From Hobby to 200+ Retailers: The Growth of Cullowheegee Farms Natural Body Care

Owners Sarah & Eric in their warehouse where they make natural body care to sell in retailers across the US and their online store. www.cullowheegeefarms.com

I made my first batch of soap in 2017 as simple Christmas gifts. At the time, I had extremely sensitive skin and had recently switched to natural soap myself—something that made an immediate difference. I felt better, my skin felt better, and I thought, why not try making my own and gift them to family and friends?

I still remember how proud I was of those first bars. I snapped a few pictures, posted them on Facebook, and thought nothing of it. But the comments started pouring in:

“Are you selling these?”

“Can I buy a few?”

After doing some quick math, I realized that selling the soaps would give me enough to reinvest in ingredients and supplies so I could keep creating. So that’s exactly what I did—sell a little, reinvest a little, and repeat.

Those early days were a whirlwind of creativity. I fell in love with blending essential oils, experimenting with natural colorants, and discovering which ingredients behaved well together. At one point, I had 35 different kinds of soap lined up—each one part of a big learning phase that helped me refine my craft.

As interest grew, a friend offered to build me a website and trade her work for soap. It was the perfect barter. She created a beautiful online space for my products so I could move beyond Facebook messages, and she walked away with a huge collection of soaps. It felt like a real step forward.

All of this happened while I was working at a local brewery. It turned out to be the perfect place to talk about the soaps I was making. My community was cheering me on from day one and encouraged me to take my products to our local farmers market.

So I bought a tent, set up a single 4-foot table, and created a display that felt like me—colorful, bohemian, warm, and natural. Not polished or generic, but personal. That table meant everything to me.

The brewery also became my very first wholesale account. I started making beer soap using their own brews—something customers absolutely loved—and it helped spread the word even further.

Fast forward to 2020. When the pandemic hit, the brewery had to temporarily close its doors, and suddenly my side hobby was my entire income. Like so many small businesses, I held my breath and hoped for the best.

What happened next still blows me away. With everyone at home, communities across the country rallied behind small makers and online shopping. The support was overwhelming, and that surge in demand gave me exactly what I needed to continue scaling, improving, and dreaming bigger.

But the journey didn’t stop there. As the orders grew, so did the challenges. There were many moments when I thought about giving up, but something in me knew I had to keep going if I ever wanted this little soap hobby to turn into something real. And slowly, it did.

Stores in our own community started carrying my soaps, giving me confidence and momentum. It wasn’t long before I needed help to keep up with demand, so I hired a friend who came to my house to help make and package orders. That small bit of support made a huge difference.

In 2021, my husband and I attended our very first wholesale tradeshow. I was terrified and felt completely out of my comfort zone, but I also felt incredibly supported by friends, family, and customers who believed in what I was building.

That first show changed everything. We signed more than 20 wholesale accounts from all over the U.S. in just one weekend. Year after year, we kept attending tradeshows, and each time we opened more accounts, reached new customers, and grew a little more.

I quit my job in 2021. My husband quit his in 2022. It still feels surreal to say that.

Our business eventually out grew our home and moved into a warehouse on our property, where we now manufacture not just soap, but lotion bars, lip balm, beard oil, dish soap, and so much more. Today, our natural body care products are sold in over 200 locations across 36 states.

Running your own business is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard, exhausting, humbling, and beautiful all at once. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is endlessly rewarding, and I never get tired of hearing how our products help others.

It blows my mind to look back at where it all started and see where it has taken us.

Thank you for following us on this journey and for every ounce of love and support you’ve sent our way. We are all in now—growing, learning, improving, and dreaming bigger every year.

Here’s to many more years of Cullowheegee Farms. Cheers!