Meet Ayla Whitehead of Rustique Essentials

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ayla Whitehead.

Hi Ayla, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
You know, if you would have asked me 10 years ago where I would end up, creating a soap business is not something that would have ever come out of my mouth. 10 years ago, I was just a normal person working 8-5 in an orthodontic office, paying off my student loans, relying on child care for our daughter, and eating frozen convenience dinners every night of the week.

We purchased the 18-acre homestead Rustique Essentials is now based in 2010 with the intention to start a horse breeding program. Before we had our daughter my husband and I both loved to a rodeo (I barrel raced and he rode bulls) so we knew we wanted our children to experience the horse life. The property had several barns and an old abandoned corn crib. The corn crib sat for YEARS untouched b/c we couldn’t figure out what to do with it, but God knew. He knew what he was doing and set us up with all we needed over a decade before we even knew we needed it.

In October 2010, we found out we were expecting twins, in April 2011, I got put on bed rest after being admitted to the hospital for early labor a third time, causing me to lose my position at the small business I worked at due to a potential 4+ month absence in bed rest and maternity leave. Then in May 2011, the boys were born a month and a half early and our lives were changed forever.

After weeks in the NICU, bringing the boys home opened our eyes completely. The same products we used for our daughter, like disposable diapers and wipes, would give the boys a rash that would need medicine to treat. Turned out they were allergic to artificial ingredients and fragrances which are in absolutely everything! We had no idea how many chemicals were in our day-to-day routine until we saw a physical reaction in our preemies.

We had massive medical bills and were down to one income. Me going back to work was out of the question because daycare would cost just as much per month as our mortgage payment did. Our income situation made it extremely difficult b/c we couldn’t afford the organic products they needed. We would try the cheaper “free and clear” products just to discover the boys would break out. Turns out, free and clear mostly means free and clear of dyes and fragrances NOT sodium laurel sulfate and other synthetic preservatives or stabilizers. We were so stuck!

Along with skin issues, we were battling constant medical issues. One twin had to be monitored with a portable pulse oximeter and needed breathing treatments to balance oxygen levels. In addition, he suffered from severe eczema. The other twin suffered from digestion issues needing daily reflux medication & laxatives because his whole GI tract wasn’t working right. We saw 3 pediatricians and a GI specialist before we found the pediatrician who did more than just prescribe a new medication to try and hope it worked. She changed everything.

The last pediatrician was open to things like using essential oils and chemical-free products. She recommended we switch our laundry detergent to soap nuts and start using cloth diapers and warm washcloths as wipes. Her recommendations helped with the skin issues tremendously!

Other items such as soaps, lotions, and diaper rash creams were harder to navigate. The bottle would say “made with natural ingredients” so I’d buy it and my son would break out. Further research showed yes, there were one or two natural ingredients mixed in with a slew of other synthetic ingredients! Oh! And the cleaning and laundry products didn’t even list ingredients so it was impossible to know if we could safely use them or not. Purchasing store-bought products was like playing roulette with my son’s skin.

I got to the point I had absolutely had enough. I decided the only way I could truly protect my kids as if I made the product myself so that I could closely monitor what was going into the products. The only problem was I had no idea what I was doing, didn’t have anywhere to work, and didn’t even know where to start.

One day my dad and I were loading up some remnant patio pavers from a scrap pile when we saw an old wood table. We dug it out, took it home, glued the leg back on, cleaned it up really good, and put it in the corner of the guest room and that was the first soap making item I ever got haha! I found an old chair, some bowls, and a microwave at Goodwill and I was in business!

I started to practice by trying a basic castile soap. Olive oil, water, lye. Once I figured out that I could actually make soap I would push myself a little farther each time stepping a bit out of my comfort zone. Making soap turned to make cleaning supplies then hair detanglers, and even salves. I no longer required a store. Everything we used to buy I was making with basic, safe, and natural ingredients such as vinegar, handmade soap, and essential oils. Every day my knowledge base grew and I got better and better.

Income was always an issue though. I worked part-time making retainers for the orthodontic office once a month. Then I took a side job for my neighbor setting up at farmers’ markets and selling his produce. It was at a farmers market I met an herbalist who had kids the same age as mine so we hit it off.

She taught me about wildcrafting herbs, making poultices, and what herb to pick if the kids got stung by a bee, ran into a patch of poison ivy, or burned themselves. I never realized each plant has a function and with that knowledge, I began learning about herbal infusions, tinctures, poultices, teas, and on and on! Just when I thought I had learned it all, another door would open to a whole new world of learning.

Between the weekend farmers markets and monthly orthodontic office work to help make ends meet I also enrolled as a school bus attendant then when my driver retired I became a substitute teacher.

I was teaching elementary school during the day, working at the orthodontist when I wasn’t substituting, running farmers’ markets for my neighbor on the weekends, making soap products for my family at night, picking and packing produce every Friday evening, running the 18 acres while my husband worked for the city and farmed tobacco, managed three kids, and I was burning myself out fast. I didn’t know what to do but I knew something had to change.

When word got around that I was making natural salves some of the teachers at school started purchasing products from me. Then my friends started to purchase some. Then my mom mentioned trying to sell the products at a market to see if they would do any good. I went to my neighbor with an idea to put a few soaps and lip balms at his stand at the check-out counter so I could get a feel for how the demand was going to be for a product like mine. He agreed and everything changed again.

We took the biggest risk we ever have. We picked a name, opened a business bank account with the minimum amount required, had a lawyer make everything official, created a mobile display, bought a tent, and started selling my products out of my own booth. Pop up events, farmers markets, grand openings, if there was a vendor event I was there.

At one of the events, we were noticed by a general manager and invited to be a vendor at Miss Lucille’s, one of the most amazing places in Clarksville to be a vendor with a huge waitlist! So we built a booth. Then we were invited to another booth, then another. It was almost like it was a dream world. Stuff like that doesn’t happen to normal people like me, it was just wild to experience.

Once I was discovered I quickly outgrew the old table in the guest bedroom… and the kitchen table… and the shed I kept all the extra supply boxes in… and in September 2019 we took the business to the next level and started renting an unused space to work out of from a woman in Adams. It was a 12-month agreement and in December 2019 her husband and daughter gave me a notice that our agreement was null and I would be required to be out by the end of the month.

In that 3 months, I had purchased thousands of dollars of equipment, inventory, and storage solutions to make the business grow and had nowhere to fit it all! Luckily we were able to borrow an enclosed car trailer that I could store my stuff in and set up a small workstation. It was so cold in there all of my liquid oils solidified.

Several water-based products froze and busted. I just bawled. I had worked so hard to build my business and just like that, beyond my control, it was all for nothing again!! I was ready to shut the business down and go back to substitute teaching- but my husband stepped in with a plan that was going to change it all.

January 2020 came. We made a plan to start to convert half of the unused old corn crib on the property to a makeshift soap shop I could work out of instead of the car trailer. We had a plan to take a percentage of Valentine’s markets and spring fling earnings and use those earnings to finish the shop.

I couldn’t wait for the market season to open again! We were going to build a real shop! Whoo-hoo! BUT… February 2020 hit and the talk of Covid began, then March 2020 hit and everything shut down. No markets, no booths, no income. No unemployment or PPP because I didn’t qualify. I again felt the weight of being forced to close my business.

With no operating income, nothing in savings due to “expanding the business” in the Adams space, LLC, and taxes were still due, and although I couldn’t find a venue that could stay open I was still being charged booth rent, and property taxes, etc. With nowhere to work from, no money to create a place to work from, and an uncertain future my only option was to permanently close… or that’s what I thought… until God stepped in.

I broke down and then prayed to God for guidance, and do you know what He did? Weeks later, he sent a tree crashing into our house. Just when it couldn’t get worse. We called the insurance agency, and they came out and granted us enough money to replace the entire roof. Turns out, once the tree was removed, only two sheets of tin and about two feet of our gutters were severely damaged.

We were able to save the tin and gutters from our old roof to wrap and re-roof the corn crib! Thank you, God! Then we needed some wood to frame in the bathroom so I went to Habitat for Humanity to see if they had any used lumber where I scored enough drywall to finish the shop for $30!

My SUV was so loaded down and squatted that I was scared my tires were going to burst! We found mis-tint paint at lowes for $9/gallon instead of $30. My grandparent’s old church had been torn down and rebuilt- the ceiling fans and breaker box had been saved and were given to us.

The neighbor was getting rid of old trim boards we got for free, we got 3 old concrete forms for $10 that I use for my shelving, a fried pie business shut down and donated their pie rack to dry my soaps on, and we reused 1960’s cabinets, a sink, and a baby blue countertop from a kitchen remodel, and we sanded down the original floors and finished them by hand. The only thing we spent money on was running a new electric meter, the permits and inspections, wiring, insulation, and the porch lumber. We had just enough money to complete it, thanks to the help of the man upstairs.

The way it all came together, I know it was God’s will. We officially opened the homestead shop in August 2020. It was crazy! The rodeo girl turned dental assistant turned orthodontic laboratory technician turned to stay at home mom turned cleaning lady turned bus attendant turned substitute teacher turned to produce picker/packer turned farmers market vendor turned into a soap making small business owner!

Sometimes God gives us a crazy path to follow but we always end up where we are meant to be. Sometimes really good things are hidden in really bad things, like losing your job, having sick kids and even a tree falling on your house. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, take a deep breath, open your heart, and just know that God has got you.

The shop has gone above and beyond what we ever expected. Not only do I use it to make all of my products, but we also teach out of it. This little soap shop has been the place of learning for homeschool children groups, family visiting from out of state groups, one on one lessons, a bachelorette group, birthday groups, a special anniversary night, a new to TN and want to learn how to get my hands dirty group, and even we want to build an off-grid community but know nothing about raising or preserving our own food group.

We teach all kinds of heritage skills- soap making, gardening to actually feed your family, wild foraging for food and medicine, goat care, cow care, chicken care, sewing, canning food, cooking on a fire, chicken processing, making goat cheese, and we are always taking requests to add to this list. We’ve recently had a request to teach a camping class on how to set up a tent, wash dishes with no running water, and start a fire so that will be going on our classes to teach list.

God has blessed us beyond belief and we are so fortunate to be able to use his gift to us to help other people who may be experiencing what we did.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all… actually, I don’t think the word “smooth” is listed anywhere in the book of Rustique Essentials lol!

From the very beginning to even today we are constantly facing challenges. From figuring out how to get your name out there to actually building something worthy, staying open through Covid, operating through supply shortages, staffing issues, having to stay ahead of big corporations that offer a lesser product for less money marketed as an equal product, and now tripling the inventory cost to create your products.

It has NEVER been easy, but we are thankful to be able to wake up and give it another day’s worth of effort to keep this baby running.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Rustique Essentials?
Rustique Essentials is a small family-owned business that offers handmade natural home and body care items which are all handcrafted in our renovated 100-year-old corn crib turned soap shop on our homestead.

Each product is made with farm-fresh ingredients including creamy goat’s milk that we hand milk ourselves from our herd, fresh herbs grown in our medicinal herb garden, sustainable tallow we produce ourselves, as well as rich honey and beeswax from the family farm.

We specialize in old-fashioned soaps and homesteading classes. We are known for our soaps that use natural colorants such as spinach powder and beetroot powder as well as being scented with essential oils or a paraben, sulfate, and phthalate-free fragrance oil. Every product we craft is created on the “Mason scale” meaning, that if I’m not completely comfortable using it on my son’s overly sensitive skin it doesn’t go into our products.

Brand-wise, I’m most proud of the purity of the product we are able to create. That was the driving force behind creating this business. Plain and simple ingredients plainly listed on labels with no flashy or tricky wording.

We also are moving forward with a go-green initiative where instead of constantly putting more plastic into the landfills we offer a monthly refill program at our soap shop so if you need your essential oil bug spray refilled or your essential oil hair detangler refilled just bring your bottle back for a refill and only pay for the ounces you put in.

Easy as that. Our soaps already come in a thin recyclable paper label to reduce landfill waste.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Never lose faith. Sometimes the bad you are going through is really just aligning you on the path you were meant to be on.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.rustiqueessentials.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rustiqueessentials/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rustiqueessentials

Image Credits
Saved by Grace Photography