Inside the Outlaw Soaps Safehouse

We're not a typical soap operation in that we don't really have a physical location to shop at. Since our safehouse is a bit of a Wonka situation, I figured I'd pull back the curtain and you could see where we work!

Most of my job is writing and running numbers (wheeeeeeeee), so when I work here, I work in the conference bit of the offices on an old peeling wood table we got from Katie's* garage sale two years ago:

Yep, that's me, writing this very blog post. Isn't that special? I probably spend 9 hours crunched over a computer every day. But unlike when I worked in a cubicle, now I can fucking curse when I write.

It's the little things, really.

And yes, that is an authentic antique "EXPLOSIVES" sign on Russ's office door. Thank you for asking! I can't believe you noticed it, but I know you keep your eye out for rogue opportunities like that.

The most impressive part of our operation is the workshop area:

That's about 2,200 square feet of concrete! I recommended we open a roller rink in part of it, but Russ said no. But think of it! We could do "The Hustle" as a side hustle! C'mon!

Here's Elysia! She's the person who receives and fills your order... and also maintains this mad-awesome whiteboard of shipping and stock deadlines. Right now, she's packing up the big holiday order for all the Northern California Whole Foods Markets.

In order to get to Whole Foods, all our products have to ship to UNFI, our distributor first, which means that in order for our products to get to Whole Foods by October 1 (their on-sale date), we have to ship the cases to UNFI for delivery in late August and early September (and here we are!).

Elysia uses this planning whiteboard to make sure we have enough of everything (for example, today, she said, "Danielle, I don't know how to tell you this, but we're out of soap dishes again." - I had just ordered 440 wood soap dishes and now we need more? aaaa!).

Since we're a little company and we have to make everything by hand, we have to plan our stock many months in advance. And Elysia's the magic that makes that happen!

Here's some lotion:

Here's our body wash:

And finally, here's Russ working at his computer:

See? I'm not the only one with a desk job around here!

I didn't include Marci's work area because that's another post for another time, but I hope you enjoyed this pictoral saunter through our facility!

Oh, and we also have some inspirational signs:

Let us know if you'd like any other insights into our little business. We're always happy to be an open and transparent business. It's part of our vision of a democratic sundries company.

* Katie was the production assistant before Marci, but she left to go raise a child. Priorities and whatnot.