Mommaprenuer: Rebecca D. Dillon, Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen

Tell us about yourself: I’m from a pretty average American family. I grew up as part of the struggling middle class in the 80s with a mother who was always trying to give my brother and I whatever we wanted and therefore living a bit beyond our means. My mom was always doing arts and crafts with me and taught me how to bake. I attended college locally at Roanoke College where I studied a bit of everything including photography, screen printing, graphic design, pottery, 3-D design, drawing, painting, art history, poetry and even writing. It took me seven years, but I eventually managed a BA in fine arts. I love making soap, blogging, shopping and reading anything related to the paranormal.

I’ve been married for eight years now and have a twelve-year-old son from a previous relationship. My son is the best helper I could ask for and will do a multitude of weekly chores for his allowance, which goes a long way toward helping me out. He’s also a great student and rarely gets into trouble, which makes thinks a lot easier on me. He’s pretty well rounded. He’s active in sports despite having exercise induced asthma, pulls straight A’s in advanced classes, is learning how to target shoot at the range from his bio father’s girlfriend, plays a mean hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, and is heading off on a mission trip next week to a South Dakota Indian reservation. He’s also planning on attending Harvard to study law, and if that falls through, well, he’s a tried and true UVA fan and they have a law program as well. I couldn’t ask for better.

On a more personal note, I have struggled with severe depression all of my life. Several years back I was diagnosed with agoraphobia, and just a few weeks back I was diagnosed with bipolar. So I’m sort of a mess all the way around some days. Getting things done can be a constant struggle for me because of the bipolar and agoraphobia but I push through because I’m stubborn – and very much the typical Gemini – and do what I can when I can. I also hate that there is a negative stigma attached to mental illness so I talk about it freely because it’s really not something that people should feel ashamed of. Everyone has issues of some kind. Some just have a harder go than others.

How did you start creating your artwork? I had gotten into the habit of buying handmade soaps as I have very sensitive skin and it was one of the only things that wouldn’t break my skin out. After some time buying soap, I decided I’d give a try at making soap myself. I then taught myself by purchasing The Soapmaker’s Companion and doing a lot of online research and experimentation.

How did you make the decision to pursue your art career and work from home? I started my business in 2001 while I was still working outside of the home. I didn’t really take it that seriously when I first started up. Like a lot of folks giving a first time business a go it was more of a hobby than anything else. Around 2005 I was diagnosed with agoraphobia. It was so bad that I was at the point I was having panic attacks over and over, practically non-stop, everywhere including my home. The only places I was panic free were in my office and my bedroom. Finding the appropriate medication to treat the panic took a few tries so at that point I made the decision to stay at home for a while and left my job. I was lucky that my husband had reached a point in his career that I was able to do this. Within a year though I was bored out of my ever-loving mind and striking up conversations with random strangers in Target. Then one-day hubby and I just happened to be walking downtown through the local city market, and I made a spur of the
moment decision that day that I was going to sell downtown. The next day I called and got things set up, and the day after that I was officially a vendor. I worked through the panic attacks and didn’t sell on Saturdays for several months until I was able to work up to the point that the market was a comfort zone for me. Once I established my local business, I moved on to focus on my online business in January of 2008.

How do you balance work and family? This is an especially big challenge for me. Going undiagnosed with bipolar for so long and having my medication for the agoraphobia stop working every six months or so I would go through long periods of depression. I’d have good days and bad days. Good weeks and bad weeks. Some weeks I’d function and others I just didn’t. So the weeks that are good I make product like there’s no tomorrow which allows me to balance things out for when I’m so unfocused I’d skip from thing to thing to thing and couldn’t get anything done. Or the weeks I was just simply exhausted all of the time and could barely get out of bed. If I start to feel stressed, I know that if I don’t stop and slow down it will only get worse. My health is more important than making soap because in the end, if I don’t stop and slow down, I’ll be even less productive and for far longer. So I stop and chill out in the bedroom and watch bad TV or I read book after book. Occasionally I’ll party like a rock star. It all depends on the mood I’m in. However, I’ve just started on a mood stabilizer in addition to the medication I take for the anxiety and depression so hopefully it will work and I can get into a more regular routine. I get a lot of support from my husband and together we make things work.

If you could go back in time to the beginning stages of your venture, what advice would you give yourself? To take a course in marketing.

Tell us about your average day: I can’t. It’s never the same. It’s never consistent. I am chaos. The one consistent thing I do however is a lot of marketing on the computer whenever I get out of bed. And when I get out of bed depends on a myriad of circumstances.

What do you love most about owning and operating your own creative business? It allows me the freedom to work and not have to rely on someone else for extra money or even have to go on disability.

Besides your work and family, what else do you enjoy doing? I’m an avid reader of paranormal fiction. I love fine dining – you know the 5-star restaurants with the fancy plates – and I love to go to a great club and just dance.

Why do you think consumers should shop handmade? Because when you buy handmade you are helping individuals live the dream of being able to work for themselves including those who are unable to work traditional jobs. You are supporting individuals with faces and dreams and families – someone just like you.