Soap Making
When I started making soap years ago, I never thought about starting a business. I thought I had a really cool hobby and was content. My children were young and I was busy with them and their activities. Then they grew up and moved away. I enjoyed my day job, but it was a job, not a career. When the internet came out, I found out there were other people who had this awesome hobby. Formulating new recipes, learning new techniques, I started thinking about soap constantly. I read every book about soap making I could find and talking to my new “soapy” friends. Soon, there wasn’t a flat surface in my house except the floor that didn’t have a box of soap curing on it. It was time to put all I’d been learning to work for me.
Becoming Comfortable with being Uncomfortable
Selling anything is uncomfortable. You put your heart and soul into making something, and then you ask someone to pay for it. If you’ve never done it before, trust me, it’s uncomfortable. And vulnerable. There are people who aren’t interested in your blood, sweat and tears.
Starting a business isn’t comfortable. Learning how to scale recipes up, use QuickBooks, market my products, there’s so much to learn. Collecting sales tax, paying those taxes, figuring pricing, placing orders and looking at the total amount of money you spent and wondering if you’ll ever make a profit.
Making soap has taken me on a journey. To grow, myself and my business, I’ve pushed myself to do some uncomfortable things. Speaking at conferences, filming a TV show, filmed a commercial for The Copy Cure, traveling to Haiti to teach women how to make soap and perfume and being on a children’s podcast. Alegna Soap® pushed me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
What I make matters to me. I try to show the love that goes into my process. I hope I’m successful at that. I’ve been selling 12 years now, and I still get nervous before an event. Selling or speaking, TV or radio, teaching a class or doing a Facebook Live. I’m still learning how to do it.
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela