We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stevey Rose Martinez-Maez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stevey Rose below.
Alright, Stevey Rose thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?
One of the most important lessons I learned at my previous job was to do what makes you happy. Life is to short to spend your days doing something that doesn’t fulfill you. I worked in the medical field at a dialysis clinic for many years. I loved my patients and building relationships with them and taking care of them when they were at their most vulnerable moments. I hated the company I was working for. It just seemed that no matter how hard I worked or how much I gave I was never getting ahead. Each one of my patients all said the same thing time and time again. That was do what you love. Do what makes you happy because life is to short. I had held hands with people who were dying and had come from all walks of life. You get to see first hand just how short of a time we have on this earth and it can be taken at any moment when your in the medical field. It’s so important that you do what you love and what brings you happiness and fulfillment because you could be lying on a bed holding the hand of someone filled with regrets. Even if you fail you can still say you tried.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began my soap making journey when I was very young with my mother in our kitchen. I was sexually abused when I was a child. I used to feel so dirty and I would take extremely long and hot baths. The hotter the water the better. For some reason submerging myself in water always made me feel better. I decided to tell my mother what was happening to me and about the men who were doing it. After a long conversation with her I went to my room. The next day she woke me up and we went to a craft store and she bought me a soap making kit out of the clearance bin. We didn’t have much money growing up so I knew this was special. I loved making soap because it made me clean. I took it to the next level and started making soap from scratch using the cold process method. One week after I told my mother about the sexual abuse that was happening she had an aortic aneurysm. I was 11 when my mother passed away. I am now 33 years old and that love for creating has only grown stronger. My husband is a Marine and in order for me to stay busy I began making soaps and bath products while he was gone. When he would come home I always had new products for him to try out. It quickly grew and began taking over the house. That is when my husband encouraged me to start selling my products online and thus the birth of Battle Axe Soapery. My goal with this company to help people from all backgrounds and walks of life know that’s it’s okay to be kind to yourself, it’s okay to do what you need to in order to “feel clean”. I am a huge advocate for mental health awareness. My products are all about self love and made with some of the best ingredients in small batches. I make everything from soaps, bath bombs, body scrubs to wax melts and candles.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think the one thing that has helped me build a reputation within my market is I am an open book. I am upfront and honest about the ingredients I use in all my products. On my social media platforms I show people my errors and mistakes when I make them. I am not afraid to admit when I have made an error in one of my calculations for a soap making recipe. I don’t want people to think everything is always perfect because it’s not. I like to tell people it’s okay to make mistakes. We can learn from them and adapt and overcome.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Being a military spouse means putting your career and goals on hold a lot of the time. We recently got a new duty station and I am literally having to start all over again with my soap business. Starting again isn’t always a bad thing but instead it has given me the opportunity to change and reach a new demographic of people. It’s something I am looking forward to doing. I love making soap. I love hearing the stories people share with me about their struggles. I don’t care if I have to start over a dozen times I will because I love what I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.battleaxesoapery.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battleaxesoapery/