Join us as we interview Zen and Maks, brothers and owners of The Brothers B Handmade Soaps! The brothers participated in our Tucson market on April 1, 2023 and their booth was a hit among many. They even sold out of some of their soaps!
Tell us about your business. How did you first get the idea?
Zen: So when I was a little younger, I got a gift box of soap making supplies. Just like a little crate and I started it and we both really liked it. And we turned it into a little business, starting about March 2020. We started sending it across the country to our friends and everything. Then we stopped for a little while and we moved here. We heard about the market this year and decided “let’s start it up again” and decided to start making soaps again.
What supplies and resourced did you need to get going? How did you get a hold of them?
Zen: Well we have to have the molds, which we ordered off of Amazon, and all the materials we just, you know, shea, oatmeal blocks and bases, which we cut up and then we melt them and put all our materials in. The essential oils come from Young Living and we also use mica powder instead of food dye so that it’s all natural and healthy.
Maks: And for one of them we didn’t even use the mica powder, we just used activated charcoal and raw Arizona honey too.
Zen: Yeah we just melt the base and then we mix all our ingredients in and then we pour it into the mold.
What are some challenges you’ve faced in business, and how did you overcome them?
Zen: We had a different type of mold than the ones we have now, it was a longer one, and we had to cut it. The problem with those was that they weren’t even and they just didn’t look good. Near the end, a few days before this (market), we had to melt all them back down and put them all back in and hurry and get them out there. But we managed to do it!
Maks: It was the oatmeal soap, that’s why we have less of it today.
That is a big problem that you had, but you guys handled it well and all your soaps look great!
Do you have any advice for other aspiring kid entrepreneurs?
Zen: Stay simple! Don’t try to go too much with designs. You can have different flavors and stuff like that, but if you try to go too complex you’ll end up ruining the soap.
Maks: Once we tried to make a soap with real rosemary in it, the rosemary turned brown, spoiled the whole soap. We had tried to go complex with the soap. So stay simple!
How can potential customers get in touch with you?
Zen: Well we have our Instagram @thebrothersbsoaps, so you could contact us there. We’re going to be setting up a forum for you to buy online and we can ship to you.
Thanks for chatting with us, Zen and Maks!
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