We recently connected with Christina Nicolasin and have shared our conversation below.

Christina, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

It was 2021, and my office job was wearing me down. I’d been in the finance industry for several years and had worked hard to slowly climb the corporate ladder. I was depressed and was developing horrifying anxiety, something I had never thought would happen to me. I needed something to fulfill me outside of work so that I didn’t drag my then boyfriend (now husband) down into bummerville with me. I knew I loved creating beautiful things or making things pretty, but I didn’t know where on earth to take that. I had been obsessively baking and while it was fun, creative, and delicious, it didn’t give me a sense of purpose. In addition, I needed to stop eating so much cake and cookies! So, during the holiday season, I tried out lotion bars, candles, and body butter to give as handmade gifts. Not everything was a success, but it was enough to spark real interest and soon I was learning all I could about soap making. Instead of going home and crying after work or just going to sleep, I began filling my mind with thoughts of how soap is made, using lavender, and what colors I should use in my next project. It kept my mind going and with that, I was able to cope better with my day job. I tend to give up easily, so in December 2021, I decided I’d start working on launching a little Etsy soap shop. My goal was to open in April, 2022. Time and money flew by as I dove into making my very first soaps. I got my business license and my husband helped me create my logo and name. The idea was cute enough, but I had decided that when I started my business that I would do things differently than most soap shops. I wanted to be fun AND sustainability focused. I’ve been into sustainability for years and I thought that it would be awesome to create bath and body products that were geeky, fun, and environmentally friendly. I decided to make my business as sustainable as possible and even though I knew it would always making my work challenging, it would give me and my creativity real meaning. There’s little to no representation in geekery when it comes to sustainability. Even if you find someone making natural soaps with little packaging, they aren’t making designs like mine. I wanted to create bath and body based off of fandoms, anime, fantasy…you name it. I wanted nerds to see my soap and be delighted at how it looks, smells, AND see that you can have it all with no plastic. It’s a niche I haven’t seen anyone else fill and I want to rule it. The way I see it, if people end up copying me, then I’ve done what I wanted to do, which is inspire more people to go plastic-free.

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 got into soap making as a form of self-care. I use my creativity to make beautiful, handmade products that are a love letter to video games, anime, and other popular fandoms. I make solid form products like soap bars, shampoo bars, bubble bars, and more! Any products that do require packaging are wrapped in Kraft paper. My specialty is taking fandoms and bringing them to life in the form of soap. You might find your favorite video game, anime, or Netflix show on my shop represented in a soap bar. I want to give everyone a truly amazing self-care experience that also encourages less waste.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

If you’re in the handmade market, it can be tough to get going. I make all my products by hand and it’s something that sets me apart in a increasingly competitive market (small businesses). I don’t just draw a picture and then mass print it on paper or a t-shirt. I have to make everything from scratch each time. I never stop learning. That’s how I started and that’s what I still do. I take time to research everything I can and learn as much as possible. Soaping and skincare are a lot like baking- you have to be very careful. It’s easy to ruin product and it’s also easy to harm others if you are careless. I map out what products I want to make and then I systematically tackle articles, videos, and whatever else I can to learn all about the product. Then, I practice until the product is exactly how I want it. I’ve made gold in two tries and I’ve struggled with others for almost a whole year. You never know what will happen, so you have to just keep trying. Once you figure it out, it feels like you’ve made magic.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My cofounder/business partner is my husband, Josh. We met playing video games in 2015 and our passion for games has everything to do with Toasty Ghost’s theme. Josh drew our Toasty Ghost logo and he actually came up with the name. I love everything spooky and I live Halloween pretty much all year long. The ghost was inspired by my love of Halloween, and she has glasses because I do. Josh also does our soap label designs by hand, making them extra special. Our goal is to be able to work full-time together for The Toasty Ghost once we scale up. There wouldn’t be a Toasty Ghost without the support of my husband, who helps push me even when I feel like giving up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thetoastyghost.com
• Instagram: the_toasty_ghost
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaadelapalacio/