upon this gem of an interview while going through the Celsious archives and we just loved re-reading it, so we had to share it here! The interviewer, who was in middle school at the time, had reached out with questions for her Black History Month small business project.

We hope you find Corinna's chat with the student insightful, especially if you're new around here and curious to learn more about Celsious. Happy Black History Month!

📝 NYC Student: Where are you from?

Corinna Williams: Hello! I'm Corinna Williams, and I co-founded Celsious with my sister Theresa. We grew up in a small town close to Munich in Germany. Our mom grew up in the same town and our dad is from Atlanta, Georgia. They met while our dad was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany.

📝 Where did you both go to school?

We went to elementary, middle school and high school in Germany. Theresa left Germany for her undergraduate degree in Product Design in London and I went on to study International Relations in Heidelberg, Germany.

📝 What inspired you to open the business?

If a product or service you want doesn't exist, sometimes you just have to create it! This is how a lot of businesses start, including Celsious.

I moved to New York in 2012 for a job at a fashion magazine. Before living in NYC, I had never used a laundromat before. In Europe, I always had a washer and dryer where I lived, so it was my first time having to carry things to a public place to clean them.

There were a few laundromats near my first New York apartment that were dimly lit and cramped spaces. Sometimes, the TV was blaring loudly. Other times, I couldn't find anywhere to sit. Then, I had an unfortunate experience where mystery stains showed up on my clothes after a trip to the laundromat! I decided I wanted a different laundry experience, so in my free time I began to dream up my version of the perfect laundromat. 💭

I thought Theresa would be a great person to design the space, so I shared my idea with her. She moved from London to NYC to help me, and after a few years of planning and building, we opened Celsious, a beautiful laundromat that is clean and bright with lots of natural light.

We use eco-friendly laundry products and have very caring staff. Before the pandemic, we had a cafe on site that offered fresh coffee and snacks, and we hosted community events like musical performances and free yoga on the back patio.

📝 What challenges have you faced?

When you have a new idea, there's no blueprint for building your business. Luckily, my sister is my business partner, so we've been able to make important decisions together.

You might find that in the beginning, people will react negatively to your business idea because they can't envision it. You can't let that discourage you! ☝🏾 Being innovative means that you're doing things differently, and not everyone will understand why you want to change the way things are. But you have to be confident and believe in yourself and your idea.

As much as you can plan and prepare, you'll sometimes be faced with difficult situations that catch you off guard. The pandemic forced us to make many changes to Celsious. We suspended self-service laundry and pivoted to drop-off service to support social distancing. We closed our cafe indefinitely. We made tough decisions in order to keep our team and our community safe.

Making decisions in times of uncertainty is very challenging, but you have to do your research, stay informed and listen to your gut.

Look for new opportunities to keep your business afloat, and stay positive! Never give up hope.