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

Alright, Val thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

When I started my business in 2012 cost was always on my mind. I knew then it was in my best interest and the customers best interest to do everything in my power to keep costs down. When it comes to the personal care industry I find that a lot of focus is put on heavy advertising dollars and packaging which drives costs up for those companies that engage in heavy marketing and the consumer ends up paying more, especially in times of inflation where overhead costs go up for the bigger companies. My focus has always been to grow locally and gain customer loyalty on a personal level with face-to-face interaction as well as doing local delivery in lieu of shipping through USPS for local customers. During my farmer’s markets and craft shows I receive direct feedback on my products as well as feedback on other brands my customers use which gives me an insider perspective to adjust the way I do business if needed. I feel that the price factor is definitely an important aspect of the local shopping experience and I do my best to control it by spending hours searching for the best pricing for my raw materials, supplies, etc. to continue to offer reasonable prices for my customers.

Val, 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?

My name is Val and Valganics Handcrafted Soap, Body & More was born out of necessity that started with humble beginnings. I was an IT professional for several years and in 2008 during the economic downturn I found myself left without a job and expecting my second child shortly thereafter. It was in 2011 I decided to embark on something I had no experience in where the end goal was to help other people. Since I suffered skin issues as a child and dealt with a bout of skin cancer in 2006, I decided to learn about soapmaking. I literally read through 25 books 3 times until the library made me return them. There are no shortcuts when learning something new and when it comes to body care I was very serious about doing things right and I knew that I had to read and study the books first. In 2012 Valganics was born as a business and has evolved over the last 11 years. I started with cold-process soap and my goal was to offer a really good ingredient base that consisted of organic ingredients as much as possible and reasonably priced. Over time, I added to the product line which includes organic cocoa butter balm, organic body oil, aromatic sprays, natural deodorants and body butters. In addition to creating the formulations, I am proud that I don’t rely on third-party companies. I make all products by hand as well as design and print my labels. I also created and maintain my own website and social media accounts and do my own product photography. I also accept online orders and prepare and ship through USPS and hand-deliver to local customers.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The only time I had to pivot like so many other business was in 2020 during COVID. This was the BIG TEST that showed how much my local customers supported me. For the sake of my family, I had to skip the farmer’s market the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During that time hand sanitizer was scarce and I was able to secure some and bottle it for my customers and in turn translated into online sales that kept me going. The reason I was able to reach many people is because I collected emails when I first started and built a fairly large contact list that allows me to connect with my customer through a periodic newsletter.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Keeping in touch with my customers is critical. From the beginning, I have always collected emails and encourage new customers to subscribe to my newsletter. MailChimp is an easy way to link to my website and I am able to create colorful and creative newsletters to let my customers know what I am up to. Whether it’s to let them know about my farmer’s market dates, craft show events, promo codes and coupons, new product offerings or new retails stockists, newsletters serve as the bridge between me and my customers and I find it to be very effective and efficient and low-cost.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.valganics.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/valganicssoap
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/valganics
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HZ-fA0ZApQc

Image Credits
Image Credit Val Ristovski