We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bee Espana a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My wife Col and I are both neurodivergent and disabled. We struggled for many years to find products that don’t cause rashes or worsen headaches, and align with our love for animals and concern for the planet. What we encountered most often (besides corporate greenwashing) was a very all-or-nothing “Zero Waste” mentality, which tends to alienate a huge percentage of the population, ourselves included.

We made it our mission to create plant-powered, purpose-driven products, while taking an empathetic, inclusive approach to marketing. Plastic-free products can be intimidating. It’s easy to unconsciously create nonsensical rules around them, as though buying compostable deodorant means you can’t also buy plastic snack bags. It can start to feel like being passionate about supporting small businesses means you can’t also shop on Amazon, which is simply not the case. We want sustainable shopping to be approachable, and friendly. The cost of our materials means we can’t be affordable for everyone, but we don’t ever want anyone to feel judged for living within their means.

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.

Simple Alchemy Co is passionately plant-based, dedicated to plastic-free packaging, ethically sourced ingredients, and supporting intersectional environmentalism. We’re a proudly queer/LatinX couple, living and working out of an 800 square foot forest home in the Pacific Northwest.

Our best selling products are our groundbreaking Solid Dish Soap (it’s unlike any others on the market), and innovative Natural Deodorant that is a hundred percent home compostable. We also make amazing plastic-free lip balm, solid lotion, and more. We are PETA and Leaping Bunny certified vegan and cruelty-free.

Prior to launching Simple Alchemy Co, Col had been making soap for nearly ten years. There wasn’t any soap available, even handmade, that was gentle enough for our highly sensitive skin. It was basically a matter of going back to the drawing board, reformulating cold process methods, and breaking soap “rules” to create the recipes we use today. Before our soap, there wasn’t a single bar soap either of us could use without issue. Ours is balanced and gentle, perfect for anyone with easily irritated skin. We take the same approach for every product we make, with rigorous research and development. It can’t just be plastic-free and vegan – it needs WORK, and be pleasurable to use.

I (Bee) am an artist and photographer, and know at least a little bit about most every creative aspect of running a business. We’ve never had bank loans or anything like that, so I wear a lot of hats to meet our needs. I’m our photographer, videographer, copywriter, social media manager, web designer, scent developer, order packer, etc. Col formulates all of our recipes, does all the measuring, mixing, and pouring. It’s a true partnership, and we absolutely love working together as a team. We each have our strengths, and run everything by each other to make sure it’s the best it can be.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Oh yes. We’re pretty sure we initially met at a party or some kind of gathering, but we were just friends for about eight years. For context, we were both married to AMAB (assigned male at birth) folks at the time. In early February 2016, I was sobbing on the floor in my closet (literally IN the closet – foreshadowing), which I did often but had no idea why. I decided I needed a wee adventure, and wanted to find an Airbnb somewhere. My spouse at the time wasn’t up for going, so I posted on Facebook. “Hey, I have a three day weekend, and I’m going somewhere. Anyone want to be my roadtrip buddy?” A couple days went by, and I hadn’t heard anything.

Thursday, the day before I was going to head out, I got a text from my friend Col.

“Hey, do you still need a roadtrip buddy? A client just cancelled, so I’m free.”

“Yes!”

“I would like to go to there.”

“Sweet! North or South?”

“Either one.”

“South it is. Lemme find a place to stay….Okay, I found one! It’s a converted school bus in rural Oregon, a few hours South of us.”

“Sounds good!”

Col came over the next day, and we headed out. As we were driving, we realized this was the first time we’d ever gotten to hang out just the two of us. It was always group situations before, so it was really nice to have an extended period of time to talk. And talk. And talk. And listen to incredible music. I was introduced to the band Hey Rosetta for the first time. We stopped along the way to look at gorgeous nature and take pictures. By the time we got to the converted school bus, sparks were already flying, but neither of us said anything or had any clue what to do about it. And the school bus, as it turns out, was owned by a lesbian couple. We like to jokingly blame them for us falling in love, though at the time we didn’t even so much as hold hands. I built fires to stay warm (it was snowing). Col made toast and eggs. We played Uno and colored. We talked and laughed for hours. Sunday came, and on the drive home I said, “Everything’s going to change, isn’t it?”

The next few months were simultaneously some of the hardest, and most wonderful months of our lives. We spoke at length with our spouses at the time. There were so many questions, even more tears, plenty of fear, and a lot of excitement. I came out, first to myself, and then to everyone. I have conservative religious parents (whose love, it turns out, was always conditional). There was therapy, both couple’s and individual. We went on so many beautiful hikes, and fell even more in love somehow as we made a lot of difficult decisions.

My previous spouse and I had the kindest divorce possible (no one believes me when I say that, but it’s true. It was the best thing for both of us, in the end). Col moved in right before my 33rd birthday in 2016, and we never looked back. We launched Simple Alchemy Co on August 1st, 2018, and got married on October 28th the same year. One spontaneous weekend roadtrip changed everything, and we couldn’t be happier.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Yes! Prior to our relationship, soap-making was a side hustle for Col, with cleaning and social work being the main sources of income. I was a caregiver for two amazing kids at the time, as well as a professional photographer. When we launched Simple Alchemy Co in 2018, we had to do everything in our off hours in our little tiny 400 square foot studio. We hung as much wall-mounted shelving as we could, and did hours of batch-testing in our wee galley kitchen.

In the fall of 2019, we moved to an 800 square foot rental just outside of our small downtown. We’d been accepted to do our first big holiday craft show, so we had to get right to work making as much product as possible. My nanny position ended (they grew up!), but I was still doing family and interior design photography. Col was still cleaning for quite a few clients. There were many, many late nights of product-making, often until 2am. COVID hit early 2019. We’re both immunocompromised, so we started quarantining ourselves that March. Cleaning and photoshoots came to a shrieking halt, and we poured all of our time, energy, and money into growing Simple Alchemy Co. We’ve been doing that ever since!      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://simplealchemyco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplealchemyco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimpleAlchemyCo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/simple-alchemy-co
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@simplealchemyco?lang=en Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/simplealchemyco/_saved/

Image Credits
@beejoyphoto