heart for the win: our mission

life goes on

Several weeks ago, I made the decision that Suds Me Up, Scotty! had reached the end of the road. Sure, it was a very short road—almost more of a path, really—but why beat a dead horse? As a very logical human being, it was time to acknowledge my dismal failure, shrug off the inevitable disappointment, and then move on to whatever I felt called to explore next; lucky for me, I have no shortage of “awesome” ideas waiting in the sidelines.

I consoled myself with the thought that maybe my next adventure would respond in a more favorable way to my efforts than Suds Me had. And let's face it, I wasn't even completely sure that soaping was ever intended to be anything more than an incredibly fun hobby. Trying to turn a hobby into profit is a mistake I’ve made before, so maybe reality was—once again—simply catching up to my newest “grand idea.” C'est la vie. Life goes on. Better luck next time, Melinda (because there will, undoubtedly, be a next time).

I’ll admit that this Suds Me death did come about rather abruptly. All year long I’ve been (mostly) content with a “slow and steady wins the race” kind of approach. After all, it’s only our first year in business, and I wasn’t expecting to become a booming success overnight. But as I spent one very sad afternoon filling a garbage bag full of our spoiling soaps, things started to crystalize as reality set in: Suds Me wasn't working. And while I may not have actually wept tears at the terrific waste sitting on the floor in front of me, it was a deeply disheartening moment. I didn’t blame the soaps, of course; they were just innocent, sweet-smelling casualties of a battle I lost. Little bars that were never meant to sit so long, patiently waiting for someone to claim them. Who can blame them for turning? Even soaps want to be loved.

Pretty sure I can hear this bar screaming: But why don't you love me?

the last straw

Throwing out all of that organic goodness was simply the last straw in a year full of disappointments. Sure, I had some awesome things happen in 2025, too, but Suds Me selling enough soaps to stay alive wasn’t one of them. Was I feeling a wee bit sorry for myself? Perhaps. But I’d survive; after all, more of my adventures end in "failure" than success. I was definitely disappointed that there would be no extra money to help counter the relentlessly—and in some cases, staggering—rising cost of our foods, but we’d survive that too.

Honestly, the self-pity mostly arose from one source: I’d set out wanting to counter some of the damage being done on the daily to our gorgeous Mother Earth, and here I was instead contributing to the landfill. Sure, I could weakly console myself with the knowledge that my all-natural soaps were nestled in a compostable garbage bag. A bag that would start breaking down as soon as it got just the tiniest bit damp, thereby offering my plant-based soaps back to the soil whence they came, but still. This wasn’t the earth-loving difference I’d hoped to make. Not by a long shot.

But as I ruthlessly tossed bar after bar, my heart was having trouble accepting the rash decision that my head was making. But we love making soap, it whispered, as if my brain didn’t already know that. But my brain wasn’t interested in my heart's commentary because it was otherwise engaged in some hard-core ruminating, per usual. If only I could get paid for my thinking; I'm pretty sure I'd be a millionaire by now. Honestly, maybe even a billionaire. I just love solutions. I love organizing chaos into order. I love (and live for) problem solving. The funny things is, I wasn’t trying to do any of those constructive things as I sadly tossed soaps, I was simply… thinking. Thinking about the waste, which made me think about our planet, which made me think about the humans I share it with, which made me think about the current dismal state of affairs, which led me straight down a deep and dark rabbit hole of depressing thoughts. (No worries, I emerged renewed.)

Image by Simona Robová from Pixabay

heart-sized seed

When I look around me nowadays, I’m occasionally cheered by what I see, but more often than not, I’m devastated. What is happening to us? Many of us foresaw just such a disaster a decade ago, but what’s unfolding in our country right now is worse than I’d dared to imagine. Corruption, cruelty, bigotry, and greed are served up in heaping portions on the daily—portions so big they made me want to simultaneously vomit, cry, and slip into a voluntary coma with a wake-me-when-it's-over sign tacked over my bed. My soap failure was just a small-scale disappointment in the face of a government that was proving to be an extremely large-scale disappointment.

In fact, I fretted as my garbage bag filled, if only I could get my soaps into the hands of those who genuinely need them. The persecuted. The exhausted. The sad, the forsaken, the broken, the hopeless, the forgotten, and the lonely. It may seem insignificant to you, but a fresh bar of handcrafted soap feels like a luxury to me. A warm hug. An I love you in a world that acts like it hates you. My overly-vexed mind alternated between fury, heartbreak, disgust, and impotence—all the while deaf to the quiet pleading of my heart.

And then, thank God, the smallest of miracles occurred. And my heart—somehow, somewhere—finally spotted an opening. A crack. A space big enough to plant a heart-sized seed. Before I could make sense of the new thoughts surfacing, that seed shot down roots so fast my head began to spin, and it slowly began turning my if onlys into what ifs? It took several days for the idea to fully form, but when it did my impotence became a shred of power. My failure transformed into an opportunity. My crushing pessimism was replaced by my more natural state of optimism. This was a seed that glimmered faintly with hope as I realized that maybe Suds Me wasn’t dead after all. What if the problem was all me? What if, this whole time, I'd been steering Suds Me in the wrong direction?  

Image by Greg Montani from Pixabay

exuberance... again

With an idea happily percolating, I started reaching out to shelters. Everything about this year has been challenging for Suds Me right up until… now. Expecting some initial disappointments, I was shocked at how quickly things started falling into place. The first shelter would basically take as many soaps as I could offer. The second shelter started brainstorming ideas with me on how best to use the soaps I would be sending. And all of a sudden? I felt renewed. Recharged. And unbelievably excited. Maybe, just maybe, Suds Me could still make a difference after all.

But in order to make it work, we had to deliberately shift focus. We had to release the idea that Suds Me was going to help us out by generating money, and embrace the idea that it was instead going to generate support—for others. Generate compassion and slice upon slice of Reiki-infused love. What does that translate to in plain English? From here on out, we’re shifting our focus from selling soaps to donating soaps. Even as I type that, I can’t help but sigh a sigh of intense happiness and relief. It just feels right. I can either let Suds Me die a quiet death, or I can use it to try and do some good. Can you hear that quiet cheering from where you sit? It's just my heart again. Because we love making soap. Being kind ain’t too shabby, either.

From now on, the sales that we do make will be directed towards supporting our donation work, so we definitely still need you ♥ The cost of our supplies has also been rising, so if you either A. love our soaps or B. want to also help your fellow man, your soap purchases will be appreciated by us in a whole new way, going towards soap supplies and shipping costs. Even without outside support, I’m fully committed to moving forward with my newest “grand” idea, but wouldn’t it be more fun to do together? To build a community of handcrafted soap-lovers who also believe in kindness, compassion, decency, and generosity? Yeah, I know, I know. My enthusiasm and exuberance can be a bit much. Are you rolling your eyes at me? I sometimes have that effect on people. But my heart was right. If you want to come out on top, you can’t counter hate with more hate; you counter it with love. And soap. Don’t forget soap.

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

our mission

So I’m here today with a Suds Me Up, Scotty! mission statement. It’s been brought to my attention lately that in my effort to be “nice,” what I value isn’t obvious. In my attempt to make others comfortable (just for fun, say the word vegan and see how many people get instantly defensive), I’ve created situations for myself in which I end up extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, I feel as though I should make things crystal clear. Tell you our current plan and why exactly we're doing it this way. Although this blog is my space and the words you find here also belong solely to me, our mission statement reflects Scott’s morals as well as my own and has received his hearty stamp of approval. All you really need to do is look at our soaps to see what we value; they are us, in miniature. Just better smelling. And usually prettier, too.

Suds Me Up, Scotty! Mission Statement

Our soaps support animals. Our soaps are vegan and so are we—staunchly so—largely for the animals. The original decision to stop eating animals was made in 2007 for both our health and for the animals, but then I was stupid enough to watch a vegan documentary. (I mean, I was l already a vegan; I’m not sure why I felt the need to torture myself.) That viewing haunts me to this day and firmly tipped the scales in favor of the animals; therefore, we now consider ourselves ethical vegans. We don’t have to eat animals or use their body parts/products to be healthy and happy, so we don’t. We believe all animals deserve our love and respect.

Our soaps support Mother Earth. Every single one of our all-natural soaps is made with organic ingredients because we live an organic life. We made this choice for our family, the well-being of all mankind, and for our planet; plus, pesticides kill millions of birds every year, so I guess we do that for the animals, too. Not only do we support Mother Earth, but we wholeheartedly support the organic farmers who are doing their part to preserve this gorgeous planet we live on. We believe Mother Earth deserves our (undying) love and respect.

Our soaps support women and the queer community. Some of our monthly soap donations are going to Rosie’s Place—a Boston shelter that helps anyone who identifies as a woman. Their mission is to "provide a safe and nurturing environment that helps poor and homeless  women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity, and find security in their lives." They’re a big supporter of the LGBTQ+ community which is just one of the many reasons why we've chosen to support the work they do. We believe that women and the queer community deserve our love and respect.

Our soaps support the homeless. Some of our monthly donations will be going to Access Community Health Agency, and they’ll offer them in both their emergency homeless shelter and in their food pantries. They're a local organization whose mission is to "build access to opportunities that empower under-resourced individuals, families, and communities to achieve and sustain economic stability." A soap is such a small gesture, but I hope they can feel the compassion behind it. We believe that the homeless and those struggling to make ends meet deserve our love and respect.

Our soaps support immigrants. I’m jumping the gun on this one a little bit because I haven't solidified an organization as of yet, but some of our monthly donations will be going to an organization that supports immigrants (I will update this as soon as I have more info). To say I’m appalled at the way we’re treating our fellow human beings would be a gross understatement, so this is my small way of supporting their safety and well-being. We believe immigrants—documented or not—deserve our love and respect.

Image by giselaatje from Pixabay

we still need you ♥

And that, my friends, is the new and improved Suds Me plan. Originally, I was only going to donate soaps, but then I realized how silly that was. And mean. Because I’ve gotten some of you as hooked on our soaps as we are. I’ve been waffling on how to approach this, but I think that I’ll just keep a small amount of many varieties in stock at all times. That way, when you need soap it’s as easy as it's ever been. I also know that some of you have favorite bars and so I’ll do my best to keep them in stock. In order to prevent another garbage-bag breakdown, however, I will only keep the soaps on our shelves for a couple of months before I move them out. But no worries fellow soap-lovers; I’ve got your back. Because, I'm not sure if you've heard, but we love making soap. (My heart made me say that.)

In closing, if you either enjoy our all-natural soaps or want to support our donation work in some way, then we very much appreciate you. What can you do to help?

• Buy our soaps (they make super gifts, too!)

• Leave us soap reviews!! (good lord, pretty please)

• Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

• Share my newsletter with anyone you think may be interested

• Read my blog posts and don't forget to comment if you have something friendly to share :)

• Follow, like, and comment on our YouTube channel

  
  

And that is all she wrote for today. Are you excited? Because I’m excited. Sure, my overactive brain has come up with 101 reasons why this won't work, but lucky for me, my heart has come up with 110 reasons why it will. I'm putting all my money on my heart. In another twelve months, I'll let you know who won ;)

Until next time, friends ♥

Much love,

Melinda