Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elizabeth Hucker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I attribute the early success of my business to the support of my friends and family. From the moment I had the idea to start a soap business, I’ve relied on my closest family members to help guide me with getting my business up and running and to keep me on track moving forward. I’ve leaned on my sister, Alex, for her opinion and advice on my website design, product design, branding, packaging, ect. My mother, Karen, is a small business owner and natural soap lover herself and has helped tremendously, especially with the formulation of my soap and helping me pick the best ingredients. She is the biggest fan of my soaps and loves to spread the word – many of her friends have become repeat customers. During the Spring when her greenhouse was open for business, I did pop-up markets and that was a great way for me to gain new customers. Having her referral helped me connect with her customers and gain their trust and business.
My favorite low-pressure way to gain support from friends and family is to share my business posts on my personal social media pages. When I first launched my website, the initial orders all came from family and friends who had been following my soapmaking journey on social media and wanted to support my new business. Now, some of my best customers are those same friends and family that fell in love with my soap and continue to order regularly. I continue to share my business posts on my personal page and find support and interest on social media. I am always pleasantly surprised by the engagement and orders I receive from people I’m already connected to.
Another way I gain support from friends and family is by offering samples to people I think would be a great fit for my products. As I’m creating test batches, or if I have a batch come out differently than I was hoping, I use that as an opportunity to share those samples with friends and family. This often turns into sales down the road because they enjoy the samples I gave them. This is also a great way to solicite feedback as I’m designing products.
Something I would personally not be comfortable doing is reaching out via direct message and asking for support. I’m one of those shoppers who doesn’t want to be approached in a store, but I want the staff to be accessible if I need help. I try to be that person for my customers – online and in person. I always try to respond to messages as quickly as possible, and at markets, I give my customers space to shop, but let them know they have my attention whenever they need it.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a 33 year old homemaker turned soapmaker from Highland, MI. I love cooking, baking, crafting, and making useful, beautiful things for my family. I have two beautiful daughters – a 14 year old and a 3 year old. When I’m not working on my business you can find me hanging out with my kids at a local museum or park, spending time with family and friends, shopping, or traveling. My employment history includes several years working for a high-end children’s boutique, with a focus in online sales and customer service. Most recently, I worked in corporate sales in the tax and accounting industry. I left that position in 2020 during a time of rapid change in my life. Not only were we living through a global pandemic, my husband had just joined the military, my daughter was virtually attending school from home, and I was pregnant with my second child. I knew I wouldn’t be able to juggle working remotely full time, so I made the decision to focus solely on being a stay at home mom. Fast forward 3 years to the beginning of 2024, I found myself feeling ready to go back to “work”, but not ready to leave my toddler just yet. On New Years Day, I decided to start a soapmaking business and Solstice Soap Co. was born.
I’ve always had a passion for natural and “clean” products that help reduce toxins and contribute to a healthier lifestyle. I do my best to purchase organic and natural products as often as possible. I also strive to reduce my family’s dependency on corporations and mass produced products. It was important to me to create a business whose products were in line with my personal values. My experience working in online sales, customer service, and retail provided me the skills to get a new business up and running relatively quickly.
I started doing craft shows and pop up markets to get my product out there and in front of customers. I’m a vendor at the Holly Farmers Market a couple Sundays a month. My favorite part of the markets have been meeting repeat customers and hearing which soaps they love and why. I also love discovering and supporting the other vendors at the market. Our community has many amazing local small businesses like mine who love to support each other. I’ve found that my products are a great fit for the farmers market and I really enjoy the experience as a vendor. In addition to in-person markets, I have a website where I accept online orders, keep customers up to date about my newest products and upcoming events, and offer an easy way to contact me.
Often times I’ll bring my girls along with me to the markets. I have a teenager and a toddler who both enjoy attending the market, shopping the other vendors, and getting yummy eats and treats. My teenager often pops into my booth to help take care of customers and is always happy to share which soaps are her favorite and why. It’s a great way that I can include my daughters in my small business. I’m proud to show my daughters what is possible with hard work and dedication. My teenager has already been inspired to start her own small business someday.
My brand’s ideal customer is one who values items that are handmade, high quality, healthy, useful, and beautiful. I want my customers to feel good about their purchase, and to know that they’re buying a high quality item that is good for them. I love when customers purchase my products to give as gifts to their friends and family. It feels really good knowing that they chose my handmade items to gift to their loved ones.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for me has been consistently attending markets in person. I’ve found this is my best source of repeat customers and building my clientele. The farmers market I attend draws a large weekly crowd with many regulars returning each week. When they purchase a product they love, they tend to come back and shop that vendor again. I’ve had several families come back after their initial purchase to tell me how much they enjoyed their soap and to purchase more. Selling in person at markets is a great way to connect with customers face to face. It gives me an opportunity to have a conversation with them about what they’re shopping for and help point them in the right direction. This part of the shopping process is often missing with online sales because it’s not as easy to connect with potential customers while they’re shopping. I love sharing tidbits of info with customers about each soap as they pick them up, and seeing their reaction as they sniff each one. It also gives me valuable insight into which soaps customers are drawn to first, and which ones they enjoy the smell of the most. I’m looking forward to fall and holiday markets, which are some of the busiest of the year as customers are doing the bulk of their holiday shopping.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
When I first had the idea to start a soap company, I knew nothing about how to make soap. I just knew that I loved buying and using natural soap. I had recently spent time wandering the aisles of Whole Foods, picking out a stack of natural bar soap for my older daughter for Christmas. Our family has always loved to gift each other natural soap because it’s a beautiful, yet practical, gift. I spent the first month researching and immersing myself in the world of soapmaking. I checked out a stack of books from the library and read them cover to cover. I scrolled through instagram and TikTok pages of popular soapmakers and watched YouTube videos of the soapmaking process. I compared recipes, ingredients, methods, and narrowed down the type of soap I wanted to make. I wanted to use only natural ingredients, and organic as often as possible. It was necessary for the products I created to be safe and gentle enough that I would feel comfortable using them on my own kids. Both of my daughters have dealt with eczema, so we’re mindful to use products without ingredients that will irritate their skin, like synthetic dyes or fragrances. I’ve always enjoyed working with essential oils and using them on my family, so that was a no brainer when it came to scenting my products. Essential oils also offer many beneficial properties, including aromatherapy. In keeping with the theme, I chose to color my soaps using natural colorants such as clays, plants, and seeds. Some of my favorite colorants to use are french green clay, moroccan red clay, annatto seed powder, and indigo powder. Often times the colorants I use will have added benefits such as detoxifying, exfoliating, and calming the skin.
They say that soapmaking is a lot like baking – you just can’t lick the spoon! I quickly fell in love with the soapmaking process in the same way that I love baking. The process is predictable, as long as it is calculated and controlled properly.
I love finding ways to incorporate herbs and botanicals into my soaps. Two of my favorite soaps that I have made so far were made with “weeds” I picked from my yard – Dandelions and Wild Violets. Both of those plants are typically overlooked or disregarded as weeds, but they actually offer many wonderful theraputic benefits in skincare. I’m excited to further explore various herbs and botanicals I can incorporate into my soaps and body care products.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.solsticesoapco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solsticesoap.co
- Facebook: www.faceboook.com/solsticesoapco
