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

Maggie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Overall I would have to say yes! I am ADHD and it is important for me to have a multitude of tasks for my job. I’ve had jobs cashiering, accounting, serving, etc where I do the same sort of things for an entire day and I burn out after a couple years- or sooner. Doing everything in my business keeps me very engaged. It can be stressful though. There can be a lot of pressure to get everything done (in the time that you hope to) and figure out ALL the things on your own. Sometimes I am so busy I work long hours and feel like I am not paying enough attention to my kids, or I can’t stop thinking of all the things on my plate at the end of the day so I have to really try hard and relax or not talk about it because my husband can get sick of hearing about it- even though he’s the first one I turn to when I need more help and he is always there:) I do miss the days when relaxing was easy. I certainly feel like it’s easier to walk away from things with a regular job. I keep telling myself I’m going to quit working weekends…but here I am… Saturday morning answering questions for Voyage, but I am totally thankful. I am grateful I get to do my work when I want to. I’m grateful I get to choose the work I want to do and grow to the size the suits me. A challenge in general I think for many business owners is to know when to draw that line. Bigger isn’t always better. I feel like I just need a hint more growth and I’ll be good.

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?

Art Made with Heart We don’t really do “regular soap.” In fact, I’m dedicated to hand-making each product with beautiful, sustainable, imaginative ingredients. Each bar of soap is its own little masterpiece –– a tiny canvas that’s ready to be taken in by bathroom-goers everywhere. As strange as it sounds, soap is my medium. Like Picasso with oil paints, Michelangelo with a block of marble, and Subway with sandwiches – I see myself as a soap artist.
When I started this company in 2014, I dove headfirst into the trade, learning everything I could. I was initially inspired by the holiday soap making I did with my mom, who had passed away earlier that year. So, now, because this process is so special to me, I first create soap with my heart and then with my hands – all right here in West Michigan.
Following my heart has also led me to seeking more sustainable products and ingredients throughout the years. Now, after six years in the biz, Maggie Ann Soap Co. is 95% sustainable and 98% vegan. I take immense pride in my tree hugging, and I fight for the environment by honoring nature’s beauty and bounty in everything I do.

Products I make include: soap, candles, bath bombs, lip balm, lotions/butters, sugar scrubs, beard product, bubble bars, shampoo/ conditioner bars, lotion bars, and bubble bath.

I think what sets me apart from others is the design elements I try and bring to my soap. As I scale this is challenging and can not always be conducive to productivity and efficiency, but I refuse to make “plain” soap. I also strive to be as environmentally conscience as possible in packaging concepts and sourcing materials as I can. I recycle and reuse boxes I receive as much as possible.

I am most proud of how far I’ve come with branding and pack design and implementation. I certainly could not have done this without the help of my amazing graphic designer. It feels like it took forever to get to this point where I’m finally ready to get in front of larger wholesalers and try out trade shows. To actually bring a product to market takes an unbelievable amount of time and energy that only other makers can understand.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience. Well, this is something that every business must obtain through a “refusal to fail” mentality. I think if you refuse to fail there is only one path forward…success and through the process to get there your mental strength is vital. Understanding that there are constant setbacks and unclear paths in building a business and knowing these things are crucial for learning, growing, and building stepping stones to get to the next level. And accepting that this takes time. Starting from nothing but a hobby to getting some larger wholesale accounts took me 7 years. Balancing this while raising my 3 children has certainly been a juggling act.

Balance. Priorities. Perspective. These are the three words I try and resonate with each morning as I wake up early and drink my coffee. Alone. In silence. This is my favorite time of day. I try and focus on what my priorities will be that day. Balance can be such a tough thing, right? I feel like we all have too much going on. For me I have my business, husband, 3 children- all in sports throughout the year, I serve on the governing board at Cherry Health (the largest Federally Qualified Community Health Center in MI), lead my daughters Cub Scout Den, and then there is ME. I just put this in the totally wrong order, right? Priorities, right? I should be first. Let’s start there. If I am not my best self what good can I do for anyone or anything else? So, I need to remember to prioritize myself first. I finally lost a little weight, am trying and eat healthier, and exercise daily. I know I have to get my exercise in first thing in the mornings or I won’t do it at all that day and it really helps me to feel good about accomplishing it early each day.

I know I’d rather clean the toilet then sit on my computer and do anything that takes more then 15 min (my ADHD coming through strong), so I’ve learned I need to try and knock computer work out first thing as well. Having a few priorities that are attainable each day with a larger goal in mind is important and then keeping it all in perspective. Ultimately I KNOW I am doing the best I can. I am doing all I can with what I have. At the end of the day I know this because I give everything my all. My family is happy and healthy and we have everything we need. There are many people out there that can’t say the same and for this I am grateful every day. Keeping everything in perspective is so important. I need to remember that my business is important, but far from the most important thing in my life and to try not to let it stress me out.

A journey that illustrates my resilience would be packaging. It’s definitely been a journey. At first I designed all packaging myself and had no skills doing so. I would get declined wholesale because of my “homely” packaging. It took a LOT of time and money to make these changes and I still have a few to implement. I had to find the right designer/partner to help. I have transitioned my soap, candles, and lip balm to a more customized package that is wholesale ready. The industry sure doesn’t make it easy to enter the market with their high volume for lower pricing on materials. You need the good packaging to get the sales, but you can’t afford the good packaging until you get the sales.

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

When I first started out I had no experience making soap. I had only done a little bit of melt and pour with my mom during the holidays. It was always fun but I don’t consider it “real” soap making from scratch. I started off learning from blogs and a lot of YouTube. I was mesmerized by all the different techniques and wanted to learn and execute them all! I dove right in and spent SO much time taking it all in. Then I would try the different techniques in small batches. Sometimes I would fail, sometimes the design didn’t work, but overall I grew and learned from repeating this over and over. For years! Watching, reading, practicing. It sent me into business mode quick because what the hell was I going to do with all the soap I was making!? I really wanted to learn but couldn’t possibly use it all and I needed to try and make some money to keep buying more supplies. This is basically how I got going. I started out with shows/festivals to get in front of people.

I would never find a vendor to manufacture for me. I don’t find that respectable. I am a maker at heart and if I’m selling something I didn’t make I’d feel like a fraud and that there isn’t anything special about the process.

I have learned SO much along the way. While I still like to design small batch soap I don’t have the opportunity to so much these days unless custom work comes in. My focus lately has been to scale for efficiency for some of my larger wholesale accounts- like Whole Foods. Learning how to work with your medium is critical. Certain fragrances and essential oils can make soap accelerate (make the batter get thick too quickly), rice (get lumpy), and turn the batter different colors then you intended so learning about this takes a LONG time to master. You don’t want to waste large batches, so before you can move on to master batches you need to be a skilled soap maker.

Contact Info:

• Website: maggieannsoap.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggie.ann.soap.co/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaggieAnnSoapCo.4