Meet Cindy Borsi and Paulette Martinez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Borsi and Paulette Martinez.

Hi Cindy and Paulette, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hi. This is Paulette Martinez.

I have always been a maker, in love with science and art. I’ve never been a “girly girl,” but I have always loved having clean, shiny, great-looking, and lovely scented hair and soft, silky skin. I never bought into the notion that I had to own the newest, shiniest of beauty products on the market. I’ve always been practical in my approach to beauty, and I believe that good health practices must be “front and center” to any beauty routine. For me, good health-related to beauty products means nourishing limited ingredients.

Let’s fast forward a bit… I’m a full-time educator (retiring and moving to Tennessee this summer) and a veteran do-it-myself(er). Years ago, I was knocking around looking for relief for my husband’s pain in his lower legs, and I made up batches of an arnica salve that finally offered him some blessed relief. After that successful experience, I began making soap. Soap-making, even just the use of beautiful soaps, appeals to so many of our senses. And in soap-making, I found something that was uniquely satisfying for me, a perfect union of science and art.

I loved making soap so much that I began tinkering with my soap formulas to perfect them, and those adventures led to my self-education into salts, surfactants, and emulsifiers. The development of my super spectacular shampoo and conditioner bars came from this learning following some trial and error.

I’ve since developed some unique nutrient-rich skincare products that I am just as happy to boast about but will spare you a lengthy rant on our lotions and foaming sugar scrubs at this time. However, you should know that I spent the same amount of time and attention to detail developing the skincare products as I did in creating our shampoo and conditioner bars. The large majority of our products are vegan, and we carefully choose the least environmentally harmful packaging whenever possible.

I’d be remiss if I failed to mention my love for scents. I have carefully, and with much love, chosen scents I believe will delight. And AlpacaSoaps allows you to pick and choose from various beautiful bouquets. So that’s my story of the origin of AlpacaSoaps and its initial progression.

Hi, this is Cindy Borsi.

Sisterhood is an incredible bond. I was born first in a family of four siblings, one sister, Paulette, and two brothers, Bil and Brian.
I was the typical girly girl. I love all things feminine and pretty. I’ve since, with age, settled into a much more feminist attitude and lifestyle, but I’ve not given up on my love of the girly girl in me.

So here’s a little backstory about my hair, I have always been disappointed that my hair never looked or felt as good as it did when I walked out of a hair salon. I always purchased and chased new hair products, which usually worked well for a couple of washes but then my hair returned to the same old dull, flat, lusterless looking hair. I learned a few years back that my sister, our family’s “mad scientist and naturalist,” had developed a formula for environmentally friendly shampoo and conditioning bars. She sent me a set of the haircare bars, and after the first wash, I noticed a considerable positive difference. Since that time, my hair has transformed (approximately two years ago) into the hair I now admire! Paulette continued to make more hair and body products, and I continued to be impressed.

So naturally, after my own experience and learning of the same experience from other users, I jumped on board when Paulette asked me if I’d like to work with her at AlpacaSoaps. I work primarily in marketing, ad creation, social media, and website updates. I’m here to help get the word out about our haircare and body care products. They are truly superb, and they work, and we want to make them available to people of all income levels. When you look good – you feel good – and I hope to spread that far and wide.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Great question! Being both seniors, we have come to this new venture with lots of life experience and knowledge. However, we have a ton to learn when it comes to social media and this new age of internet public promoting. Our struggles include making proper choices in apps or programs when there are so many to choose from and such a steep learning curve. The good news is we are not quitters, and we are determined to be technologically savvy.

Another interesting struggle is in determining which products will be a hit. We have been sometimes delighted with the response to a product as well as bewildered by lukewarm responses to products we love. However, we find this more fascinating than discouraging.

It has not been a smooth road. There have been bumps in the road, and there will continue to be bumps, but we have experience navigating bumps. It’s been a delightful journey so far.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Paulette: Aside from starting this small business of making and selling hair and beauty products that inspire the scientist and artisan in me, I am also a full-time educator. I am a reading specialist teaching in a middle school in Brownsville, TX. I am in my final year of teaching and will be retiring with my husband, three dogs, and one cat to Tennessee in the summer of 2022.

Cindy: I am retired from a career in law. For 15 years, I managed a boutique law firm in Orlando, Florida. I also performed the duties of a trial paralegal. The law firm handled catastrophic injury and complex litigation cases throughout the United States. In 2016, my husband and I retired to Tennessee. In 2020, I began working with Paulette at AlpacaSoaps.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
We, sisters, are very different in taste regarding apps, books, podcasts, and blog reading and listening. But we have shared a love for learning from a few great resources. We have learned a lot about Facebook promotion, marketing, and small business practices from the podcasts of Susan Bradley on The Roadmap to $50K and have even joined her group, The Social Sales Girls. It is a lovely and accommodating group of small business entrepreneurs. We highly recommend a listen to Susan.

The app we could not live without is Canva. We love, love, love it. It houses our artwork, photographs, ads, invitations, videos, etc. It was super easy to learn and has been a life-saver in costs. Every small business should give it a try.

Paulette is currently in a class titled Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown, which she highly recommends to anyone making products with fragrances.

And the last one we want to share is the private Facebook Group Saponification Nation. To join, you must be a soap maker. They share recipes, tips, tricks and provide troubleshooting advice for those who want to talk soap.

Pricing:

• Shampoo and Conditioner Bar Combo $17
• Foaming Sugar Scrub $7
• Lotion 8-0z $9
• Soap Bars $6.5
• Lip Balm $2

Contact Info:

• Email: alpacasoapco@gmail.com
• Website: alpacasoaps.com
• Instagram: @alpacasoaps
• Facebook: facebook.com/alpacasoaps

Image Credits
Cindy Borsi