We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tina Brunsman . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tina below.

Alright, Tina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I would visit my youngest daughter Alexandra at her school (Florida Southern College) quite often. It was not far from our home in Tampa Fl. We loved to visit antique stores and while at one, we started talking to the owner who invited Alexandra to bring her paintings to her once a month Friday market. We had fun with that and decided to add other products to the table. We started to get up cycling ideas from Pinterest. Then we saw these beautiful soap bars that were piped on Pinterest. We decided to buy a kit from a popular soap company. We had never made a plain bar of cold processed soap, we went right to intricate designs and piping. We were so addicted to making beautiful soap that we had a kitchen rack full of them. Not knowing what to do with them, someone suggested we take them to a Christmas market. We sold 80 bars in 3 hours. I knew at that time that we had to continue with this new business idea. We then started making cupcakes and petit fours. Also adding my own roses from my garden. It’s been 7 years now and I absolutely love it. While Alexandra is still in school pursuing a PHD, I now have my mother and older daughter helping me from time to time.

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?

We make luxury natural cold processed soap. Roses from my garden are used often in and on top of our bars. We also make custom soap, soap cupcakes, and petit fours for weddings, showers, birthdays, etc.
We’ve also expanded our line to include bath bombs, shower steamers, shampoo bars, whipped soap, coconut wax candles, room sprays, mini diffusers and perfume oils.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I learned everything from YouTube. If it weren’t for all of the wonderful YouTube teachers, I would not have my business today. There are not any classes in our area that teach soap making.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

There are many soap makers on Instagram and TikTok. I’m technically challenged when it comes to social media so I had to learn how to make videos for reels, take good photos etc. I would advise hiring a young person to take care of your social media work when you can afford to do so. It will give you more time to get creative! The younger generation know how to post and build an audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: Sweetsoapconfections.com
• Instagram: Sweet Soap Confections
• Facebook: Sweet Soap Confections
• Linkedin: Sweet Soap Confections

Image Credits
Joy Davis Photography for a select few photos.