Quitting her job to work on her business full-time was probably the toughest business decision she’s made, says Victoria Jacyshyn.
The owner of Lone Goat Soap worked for an exploration company in a remote camp near Stuart, B.C., organizing geological samples. “I really loved it. But I missed being away from home… I’d be gone sometimes for four weeks at a time,” she recalls.
Back then, making goats’ milk soap was a hobby that started, she says, after her mother took a soap-making class through her local library in Ontario and persuaded her daughter to do the same.
After taking a one-on-one class the tutor fully convinced her to start making soap and selling it. “She was so enthusiastic,” she says.
She followed the mountains to B.C. and on to Pemberton, taking her soap skills with her, and when a torn meniscus last winter forced her to take it easier, she had an unexpected opportunity to work on her business.
“I couldn’t really go skiing with my friends, so they’d leave for the day and I’d go make soap.”
Eventually word got out there was a soapmaker in town, and a couple of local shops approached asking for supplies.
“I’d reached the point where I had to decide whether it was going to stay as a hobby business or if I was going to grow it,” she says.
She had taken the summer off from work, but when she got word that she could set up in the Whistler Farmers’ Market as well as Squamish and Pemberton, she decided not to go back at all. “Now I’m a full-time soapmaker,” she says, adding it was something she had never expected.
Having her mother’s support has been a huge benefit, she says. Her mom helps with the stand and gives Jacyshyn a push when needed. “She helps me so much. It’s awesome having her here.”
Her mother even turned a spare room into a permanent soapmaking facility. “It’s supposed to be for when my brother comes to visit!” she laughs.
There are nine different Lone Goat Soap varieties, explains Jacyshyn, of which the most popular are the Clay Bar (cleansing, purifying and often used for troublesome skin) and Summer Daze, made with Canadian hemp oil for extra moisture, as well as calendula petals, patchouli and sweet orange.
All ingredients are natural and many are sourced locally, including dried flowers from Pemberton, clay from Vancouver Island and reclaimed herbs from the Pemberton Distillery.
Her bars last between four and six weeks in the shower, and the combination of nourishing goats’ milk and moisturizing olive oil means they’re great for sensitive skin, she says.
“I have a lot of customers with children with really bad eczema who’ve never been able to use soap... but they come back just so amazed that their kids are able to use this.”
Her mom, “once a diehard Dove fan,” says Jacyshyn, now won’t use anything but Lone Goat Soap.
You can find Jacyshyn’s stand at the Squamish Farmers’ Market every Saturday throughout the summer, in addition to the Whistler and Pemberton markets.
