Meet Joshua Hess | Soap Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joshua Hess and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I wish I could say that I had one. I tried to write a business plan, a SWOT analysis, a schedule, a budget, all that. But the more I wrote the more I felt like I was hanging myself. After all, I had been making soap since I was a kid – over 30 years – so it wasn’t like I was doing anything new. By the time I actually finished committing all of my ‘plans’ to paper, COVID 19 was upon us and everything went out the window.

Social impact: how does your business help the community or the world?
I buy local and sell local. I strive to produce everything I make using locally sourced, natural ingredients. That means that when I purchase ingredients, I purchase them direct from the farmers that grow them and the artisans that create them. That means that when someone supports my business, they are supporting dozens of other businesses that are part of our community.
When I do buy ingredients that are not local, I only purchase them from trusted sources. Cruelty free, sustainably sourced, upcycled, growers and manufacturers.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?
Risk is just another word for commitment. When I started my business, I dumped every penny I had into it. When people told me that ‘retards’ can’t succeed at business I hung out a sign announcing to the world ‘Autism Owned’. When COVID 19 started I rented a kiosk in a high traffic area near a food court while other businesses were closing or focusing on online sales. This year, as COVID 19 started to wind down I took advantage of the low commercial lease costs to rent a 900 sqft storefront in a local historic shopping village near my home. Instead of focusing on B2C sales I encouraged my successful supply partners to purchase my products as private labeled items that included their products as ingredients. This allowed them to expand their brand and pick up extra revenue while allowing me to ‘produce and deliver’. Not only is your business a part of who you are, every part of who you are must be part of your business.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?
Ultimately, I believe the most important factor for my success is integrity. My motto is local, natural, handmade. My customers know that means that their dollars stay local, my products are natural and safe, and that I take pride in everything that I make and sell. The local growers from whom I purchase my ingredients aren’t just my source they are my partners. The quality of my goods is just as much the result of their hard work as it is mine. You can’t fake that!

How to know whether to keep going or to give up?
Never give up. You can’t. When you start a business, when you truly commit to a business, it isn’t just some hobby that you can put aside. It becomes a part of you. Ending that business would be like cutting off your own arm. When things get tough take a step back and look at what you are doing. Assess your obstacle and figure out how to flow around it like water. Find your Blue Ocean.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?
When I created my business I created my social life – the balance figured itself out. My suppliers are my friends. How could I trust someone with my business like that and not be capable of being friends? For me, the relationship just wouldn’t work.

What makes you happy? Why?
Making soap makes me happy. Honestly, when I am not making soap, I feel like I am holding my breath until the next time I get to make soap. I enjoy experimenting with new ingredients, tweaking recipes, inventing new ways of helping people… but, mostly I like knowing that making soap allows me to be part of society. It allows me to be more than what society would otherwise let me be.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?
I had no intention of pursuing an artistic or creative career. My motivation for starting this business was driven by my Autism. For those of us with severe disabilities employment options are limited. I spent years working 60-100 hours a week, often for about a dollar per hour, the Federal ‘minimum wage’ for individuals with disabilities. I lived under overpasses, in unlocked public bathrooms, abandoned homes, my car (when I had one). I knew that if I was ever going to have anything that I would have to earn it for myself and not for someone else and hope they gave me what I deserve. I still don’t make much more than a dollar an hour, but it is my dollar an hour.

How do you define success?
Success cannot be quantified. It cannot be compared to a stranger or recorded in a record book. Success is the ability to keep moving forward. Getting knocked down, knocked back, is failing only if you choose to stay down. You will never find yourself in a worse place than somewhere that you have stayed for too long.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife, Sherry. Through whom all things have been made possible.

Website: www.TheSassyAlpaca.com

Instagram: @alpacasassy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sassyalpaca

Image Credits
All images courtesy of Joshua Hess