We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jackie Thomas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jackie below.

Jackie, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I officially launched my business and turned my website on 4 days after my 40th birthday. In hindsight, I wish I had started it months, or even years earlier! Though I had been working on it for quite a while, I never felt completely ready to be “official” and kept putting it off for various reasons. Life-wise, I was in a good place to start when I did and while it would have been harder to start earlier, I still wish I would have. Starting a business is like preparing for a baby- you can research, read all the books and prepare nonstop, but when it comes down to it, you still feel clueless some days.

Jackie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I started making soap, I had no idea how much I would love creating the products and how similar it was to my career. I’ve been a food scientist for nearly 20 years and enjoy creating and testing formulas, so working with soap makes a lot of sense. My main goal when starting Jax Soap Co was to provide an income to allow us to support the goats that we had come to love. While my mission has evolved a little, we’re still here because of the goats! Since starting the company, I’ve also seen what a difference the products make for people, so that has become another driving force in the business – to create products that solve problems using the milk from our lovely ladies.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I make and package all our products. When I started, I had no idea how to make soap, or anything else we currently make. There are so many resources available online that helped with figuring out the process but a lot of it was learned through trial and error. I’ve had plenty of soap failures and every one of them has taught me something about the manufacturing process. Even with having a few years under my belt, I know it’s still important to remember the basics and test everything thoroughly before scaling up a new process.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

We have a stand-alone website that runs through Shopify. For the most part, it was very easy to set up and is easy to update. I briefly looked at other hosts, but none seemed as user-friendly as Shopify. I think anyone with a moderate technical ability could set up a website very easily. Shopify also offers various POS systems that sync with your website inventory. The cons are that it’s higher priced that other options, and doesn’t always sync with social selling platforms (TikTok). There are also some features that aren’t available at the lower subscription cost that would be nice to have, but I can’t justify the added cost with the size of my business right now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jaxsoap.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxsoapmn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaxsoapmn/
• Other: TikTik- @jaxsoapmn