Current Position: Sam Taylor is the Director of Sales and Strategy
and a key member of Cleaner Marketing’s leadership team.
.The Company: Cleaner Marketing, owned by Cohen Willis and
Justin Kane, is based in Tampa, Florida. They are a marketing agency
that focuses exclusively on the dry cleaning and laundry industries.
The company exists to solve a problem many cleaners know well.
Owners are busy running operations, managing staff, and serving
customers. Marketing often falls to the bottom of the priority list.
Cleaner Marketing helps fill that gap by providing expertise across
paid advertising, SEO, website design, retention strategies, and more.
“We kept seeing the same problems over and over again,” Taylor
explains. “Cleaners either weren’t maximizing what was already
happening in their business, or they were struggling to consistently
attract new customers.”
With a team of more than 35 people, Cleaner Marketing helps
operators attract customers, grow revenue, and modernize their com-
munication—all to connect with a convenience-driven public.
Assembly Line: Taylor’s journey into garment care didn’t begin
with marketing plans or strategy sessions; instead, it began on a factory
floor, showing how his career has evolved from humble beginnings.
After high school, Taylor worked the BMW production line in
South Carolina. The work was repetitive and physical, the same task
hundreds of times daily.
At the time, stability was the goal. Taylor had watched the ripple
effects of the 2008 housing market crash hit his family; security mat-
tered, and so did a steady paycheck.
Young and Restless: Though grateful for being gainfully em-
ployed, something inside of Taylor was yearning for something more.
Around age 21, he left the factory to try something entirely different:
residential security sales. Many people told him it was a mistake.“I
was told more than once that I would fail because I wasn’t ‘salesy,’
Taylor recalls.
Then came his first day on the job. “On my very first day, I made
more money than I had made in two full weeks working at BMW.”
The lesson wasn’t just financial. It was personal. “What stood out to me was that it didn’t come from being aggressive or polished. It
came from simply being myself, listening, and helping someone solve
a real problem.” That insight would shape his entire career.
The Longshot: Taylor has long viewed himself as an underdog.
Growing up, most of his energy went into sports and music rather
than academics. Baseball and basketball filled his childhood. He also
spent years playing drums, something he still considers an important
creative outlet.
School, however, was not where he naturally excelled. “Three
different principals told me I would be a failure,” Taylor says. It’s the
kind of message that can linger for years.
Those early experiences left him feeling counted out, but they also
sparked something within him. “I’ve always believed that if something
needs to be done, I can figure out how to do it,” he says. “Even if the
path is unconventional.” That determination became his quiet rebellion
against the doubters.
Fields of Dream: Some of Taylor’s favorite childhood memories
happened on a makeshift ballfield he and his brother called Claude
and Ruth’s yard.
The outfield fence wasn’t really a fence at all. It was a thick wall
of thorn bushes and rose branches. “If you hit the ball too far, you just
hoped it didn’t get stuck,” Taylor laughs.
One particular game stuck with him. He was the youngest kid on his
brother’s travel baseball team and at least a foot shorter than everyone
else. In fact, they didn’t even have a jersey small enough to fit him.
During one game, he played right field. A pop fly drifted his way.
“I ran in and made a sliding catch to end the inning,” he remembers.
Later, he got a hit.
What he remembers most was the reaction from the stands. “I still
remember hearing my mom, dad, and brother cheering and how proud
they were.” Even then, he believed something important. “If I was giv-
en the opportunity, I could perform at the same level as anyone else.”
Tar Heel State of Mind: Eventually, Taylor returned to college and
connected with a mentor who introduced him to SMRT Systems. That
connection would bring him into the garment care industry.
Accepting the job required a leap of faith. Taylor packed up and
moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, for his first day without really
knowing the city.
His landlord had promised him one roommate. Instead, he arrived
to find himself sharing a house with eight people, including children.
“It was not glamorous,” he says.
The house was noisy and privacy scarce, but Taylor pressed on.
“When you’re focused on something meaningful, the surrounding
discomfort matters a lot less.”
Planting Seeds: At SMRT Systems, he started in support and
worked his way through multiple roles, including implementation
Page 12 • April 2026 • Cleaner & Launderer
and sales. Because the company was still relatively small, he was
exposed to almost every aspect of the business.
More importantly, he began spending time inside cleaners’ plants.
Seeing firsthand how modern systems could transform operations left
an impression. “It was clear early on that the industry was overdue
for modernization,” he says.
The Detour: As things unfolded, Taylor was offered what he once
considered his dream career opportunity. A large prop-tech company
recruited him into enterprise sales. The deals were enormous, often
seven figures, and the clients managed billions of dollars in assets.
The experience was eye-opening. He learned about complex
negotiations, lengthy sales cycles, and high-level strategy. He also
worked under an acclaimed industry leader whose discipline and
preparation left a mark.
But the fulfillment he expected never quite materialized. “What I
missed most was the trust and the speed that things can happen in,”
Taylor explains. “In the world of enterprise sales, deals could stretch
over a year. Even after a year of meetings, everything can stall for
months once a contract hits legal.”
More importantly, the human element felt diluted. “There wasn’t
much of an ‘I helped someone today’ feeling.” The lack of that
connection left Taylor longing for a deeper sense of meaning at the
end of each day.
The Comeback: Taylor says there wasn’t one single moment
when he decided to return to garment care; instead, he explains, the
feeling was always there. “If I can borrow a Harry Potter reference,”
he muses, “it felt a little like a horcrux. A piece of me was still there
the whole time.”
Leaving the industry had been valuable. It exposed him to new
ideas, new people, and new ways of thinking. But the work that
felt most meaningful was helping small business owners. “I missed
the direct, personal impact,” he says. The absence of those genuine
connections left a constant ache, gently guiding him back to where
he felt truly needed.
Switching Jerseys: Taylor had met Justin and Cohen, the top
brass of Cleaner Marketing, years earlier at a trade show. Since then,
he had observed how they approached the industry and built trust
within the garment care community.
Over time, the conversation turned toward joining forces. “I’m
at Cleaner Marketing today because I believe in the people and the
mission,” Taylor says.
All Hands On Deck: Ask Taylor what he’s most proud of at
Cleaner Marketing, and he doesn’t start with strategy or technology;
he starts with culture. “Our internal mindset is ‘one boat, one direc-
tion.’ Everyone on the team has an oar, and we all row together,” he
says. “If someone doesn’t follow through on their responsibility, it
affects both the client and the entire team.” That accountability, he
says, is reinforced constantly.
Reputation: Throughout his career, Taylor has always made a point of being available; late-night calls, emails, and conversations
whenever clients or colleagues need help. That commitment to rela-
tionships followed him when he joined Cleaner Marketing. “Having
operators and partners I worked with previously choose to come with
me was surprising and humbling,” he says.
Lessons From the Grind: Like many people in the industry,
Taylor’s career has included intense seasons. At one point, he worked
80 to 100 hours a week. He wasn’t sleeping well. He wasn’t eating
properly. Ultimately, stress began to show up physically.
“It was a wake-up call,” he says. But the experience also clarified
something.
“Sustainability for me isn’t really about hours; it’s about whether
I actually care about what I’m doing.”
When the work matters, the long days feel different. “You can’t
sustain something long-term if you’re pretending to care.”
Industry Outlook: Taylor is optimistic about the future of garment
care. “I genuinely believe this is one of the most exciting times to be
in the industry,” he says.
He sees the lines between laundry and dry cleaning continuing to
blur as services evolve. Convenience, he believes, will drive much
of the growth. “Pickup and delivery and wash-and-fold services are
natural evolutions.”
Taylor believes consumer awareness is also rising, creating an
opportunity. “At no other point in the industry’s history have we had
the ability to tell our story and reach customers directly,” exclaims
Taylor. “The future of this industry is something we get to define.”
Words of Wisdom: Taylor defines success beyond titles and
metrics. “Success to me is closely tied to freedom,” he says. “Being
able to make decisions I believe are right and owning the outcome,
whether that’s success or failure, matters more to me than any title.”
He also measures success by opportunity. “I see success as the
amount of opportunity you create and how well you take advantage
of it.”
Over time, though, his definition has grown more personal. “Longer
term, success becomes about being present,” Taylor says pensively.
“Time with family, investing in other people.”
He hopes that the future includes giving back in the same way
others once did for him. “Hopefully that means coaching something
like Little League someday and passing along what I’ve learned.”
Looking Ahead: The next chapter for Taylor includes expanding
Cleaner Marketing’s media and content presence, including podcasts
and long-form conversations with industry leaders. His goal is simple.
“I want to give operators a bigger platform.”
Internally, the focus remains on building strong systems and de-
veloping people.
“A big part of success for me will be how well we’ve coached and
mentored the team,” he says. Because in Taylor’s mind, leadership
is multiplication. “If you help others win, things tend to work out.”
Family Matters: Taylor credits much of his journey to the people
around him.
His parents, he says, were patient and supportive even when they
didn’t fully understand the industry he chose.
One story still makes him laugh. “After I had been in dry cleaning
for over a year, my mom would tell people I was working at a laun-
dromat.” Before long, he had to explain the difference.
His siblings (his older brother Justin and his younger sisters Madi
and Emily) have also been constant supporters.
Personal: At the end of 2025, Taylor got engaged to Zhou. “She
listens to me talk about this industry constantly,” Taylor fondly says
of his fiancée’s patience and bending ear.
Taylor, who turns 32 in June, is originally from Greenville, South
Carolina. He currently lives in Tampa and enjoys spending quality
time with family, playing golf, and attending University of Michigan
Wolverine football games at “The Big House” in Ann Arbor.
