Rebecca Sakelaris

Rebecca Sakelaris of Katzima Soap Company from Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico, talks about her soaping business and shares her experience at the premier Soaping Retreat Weekend.

SJ – Okay I’m talking to Rebecca Sakelaris, she is from Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico, and her business name is Katzima Soap Company, and I just wanted to find out from you what your thoughts were and what led you to come here.
RS – Well, I was looking for some type of soap conference, soap retreat, because I had never been to one.  I’ve been making soap for about 4-1/2 years and I just happened to find this a week beforehand and it worked out I was able to come.  And I have been so excited, because it has exceeded my expectations.  From everything, from the hotels to the speakers, the level of professionalism is just incredible.  I wasn’t expecting it to be as organized and professional, and it is.
SJ – Thank you.  So let me ask you a little bit about your business, are you doing this full-time, is this your full-time business?
RS – It is, I won’t classify it as a job, because then it’s not any fun anymore.
SJ – Of course!
RS – But I have been able to make it into a business, and it’s profitable, I’m not breaking the banks yet but I came here to learn more so I can.  There’s always something new to learn.
SJ – How are you, right now how are you marketing your soaps, are you doing it in a retail environment or do you do craft shows?  Do you have different places that take your soaps, or do you do it on the internet?
RS – I have an internet store, that’s the main way I do it.  Then I’m in a few select retail locations, but I purposely limit that.  But most of it is word of mouth and my online store.
SJ – Great, and how do you fell about continuing your participation in these workshops?  Do you feel like you would be able to get something from each, of course we would mix it up with different topics and speakers, but do you feel that this is something you would continue to come to?
RS – Oh, absolutely.  I want to sign up for the next one, I just have to check my husband’s schedule, but I think it would be beneficial, it’s beneficial whether you’ve just started, whether you’ve never done, or if you’ve been doing it.
SJ – Is there anything that you can suggest that we might want to include as topics?
RS – Not at this point.  I think it’s covered very well.
SJ – How about our product line?  Is there anything that we’re not offering that you think you could use in your business and you would like to see us carry?
RS – Not that I can think of right off the top of my head.  You have a wide range.  Except maybe when you mix up the lye in large concentration, a container to do that in might be good.  
SJ – Oh right, lye dilution, gotta write that down.  That was fascinating, I never knew you could do that about mixing it up ahead of time, so something to remember.  Okay, I’m going to just mention the dates, January 23rd to 25th and March 27th to 29th.  Those are the next workshops that are coming up.  We do plan to do this four times a year, we will be adding September into the mix.  We wanted to do that this year but it was kind of bad timing with everything that was going on, so September, November, January and March are our target dates.
RS – Perfect.
SJ – And now, the most important part of the interview, everyone gets their picture taken with the dog.

Password Reset
Please enter your e-mail address. You will receive a new password via e-mail.