I've always been an entrepreneur at heart, starting when I was a small girl making and selling homemade crafts and goodies. I started my first Etsy store, Happy Homestead back in 2008 selling homemade hair accessories and sewing patterns and have really grown to love Etsy and the handmade community. As a crafter, the opportunities are endless.

When my second daughter had horrible rashes and dry skin as a newborn due to the store bought baby products I was using, I decided to start researching what really was in our so-called "gentle" baby products. I couldn't believe what was deemed safe to put on a newborn baby's delicate skin. I had thought about learning to make homemade soap for a while and it seemed so difficult, but I was up for the challenge. After lots and lots of research online I decided I would take the plunge and start making our own homemade soap for our family, which then led to homemade lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, as well as a more healthy lifestyle in general.

I have this insatiable inner drive to keep pushing myself to see what I am capable of and am always learning, always growing. Basically everything I know, I've had to teach myself, which has been difficult, but very rewarding. I love to create things, whether it be to make up my own healthy cooking recipes, or create new soaps. Since I enjoyed making high quality soaps so much for our family, I decided to see if others would like them as much as my friends and family did. We started selling at our local farmers market, downtown First Fridays events, and on Etsy and it did much better than we ever expected.

Since opening, I've been constantly trying new soap making techniques, fiddling with recipes and label designs, and working on improving my photography. We hope one day for our shop to be a full-time family business that as our 8 kids get older, we can all work together more and more. God is my number one priority, then my family, and our home business. I have so many ideas for Ginger Grey in the future and as time allows, I will hopefully seem them come to fruition. Thanks for your support and for learning more about Ginger Grey!

Melissa