The rebellious journey behind building a million-dollar soap business

Hi, my name is Danielle Vincent. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Outlaw. We create personal care products and fragrances for people who want to smell like adventure. Our scents capture the essence of leather, campfire, whiskey, pine trees, and sagebrush. We aim to evoke experiences and memories through our products because scent is scientifically linked to happy memories.

Our customers come from all walks of life—diverse in age, gender, and background. The common thread is their zest for life. They are enthusiasts, just like us. We launched Outlaw in 2013. Back then, I was working at Oprah.com. I had no prior experience with selling physical products. Outlaw started when we bought a bar of soap on our honeymoon. The way it brought back memories amazed me. This one bar of soap inspired us to create products that bring back cherished memories.

 I am an eternal optimist. I know there will be hardships but I’m always confident in our ability to manage them. At first, we didn’t even know how to make soap! We learned to make soap from YouTube videos and started production in January. My background in digital product management taught me to "launch before you're ready"—build the airplane in the air. Our first batch sold out immediately, which was amazing! But then we faced the challenge of soap needing 30 days to cure. So… hurry up and wait.

I’m new at this business, what could go wrong?

In the early days, so many things did not go as planned. So what were some things that went wrong early in the business that I had to bounce back from?

Quality control was huge. We never had enough inventory, and our packaging was a mess. While it may have seemed charming, it wasn't scalable for a fast-growing business like ours.

We also learned that doubling down to really focus on a problem often yields a solution. For example, we had a bunch of soap bars that were underweight due to leaky molds. These bars, worth about a thousand dollars, were just going to be thrown away. What would you do? Instead of wasting them, we doubled down on them. We made the small soap bars even smaller, cutting them into quarters and selling them as soap samples. This turned out to be a top-selling product with higher margins. Hooray!

Debt and cash flow are also critical issues. I’ve taken on expensive debt due to insecurity and imposter syndrome. This is not the kind of debt you want, like high-interest credit cards or loans with upfront fees. This has been a constant struggle. It’s just awful.

Learning to work with Investors

Initially, I avoided going to investors because I was very intimidated. I didn’t know anything about raising money and lacked a network to help me meet investors. However, once I started getting to know them, I found that investors are incredibly supportive, kind, and wonderful. Raising money was very different from what I had imagined. Now, I enjoy building relationships with our investors, who truly believe in and support Outlaw. Once you start the process of taking on investors, you have to plan to grow the company to an exit. This is also a natural part of that process. For us, that means we need to continue our phenomenal growth, and make Outlaw Soap a hundred million dollar company. This is daunting.

The struggle with debt keeps me running faster than I can manage, on a treadmill with no off switch other than closing the business and declaring bankruptcy. It’s terrifying and keeps me up at night, but here’s the thing: We keep going. We take care of the bills we can and stay afloat, living to fight another day. We always look for new creative opportunities to grow the business. And with every challenge we face, we come out stronger, ready to conquer the next hurdle with a smile and a laugh.

Scaling the business

 If you are scaling your business, the time will inevitably come when you need more space. We started making our products in a garage, but I really wanted to move out of the neighborhood we were in and find a dedicated space. One day, I was delivering a soap order to someone in Colfax and thought, "Oh my gosh, this is such a cute town."

So we went across the street and saw a woman, Penny, struggling to staple a "For Rent" sign to a building. She basically threw away the sign and said, "You’re home." That was serendipity at its finest.

 We quickly outgrew that space in what seemed like just a few months. Next, we found a place next to the Grass Valley airport. The landlord, Mike, was super cool, and our lease was basically a handshake. The space was so big we couldn't even imagine filling it. Well, that didn't last long! We soon realized we needed even more space.

 Remember those challenges I mentioned? Then came the forest fires in the Colfax and Grass Valley area, causing constant power outages. Every time there was a hint of wind, the power would be cut. Without electricity, we couldn't make products or ship orders. It was a major financial and business crisis—we would have gone out of business if we stayed there.

 As much as we love nature, we had to put the business first and move to an industrial area of Reno if we were going to survive. One day during a power outage, we stayed in Reno. We started looking at property and found our current place. It was way too big and cost way too much, and the lease was insanely onerous—a 45-page monstrosity compared to our previous one-page handshakes. My dad had some wise words: "What are your other options?" When I said we didn’t have any, he advised, "Don’t even bother reading it, sign the damn lease." So we did.

The place we're in now is on a five-year lease, up in two years. What’s next? I’d love to be geographically independent again, but we make all the things we sell. That would take some business adjustments. Plus, I feel very loyal to our employees, so no matter what happens, we’d be sure they still have work. We’ll figure it out, but I really don’t know yet. How we knew we had to move was simply that we had to move. Sometimes the best business decisions come naturally. You know when you know- when everything feels in alignment.

Fighting the isolation monster

The opposite of that alignment is when you find yourself feeling alone and isolated. Two key things have helped me- our customers and being part of EO.

Our customers are amazing—kind, supportive, and thoughtful. I’ve met so many incredible people. It’s incredible to have customers who are wonderful and genuinely kind. Lean into that.

On top of that, I’m very fortunate to be part of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) because we’ve grown Outlaw Soap to a certain revenue size. Being an entrepreneur can be very lonely. Consider how you can find other business owners that understand your journey. I’m writing about this because there’s a common perception that corporations are huge and impersonal. But we’re not huge. We’re run by someone who cries during interviews (me, now, talking about our customers).

Getting to know other entrepreneurs through EO has been a game-changer. We’re a group of strong people who have built up the core strength, often physically, to handle the weight of many broken hearts. It’s like having a support group of people who understand every crazy aspect of this journey.

As a business owner, you make tough decisions about people you care about. You hire friends who might not work out, and then you lose those friends. It’s a lot to handle. On top of that, there are personally guaranteed loans and business expenses often put on personal credit cards. The weight of carrying all this can be overwhelming.

 Having a group of fellow entrepreneurs to be honest with and share experiences is invaluable. Friends with corporate jobs might not understand the exposure and weight of running a business. But fellow entrepreneurs get it. They understand the heavy stuff we deal with, and having that support system has been crucial for me.

Continuing the Ride

Outlaw started with a dream of bottling adventure, and wow, what a ride it’s been! From the early days of handwritten labels (OOF - charming, but not scalable) to surviving power outages in Grass Valley, we’ve learned to turn every challenge into an opportunity. Our amazing customers, like Bryan and Laurie who drove hours to meet up, and Zachariah, a longtime customer and now-famous musician, have shown us the power of community. Meeting them has been beyond inspiring and keeps us motivated to create scents that bring back cherished memories.

Our path hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been worth it. Turning soap scraps into top-selling samples taught us to find gold in every mishap. And looking ahead, we’re excited about continuing to grow, connect, and create.

Here’s my final piece of advice: Be good at business. Products may come naturally to us (as handmade sellers), but running a business requires knowing your costs, margins, and market. Keep up-to-date, make the tough decisions when needed, and always mean business. You’ve got this!

Want to hear more about Danielle’s story?  We have several additional recordings from Danielle and Russ to share.

Subscribe to Handmade Seller Magazine to read the rest.