406: Her Plant-Based Soaps Landed Her On Shark Tank And On The Path To $1.2M In Sales

This week in the guest chair we have Kristen Dunning, founder and CEO of Gently Soap – a bathing brand built on her self-developed herbal infusions. A recent MBA grad, Kristen hails from a rare five generations of Black Alabama farmers, and she’s continuing the legacy by bringing joy back to bathing experiences for people with sensitive skin, using the medicinal properties of plants.

In this episode she shares:
– Her vigorous passion and research that landed her on Shark Tank
– Her secret sauce to having a rate of 78% repeat customers
– How she won over 300K in investment capital and has a trajectory of $1.2M in sales

Highlights Include:
00:00 Intro
03:24 Generations of Black farmers
06:38 Struggle with eczema
08:45 Studying horticulture and agriculture
14:10 Staring Gently Soaps
18:03 Transitioning to selling at markets
21:31 Importance of formulating for sensitive skin
28:56 Sales growth and Shark Tank impact
32:55 High margins and sales
39:49 Marketing strategies
44:03 Tips for entrepreneurs

Check out episode 406 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Links Mentioned:
Gently Soap Website: https://gentlysoap.com/
Gently Soap Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gentlysoap/
Kristen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalplantgirl/
Kristen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristendunning/
Shark Tank episode: https://gentlysoap.com/pages/shark-tank
Aveeno start-up pitch competition: https://www.aveeno.com/startup-collective
Thirteen Lune: https://thirteenlune.com/
Tech Stars: https://www.techstars.com/

Listen on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/side-hustle-pro/id1126021323
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13qDj08lBR4ymzGhXIKy8t?si=8daf52a57e054042
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/sidehustlepro
Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss

Affiliate Disclosure: I may be an affiliate for products that I recommend or share. If you purchase those items through my links, I may earn a commission. You will not pay more when you use my links.

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