Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Ryan.
Amanda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started making soap in 2007 when a friend shared with me her handmade soap. Once I started using “true soap” I couldn’t go back to the store-bought kind, so after some nagging by me, one afternoon at her house, she taught me her basic soap making a recipe. I found that I loved the process especially the variety of scents and colors and the challenges of creating all-natural soaps as well as experimenting with ingredients. I enjoyed soapmaking so much I was doing it in all my spare time, sharing it with friends, gifting it, selling at a few craft markets mostly to help fund my habit.
All during this time, I was also enjoying the growth of the San Diego craft beer industry. I worked right across the street from Home Brew Mart in Linda Vista and frequented their tasting room when it opened. I fell in love with beer tasting and eventually started experimenting with beer in my soap recipes just for the fun and challenge. Beer, as it turns out, is very moisturizing to the skin and hops, a key ingredient of beer contains amino acids that are very soothing. My two passions were merging!
In recent months I decided to bring my soap creations to a broader market via a subscription box business. Using the Cratejoy marketplace platform, I’m able to create monthly theme boxes and send them to soap lovers all over the world. Besides limited edition artisanal soaps, I am teaming up with some of the San Diego brewers to create soap using their signature beers. Along with supplying a monthly luxurious treat to people who love handmade soap like I do, I am hoping to help bring the nostalgia of a beer lover’s visit to San Diego to their home via my monthly handmade soap subscription boxes.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My main challenge has been finding enough time to do what I love. Like many other creative people, I have a full-time job which I enjoy and which pays the bills, but leaves little time for making soap and growing my business. I am looking forward to retirement soon and hope to eventually have full days to work on making soap creations and the satisfaction of a thriving creative business.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Often seen at local artisan boutiques in San Diego, Soap by Amanda is now offered as a monthly subscription box. Customers can subscribe and receive their choice of limited edition artisanal soaps and San Diego craft brewery inspired beer soap. I’ve been making soap for a long time now and I choose the best eco-friendly ingredients to create long-lasting, creamy, and sudsy soap.
What sets me apart from other soap makers is that I specialize in making beer soap as well as other artisanal soaps and customers are able to conveniently and reliably receive two bars of my latest soap creations each month in a subscription box format. I personally create and send my soaps out each month, often with a specially curated gift.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’ve been making soap as a hobby for 12 years and only recently discovered the genius of the subscription box format. Friends and family love my soap and it would have been nice for people to have the convenience and excitement of the subscription box available earlier. It’s still an awesome time for a subscription box business to thrive so I’m really glad I discovered Cratejoy as a platform. It’s a great way to get my creations to people that appreciate artisanal items over mass-produced products..
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.soapbyamanda.com
- Phone: (619) 438-2809
- Email: soapbyamanda@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soapbyamanda/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soapbyamanda/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoapbyAmanda
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/soapbyamanda/
Image Credit:
The one of Amanda – Amy Glidewell
The rest of the soap and beer ones: Mal Hall
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