Hi there, My name in Melissa Lare and I LOVE to create things! From an early age I was always doing something creative—painting, doodling, cutting, gluing, sculpting, you name it! I took art classes galore through school and always felt such deep satisfaction and happiness when I was using my hands to make something.
After college, I abandoned many of my creative passions in pursuit of a career. I went to work for my dad’s landscaping business and became utterly obsessed with the inner workings of running a business. I was fascinated with how many things had to come together just perfectly to make a business run successfully. My dad would tell you this was incredibly ironic considering that I had spent my entire college education convincing him that I just had to major in psychology and there was no way I was majoring in something boring like business.
Like any creative soul, the creative itch eventually came back. And when it came back, it came on strong in the form of handmade glycerin soaps. How strange right? Looking back I think it was the endless combinations of colors, designs and scents that really hooked me on soapmaking.
Eventually my creative soul married my sensible business side and Darn Good Soaps was born. My creative business became my baby. I poured every ounce of time, energy and creativity into the business and truly loved every minute of it. I loved making things, figuring out packaging and labeling, creating designs and mixing up scent combinations. I also truly loved the business side of things making sales, marketing my business, setting goals, meeting new people and making money from what I loved doing.
I became really passionate about small businesses and decided I wanted to pursue an MBA in the evenings so I could have a formal business education. I was also actively involved in the family landscaping business and we were getting ready to move to a brand new location and open a garden center. I eventually made the hard decision to sell my business so that I could finish my MBA and devote myself to the growth of the family business.
