01What does your business do, in your own words?
I create small-batch artisan soaps and bath and body products with a focus on beautiful fragrance, quality ingredients and the experience of everyday luxury. Enchanted Gardens Soapery grew from my love of creating something beautiful by hand. Today, I make artisan soaps, body butters, sugar scrubs and other bath and body products, along with thoughtfully curated gifts. I want someone to pick up one of my products and feel that a great deal of care went into creating it.
“When someone buys a handcrafted bar of soap, they're buying much more than the ingredients: they're buying the maker's time, knowledge, experience and creativity.”
02How did you get started? Give us the origin story.
Before I ever made my first batch of soap, I spent two years studying the craft. I knew soapmaking involved working with lye and that it needed to be approached with knowledge, patience and respect, so I wanted to understand what I was doing before I began. When I finally made that first batch, I discovered how much I loved the combination of science, creativity and artistry involved. What began with learning how to make soap safely eventually grew into Enchanted Gardens Soapery and a much larger collection of handcrafted bath and body products.
03What do you wish more people knew about your industry?
I wish more people understood how much knowledge and time go into truly handcrafted soap and body care. Soapmaking is both an art and a science. You have to understand formulation, ingredient properties, precise measurements, temperatures and how different fragrances behave in a formula. A batch can change very quickly if something isn't just right. Then there are weeks of curing before a bar is ready for a customer.
Body products require the same attention to detail. Creating a body butter, for example, can take me hours for just one fragrance, and I may produce many different fragrances for a collection. Behind every finished product are formulation, testing, production, labeling and packaging. When someone buys a handcrafted bar of soap, they're buying much more than the ingredients: they're buying the maker's time, knowledge, experience and creativity.
04What's your busiest day of the year like?
Our busiest market days actually begin weeks before the event. I personally make the products we bring, and that is an enormous amount of work. A single batch of one body butter fragrance can take me about three hours, and I may be preparing as many as 15 different fragrances. Soapmaking requires even more preparation, from designing each soap and developing the fragrance and formula to carefully controlling temperatures and getting every batch just right. Then there is cutting, curing, finishing, labeling and packaging everything for the show.
When market day arrives, my husband and I become a team. He does a tremendous amount of the physical work: loading, carrying heavy equipment, transporting our inventory, helping build our display and working the market with me. At the end of the day, we tear it all down and load everything again. What customers see during a few hours at a market represents many, many hours of work from both of us before we ever open the booth.
05What's your favorite customer story?
One of my favorite stories began with some of my husband's coworkers. They asked if I could create something with particular fragrance notes they loved. I took their ideas into my workshop, began experimenting, and eventually, voilà, a new soap and body butter were born. What makes the story especially meaningful to me is that the products went on to receive wonderful reviews on Google. There is something very special about taking someone's idea, interpreting it through fragrance and creativity, and turning it into a product that other people come to love too.
06Why here? What made you choose this area?
We chose this location because we saw potential in the area and believed it would continue to grow. When we opened, we knew we were taking a chance: the retail area was still fairly isolated and we expected sales to be slow at first. But we could see new neighborhoods being built and plans for additional retail development around us. We decided to invest in the area early and grow alongside the community. It has required patience, but we still believe in the potential of this part of Williamson County.
“What customers see during a few hours at a market represents many, many hours of work from both of us before we ever open the booth.”
07Favorite local restaurant that isn't yours?
One of our favorite local restaurants is Gino's on Mays Street. My husband and I enjoy going there for the wonderful Italian food and the welcoming atmosphere. It's a place where we can sit down, enjoy a good meal together and take a little break from the busy pace of running Enchanted Gardens.
08What's next for the business this year?
What's next for Enchanted Gardens is continued growth in our handcrafted skin and body care. I spend months, and sometimes years, developing and refining formulations before I feel they are ready to offer to my customers. It isn't simply about creating a new scent; it's about developing the product itself, carefully selecting ingredients, testing the formulation and refining it until I'm satisfied with its quality and performance. This year, I'm continuing that work while expanding our collections, improving our packaging and introducing Enchanted Gardens to more customers through our shop, markets and online store. I want the business to grow thoughtfully without ever rushing the formulation process or compromising the standards behind what I create.
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