Life & Work with Alana Nelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alana Nelson. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Growing up on a farm in rural Northern Michigan where her own mother, Kathleen, made goat milk soap for family and friends, Alana knew that she wanted to raise her boys on a little farm and provide them with the same superb skincare! In the spring of 2020, dreams were realized as Alana and her husband purchased a small farm an hour outside of Chicago and accrued 14 animals in about a month (her city boy husband was definitely in shock). The Mother/Daughter duo soon dreamed up a plan to revive the old soap recipes and go into business together. Hickory Grove specializes in making luxurious, small-batch goat’s milk soap with organic, cold-pressed oils, nutrients, and essential oils. We won’t ever use fragrances or anything that hasn’t been responsibly sourced! Kathleen makes and sells the soap in Michigan at markets in and around Charlevoix, Petoskey, Boyne City, and Walloon Lake, while Alana runs the business and sells from her home in the suburbs of Chicago. 

The initial goal for me (Alana) was to make quality skincare products for family and friends while enabling the farm to become self-sustaining with the goat milk products paying for feed and care of the farm. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
We’ve had a lot of fun and grown together as business partners over the past two years. (Our customer’s favorite and most requested content on our Instagram is of the two of us making soap together… as we laugh, drink wine, and find joy in the process.) Making goat milk soap is not for the faint of heart… as it can burn easily. We’ve bungled a few batches and ended up selling the discounted mistakes as “ugly soap”. This ugly soap – ironically two of the recipes were called Ugly Rescue and Ugly Naked – became highly requested bars that sold out quickly. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are very proud to make goat milk soap using organic oils, butters, and milk from our own goats with our own custom recipes. Our colorants are all-natural, plant-derived, and we stay away from nut oils to cater to those with allergies. We work very hard to ensure that our soaps are clean, natural, and contain only the best ingredients that have been responsibly sourced. We also take great pride in every single soap top, pattern, and design we come up with for each new season’s releases. Our customers rave that our soaps are not only beautiful, but that their skin no longer feels dry after making the switch to our soap. 

We love collaborating with other local woman-owned businesses for our beautifully curated gift boxes throughout the year. The community connection and support is a vital part of our business. 

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Always start small and dream big. Make samples, test product, and don’t assume that something that works in one recipe will work in another. The science of soap making with natural products means that what gives us a deep blue color in one recipe, maybe green or even orange in another due to the essential oil blend, temperatures the soap batter reaches, or differences in the oils and butters. 

Pricing:

• $9 per bar of soap
• $15 for 4 oz bottle of goat milk lotion
• $10 for body butter sticks

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hickorygrovesoaps.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hickory.grove/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hickorygrovesoaps