Former Wall Street Trader's WashWise Spray Hits $10,000

Maria Cabral Menezes, a 27-year-old former trader at Citadel and JPMorgan Chase, has launched a product designed to refresh lightly worn clothing. Her company, WashWise, saw its debut Reset Spray generate $10,000 in sales in less than 36 hours after launching in early August.

Menezes told Entrepreneur the idea came from personal frustration. She frequently had clothes she had worn once that were too clean to wash but not fresh enough to rewear confidently. "I remember thinking, I wish there was something like a dry shampoo, but for your clothes," she said. The product retails for $29 and is marketed as a time-saving convenience for travelers, gym-goers, and anyone wanting to reduce laundry loads.

From Finance to Formulation

Menezes began developing the spray while still working at Citadel last year. She connected with a chemist via LinkedIn. "I bounced the idea off of her, and we started really at home, putting all of these formulations together in my living room," Menezes explained. The development process involved 10 to 15 internal iterations before engaging a contract manufacturer for minor adjustments focused on preservation and scale.

The full path from meeting the chemist to the first production run took over a year. Menezes initially explored a different concept: a water-soluble bag for sweaty workout clothes. She later identified a flaw, as sweat would likely melt the bag before laundry, and tabled that idea.

Product Positioning and Claims

The Reset Spray is designed to reduce wrinkles, cleanse, and neutralize odors. WashWise positions it as giving people time back. Menezes believes the framing helps reach multiple audiences, from women familiar with dry shampoo to professionals and students.

According to the brand's consumer research, one bottle could potentially replace significant costs and time for some users. The source presents these comparable figures as potential savings based on the brand's research.

Menezes notes these results depend on an individual consumer's habits.

Funding and Founder Mindset

Before raising external capital, Menezes invested between $50,000 and $70,000 of her personal savings into WashWise. In August, the company raised $1.2 million from investors including Hims & Hers co-founder Jack Abraham and FJ Labs. Menezes has not paid herself a salary in over a year, reinvesting all resources into hiring and customer acquisition.

She credits her finance background with instilling a focus on rigorous process. In order to survive in a place like Citadel, your process needs to be bulletproof, she said. This mindset now applies to questioning every business task for potential improvement and scalability.

Building an Audience Before Launch

WashWise's successful launch was preceded by months of audience building on social media. Menezes documented the company's development process on TikTok and Instagram, sharing packaging options, formulation updates, and questions for followers. While her follower count was modest-about 3,000 on Instagram and 600 on TikTok at the time of the interview-engagement was high.

Anytime we wanted advice, we always went on social media to ask for it, Menezes said. This strategy gave early followers a sense of ownership in the brand's creation.