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BUSINESS
THE MESA TRIBUNE | DECEMBER 12, 2021
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Mesa woman makes soap a business and passion BY RYLEE MCDANIEL Tribune Contributor
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ost people look at soap as an everyday essential used without a second thought, but to Joanna Couch, it means more than smelling good and being clean. In 2012, following the closing of a decorative finishing business she had with her mother, the Mesa woman began making products with the leftover goat’s milk from her family farm. Soap became the main product and eventually, her passion. After entering the Arizona State Fair with no great expectations, Couch walked away with multiple blue ribbons for her soap and the confidence to keep going. “People don’t realize when they go and look at all that stuff at the state fair, there’s a person with a passion behind that product,” said Couch. Continuing with her passion, Couch took part in the 2012 Gilbert Art Walk, selling out of her inventory of 2,000 soap bars by her second showing. “I thought that would last me forever,” said Couch. With the support from her community
Joanna Couch stirs ingredients for soap in Broadway Road in Mesa. (Facebook) and family, Couch expanded her business into The Soap Gal, which now manufactures a minimum 800,000 bars of soap monthly and are sold wholesale only to retailers nationwide. The Soap Gal specializes in cold-pro-
cessed soap. Oils such as coconut, shea butter olive, and castor are combined with a sodium hydroxide lye solution and safe additives such as pure essential oils and colorants. She studied and refined product formulas for some of the biggest names in the soap business and is committed to using only food-grade oils, pure essential oils and phosphate-free fragrances. “Once people become customers of The Soap Gal, they become family,” a spokeswoman for The Soap Gal said. The leftover scraps – which Couch calls “bubble bits” – are donated to those her plant on in need. Last month, The Soap Gal donated 4,500 pounds of bubble bits, roughly the equivalent of 70,000 bars, to the Phoenix Rescue Mission to help people experiencing homelessness. “The Soap Gal creates quality skin products utilizing food grade oils and all natu-
ral ingredients, so these individuals will be provided with high-quality soap,” her spokeswoman added. Couch sees her company – and her passion – as more than just a way to earn a living. For one thing, she boasts on her website, “We support over 90 local families in our 33,000-square-foot facility in Mesa Arizona. We are proud to manufacturer our products here in the USA and support our local community…Quality is our philosophy. Natural products and world-class service is how we set the industry standard.” But Couch also sees a broader mission in her work. “When it all comes down to it, the reason I make soap is because there’s still 29 percent of this world that doesn’t have access to soap and water,” said Couch. Although her products are sold only wholesale to retail businesses, they will be available to the public soon. Couch looks forward to furthering her soap business by opening two new storefronts in the near future. Bubble Factory will be a storefront open to the public where consumers can create
see SOAP page 18
LEFT: Joanna Couch last month donated the equivalent of 70,000 bars of her soap to the Phoenix Rescue Mission. (Special to the Tirbune) ABOVE: The Soap Gal factory occupies a huge 33,000-square-foot factory in Mesa that employs 90 people. (Special to the Tirbune)
