We recently connected with Stacy Smoot and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stacy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

I could go on about this for longer than you’d like to listen, I’m sure! I made my first bar of soap in 2013 because there were so many low quality soap options on the market, and even within the natural soap industry I was struggling to find a product with ingredients I felt good about putting on my skin and down my drain. My two biggest issues with the soap industry is the use of plastic packaging and fragrance.

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

My journey as a soaper started with a mission to reduce toxic chemicals and plastic waste from my life, and in 2013 I made my first bar of soap with ingredients that I felt good about. I was adamant about not using fragrance oils or artificial colors, both of which are still common ingredients in the “natural” soap industry today. Over the last decade, making soap for my community has become my love language. We’re creating a product at Mountain Time Soap that has the ability to make a positive impact on someone’s life every single day, which is an opportunity we don’t take lightly. We strategically use aromatherapy to boost your mood, bring you comfort, and leave you with a feeling of well-being. We aim to fulfill a utilitarian need while also inspiring joy in the everyday.

Soap making is an age-old heritage process that’s been around for nearly 5,000 years. I’m grateful that I have to opportunity to honor that process while being innovative and mindful about our business practices. The decisions we make in business are not only about creating the best product, they also have the ability to better our community, the environment, and our industry.

Mountain Time Soap draws inspiration from our love of nature and our spirit of adventure. We understood from the very beginning that it’s our responsibility to provide an eco-friendly product to our customers who cherish the outdoors. In our first year in business we chose to pledge 1% of all gross sales annually to local environmental non-profits, and we continue to do so. In the beginning the sums were small, but now we are seeing what a difference we can make with our commitment. The majority of our donations over the past 5 years have gone to Big City Mountaineers and the Outdoor Lab Foundation here in our hometown of Golden, CO. It’s our belief that the best way to care for the environment is to teach our youth to become stewards of the planet. As we continue to scale, we’re looking for more ways to give back. We recently started working on partnerships with local shelters in the Denver Metro area to provide soap for those in need. The ability to be clean can easily be taken for granted. It’s a struggle for many people across the globe and an issue that I have become passionate about. If you know of an organization in need, please reach out to us.

Whether it’s an in-person sale or online, we’re always grateful to find and connect with our people. We know that Mountain Time Soap wouldn’t exist without our incredible customers, and we work hard to keep them a customer for life.

From washing your hands in the backcountry, to teaching your children the importance of hand washing at the kitchen sink, I hope you feel the joy and love I put into making each bar of soap.

Adventure on, wash your spirit clean.

Cheers,
Stacy

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think a lot of people can relate to this, in business and in their personal lives. Covid hit when we were really gaining traction and turned our business model of selling at in-person events upside down. The gravity of our product really hit home during this time and we were honored to be fulfilling a need and keeping our neighbors healthy. This really fueled our passion and forced us get creative on how we can get the soap to the people. We started offering porch delivery to Denver, Golden, and Boulder. Web sales saved us during the time of retail closures and getting outside to run deliveries certainly saved my sanity.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

At Mountain Time Soap we manufacture all of our products on site in Golden, CO. This has become a big undertaking and I do not have a background in manufacturing! Learning good manufacturing practices and taking the leap to scale with new equipment is now one of my favorite aspects about my job. We’re thinking on a much bigger scale than I ever anticipated with this business and it’s fun to learn new things along the way. I’m excited about our growth, because with growth comes the opportunity to provide jobs in our community and create a place and culture where people enjoy coming to work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mountaintimesoap.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountaintimesoap
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountaintimesoap/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItVnKN_UuU

Image Credits
All photos taken by us