After a month of heavy snowfall and dreary winter clouds, the sun was finally peering through my window again as I sat at my desk, ready to meet Courtney Lawrence for the first time. It was such serendipitous timing because Courtney's warmth and vibrant spirit transcended the screen as we talked.

Her handmade soap business, Minor Obsession, was born from Courtney's own obsession with finding holistic ingredients in products. As a biologist and research scientist, she was interested in the chemicals in skincare products made by large corporations. That curiosity eventually evolved into making soap herself. Courtney wanted to ensure that her soaps were made from natural oils, clays, and botanicals wrapped together in sleek packages.

Courtney compares soap-making to life – you can have all the right ingredients, but sometimes, it doesn't turn out the way you expect. I got to talk with her about skincare, her passion for being an entrepreneur, and all the support she found along the way.

Interview by Olivia Taylor. Photography by Angenise Rawls.

So I have to ask, how did you get into soap-making in the first place?

Around 10 years ago, I got very health conscious about the different ingredients in products. I studied biology in college; I just wanted to know what these ingredients were. So when I thought about creating my product line, I wanted something where I could control the ingredients that go into it, something I can make my own, and soap-making was the easiest way to combine those two things. I started making soap in 2017, and I haven't stopped since. It's definitely a joy – but a love-hate relationship because sometimes you don't always know what you're going to get. Like with anything in life, you can have a specific formula, and sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. It's all experimentation.

Tell us a little bit more about your background.

Well, I was born and raised here in Cincinnati, Ohio. I went to Walnut Hills High School, and I went to study biology at the University of Toledo. I've always had a knack for science; I love it. I gravitated towards chemistry and biology more than other classes, and I'm used to being in a laboratory setting. I even work in that field today. That's why with soap-making, it feels like a laboratory setting – you have your goggles, your gloves; it feels familiar. My dad works in the science field as well, so I've been around it my whole life.

I love Minor Obsession because it seems to be the combination of what you’re passionate about. On your website, you say that “soap-making is at the intersection of science and art” can you explain that a little bit?

I would compare it to baking – it’s both creative and scientific. You need the exact amount of different oils and ingredients to make soap. The creative part is the essential oils used to integrate the fragrance if you want to smell sweet and then savory or a little woodsy. What you want the soap to look like, the different infuses you made to make the color, that’s all creative. The actual soap-making part, that's more technical – that has to be exactly right, so if one element or ingredient is off, it's all going to be off.

Can you walk us through the process of making a bar soap?

You have your different oils: we use olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, castor oil, and avocado oil. Those oils are mixed, and then we add our lye mixture. The lye mixture is like the yeast – it makes the oils turn into solid soap. The lye mixture has to be exact. The temperature goes up really high to over 200 degrees and then mixed into the oil solution that then blends together and makes the soap.

After that is made, you'll pour it into molds that harden over a period of time. Your soap bars have to cure; you can't use them as soon as you make them because the process of saponification, which is the process of soap-making, is still happening. It's going through its process, and after about two weeks, it's done. We let our bars cure for four weeks, sometimes longer, so they'll be nice and hard for you to use – and they'll last a lot longer.

What have you learned by starting your own business?

I've learned that you have to wear many different hats. You have to be the web developer, the person who fulfills orders, ship orders, and your customer service, the H.R. branch. I've learned that a day never ends, and you're constantly adjusting and progressing as the days go on. You need to be calm and patient with yourself because it's all a learning experience.

What advice would you give somebody reading this article and wanting to start their own small business?

I would say that you're not alone. There are plenty of people out there ready to help you, whether that's organizations, other entrepreneurs, or small businesses. When you start out, you think you have to do everything by yourself – and yes, you do to a degree – but you can have somebody design your website, you can have somebody make your branding for you, you can have somebody create wonderful inserts for your shipping – all that help is there.

If you want to start a small business, half the battle is starting because you're not going to have all the answers at first. You're trying to answer everything before you even start, and you're trying to answer questions before they've even been asked. So I think the best advice that I can give to entrepreneurs is to just start. You'll answer the questions, you'll solve problems as you go along, and that is the part about being entrepreneurial – you're solving problems every day.

Having your own business is just believing in yourself. It can be a lonely journey, but it doesn't have to be. There's a community out here waiting for you to join.

This is probably my favorite question to ask small-business owners: What do you love about your business?

The fact that I'm truly creating something from nothing. I'm making bars of soap out of a few ingredients. Minor Obsession came from turning years of personal research into an actual product – that’s truly inspiring. To hear so many people talk about it, something that was just the idea of mine, now they're like, "Oh, we love your soap.” I had no idea that anybody would love something that was just an idea of mine. That's definitely the part that I love about it.

What professional or personal support systems did you have when you first started your small business?

I have my family, and it just so happened that many of my family members have skin conditions – dry skin, eczema, sensitivities – and they allow me to use them as my test dummies. People are very sensitive about using different products, especially on their skin. Soap is very personal to people, so they helped me grow and keep moving forward.

If you want to start a small business, half the battle is starting.

I've also had overwhelming support from the city of Cincinnati through different types of markets and small business owners. There were organizers of markets who would reach out to me personally and were like, "Hey, we want you to be a part of this." As a result of putting myself forward, I got my name into rooms that I didn't think I’d be in.

On that note, what’s your experience been like as a Black entrepreneur?

You're definitely setting precedence for somebody. I think when Black entrepreneurs see each other, it's like, "Hey, I want to support you." It was so easy to connect with different Black entrepreneurs here in Cincinnati. Everybody was so welcoming; they just wanted me to be a part of it as well. I think about when I would go to different markets, and I wouldn't see people like me. Now, I'm at those markets, and I'm the person who is on the other side like, "Please come. Come in, put yourself out there because there is a community here ready to support you." The overwhelming support from everyone allowed me to really push myself out there.

What has your business looked like since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

At the beginning of 2020, my goal was to go to as many pop-up shops as possible. I wanted to travel to other markets in Columbus and across other states. Of course, that didn't happen. So I had to adjust and pivot to my e-commerce business quickly – that was something I didn't consider as much when I first started because it wasn't my focus. I had to figure out shipping costs for things, buying boxes, shipping, inserts for shipping – all the things that I didn't think about before. I had to now pivot and build my online presence. At the start of the pandemic, I had maybe around 500 followers on Instagram, and now I'm well over 1500. I don't think it would have happened if the pandemic didn't happen.

What's your favorite product that Minor Obsession has right now?

My favorite is the golden hour because it takes longer to make than any other. I infuse the avocado oil with the annatto seeds, and those seeds give off this beautiful color. The annatto seeds make a natural plant dye; I don't have to use any artificial colorants. Then it’s poured into the soap like regular oil. The scents of the golden hour are a very floral fruity smell. It has the top note as the bergamot and grapefruit; then it has a little bit of patchouli and ylang-ylang in there, giving a good balance of fruity and woodsy in a floral scent.

Tell me about some influential women in your life.

When people talk about influential women, I think of Nancy Twine, the founder of Briogeo. I said back in 2014 that I want to have a brand like hers, and now I'm taking those steps. She didn't have prior knowledge about manufacturing, she was in the world of finance, and she now has a haircare brand. She had to learn and adjust and pivot just like everybody else in a whole new world of business, and that was inspiring to me.

Also, my mother; she's probably the most dynamic person you'll ever meet. She can easily go into any situation, not know anything about it, and just figure out what to do. I can come to her with any problem, and she can say, "Okay, these are the steps you need to take." Also, my sister-in-law who also has a small business. She's the person I go to for any business advice. She's the person I go to in any existential crisis.

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Courtney Lawrence of Minor Obsession on Soap-Making and the Journey of Entrepreneurship