Hairy Farmpit Girls: cleaning up with a funny name

Hairy Farmpit Girls: cleaning up with a funny name

by LeeAnna Tatum

Married couple Swan Rubins and Jennifer Evitts are making a funny name for themselves here in Southeast Georgia with some seriously good natural beauty products made primarily from goat’s milk. Their business, Hairy Farmpit Girls, is more than just a memorable name, it’s a commitment to quality products and to quality care for the animals that make their business possible.

Swan and Jennifer started off with keeping a chicken or two in their backyard never guessing that it would eventually lead to a move from Florida to South Georgia and a rural lifestyle that would pave the way for their growing business.

“The business started because of chickens and our obsession with them. And then it grew out of necessity. We’re living out in the woods… what can we do to live off the land? We’re vegetarian farmers.. How does that work?” Swan explained with a laugh.

The goats were added to the farm as pets and to provide milk for cheese and butter, but then the number of goats producing milk quickly outnumbered the couple’s need for dairy products. This surplus soon led to soap-making and the business was born.

The women already had a ready-made customer base for their products as Hairy Farmpit Girls had a growing following on social media due to daily farmyard antics and the steady supply of fun animal-filled photos.

Since their soap-making careers began a little more than a year ago, the pair has seen their business grow substantially. With a strong presence at local farmers markets, including starting up two markets themselves, they continue to build their brand with a growing number of loyal customers and retail venues.

Sustainability is a priority for the farm girls. They not only make a product that minimally impacts the environment, but choose bottles and packaging that leave a small footprint as well.

“We live on the Satilla River and we absolutely love the river. We own this property because my family started buying it up to protect the gopher tortoises and indigo snakes out here from a mining company that wanted to come,” Swan explained. “So, with the soap business we feel like we’re responsible for everything we put out there.”

Even “all natural” products can have a negative effect on the environment, so Swan and Jennifer are very careful about choosing to source ingredients from companies that make responsible choices.

“We use sustainable palm oil so we’re not contributing to the deaths of orangutans. We do minimal packages, so all of our bottles are recyclable and we use paper that can just be composted down. The goat manure goes into compost, so everything just goes in a nice cycle.

Since the farm is Swan and Jennifer’s home and not insured for public access, they have come up with a clever way to bring the farm to the public! Not only do they often have a goat or two along with them during market events, but they also offer the unique experience of a Goat Gram.

A Goat Gram, priced on par with an order of a dozen roses, consists of a visit from the Hairy Farmpit Girls along with one of their baby goats (only those who enjoy the cuddles and attention) and a selection of best-selling products.

“People will always ask us if they could come out and pet the goats. So, I came up with this harebrained idea to offer Goat Grams to give people the opportunity to meet the goats and get some product without the need to make a trip out to the farm,” Swan recounted.

“We did one and then we didn’t have any other bookings for a month or so,” she continued. “And then we had our second one and then we got bombarded. We’ve gone out on hundreds of goat grams now. It’s really a cool thing to send somebody. Everybody wants to play with baby goats and we have baby goats.”

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It may be a funny name and they certainly seem to have a lot of fun doing it, but Hairy Farmpit Girls is a seriously good business that makes great products done conscientiously well.

For more information on their full line of products and where and how you can purchase (including ordering a Goat Gram), check out their website.

photo courtesy of Hairy Farmpit Girls