We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chassidy Walsted-Fakler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chassidy below.

Chassidy, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I would have started much sooner.

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?

Im a 46 year old lady living in Montana. I have always been creative. My state’s natural beauty of plants, scenery, and animals have always inspired me. I dabble in many things, woodwork, candle making, some welding, building lights, resin art, photography, and painting. In 2016 I started getting sensitive to commercial personal hygiene products. I started making lotion bars which didn’t irritate my skin, and eventually move on to making soap. Soap making was unlimited, since I love to try new techniques and different designs. I also got into gathering local plants to use in my products. Black Cottonwood, is by far my favorite, which I make soap and a lotion bar with. I also use dandelion, nettle, and heart leaf arnica. I started making soap with natural colorants using cold oil plant infusions (Alkanet Root, Madder Root, Indigo, Annatto seed, Rhubarb Root, Paprika, Nettle leaf, cottonwood, cocoa powder and charcoal. To get colorful soap, using plants, this is always been a challenge to get the colors just right. I joined a monthly soap challenge to learn new techniques, and won a challenge for that month for my Amethyst Crystal soap, making is naturally using ever clear, and sugars as a solvent. I have always made natural soap, never using synthetic colorants or scents. In 2019, I grew sensitive to the use of essential oils in the soap, and had to slow down soap production. I bought a glowforge 3d printer to make soap tools for myself, using the pull through soap technique, and eventually started selling my designs as soap tools. I also made soap kits with soap molds, so others could make their own artisan bars. With my glowforge I also make wooden lights, magnets, and decorative wooden boxes. In 2020 I designed a decorative soap edge cutter for handmade soap bars. In 2020 I ran into many issues of unable to find materials for my soap tool kits, and soap router. Still today, I have a hard time finding some of the materials. I feel what sets me apart, is I’m always coming up with new designs. I am also the only manufacture that makes a soap bar edge cutter with 23 different designs.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Eventually I want to be making soap making tools full time. I have ideas, but getting the materials as a lower cost to make it a full time job is a struggle for me. I live in a rural area, and have everything shipped, which costs more.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect is making a product, I personally love and use myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildplantanica.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildplantanica/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildplantanica/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildPlantanica/about
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@soaproutertool