Maker of the Month: Mad Sass Soap
Naomi with Mad Sass Soap signed a lease just weeks before COVID-19 shut the country down. Opening a store while raising 5-year-old twin girls was not easy. However, she had plenty of help from a supportive community and a loyal customer base. They love her elegant soap, lotion, bath bombs, and more. Get to know Naomi below!
How long have
you been making soap, and how did you get started? How long have you been selling
your products?
I have been making soap since mid
2018. It started out as a hobby while our twins were in preschool part time. I
wanted to create some products I could use for my daughters eczema. My husband and I
were tired of coating her in topical steroids and petroleum every night. Once I
started making soaps, I realized there was this whole artistic side to it. My
background is in graphic design, and soap making has a strong design and color
element to it. I fell in love with making products so quickly that I kept making
more and more. I was making more than I could give away to friends and family.
Eventually, my husband and I decided that I needed to start selling and I signed up
for my first markets during the holiday season of 2018. I went to my first markets
with soaps, candles, body butters, scrubs, and lotions.
What do
you love most about making bath and body products?
I
love the challenge and artistry involved in making bath and body products.
Formulating and testing new products is really rewarding. I feel like I am
constantly learning something new and its such a rush when I get it
right.
What inspires you to
create?
I’m incredibly inspired by all of
the talented women makers around me. There is a lot I still have to learn and
I’m amazed at artistry in the soaping community. I’m also really
inspired by my twin girls. They cheer me on and tell me how proud they are of me. I
get a lot of my motivation from them. They are still young enough to think I am
cool.
What advice
would you give to someone who wanted to get started?
Don’t give up. You will definitely have stuff that
doesn’t work out, but keep trying. I make mistakes all of the time. Every
time I make a mistake, I learn, and it turns out better the next time around. I have
learned so much from books and online resources. The first soap I ever made was from
Anne-Marie's Pure Soapmaking
book, and when it turned out great I was so encouraged to keep
going and develop my own recipes. From there I developed a personal style. The
online resources are priceless as well. I learn so much from other makers who are
generous with their time and knowledge and post videos to YouTube or different
Facebook groups.
What work went
into opening a storefront? Do you have any tips for makers who want to do the
same?
If opening a store is your dream, then you have
to lay the groundwork. It took us over a year to convince our current landlord that
we were the right tenant for their newly-renovated space. In 2019, I signed up for
every market from Portland to Seattle that I could get into. During the holiday
season of 2019, we would sometimes have three markets in one day. My sister would be
at one, my husband at another, and me at a third. I remember one day where my
sister's market had ended and she didn’t have much left, but we begged her
to bring whatever she had over to us at our market. It was a really intense season,
but it was enough to convince the landlord to lease us the space. I chose markets
over online platforms because I wanted to get to know the community and increase
brand awareness organically. I also wrote a very detailed business plan.
It’s important to have a business plan and to update it regularly. I
signed the lease on my storefront just weeks before COVID. Opening a storefront
during a pandemic, with 5 year old twins, has not been easy. But I did it, and it's
working because of an incredibly supportive community, and I would have regretted it
had I not done it.
Who’s
another maker you admire? What do you love about their work?
I really admire Simi at Muddy Mint. Her work is
stunning and I wouldn’t have stuck with soap making without her.
She’s positive, and kind, and knowledgeable. She’s doing her
business on her terms, her way, and I LOVE that. I aspire to do that same, and be
the same.
Have you experienced a
fail? How did you work through it, and what did you learn?
I’ve experienced what I thought was a fail. I think sometimes we
mistake the natural course of business as a personal failure when really
it’s not. In 2019, there was a really big holiday market that I
didn’t get into. I took it personally at first. I examined everything I
was doing and tried to figure out if I should change my whole business model. What
ended up happening was all the customers I had reached over the years came and found
me at the markets I DID get into. In reality, if you love your customers and create
solid relationships it will pay off. No one market can decide your
fate.
What plans do
you have for your business moving forward?
I have a
lot of plans for my business moving forward, but I’m keeping most of them
under wraps. My biggest goals at the moment are to release more products and
continue to improve on the ones I have. I am always trying to improve on what I am
already doing. First though, I am going to take a day off (it’s been
almost a year).
Naomi's top Bramble Berry picks
- Orchid extract - It goes into all my body butters.
- Cornflower petals - They're a stunning color.
- Birchwood Oud Fragrance Oil - Holy smokes, it smells amazing.
- Rose clay - I use it in my Meyer lemon soap. I use both coconut milk and rose clay, and it's super gentle and soothing.
What’s
the first Bramble Berry project you tried?
The first
soap I ever made was White Tea from Pure Soapmaking. It turned out great,
and was a huge hit with my family.
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