We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Madeline Harn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Madeline , appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
I started Naked Fig Soap in March 2020 truly with the “why not?” / “What if” mentality. I have a deep love for our planet and the people on it. Naked Fig was born with a mission to make sustainable selfcare products accessible. Over the next 2 and a half years I worked the business out of my home. First in a closet, then the laundry room, and then a full livingroom take over. The community was overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging and I was finding out just how much I loved making and delivering soap. In November of 2022, this little soap business was bursting at the seams and could not fit in my home any longer (if we still wanted it to be a functional home… and with 3 kids, a husband, and 2 dogs, there was nowhere to move but out of the house with the business). In December 2022 (yes. like just a few months ago), I signed a year lease with a good friend of mine (also a small business owner) in a co-working manufacturing warehouse. It was incredible… small businesses too big to work out of a home, but too small to afford big resources (like a shipping and receiving dock) gathered together and divided this warehouse into workable space. We spent the next month leveling up our manufacturing space from a 165 sq foot living room into a 600 sq foot space, even adding industrial stainless-steel counters and a sink. We just barely made it through the holiday rush and settling into the new space when the owners of the building called …. weeks after signing the lease… to share they had just decided to list the building for sale. Shock and mostly disbelief, we just kept making soap and waiting to find out what was going to happen next. The building was listed for sale in January and sold in February. Now what? There was no going back to the living room. We spent the next several weeks checking out potential warehouse options in the area… without much luck. A commercial real estate friend of ours encouraged us to consider a retail space (we hadn’t even thought that was a option at this point). Within days of the suggestion the new owner of the building connected us to an individual who owns several retail properties in Mesa, Arizona and we found the perfect spot. A new lease was signed by March 1, 2023 and a new journey was born. My friend and I spent the next month creating and inventing the new space which we now call Local Gather. The front half of the space is a retail boutique featuring 27 local small business’s items and a creative workshop space with small business owners can teach/host workshops sharing their craft (including me… I LOVE hosting soap making workshops). The back half of the space is a manufacturing space for Naked Fig Soap. Two major moves in 4 months felt chaotic, wild, and somehow perfectly aligned. This new space is a MAJOR level up, and something even a few months ago I wouldn’t have dreamed possible.
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
Hi! I’m Madeline. The owner, maker, thinker, creative, and face behind Naked Fig Soap. I love sunshine, laughter, and hugging trees. Orange and yellow are my favorite colors and I am a creative in my soul. My educational background is in psychology and fine art. My aim is to live an intentional life in a way that inspires others to life intentionally as well, especially in the way of consistent self-care and making sustainable, life-giving choices for our planet.
I have lived in Arizona almost a decade (transplanted from Illinois). I love Arizona and am especially inspired by the Sonoran Desert. Naked Fig Soap launched in March of 2020 as an avenue to bring sustainable self-care options and hopefully an inspiration to live intentionally… starting with soap, the old-fashioned way.
. I am dedicated to crafting products that are nourishing and good for your skin. Products that add to your daily routine and make your life better. My soaps use raw, all-natural oils for the base and all- natural clays and powders for the color. The scents I use are free of toxins, parabens, phthalates, and petroleum by-products.
I joke (but am truly dead serious) that if the only thing that happens in your day is a pause in your morning shower, long enough to smell the soap, then I count myself successful. That pause matters.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
I have a friend, a truly magical human with a free spirit that made soap as a hobby. Before using her soap I had never understood the power of a quality bar of soap. She taught me how to make soap and helped me start down the journey of being a business owner. My original idea was to be in business together but she wasn’t interested in a long term commitment and I ventured down the road by myself. It was wild ride making and learning and being a new business owner all at the same time. I have made soap for the same amount of time Naked Fig Soap has existed. Once I made the decision to start, it was this really beautiful, organic learning process (that truthfully I am still in). I source ingredients locally and some I even grow or forage in the desert. I love a good collaboration and am not afraid to try something once (and then pivot if it doesn’t work).
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
When my friend (mentioned above) moved in September of 2021, I decided to move forward with the business by myself and as my fulltime job. It was moment of truth, Is this going work? The first year in business (2022) we had about 8K in sales. That second year we landed at about 45k, with more than half of that being made after I decided to go all in by myself. The hustle was real with long days and night, trying things outside of my comfort zone, learning to raise my hand and ask for help where I needed it (thank goodness for my bookkeeper), and giving myself a LOT of grace as I moved through lots and lots of “new-ness.” Most days I felt like I was making it up as I was going along. Last year (2022) was my first year fully investing my time and energy (that make-or-break moment) and ended the year with six figures in sales. WOW. Humbled and so so grateful I am moving confidently into 2023. The soap has never been the question…. my ability to run a business (as a first-time business owner, learning as I go) was always my biggest concern. I know the soap is good… but could I figure out the other stuff? This is where the giving myself grace and asking for help where I need it has come into play. I have learned SO much about owning a business. One of the most impactful things I have created is a circle of support around me. A group of talented individuals that know more than I do (about owning a business, graphic design, taxes, bookkeeping, forecasting, making a financial plant)… and leaning in and learning from them. This has allowed me to play in my strengths and continue to build an business with a strong foundation and integrity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nakedfigsoap.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedfigsoap/
- Other: my new boutique: https://www.instagram.com/localgatheraz/
Image Credits
The images that include me were taken by Denise Karis (all the others were taken by me)