Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Angela Carillo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Angela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

I’m a big believer in trying to make lemonade with a failure.

Early in my business and I wanted to make a red peppermint soap for the holidays. At the time, red was a difficult color to get in cold process soap because the pH of soap is so high. I checked different suppliers and found a beautiful, Christmas red. I was super excited.

I should have made a test batch, but I didn’t. The color was meant for bath bombs, not soap. It bled in soap. I used a bar and it was like the movie “Psycho” in the shower scene. If you looked in the bottom of the tub you’d have sworn I was being attacked.

So, I have 30 bars of this soap, and I had no idea what to do with it. I can’t even donate it. The color was skin safe, but who would use this soap?

This was in the fall, around the time the “Twilight” books and movies were popular. I woke up one morning with an idea, slapped a “Vampire soap” on the bar and sold out. I even needed to make a second batch.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always loved soap, long before I became a soapmaker. On vacations as a child, we were allowed to get one souvenir. While my sisters were looking at paper airplanes and other toys, I stood in front of the fancy soaps in the gift shops, deciding which one to buy.

I grew up, went to college, got married, had children and my love for soap was still strong. I still purchased fancy soaps, but now, I looked for handcrafted. There was something about the soapmaking process that drew me in. You take these greasy oils, mix them with a caustic lye solution and a chemical change takes place. No more oil and lye, now you have soap and glycerin. It’s like magic. In 1999, I went to the library, took out a book and taught myself the art.

I was a stay at home mom, working around my kids schedule. Once my youngest went to college, I realized I needed something else. I was Dominick and Ruth’s daughter, Brian’s wife and Steven and Elaine’s mother. Those are wonderful things to be, and I’m so grateful to still be them. Now, I wanted more. I had this soapmaking hobby, and wondered if I could make it a business.

In 2009, I started Alegna Soap (Angela backwards). It was a slow start, but as I sold soap, my confidence grew. I’ve spoken at soap conferences around the country, traveled to Haiti to teach women in tent camps how to make soap so they can support themselves. I teach soapmaking classes, do parties, library and children’s workshops. One of my favorite things to do is work with the senior centers. We make soap, scrubs, lotion, nail polish, and perfume.

I have a website and sell at fairs and events, but don’t have a brick and mortar shop. I sell soap and lip balm all year, and in the fall I also sell lotion, scrubs, scented oils and home fragrance. About a third of my business is white and private label, making soap for other businesses to sell.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid demanded a major pivot. I had inventory I needed to move, and workshop supplies I wasn’t using.

I was in a local mom’s Facebook group. I put a basket of soap on my front porch and told people to stop by and take one. We were all washing our hands so much our hands were raw and I knew my soap would help. Everyone was respectful and only took one bar. Some people became customers, and others didn’t. That’s ok, there was no soap wasted and that was my main goal.

Since I also had the raw materials for my workshops, I put together activity kits for children. “Make at home” melt and pour soap, sugar scrubs, and lip balm kits. I offered that in the group too, and I donated $5 from each kit to the food pantry. Another win for everyone. We made money for the pantry, the kids had a fun activity to do and I was able to move supplies.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Alegna Soap was totally self funded.

After putting my husband and kids through college, I decided it was time to spend some money on myself. I had a full time job in a school system and a part time job at a college. I had been stashing my part time paycheck away for a few years. So when I was ready to start selling, I had my start up money ready.

For the first 3 years, every penny went back into the business. At year 4, I was able to pay myself back. I started drawing a salary at year 7.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alegnasoap.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alegnasoap/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alegnasoap
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@soapmakingsoliloquy

Image Credits

Leanne Gelish and Winter Caplanson