We were lucky to catch up with Ladine Cage recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ladine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

All my life I always had mini businesses, if that is what you could call it. Starting from a very young age of a wanting a lemonade stand to painting on jeans for classmates. I would come up with a name, write down my prices and start taking orders. It just came so natural to me to be in charge of my ideas, new visions and see it come to life. Therefore, it was the same as I got older, except of course you become aware of a lot more duties and requirements. When I knew that I wanted to start a soap business I begin to immediately begin to research the different avenues of health and beauty, I learned the soap making process and through trial and error I had some success and in some I did not. I took time out to reach out to others who could assist in the areas in which I was not that good, unsure or just really learn more about the soap making process. I studied ancient body products i.e. the manner in which they cleaned and ingredients used and that was used possibly how and why these same ingredients have either still being used or phased out. It did seem as if it would be too much for me to handle, but with the perseverance that I saw in my parents, especially my father who was also a business man of his own business just would not let me let this go. My months were so busy in understanding how to now build a brand. This would be MY name, MY brand and if I haven’t learned anything, I know YOUR brand is YOUR name. Ironically enough it didn’t take me long to come up with the name, “Soap Thrill” and from there I know I wanted a logo. It took me approximately one week to make my logo. After that came all the rest of incorporating, patenting and meeting with an attorney. Over the next few weeks, I bared down like ever before, I didn’t really set a deadline. I just knew that I was “on fire” and ready to go! I built my website, took photos, and all in I think less than two months. So every evening I uploaded and added, sometimes going back to make changes and modifications to my website over and over until I came to see what I envisioned the first day I said I would start this business. The excitement can just be unmatched when you have an idea, execute and see it live! Understandably, as with everyday life we are in a world that changes drastically from day to day, but what never changes it that people will always care about being clean, people will care about their skin and how it feels and looks and as long as we are headed in this direction, Soap Thrill will be here for years to come!

Ladine, 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?

My name is Ladine Cage and I am the CEO of Soap Thrill. My story begins with the journey of my oldest son who suffered from eczema and for me who also would suffer from skin allergies. The amount of medication often offered was way more than I wanted to be “just trying.” If one didn’t work, they would prescribe another and another and for me I decided to search on my own of different natural options. On this journey I learned there were two options: some were topical and some were herbs to take internally. I started with topical natural options (i.e. shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil & more). In building a brand, of course the obvious is that you want to stand out more then other brands and what I’ve learned is in entrepreneurship you have to focus on quality more than quantity and know that the product you offer is a great product and I stand by that. When you walk into the store and search for any item each one of those brands keeps pushing with their brand and is not concerned on who else is doing what they do. I think this is the best mental re-charge for any business owner. I am most proud that I create a brand, I executed the brand and I am attached to this brand. What I would want any new clients, followers, fans etc to know about me is that Soap Thrill was built by a dilemma, an idea, a love for bath time and the excitement of having different natural soaps and different scents every time you cleanse. It’s almost like having a thrilling anticipation of bath or shower time.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective way of growing customers has been by actually getting customers to interact and/or respond via online post such as give-aways and contest. Yes, to me if you are growing your business from the ground up, it often takes more than just saying, “Trust me, my products are awesome!” So in the beginning I did a Mother’s Day contest and Father’s Day contest and offered free soap to the Winner. I had so many entries, I changed from just one winner to 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners. In the small time from the announcement of the contest until the actually date I gained more followers and orders just from people who thought what a cool idea. So those followers bought more followers who bought more customers.

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

I keep up with my customers via social media and the best of all newsletters. What I find is that the world is so busy that customers are less likely to randomly check in, unless they have run out of soap of course :) But newsletters give me the freedom of just like saying, “Hi! Soap Thrill is here!” and I’m able to send updates of new products, sales and more to customers who have signed up. I believe customers don’t mind you saying, “Hi! Here’s 20% off just for you!” It’s a way of showing consistency.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.soapthrill.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/soapthrill
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/soapthrill