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Typical Day in the Life of this Soap Maker

Alegna Soap®

 

I thought you might be interested in a typical summer day in the life of this soap maker. I can’t speak for all soap makers, but this is a pretty typical summer day for me.

The alarm goes off at 7 and I don’t want to get out of bed.  (I didn’t sleep well last night. I start organizing the next day before I go to sleep and last night was like many others.  Too many ideas running through my head to get down on to a list, so I keep a note pad next to my bed to write them down as they come to the surface.) I hit snooze once, get up, shower and brush my teeth because I have a 7:45 appointment for blood work. I make most all of my doctor appointments in the summer so I don’t need to take time off from my day job.

Out of the lab by 8 (Wow!) and I stop at Starbucks and treat myself to my favorite drink. Hot cocoa with a shot of espresso. Sitting at a table, I put all my notes from last night together and now have a plan for the day.

Home by 8:45 and had the house vacuumed by 9. Time to start working on soap!

I opened my emails.  There was a request for a private soap making class so I set up a class for Alana.  A Bed and Breakfast on the north fork of Long Island contacted me regarding specialty soaps for their guests and I followed up with that. Once the emails were done, I had some website updating to do, fixing the inventory numbers and tweaking some descriptions. That took over an hour. I called 2 chemical companies for information I needed regarding microbiological testing for lotions.  I wrote a blog post.

Suddenly, it’s noon. As I break for lunch my son Steve comes in so I get to have lunch with him. A nice surprise!

At 12:30 I’m back at the computer. The notes I took as I was on the phone with the chemical companies needs to be organized.  I start compiling microbiological and stability testing information for lotions, making a spread sheet so it’s easy to read. This took a big chunk of my time but I’m happy I finally have it finished.

At 3 I meet with my Diane, my graphic designer from Digho. I’m thinking about selling scented oils to match my soaps and I need Diane to design the labels. I know what I’m good at (making soap) and what I’m not (any kind of design work) and I’d rather hire a professional to do what I can’t.

We’re done at 3:30 and I stop at the bank to make a deposit and the Post Office to drop off orders. I arrived at Panera early, I’m meeting a friend for an early dinner, and I spend the time cleaning out my pocketbook and returning emails.

After catching up with Cindy, I’m at Farmingdale College at 5:30 for my night shift in the Biology department. During the summer, I work as instructional support in Anatomy and Physiology. It was a slow night, and I had time to scribble some notes that are now becoming this blog.

Home at 10:45.  I made myself some tea and sat down to plan tomorrow. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I’m in bed by 11:30.

Gratitude for a typical day

I’m grateful for the time I had today (and every day in the summer) to catch up on my business. It’s interesting, I spent most of the day working on my soap business, but I didn’t make a batch of soap at all.  I probably won’t make soap tomorrow either, yet I’ll be busy working on my business. That’s how it is most of the time.  The making of the soap is a very small part of having a business.  On a typical day I may not make soap at all, but my favorite days are the days I do.

 

What are you grateful for this week?

 

Yours in Gratitude,

Angela

 

 

Filed Under: Gratitude List, Soap Making Tagged With: Gratitude, Long Island, Private Soap Making Class, Running a business

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristen M. Fusaro-Pizzo says

    July 25, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    I loved reading about your day! You are one busy lady! Also working in school, I find that my summer days I either have nothing to do or I’m up to the wee hours of the early AM making everything work. I love your point about soap – so true! I find that I actually make soap just about once a month; I’ll go on a bender for a bunch of loaves, and then won’t make anything for weeks. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Angela Carillo says

      July 26, 2017 at 8:53 am

      Most people think we spend all day making soap. If only that were the truth! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Roberta Perry says

    July 26, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    My day is similar in that it is all over the place, but with my own list!

    Reply
    • Angela Carillo says

      July 26, 2017 at 3:12 pm

      I’d be lost without my list!

      Reply
  3. Sharon T McLaughlin MD FACS says

    July 27, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    You are one busy woman. Thanks for posting this, I find it interesting to see how you spend your day. I love anatomy and physiology, it made me happy to see you are teaching this class.

    Reply
    • Angela Carillo says

      July 30, 2017 at 11:42 am

      Sharon I assist the professor in the class. I do enjoy the students though. Summer school is condensed and pretty intense, and they seem to be able to keep up.

      Reply
  4. Donna DeRosa says

    July 29, 2017 at 11:21 pm

    Thanks for sharing your busy day. I think most people assume because I work from home that I sit on the couch and play on Facebook. I put more hours in now than I did when I had a full-time position. Oh, and mmm cocoa with espresso.

    Reply
    • Angela Carillo says

      July 30, 2017 at 11:44 am

      Try hot cocoa with espresso sometime Donna. My friend Holly is from Colorado and she says out there they call it a dirty Santa. I call it yummy. 🙂

      Reply
  5. caylor says

    August 31, 2023 at 10:49 am

    how many hours in a week?

    Reply
    • Angela Carillo says

      September 1, 2023 at 10:54 am

      I’d say it’s a full time job, around 40. But I’m not just making soap all day. A lot of that is social media, placing orders, and networking. So it’s really hard to place a number on the hours. Hope this helps!

      Reply

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