Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn Pagano.
Hi Kathryn , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
About 15 years ago I began studying herbal medicine out of a desire to have more control over my health and the products I put into my body. As time passed I realized my own dry skin issues could be due to the “natural products” I was using. I took a deeper dive into what goes into making soap and lotion and shampoos for commercial sale. To my horror there are a lot of ingredients that sensitive and problem skin really doesn’t do well with. Just because it’s plant derived doesn’t mean it’s good for your skin.
I realized that I could take control of something that I was putting on my skin everyday. I could make soap as simple and close to nature as possible. I made my first batch of lemongrass soap six years ago in my kitchen in Salt Lake. After using that first bar of handcrafted soap with simple skin-loving plant-based ingredients, I was hooked. The soap smelled incredible and didn’t leave a fragrance on me all day. My skin felt clean and fresh, but not dry. I knew I needed to bring this soap to the wider world. I knew there must be people out there like me who want their skincare to be close to nature with as few ingredients as possible. I wanted them to be able to recognize the ingredients on the label and know they were choosing a product that wasn’t filled with artificial ingredients.
In 2020 Covid hit. It was a hard year for me. I had just moved to Ogden and I was suddenly a single mom at home all the time with two kids. I needed to balance our homeschooling life with a pandemic and needing to create an income that would let me stay at home. The world felt like quite a heavy place at that moment. I needed something to inspire me and keep my spirits up. That’s when I dived even deeper into my herbal studies and soap making.
It felt even more imperative to develop a good soap that would not only get your skin clean with drying it out, but also give you an experience. To elevate that simple moment in your day from ho-hum to luxurious. I developed a collection of six different soaps selling them to friends, family and neighbors. They were a hit and that gave me the courage to open my own business in the spring of 2021.
Having no prior experience running a business I started slow, selling mainly to friends and family and eventually attending local festivals. Each year since I’ve continued to attend various markets and now in 2026 my soaps are bought by people all over Utah and all over the country. It’s quite exciting as people discover that soap can be more than just a way to wash off dirt. It can be a sensory experience that brings calm to your day or wakes you up and invigorates you.
I’ve expanded my offerings to full line of 25 different soaps some of which rotate seasonally. I now also offer hand knit wash cloths, herbal lip balms, herbal foot soaks and coming this year herbal hand salves and balms.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s not been the smoothest road. When I started Nettlesome Pantry, I had no business experience. I had to learn to do marketing, accounting, product fulfillment, branding, product photography.
Marketing seems to be the biggest hurdle so far. Especially in the digital world we live in. Figuring out the right language and how to tell a story that engages a person that they are interest in your product. SEO and AI are now huge part of my daily life as I am learning to tweak blog posts and fine tune product listings and not feel pushy or sales-y.
It’s much easier to sell my soaps in person as they often sell themselves through their smell. However, with my e-commerce store I have to entice the customer to buy a product that is very personal in nature. How do you sell something that has to be smelled but they can’t smell it? I had to dig into my college art school roots and use my degree in photograph to being take product photos that would invoke a smell or feeling and learn to write in way that allows the customer to smell my product through words.
Learning accounting feels like the easy part compared to marketing.
We’ve been impressed with Nettlesome Pantry LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Nettlesome Pantry is an artisan herbal soap company. I sell plant based soaps infused with essential oils. You won’t find SLS, parbens, phalates or or harsh detergents, fragrance oils or preservatives. I strive to make my skincare products with as few ingredients as possible using only plant based oils and 100% real essential oils. I used the cold process soap method which means my soaps is slow soap. It takes about an hour to make each batch of soap and then 4-6 weeks to cure it.
Creating a product in a slower fashion, handcrafting each batch, hand cutting and labeling allows me to not only have an artistic hand in what’s being made, but also a loving hand as each bar of soap that goes out of my soap studio is important to me because it will brighten a customers day, help their skin feel it’s best. And that brings me the most joy, knowing my soap has given to others whom I’ve never met, the same joy it brings to me.
My soaps are more expensive than what you buy at the store, but I’m ok with that. The ingredients I use are high quality and sustainably sourced and I don’t use palm oil or seed oils in my formulas. I only use essential oils to scent my soaps, which are often more expensive due to the nature of using real plant materials. The botanicals that top my soaps are locally grown by me, wild harvested by me or sustainably sourced when I can’t grow or forage them myself.
I’m proud of my soaps, they are highest quality product I know how to make. I feel safe washing my dishes with my soap and even tossing the water out into the garden.
I find that my soaps stand out from others I’ve seen in my area because of my mission to keep my soaps plant based and use only real essential oils. You can take my soap traveling with you as bar soap won’t melt in a suitcase or explode under pressure. I have customers who take my soap camping and RV’ing as well as used at off-grid cabins.
I source my ingredients and packaging materials from other small businesses. It try my best to help support other small businesses with my purchases.
My soap labels are handmade and recyclable. When you buy a soap from me online your purchase comes in 100% post consumer recycled containers. You can reuse, recycle or compost those.
I try my best provide a luxurious experience that is also eco-friendly and sustainable for long term health of our environment. As gardener and herbalist plants matter a lot to me and so does my packaging and what I send out into the world.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for those just starting out do you basic research for area, figure out if people want your product or not and then go for it. Don’t over think it too much. Always keep striving to perfect your product and learn new ways to bring value to your customers.
The only thing I wish I knew when I first started was how to market through story telling. It’s been a long journey of learning how to write in this way I also wish I had known about SEO six years ago. That would have helped people find me online a lot faster.
Pricing:
- $12-$15 per bar of soap
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nettlesome.life
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NettlesomePantryLLC/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nettlesomelife
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/NettlesomePantry/
