Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mohican Name: Tau-Tau-yah-com-no-wan English Name: Dennis Zack. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mohican Name: Tau-Tau-yah-com-no-wan English Name: Dennis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I started to have more issues with dry skin and eczema. A condition that continued to get worse. I witnessed my mother going through the same thing growing up and many times she would have to use medicated lotions to help elevate the dryness. I started to do some research on my own for more natural soaps and lotions. I have tried and enjoyed natural handmade soaps in the past, purchased from craft fairs but the higher cost of these products were always a luxury to have and I usually settled on the cheaper mass produced soaps with out much thought besides the smell and price. At this point I wanted to try a more natural approach to my personal care again as I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin.
I enjoyed some of the cold processed soaps I was using but I found many of the scents to limiting and after more research I found some cold process soap wholesalers who were already making the soap I was already using. I made some connection’s and tried some and landed on one family owned business in the midwest that makes cold processed soap that I loved and worked great for me and offered many choices for scents and exfoliation levels. Besides already enjoying many of the scents they already make, I was able to collaborate with them to come ups with more specific scents that fits my brand and customer base. Some scents we have partnered together to make included Good Medicine which is a cherry and tobacco scent. Another scent is Zenas Tomato Soap, which has dried tomato powder containing the antioxidant lycopene, which helps nourish your cells, and protects your skin and is great for completion. Zena was my grandmother.
After a few months of enjoying the soap and the scents I decided to share the soaps under the Tribal Sun Soap brand with others at a reasonable price.
Mohican Name: Tau-Tau-yah-com-no-wan English Name: Dennis, 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?
There are many “natural” cold process soaps in the market today. What sets us apart is my Indigenous back ground and approach to the brand. I am an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians located in Central Wisconsin. After speaking with elders in my community, family and friends they all had the same message, lean into what I know growing up Indigenous. From living on a reservation growing up and living off the reservation as an “Urban Indian” going away to college and the rest of my adult life.
“Indigenous soap made with things mother earth provides.”
Our soaps scents and names are connected with an Indigenous thred. Either from my own reservation, area of the Great Lakes region or other Pan american Indian Tribal connections that many of the Indigenous Tribes have in common,. Such as Frybread, Dreamcatchers, Powwows, and medicines’ such as Sweetgrass and Tobacco.
One aspect that was important to us was the ability to give back to Indigenous communities and non profits that support Indigenous causes.
THose include: Waling Women Healing Institute, (https://www.wakingwomenhealingint.org/) is an Institute that helps with learning and healing that works to address and prevent MMIW (Missing Murdered Indigenous Women) and acts of sexual violence against Indigenous women.
Brees Closet (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086382048549) When Bree worked as a Social Worker at Menominee Tribal Family Services she took some gently used clothing from her cousins as she had some clients in need. She slowly started bringing more and more in and her coworkers started calling the pile in the corner “Bree’s Closet”. After her untimely death in 2018 BriAnne’s family and friends have continued the effort of providing donated items of clothing, along with hygiene products, new or gently used dolls and stuffed animals, blankets and bags with tags saying “In Memory of Bree” sewn on them.and
Red Magic. (https://www.redmagicnetwork.org/) Red Magic is a non-profit organization, dedicated to the advancement and perpetuation of Native American arts, artist and culture.
As part of our mission which is to help raise our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters up we commision/partner with Indigenous artist to design what we call our Soap Scent Album cover. This image goes on our website next to the soap scent and on the soap box as well. for the corresponding scent.
From our website:
Koolamalsi
My Mohican Name is Tau-Tau-yah-com-no-wan: Talker to or speaker to the point. I am a member of the Stockbridge Munsee Band of the Mohican Indians in Central Wisconsin.
I wanted a soap that used more natural ingredients and less manufactured chemicals that were better for my skin, my health, and the environment.
We source our soap from a proven manufacturer that started out of their kitchen in Indiana. Our passion and mission is to create a great soap and are conscious of the ingredients in it. They have perfected the old-world process of cold soap making.
The choices are diverse with scents and exfoliation levels to meet every ones needs. New scents will rotate, and favorites will stay.
Our family loves working on Tribal Sun Soap and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Anushiik
Dennis Zack – Tau-Tau-yah-com-no-wan
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Yes what started out as a side hustle funded by my wife and I started to pick up traction when I met with my Tribes Casino NorthStar Casino Resort/hotel. We met with the gift shop a few months after we launched the website. They were excited about our scents, quality and names of our soaps. We also discussed having them carry our soaps in the hotel rooms which would help drive sales to the giftshop. The next week we received a call asking to come up with a few size hotel soaps and price points for them. With many moving parts, figuring out the sizes and price points they point in a large order of 30,000 plus hotel size soaps to change over to our brand of soaps along with a customized scent Northstar Lavender only available at their gift shop. From their we continue to grow into hotels, giftshops, Native American Museum’s and any other retailer that wants to carry our soaps along with our retail side of the business from the website.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
One of the things I stuck to early on was let the potential buyer make the decision. What I mean by that is there have been times when others said why are you trying to sell wholesale to them, they don’t seem to fit your profile wanting to sell Indigenous soap, or they already have a soap they have been selling for a while.
My mindset as been from the begging, is present your products and let them make the decision. If you dont swing the bat you can’t swing for the fences.
Some of the business I thought were slam dunks to buy from me did not for one reason or another and the ones I thought I was not going to hear from them again turned out to big sales and have let to other sales. Another example is one museum did not have a gift shop but helped get me in touch with another one that sells our soaps.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tribalsunsoap.com
- Instagram: tribal_sun_soap
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tribalsunsoap/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-zack-m-a-c-mohican-nation-840924233/
- Other: TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/tribal-sun-soapEmail:
