Family goat-milk soap business a success

On their three-acre farm in Charlestown, the Jonases had two goats, whose milk the family drank and used to make cheese. Jonas decided to try the goat's milk to make something else: a softer, more natural bar of soap. She searched for recipes on the Internet, bought some lye, invited a friend over to help, and, voila, she'd made three batches of soap.

That experiment has turned into a successful business — Goat Milk Stuff — that supports and involves the whole family: PJ; her husband, Jim Jonas; and their eight children, ages 1 to 12.
"Everyone has a role," she said.

Brett Jonas, 12, helps with the order invoices and packaging. Colter, 10, milks the goats — the Jonases now have seven — twice a day. Younger brothers and sisters clean up after the goats and man the family sales booth at festivals. "I'd been praying for years for something we could do as a family, and this has just been really great," PJ said.

Everyone liked the soap because the cream and proteins from goat's milk moisturized it, PJ said. Jim, who often works outside, noticed that the cracks in his hands healed after he started using the soap, and he no longer needs lotion.

At first, the family made 6-ounce bars for themselves or gave them away as gifts. Then, about a year and a half ago, the family car was badly damaged and needed expensive repairs. "I thought, 'How am I going to raise $9,000?'" PJ recalled. "'I know, I'll sell soap!'" She sold the soap at festivals and said the response was tremendous throughout Charlestown. Word spread like wildfire.

The family also set up a Web site to sell the soap, and the Jonases get eight to 10 orders per day, PJ said. They now have customers in 48 states and countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and even Kazakhstan. They have expanded their varieties of soap to 37, including ones that are unscented for sensitive skin and others with floral, fruit and masculine scents. "It's been amazing," PJ said. "It's grown like I never imagined." To help with the business, Jim has gone part time at his job at Sweetland Ltd., a trash-removal service in New Albany.

The family has built a barn with stations for every stage of production, from mixing the soap to pouring it in molds to shipping it. Jim said that with so many children participating, good organization is the key.  "There has to be lots of process flow, or there is just chaos," he said.

Jim and PJ said the business has taught their children, who are home-schooled, about the real value of things, about how much time and effort is required to make things, not just how much they cost.

The business is now limited by the hours in an already busy day. When the children are older and able to take on more responsibility, the business can grow with them, Jim said.
Colter Jonas said he likes working with the goats. "It's my job," he said, grinning with pride.