It has been an eventful year to say the least. Honestly, I am shocked at how far we have come in such a short amount of time.
In 2012 the farm truly came together. The coop went up, chickens moved in, the barn was built, fencing was set up, goats moved in. It was an incredible amount of work. We entered 2013 a working farm… the first huge step towards our dream. I thought that our craziest year was behind us. It was all going to be a steady and slow climb from here on out. Boy was I wrong! We started 2013 by adding the llamas to the farm… An unexpected and exciting addition. Shortly after that, in early spring, we started the research and development phase of the soap business. It was time to get down to business… we not only wanted to perfect our recipes, but we wanted to know how they affected all different skin types. We wanted to open the business being able to tell our customers, with confidence, exactly how our soaps would affect their skin. This involved a lot of research, countless test batches, a long list of soap testers, and lengthy surveys. Near the end of the summer, after nearly 6 months of work, we had 5 very solid recipes and we were ready to do the actual business side of things. Kevin continued to make batch after batch of soap, preparing for the day the website went live, and I did the packaging and business side of things… of course Kevin did a lot of the coding for the website because that is an area in which I am clueless. After what seemed like a marathon we opened shop in September 21st. I started applying to craft shows. Friends and family were sending information about every show they ran into my way and I managed, miraculously, to get us into 5 shows!
So sales on the site were going well, we had a bunch of shows lined up… there was one more thing I wanted to do by the end of the year. For years I had been saying that as soon as we got the soap business really going that Relay was going to be the first company we contacted about carrying our products. I sent in an application, a few weeks later they asked for a sample, and days after I sent the samples in I got a call saying that they were excited about our soaps and wanted to carry them! We were so excited to be added as a Relay vendor. They are an amazing company and they have been great to work with so far.
We have grown at such a rapid rate that our heads are spinning. This year has been amazing and next year looks like it’s going to be equally insane! We already have several large shows lined up, we will be at the My Courthouse Market in Goochland on Wednesdays during the winter months and will hopefully continue through the rest of the year, we are working on being at one of the local Saturday farmers markets in the spring, and we will continue to add to the stores that carry our soaps…. So much to do!
Thank you to all of you who have supported us and helped us get to where we are. None of this would be possible without our family, friends, and customers. Your support means so much to us. Thank you for helping us achieve our dream!
