Biz-ymama interview: Ultimate Organic Soap

1. What is the name and the online contact info of your business?

The name of my online business is Ultimate Organic Soap and the address is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UltimateOrganicSoap
My blog is located at: http://ultimateorganicsoaps.blogspot.com/
I do a little bit of Twittering: http://twitter.com/ultimatesoaps
I have a Facebook Fanpage where I offer deals once a month or so: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ultimate-Organic-Soap/234145014137?ref=ts
And I have started producing YouTube videos about soap making:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oegUOvCWms
(As I start harvesting more herbs and natural ingredients this summer, I will be producing more videos).

2. How did you come up with it?
I have always been the type of person to want to be busy with her hands. I do a little sewing (usually winging it without a clue of what I'm doing), I crochet, knit, garden, I love cooking, help my husband build porches (which involves everything from making cement, hammering frames, nailing boards) and paint cabins, and I really like trying new things. I could really like to try my hand at painting and ceramic work some time in the future. In any case, I had a textile shop on Etsy for a couple of years but could just never keep up with the competition from the other great knitters and textile workers on Etsy. And if I am to be honest, I could not really develope a style that I felt was true to my heart. I did make some great stuff, but not all of my stuff was wonderful.

It then happened that my husband suddenly had problems with his skin and a cold winter (I work outside for hours daily) was causing me to have problems with my hands. I started buying handmade soap and this helped a great deal. And being someone who likes to save money where she can, I started making it. The more I made soap, the more I started asking questions like, "Why is everyone making soap using only the Cold Processing method when really that should be just the beginning of the journey?" After a lot of reading and research, I could not come up with one good reason why someone should not take soap one step further. This is where my journey began.

3. What is your business?
The essence of my soap is to be as organic and back to basics as possible. I use the French Milling Process, which makes a much more concentrated soap that lasts longer. It is also important to note that this process does not alter or destroy any additional ingredients (spices, herbs, flowers, etc) as the chemical process was completed during the Cold Processing stage. And considering that the skin can absorb up to 70% of nutrients/medicine placed upon it, this is important to consider.

I also harvest everything I can, I buy organic when I can (living in Norway with incredibly short growing seasons where much of the food needs to be imported can present some problems), and I have just entered into two contracts with other European women who will be growing organic herbs, plants and flowers for me. This is what I want to stick with, the 'Less is More' concept. I am totally against fancy colors, regardless of how harmless they are proven to be, as well as perfumes. I do use essential oils, but not in an overwhelming quantity.

4. When did you start your business?
I started selling soap soap to my friends and collegues on the European Street Team found on Etsy in October 2009. They are great friends, but they are also dead honest and do not 'play nice' because their opinions might hurt someones feelings. Their response was almost 100% positive, and with some minor changes I had an official grand opening of my Etsy store in January 2010.

5.What made you want to pursue your own business? How did you do it?
I've always had an itch to be very independant, make my own decisions and be in 'total control' of something, although when it really comes down to it one can be as 'in control' of a business as one can be 'in control' of a child. At best we can help to steer the direction of what happens, but it will never be 100% in our control. Having said this, selling online was a nice way to explore this itch of mine. Soon after I moved to Norway I started selling Norwegian products to Norwegian-Americans, and did really well at this. But as my children got bigger and I returned to the workforce, it was no longer possible to balance life as a reseller. But that itch was there and instead of wanting to sell on a smaller scale, I wanted to move towards and be apart of something so much bigger, but wasn't quite sure how that was defined. I then was made aware of Etsy and knew that this was for me. As mentioned, I didn't start off with the right product, but after trial and error I found my niche and making soaps in my method is now something I believe whole heartedly in and am extremely proud of.

6.What is your daily life/ schedule like?
Wake up between 6 and 6.30. Usually a little computer work, sometimes 30 minutes of exercise, waking up my kids and getting them ready for school and then heading out to work myself which can start anywhere from 7.30 to 9.30.
Work 7.5 hours at a job involved with adolesent child care in the Norwegian School System, which I love and would never trade for anything.
Pick up the kids, come home, make dinner, on various nights I drive to karate or gymnastics lessons, 30 – 40 minutes of housework (done in a fury of course).
At the moment I'm squeezing in 1 hour of elipse machine training (not necessarily all in one go) as I'm involved in a district wide step-counting competition with my workplace. Out of 300 people involved, I'm currently in 5th place, right behind a semi-professional soccer player and 3 others who have no families, children or other responsibilities to distract them from exercise. I'm very proud of this and am working extra hard to keep this position.

7.When do you find the time to work?
I wish I knew myself! I seem to just fit it in, here and there throughout the evenings. Usually I do an hour or two of soap work a night. (At the moment because of my commitment to this exercise competition it has been cut down to about an hour a night) This can involve anything from dealing with customers, fixing my store, making large amounts of base soaps, cutting and drying plants, etc. The work is quite varied and I always make this work the reward I get for keeping the house generally clean and making sure my kids have gotten a more than average amount of quality time.

8.What are your future goals?
My immediate future goals are to explore various areas of what 'organic' means. As illuded to above, this particular summer I am working with two women who will be growing over 20 different types organic herbs and flowers for me. (Even I can see that I cannot accomplish everything and need to network and outsource to make my dreams come true) and I really look forward to producing soaps with these herbs. In addition, I will be harvesting different types of seaweed from my seaside cabin and making soap with this. I have had many requests for shampoo bars as well as soaps for pets, but this will have to wait until next year.

9.What is the hardest thing about what you are doing?
Absolutely the hardest thing in the beginning was to keep a balance between all my types of work (day job, house, kids, being a good wife, being a good mom, etc) and to learn to prioritize. I use to panic when I felt like I wasn't in control of getting everything that needed to be done, done. I actually had to set down and write a clear list of priorities: family, job, Etsy. Now that I have good priorties, I don't begin to get overly stressed if I can't make soap for a week. The fact that my kids want me to read to them every night (still) is much more important.

10.What advice do you have for other working mommies?
Let go of the guilt of not being able to get everything done. You can't. Nobody can. If you have a good business and your customers will have to wait a week or so because your kids are sick (or because you want to give them a great birthday party), or because you're having your 10th wedding anniversary, then your customers will have to wait. The ones who will do the most for your business over time will respect you and your boundaries and will come back to you because if it.