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

Matt, 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?

I love owning a business or two. I was always some sort of DIY/entrepreneur type. I was in bands, created fanzines, started a mini record label, did freelance design work. I like the freedom and creativity to be independent. But I’ve worked regular 9-5 jobs. My last span was a graphic designer/ art director at a few advertising agencies. I learned a ton, met cool people and it had its perks and downfalls. I’m not a morning person so those jobs are a struggle.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My full time job is running Mid Coast Modern, a gift shop in Westport. The shop specializes in small brands and unique gifts ranging from candles to jewelry. Unlike Made in KC, we don’t focus exclusively on local/Kansas City themes. Though about half of what we carry is made locally.

I also run Bear Soap Company, which operates out of the back of Mid Coast. The two businesses are intertwined so it’s convenient to have them in the same space. Bear Soap Co is sold nationwide at a small scale and we have satellite locations inside Made in KC on the Plaza and Lenexa. Mid Coast started 8 years ago and Bear Soap shortly after. There was no business plan behind Bear Soap, it sort of just happened.

This is the basics:
In 2015, on a trip to Brooklyn, NY, we bought a DYI soap kit from a Maker shop. The plan was to test it out and see if we wanted to sell it at our gift shop. We successfully made the 4 bars of soap and it was a conversation starter with our friends that have a successful candle company. They suggested we start up a brand and gave us some leftover supplies from their brief exploration in soap making. A few months later Bear Soap Company was born! We started with four scents of handmade, organic goat’s milk soap. During the first year of doing local craft pop-up events we slowly added more items. Fast forward seven years and we currently have thirteen Soap scents, Bath Bombs, Shower Steamers, Beard Wash, Beard Balm, Beard Oil, Shave Butter, Solid Shampoo, Body Wash and Solid Cologne! Oh, and 2 satellite shops and a small team to help!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Although our brand Bear Soap Co is not a mens specific brand, the imagery that we chose to use is, with minimal exception. When we started, that was very rare in the body care category. This was before the wave of “men’s soap” bubbled up. We use models that look more like us, just to break through the typical youthful, thin model norms. I think that resonated and helped us get more followers. We have done a ton of pop up events over the years and meeting customers definitely helps gain a social media following.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I would say Bear Soap Co was a “side hustle” the first few years. Mid Coast Modern was the full-time job. But a single brick and mortar location only has so much potential for growth. You are limited to the neighborhood and how much foot traffic it generates…..the weather, parking, inventory, finding things that sell well etc. With Bear Soap, we can sell outside of that location via popups and wholesale to other shops around the entire country. W signed up with some online wholesale distributors and have a handful of accounts around the country.
We also have 2 satellite locations inside Made in KC Marketplace on the Plaza and Lenexa. Both carry our full line of product. So, it’s more scalable to have a brand you can wholesale and get in front of people in as many locations as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bearsoapcompany.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebearsoapcompany
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midcoastmodern/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mid-coast-modern-kansas-city
• Other: https://www.midcoastmodernkc.com

Image Credits
All images Bear Soap. No credit needed.