When Niyah McKay founded a mobile wash-and-fold laundry service in Olympia, Washington, she wasn’t just starting a company — she was rebuilding her life.
In early 2025, during what she calls “a season of breaking and rebuilding,” Niyah was processing profound grief. Within months, she lost both of her grandmothers and spent her first holiday season without them.
“I was in a deep depression,” she recalls. “It felt like everything familiar had been stripped away. But somewhere in that emptiness, I realized I could either stay in that pain or build something out of it — something that gave back the comfort I needed myself.”
That spark became Bubble Buddies — a service that collects, washes, folds, and returns laundry right to customers’ doors. What began as an act of healing has grown into a thriving, community-centered business helping families, professionals, and small companies reclaim their most precious resource: time.
A Legacy in the Making
Niyah’s instinct to serve traces back to her late mother, Mary Figueroa, who owned Niyah’s Salon & Day Spa in Mountlake Terrace, WA during the late 90's to early 2000s.
“I grew up watching her make people feel beautiful in ways that had nothing to do with looks,” Niyah says. “She treated everyone like they mattered.”
When Niyah was ten, her mother passed away unexpectedly. The loss shaped her forever. As a teen, she dreamed of keeping her mother's legacy and reopening her salon — until at seventeen she sadly discovered the building had been torn down and replaced with apartment homes and an electrical company.
“It broke my heart, and I cried. I felt like I lost my mom all over again. When you’re a little girl, you dream of being at least half the woman your mother was. That day, I held everything in me not to feel like a failure. But I’ve realized now that maybe it was a sign — that path wasn’t meant for me. This one is. Helping others, but in my own way.”
Healing Through Service
Bubble Buddies became Niyah’s way to transform pain into purpose — a living continuation of her mother’s and grandmothers’ care. Proudly neurodivergently owned, the company offers employment to people who thrive with flexibility and understanding.
Her team — affectionately called “the buddies” — leaves thank-you notes, answers every call personally, and appears at local gatherings like Fall Fest at Forza Coffee Company and the Tacoma Halloween Parade.
Since opening, has earned raving reviews for reliability, warmth, and personal touch. Through its mobile app and flexible scheduling, customers manage orders effortlessly — proof that modern convenience and genuine compassion can co-exist.
“My community has given so much to me,” Niyah says. “I feel honored to have the opportunity to give it back. My community (wherever I went) was my strength when I was mending my heart and spirit."
The Weight We Carry
Laundry, Niyah believes, is about more than clothes — it’s about the quiet burdens people carry.
“Time is the greatest gift,” she says. “And that’s what we give back — time, dignity, and the feeling that someone cares. Their clothing tells me a story, and I am always ready to listen.”
Looking ahead, Niyah envisions a dedicated service hub and expanding fleet, creating more inclusive jobs while staying rooted in both her belief: Turning love and loss into care that uplifts others.
Because for Niyah McKay, Bubble Buddies isn’t just about clean laundry.
It’s about honoring the women who came before her — and proving that healing, like laundry, happens one load at a time.
