Our Story

Hi! I'm Leslie, and I make soap.  

My soap making journey started back in 2018. I was living in Haiti at the time where my husband and I directed Clean Water for Haiti, a nonprofit that builds and installs water filters for Haitian families.

Life in Haiti was always an adventure and taught us a lot, including how to be really creative and flexible. Our friends called us "Haiti homesteaders" because we figured out how to do a lot of things ourselves because there was no other option. 

One day I bought a bar of black soap for my daughter who was struggling with some skin issues, and she loved it. I wasn't able to find the same soap the next time I went to the store because that's the way it was in Haiti. I got curious about what went into making soap and I fell down the rabbit hole. I learned how to formulate a recipe, and using things I could find in country, I made my first batch of soap. I shared photos online because I was so excited. To my surprise fellow expats started asking if I was going to make more and if I would sell it. Until that point I hadn't even considered making it for other people.

I did more research, and while we were on our summer vacation that year I got more supplies so I could experiment. I don't think I expected to fall in love with soap making as much as I did, but here we are! Seeing how excited other people got about what I was making just made it that much more fun. I love that something that's so practical in nature can also be beautiful and feel so special.

I made and sold soap in Haiti until the fall of 2022 when we had to say goodbye to our home there because of the insecurity. Packing up our life and moving back to North America was one of the hardest things I've had to do. We're now settled in Vancouver, Washington, and I still get to do my day job with Clean Water for Haiti and support our team as they continue to get filters to the families that need and want them. I was able to bring my most important soap making tools with me when we left, and I've set up a studio space to work in. I'm so excited to be able to get back to doing something I love, and to be able to share that with others.

I sometimes hear people say that my soap is too pretty to use. Those are the words a soap maker never wants to hear! I know it's pretty, but I think of it as consumable art. I enjoy the process of creating it, and I make it to be used. When you use a bar of Pepperberry soap I hope you feel the love and intention that went into it. Every bar has been hand crafted, hand cut, and packaged with love. 

Friends, life is too short. Use the pretty soap. There will always be more.