MT. CHASE, Maine – Six-year-old entrepreneur Kody Tucker is known in local circles as the Soap Dude for his handmade intricately designed goats milk bar soaps. And with the help of his grandmother, who he calls Mimi, and Truffles the Elf, his business is booming with word of mouth sales.
“I had this lady who wanted a lot of soap and she had to pay me $180 for the soap,” he said on Thursday evening at his Mt. Chase home.
Anita Lane, aka Mimi, got Kody started in business this summer after he said he wanted to earn his own money. And Truffles, known for mysteriously showing up in odd locations overnight, has given Kody the oomph with special notes and boxes of essential oils that keep him going, he said.
“One time, after Mimi went to sleep, Truffles somehow got in her bathroom and wrote a message on the mirror in red lipstick,” Kody said, also pointing to other notes and soap-making gifts from Truffles.
Banking on his local fame, the Soap Dude, who is also a first grader at Katahdin elementary, named his handmade soap business after his moniker even though he doesn’t really like the name, he said.
His business venture began this summer, with Mimi teaching him how to make the natural ingredient soaps. And now he can easily detail all the steps like melting, adding a few drops of select essential oils, pouring into the molds or cutting bigger blocks.
The Soap Dude’s soaps are not just uneven multi-colored blocks, they are detailed pieces of soap art with his current collection of holiday themes like a fireplace with stockings and gifts, Santa and reindeer most popular. He’s quick to point out that the Grinch and other larger detailed soaps like a fireplace with Christmas stockings are $5 and the smaller soaps are $3.
So far together, Kody and Mimi have made over 100 pounds of soap since summer, mostly with goats milk, and his sales are booming. Just last weekend Kody made nearly $300 at a Katahdin High School craft fair.
And now he dreams of using his freshly earned cash for things like a dirt bike and a 10-foot rifle, he said.
“He has big ideas,” said Mimi, laughing.
On Thursday afternoon, Kody talked about his vast collection of essential oils like bergamot, lavender, candy cane, carmel corn, snickerdoodle, fig and peach.
“These are spring scents,” he said about a collection he has not yet tried.
His dyes are also natural from mica and he really loves the blue.
Mimi said the only thing he really needs help with is pouring the melted soap mixture into the molds because the pan is a bit heavy.
They have plans to work at farmers markets and outdoor fairs this spring and summer but until then, “a ton of people buy from his Mom who works at Ellis’ grocery store in Patten and he took some soaps to the local Katahdin Trust Bank and a bunch of people bought them there.,” Mimi said.
He’s hoping to get his Dad to build a small shop outside their Mt. Chase home for his soap business, he said.
Kody is pretty happy with how things are going and with the small multi-colored handmade light he bought at the craft fair this past weekend.
When he thinks about what he has accomplished in just a few months he said, “It makes me pretty happy.”
