About Iona Kearney

Iona Kearney has put in the “elbow grease” both literally and figuratively to carve out a successful space for Speedy Sparkle Car Wash in the Boulder, Colorado community. She and the Speedy Sparkle team bring eco-friendly car washes to a city lauded for its natural beauty, helping to sustain the clean, colorful, mountainous landscape of Boulder. As General Manager of Speedy Sparkle Car Wash, Iona Kearney is responsible for helping to build and sustain team morale that leads to employee retention and happy customers, one day, one wash, at a time.

She was, to a certain extent, raised in the car wash industry once her father acquired Speedy Sparkle Car Wash 2008. Soon after the acquisition, Iona began to work as a cashier and basic line employee when she was 14, during her high school tenure until she attended college. As a teenager, Iona worked selling washes and cleaning cars, cultivating the understanding of what it takes to complete a wash job that would give satisfaction to customers. This experience also allowed her the on-the-floor experience as a car washer to learn the ins-and-outs of providing an excellent wash. This early hands-on experience gives her credibility with employees and customers and also helps adequately train staff with the right skill set. 

The path to becoming General Manager of Sparkle Wash was not linear. After balancing high school classes and work for four years, Iona decided like many girls with a mind and the ability to use it to go to college. She double majored in Economics and Criminal Justice, with a double minor in Business and Philosophy, proving she could handle a heavy load and still thrive. The line was not linear, but she gained a good deal of education about business, something that would come in handy when she felt the car wash business calling her back some years later. 

As a college student, Iona enjoyed the experience of broadening her intellectual and personal horizons. She joined many clubs, and upon graduating, worked as a collegiate Leadership Consultant, and with a franchising company. Yet still felt the world of car washing in her heart and decided to return to the industry that she was first introduced to as a young teen, this time with the Marketing Department of Speedy Sparkle Car Wash, where her education in business would lend a hand.

Iona spent one year in Marketing and in 2020 just as the coronavirus hit, she took over as General Manager of the Louisville location. She met the challenge head-on and learned a lot of information in a short amount of time. She built team connections and loyalty by recreating training manuals and evaluation processes to better learn her new management role. The all-in effort resulted in high employee retention at a time when businesses were losing workers due to global health concerns, uncertainty, and instability during the highpoint of COVID-19. After managing the Louisville location for two years, Iona became General Manager for a second location in Loveland, which she later sold to be able to expand Speedy Sparkle Car Wash from their Louisville location. 

Iona now serves as head of Speedy Sparkle Car Wash in Louisville, where she cultivates trust among team members and quality service including from basic to deluxe car washes, and interior and exterior detailing. 

Often the youngest person in the room, Iona has strengthened the groundwork for the future growth and expansion of Speedy Sparkle Car Wash. Recently, she has been named to the Board of Directors for the Southwest Car Wash Association and President of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce. She is the youngest person ever to be named to each of these organizations.