Internet raises the bar for soapmaker

A Kenwood denizen has, literally, a cottage industry that started with local consignment sales and has bulked up.

[Times photo: Boyzell Hosey] Kate Krival, 38, started her soap business three years ago.

By PIPER JONES CASTILLO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000

In a garage apartment behind her Historic Kenwood bungalow, Kate Krival spends more than 60 hours a week concentrating on her concoctions. In goggles and long sleeves, she mixes lye and oils, sometimes olive, sometimes jojoba. Fragrances run together -- chamomile and candula, lavender and almond, rosemary and ylang-ylang.

To order Kate's soaps, visit her Web site.

The end result: homemade soaps.

In three years, the 38-year-old has watched her company, Kate's Soap Co., grow from single consignment sales locally to bulk orders for Internet customers nationwide. Using a cold process method -- with mixtures aged rather than cooked -- Krival is continuously upping her batch size to meet the demand for her botanical soaps. The average cost of a 4 ounce bar is $4.50.

It all started with allergies.

While in her 20s, Krival realized that chemicals in perfumes wreaked havoc on her skin and made her ill.

"I can't even go into Bath and Body Works without getting a headache," she says.

In an attempt to cut back on synthetic products, Krival learned the ins and outs of handmade soaps. Three years ago, her interest in soap lured her away from a corporate career as a speech pathologist to become an entrepreneur.

"When you own your own business, you can follow your ethics, not someone else's," she explains.

She began with 5-pound batches, or 20 three-inch bars. She'd give her soap to friends, co-workers, anybody.

"I needed feedback. I learned that not everyone likes poppyseeds on their body, for example," she jokes.

One afternoon in 1998, as she shopped at Brigit Books in St. Petersburg, Krival asked the owner to sell Kate's Soaps.

Patty Callaghan, owner of the bookstore, recalls when she became Krival's first customer.

"She said she was thinking of selling soap, and she came back with some soap she made, and I bought it. I've seen her grow and improve. It's great," Callaghan says.

Its first year, Kate's Soaps collected $300 in sales. Krival held onto her $60,000-a-year job at Egret Cove Center nursing home in St. Petersburg while honing her craft. "I'd cure soap anywhere I could in the house," she recalls.

She slowly gained Internet and local clients, including Nature's Food Patch of Clearwater and Rollin' Oats of St. Petersburg.

Her online catalog describes unique creations such as Gaia Patchouli, Healing Garden and even Buddha's Bath Shampoo for Dogs.

In 1999, sales for the year increased to $3,200. The manufacturing operation also grew. Krival moved began making 12-pound batches, containing 40 bars each, in a larger room off the garage.

Last September, she cut back her hours at the nursing home. By April, Kate's Soap Co. had taken over her 650-square-foot apartment. Krival now makes 30-pound batches, or 100 bars at a time. She makes 300 to 500 bars a week.

First-quarter sales for this year were $2,500. "And it looks like it will double for the second quarter," she says.

Krival entered the market place at the right time, according to Donna Maria Roberts, founder of the Handmade Toiletries Network of Washington, D.C., an association that provides support to handmade beauty product businesses.

The soap and cosmetics industry is growing rapidly, Roberts says. "How exciting it is to think the soap you ordered was custom-designed for you."

Krival believes the Internet is a big part of her success.

"Since I have always had a career in a "helping' profession, I am not good in selling. I always want to give soap away instead of selling it. The Internet is a great tool because I develop a relationship with customers through e-mail. When people order soaps, they tell me why they like a certain scent and who they give the soaps to."

Krival's next step is to increase production to 60 pounds, or 200 bars. To get any larger, however, means she must move from her makeshift micro-manufacturing site at home to a more industrial setting. "But I love Kenwood. I feel like I've changed along with the neighborhood's changes," she says.

And the neighbors have enjoyed her business. "There's a mechanic next door who spends time working outside on his car. He says he appreciates the scents coming from my air conditioning."

Coming clean

To order Kate's soaps, visit http://www.katesoap.com or call 551-0054.

Visit http://www.handmadetoiletries.com for more information on the Handmade Toiletries Network.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.