I Grew My Soap Business by Surveying My Customers

Flashback to October of 2012, I had just become a new mommy when my husband was diagnosed with Cancer. Caring for a newborn and a chemo patient sparked my interest in bringing quality, natural products into our home, but then I realized that I couldn’t afford to do so. I wanted clean, plant-based personal care for both my baby and my husband and I remember feeling so frustrated when I’d see a price tag because I knew it wasn’t financially achievable.

So I read, read some more, and then embarked on some DIY projects with essential oils and pretty soon friends and family were asking if they could buy some from me. I remember telling someone, “Well, I made this for my family but I can make you one, it cost me $6 to make.” She said, “Ok, I’ll give you $10.” That’s when I knew I had a potential business on my hands and decided to spend all my free time growing it. My family would go to sleep and I’d stay up making products, reading, and experimenting sometimes until 1 a.m. Then I’d get up and go to my job the next day and sell all my creations. 

After a few years of learning and having everyone I knew test products for me (even the staff at my son’s preschool was using my products and providing feedback), I decided I wanted to be a business owner. I wanted to offer plant-based, eco-conscious skincare for under $20. I wanted families like mine, middle-class mommas, to get their family products without stressing over the price tag. My husband has always and still is my biggest cheerleader, but my mother, on the other hand, couldn’t believe her college-graduate daughter was leaving a government job to make soap! In 2017, I quit my day job and converted my side hustle into a real business. For a first-generation Hispanic family, securing a government job and then leaving it is insane. 

When I started Untamed I relied solely on friends and family for support. They bought and re-bought and that was enough to keep me in business and to keep me motivated. I remember when orders started to roll in from people whose name I didn’t recognize, then from different states, then from other countries, WHAT? How? Why? I wasn’t spending anything on advertisement but word of mouth and social media are powerful things and both have blessed my business. Now my life is all lavender buds and soap suds and my mom no longer thinks I’m insane, she’s asking when she can come work for me! 

I still ask customers who show up for their orders how they heard about Untamed. I ask, ask, and ask again. “What did you like about your Calendula Balm? I noticed the toner is a favorite of yours, how do you like to use it?” Sure, one of my goals is to make money, otherwise, I can’t do what I do, right? But it’s not about my soaps or my creams or me, it’s about my customer. My husband likes to say we are in the business of making, meeting and keeping friends. He’s right. Untamed is not here just to sell you a product, we are here to create a connection.