We were lucky to catch up with Regina Bauscher recently and have shared our conversation below.

Regina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Back in 2011, my husband and I moved back to the country, seeking the lifestyle we had as children. We wanted to live more holistically, obtain nutrient dense foods (including raw milk), and drive our lifestyle back to nature. At the time, I worked for a chemical company who made cosmetic ingredients for major, well-known cosmetic companies. My education in chemistry gave me pause when I looked at the ingredients. Some were petroleum based, others were synthetic. With the plethora of skin conditions the public faces, I always felt there had to be a better way. Using my knowledge of formulation, I created skin care products for my family from what I deemed “Cleaner” ingredients. For example, I knew that most bar soap was a compilation of multiple forms of sodium and sodium is not a friend of the skin.

My husband was also suffering from a skin condition at the time of our move. The dermatologist could get it in remission with steroid creams and prescriptions, but it would always come back. Painful peeling, splitting skin on my husbands hands and fingers made it difficult for him working as a master carpenter/woodworker. I decided to attack the issue by changing the soap (removing high salt levels and increasing emollient levels). I settled on a recipe including our goat milk as the carrier for the reagent (sodium hydroxide). After 30 days of using our soap, his hands cleared up and the condition has never returned, not even once.

Regina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We began sharing the soap with friends and family. Everyone raved how their skin was changing. It wasn’t itching anymore, the flaking disappeared and the skin became softer than ever before. For fun, we offered 10 scents at a local farmer’s market. The response was immediate and enthusiastic. We figured making a small amount could be a fun retirement gig eventually, so we built a website and slowly began marketing the soap. We made soap when we came home from our regular jobs in the evening, but the demand reached a point where we had to take a leap of faith and commit to it full time. When we did so, more doors opened. We expanded into other products, carrying the same intent of clean ingredients that perform and do no harm. We now have a varied line of products complete with 5 star reviews.

We had to differentiate ourself from the competition as we certainly were not the first people to make Goat Milk Soap. But we were the first to be Certified Humane, EWG Verified, have an Aromatherapist on staff and lastly, also raise champion Nigerian Dwarf Goats as well. We chose this breed of goat for it’s extreme butterfat content (cream) and feel it is one of the primary ingredients which makes our product so stellar. So we truly have a nature and farm-based brand unlike so many others in the goat milk skin care industry. We love our goats and love what we do. It is extremely satisfying to help a person find comfort in their skin when they are suffering and where nothing else has worked. Some customers want a cleaner alternative and others simply do not want to be tied to heavy prescription medication. They want a more holistic approach.

We are most proud of our reviews and our high percentage of return customers. If a product does not work, customers do not come back. Our customers know our dedication to premium ingredients, transparency and last but not least the care of our goats.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When we realized our product was in demand, my husband was the first to resign his job. He would prep all ingredients and we would work together in the evenings making the products. We used the profits from sales to fund our growth. We avoided large loans, wanting to grow organically and at the speed that customer demand dictated. I stayed in my corporate job for 2 more years, and we lived off of one salary. For 3 years, every dollar of profit was reinvested back into the company and it became large enough for me to resign my position and join my husband full-time on the farm.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We believe it is important for our clients to know we value them. It is because of them that we have experience such success and we want them to feel our appreciation. We keep in touch with a bi-monthly newsletter for those who wish to subscribe. We also have a farm facebook and an instagram and twitter accounts. We don’t talk just about our products, we share information on the goats as well bringing our fans into the farm experience. We hold open houses for customers to meet and great our goat team members, do soap-making demonstrations, invite questions and teach the realities of farm life.

We did Goat Yoga for several years, which brought us a huge number of new clients. We continued to grow and opened a store/manufacturing facility in a small town 7 miles from the farm. After Covid, we dropped Goat Yoga and began Bonding with Babies classes, which were easier to manage, and smaller for a more personal experience. This enables people to come and watch the milking process, basically how we source the raw material for our products. Then they feed milk bottles to baby goats for a hands on experience. Honey Sweetie Acres is really two businesses in one. One for skin care and one for champion-bred Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, who we compete with nationally. Inclusion into the daily life on the goat farm turns customers into top fans, who follow us passionately on social media. Videos and photos of newborn babies in the Spring bring us hundreds of likes and comments. Wether we announce a special on a product or an impending birth in the barn, customers pay attention. When we compete with the goats, they cheer us on and congratulate our wins on Facebook. They know our products contain REAL milk and not the typical powder. They also know our goats are family and treated as such with stellar care. That in of itself means a lot to people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.HoneySweetieAcres.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/honeysweetieacres
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/HoneySweetieAcres2
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regina-bauscher/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/HSweetieAcres
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HoneysweetieacresGoatsMilk