Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxanne Benson.
Hi Roxanne, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Soapmaking for me started out of a desire to make body products for myself, with ingredients I knew how to pronounce, that would feel good on my skin. I had previously been making Nub Rub and a variety of other products, and soap making seemed like the next logical direction. After learning how to make soap I was obsessed… it was all I could think about! And so it started. For many years soapmaking was a side hustle for me… an occasional art market here, and farmers market there. When covid hit both my husband and I were working in the restaurant industry and I asked him to help me open Blugirl Soapworks officially. We have very different skill sets and working together and combining our strengths while supporting each other has been a rewarding part of the journey.
There is much more to the story but we basically decided to turn our little business into a family business that was both our full time jobs. We have worked night and day the passed year and a half and the results have been wonderful. We are running a self-sustainable family business providing high-quality handmade soap to our local community.
I think both Ben and I agree that the best part of this new business is all the amazing people we have met and many new friends we have made. Farmers, artists, makers, community leaders, fellow business owners and our lovely customers.
We were eating at a local place we go to from time and time last week and we were chatting with a guy about our soap. The server chimed up and said “oh yeah Blugirl Soap is the best. It’s all I use now, I get it at the farmer’s market.”
It’s hard to explain how wonderful it feels when things like that happen, and it fills us up!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say it’s been a very smooth road. Which I’m grateful for because we have been going 100 MPH! I feel like we both believed that we would get what we put into it so, we had to push and get out there in front of people. If there was a struggle it was the first couple of months with all the decision-making, and everything moving so fast Ben and I were learning how to deal with our differences (creative vs. business). I can say now that we have gained a new appreciation for one anothers skill sets and we also know that when we support and encourage one another magic happens!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Blugirl Soapworks?
We run a handmade artisan soap business, and produce everything out of our home. We built a workshop in our south MPLS basement and operate from there. We produce high quality handmade soap. Many organic oils, natural colorants including herbs and botanicals that I grow in my organic garden, Essential Oils, and the occasional skin grade fragrance oil. We do a variety of other products for body and home, but the soap is our mainstay.
I think what sets us apart is the time and effort put into the aesthetic of the soap. I am an artist at heart and operate from that part of myself when producing these small batch products. The soap is not only beautiful, but full of nourishing ingredients that are good for your skin. Eco-friendly practices are used from start to finish. My bars are designed to be gentle and conditioning, as I have sensitive skin myself.
This past summer we sold at farmers markets all over the city. We both absolutely love the community feeling we get selling at farmers markets. We will continue to make that our focus as it’s a great way to get to know our customers. We also have our website and offer free local bike delivery (which keeps my husband busy).
A unique product that we are known for are the Soap Rocks. These started as little balls of soap from the leftover batter, but have grown in popularity so greatly, I now write my recipes 12 oz to big to fit into the molds. The leftover batter is hand shaped into “soap rocks”! I am a rock lover so these make me happy, and as it turns out, I’m not alone.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I think it would be easy to say that my husband’s involvement has been critical. Ben is insanely organized and detail-oriented. We work out of a pretty small space and so it has to be meticulously organized. It’s the only way we can keep track of all the moving parts. We have had many long talks about how we are getting all this done and why it’s going well. There is no doubt Ben doesn’t want to learn how to make soap but he sure has been instrumental in figuring out how to reach our clients and keeping us on track. We make a great team, and I could not do this without him.
Contact Info:
- Email: blugirlsoapworks@gmail.com
- Website: blugirlsoapworks.com
- Instagram: @blugirlsoapworks
- Facebook: @blugirlsoapworks
Image Credits
Roxanne Benson
