2019 US Conference Speakers

Amanda Aaron has built her career around providing education in her craft, soapmaking. She has taught all over the United States in various classrooms and presents annually at conferences and seminars put on by the handcrafted soap industry’s top guilds and organizations. Her online soapmaking Facebook Group has over 29K members. 
 

After learning the craft of soapmaking, Amanda started an educational blog at LovinSoap.com, which features step-by-step full color photographic tutorials, articles, troubleshooting advice and general information about soapmaking. She publishes books & eBooks on the topic of soapmaking and has written for industry publications such as Handmade Magazine, Making Soap and Soap Collaborative.      
 

In 2013 after a heart-moving trip to Haiti to teach a group of women who lived in a tent camp how to make soap, she decided that she would use her love of teaching to help as many women as possible in similar situations. She created a not-for-profit whose aim was to teach women in developing nations the craft and the business of soapmaking, tackling two of poverty’s biggest issues — lack of access to hygiene and lack of economic opportunity for women. The Lovin’ Soap Project is a registered 501(c)(3) and is currently working in Haiti, Uganda, Senegal, China and India and will continue to expand to other areas where women need opportunity.  

Amanda Aaron will be speaking on Cold Process Liquid Soapmaking.

Soaping since 2003, Ariane C Arsenault is established in the Magdalen Islands, Canada. Born on an island and raised on a sailboat, Ariane’s product lines are inspired by the seaside. Always in search of new designs and colour combinations, her soaps and cosmetics are both stunning and stylish!

Ariane specializes in Cold Processed and Melt & Pour soaps and decided to focus on succeeding at making bath bombs in the past years. Handmade cosmetics are part of her daily job and she will share some well-kept secrets with you!

In Canada, she is known as a leader in the industry, she was an occasional writer for the Handmade Magazine as a Cold Process author, she was an occasional contributor with Modern Soapmaking and the Lovin Soap blogs and she was published in the collective “Naturally Saponified, An International Gallery of Artisan Soaps”. She is very active on social media and soaping forums.

Selected by YouTube NextUp, Class of 2017 to take part in a full week of training at the YouTube Space New-York, her YouTube channel is ranked among the top in the soapmaking community. https://www.youtube.com/user/AudreeSoluna Both her channel and her Facebook page are places where soapmakers go for inspiration. https://www.facebook.com/LaFilledelaMerSavonnerieArtisanale https://www.lafilledelamer.com

Ariane Arsenault will be speaking on Let's Get Fizzy with Ariane & Lee!.

After a career in environmental laboratory work, followed by an Investor Relations role for a Fortune 500 chemical company, Regina Bauscher’s career fed her curiosity in Essential Oils. Furthering her education in Essential Oils, Regina became a certified aromatherapist in 2015 and has continued to pursue in-depth training through the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy and the Tisserand Institute. Helping people understand  the safe and proper usage of essential oils is a professional passion.

Regina Bauscher will be speaking on The Basic Chemistry of Essential Oils.

In 2015, Rick retired from a 35-year successful career in retail management. Throughout his lifetime, he’s had several artistic side businesses, such as making rings from coins, leather crafting, and calligraphy.

Leading up to retirement, Rick started searching for a unique home-based craft to enjoy as a supplemental business. In 2011, he started making handcrafted soap and began selling it in 2012.  

While Rick was happy making/selling bar soap, he found himself searching for something more. He wanted something creative, something magical, something that would really draw attention.

Rick read many books and watched videos. One day, he saw a video of a man in Thailand carving a beautiful flower out of soap. Rick was amazed! He searched, to no avail, for a video in English. Without knowing how to hold the knife, where to begin, and how deep to cut, he had months of failed attempts.

In 2016, Rick took his 92-year-old mother to Thailand for her birthday. A hotel concierge helped him book a 3-hour private soap carving lesson with a master carver. During the session, he felt embarrassed because he was so bad and confused. He wanted to give up. What he didn't realize, through his failed attempts, was how much he was learning. He learned how to hold the knife, how to cut the soap, and how NOT to quit. He took what he had learned, came home and practiced, practiced, practiced. Then, one day without warning, it just happened! Everything fell into place. His carvings looked like real flowers. His efforts finally paid off.

Soap carving has transformed Rick’s business. By carving live, it attracts customers and increases sales. Custom orders for soap carvings are his most profitable product. Rick’s goal is to help other soapmakers learn this exciting craft to enhance their soap businesses too.

Connect with me online at: https://www.facebook.com/HandCarvedSoapFlowers/

Richard Brooks will be speaking on Intro to Soap Flower Carving.

 The summer of 2001 changed Melanie’s life dramatically.  She became very ill, and the doctors finally discovered that she had contracted whooping cough.  Melanie spent that entire summer in bed resting and recovering.  While she was in bed Melanie began contemplating what she was going to do with her life when she retired from teaching.  Melanie started reading Susan Miller Cavitch's books on handcrafted soapmaking.  After recovering from her illness, she began experimenting with making soaps.  It was LOVE at first batch!  At the urging of her daughters Melanie added soy candles, bath salts, sugar scrubs, lip balms, lotions, lotion bars and bath bombs.  Her business, Serenity Soapworks, grew to the point that it outgrew her kitchen, house, and 12 x 20 building.    Melanie pours cosmetics for an international company as well as pouring candles for the world's largest organic surfboard and ski wax company.   She has taught sessions to the Lone Star Soap and Toiletries seminar the last 5 years. Melanie has also taught soapmaking classes and hosted soapmaking parties at her former brick and mortar.   

Melanie taught elementary school for 28 years.  She and her husband Gary have been married 43 years.  They have 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren.  Melanie loves to travel, read, and do other crafts.

Melanie Brown will be speaking on Salt of the Earth.

Lee Choy is the creator and designer of The Bath Bomb Press.  She has been making bath bombs for over 15 years.  She designed The Bath Bomb Press over 10 years ago to press out her bath bombs without the fatigue from hand pressing.  After using her own design for two years, she thought her design would also be helpful for others in the soap making world!  The Bath Bomb Press is now in almost every country in the world and Lee is always working on new mold designs.  You can find Lee via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bathbombpress, Facbook: https://www.facebook.com/bathbombpress and YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/bathbombpress where she shares her customers beautiful creations using The Bath Bomb Press.

Lee Choy will be speaking on Let's Get Fizzy with Ariane & Lee!.

Gates started Burly Stone in 2014. What started as a hobby quickly grew into a side hustle when he saw a niche, soap from a guys point of view, that he could fill. In 2015, as the victim of corporate downsizing, he chose to take the chance and became a solopreneur, making Burly Stone his full-time career.

Gates has always been an artist. He has a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MA in Computer Art from William Paterson University. For over 25 years Gates was a 3D computer artist & motion graphics designer, so the design side of his business is where his passion is. This includes spending far too many hours fixated over the slightest details in his packaging, web design, or Instagram photos.

Gates lives in Mystic, CT, with his husband Maurice, and their two dogs and seven chickens. When he’s not holed up in his workshop working on new pours or scent combinations, he & his hubby can be found looking at travel websites and dreaming of visiting Italy again. You can learn more about Gates & Burly Stone here!

Gates Councilor will be speaking on Elevate Your Online Presence: Web Design Trends to Push Sales.

Sharon is the Owner and Founder of The Great Lakes Natural Soap Company in Canton, Michigan. She has been making and selling soap for the last fifteen years to stores, hotels, gift shops, and boutiques throughout the country.

Sharon started the Great Lakes Natural Company in 2004 as a wholesale business. In 2016, she launched a new, upscale cold-process and hybrid soap brand named Places, expanding her business beyond Michigan’s borders and appealing to a much wider customer base.

Married for almost 32 years, Mom to a teenager, and an avid traveler, Sharon gets her inspiration from the beautiful places she’s visited in a lifetime of travel.

Sharon is a Certified Advanced Level Soapmaker, in both MP and CP/HP soapmaking as well as a Certified Soapmaking Teacher and a certified cosmetic maker.  Sharon teaches a variety of soap and cosmetic classes in Michigan and writes for a popular soapmaking blog. She Secretary of the HSCG Board of Directors, and has been a speaker at every conference since 2014.

Sharon Czekala will be speaking on Cosmetic Certification Intensive.

Kevin Dunn is the Elliott Professor of Chemistry at Hampden-Sydney College. His first book, Caveman Chemistry, brought him to the attention of handcrafted soapmakers. His second book, Scientific Soapmaking, explores the chemistry of soap at a deep, but accessible level. Professor Dunn's ongoing research continues to uncover fascinating details of the behavior of fats, oils, soaps,

Kevin Dunn will be speaking on Surfactant Showcase.

Wayne and Gifty are a Ghanaian/Canadian wife/husband team that came to shea butter and natural products with passion and a focus on development, but from totally different directions. 

Gifty was born in northern Ghana, on the edge of the Sahara and into a community and culture where shea butter had been made and used for millennia for food, cooking, skin care and more.  Handmade, using traditional techniques passed down through generations.

In the early 1980s Gifty went to Ottawa, Canada to complete high school and attend university where she completed undergrad and advanced degrees in development and political science.  She was shocked to discover that shea butter was virtually unknown and unavailable, and that what was available was often of poor quality and uncertain origins. 

This troubled her and as soon as she could, she began making shea butter products for friends, family and select customers, bringing the shea butter from women’s groups near her Ghanaian home and working to maximize impact on women and families. 

She was touched by the women constantly asking her to find ways to buy and sell more shea butter.  That they didn’t want charity, they just wanted a way to earn money to support their families.

In addition to being a full-time mother, making and selling shea butter products and a very active community volunteer, Gifty has worked in and supported Wayne’s corporate social responsibility and training businesses and activities throughout their 20 years of marriage.

Wayne was born in northern Saskatchewan, literally at the end of the road, growing up farm, fishing, trapping and hunting.  Food (and life) was naturally natural and canning, preserving and natural products were a way of life.

Wayne, who holds a Masters from Stanford Business School, worked extensively in development, working worldwide with indigenous peoples, governments, businesses and international organizations, helping them to understand and create value in the space where business meets society.

After Wayne and Gifty saw the way people loved the shea butter products she made, and the impact they could have on people and families who made shea butter, they decide to make a business of it.

Baraka Shea Butter was born with a mission is to make high quality, unrefined and handmade shea butter available to crafters and other shea butter users in North America, do it in a way that has maximum impact for the women and families that make Baraka Shea Butter and build a company culture focused on serving both our suppliers and our customers.

Wayne Dunn will be speaking on Shea Butter: How it's Made / Impact on Family & Community.

Marie Gale has amassed nearly 20 nears in the handcrafted soap and cosmetic industry. During this time she has had her own soap and cosmetic business selling her products retail, wholesale and private label; served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guiild, and written three books for makers in the industry. Her preeminent book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling, has become an indespensible mainstay for soap and cosmetic handcrafters who want to comply with US labeling requirements.

In addition to speaking engagements addressing soap and cosmetic labeling, her website (www.mariegale.com) provides a wealth of information about labeling and legislation. Marie works remotely as the Webmaster for the HSCG while she and her husband travel the US in their vintage RV with their Doberman, Duke, and their orange-tabby cat, George. In her spare time, Marie is researching her family tree.

Marie Gale will be speaking on Labeling Fun.

Marc Hight is Kevin Dunn’s roadie, but moonlights as Elliott Professor of Philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College. Marc has spent most of his professional career educating young minds and doing research in abstruse fields like metaphysics and the philosophy of religion (he published Idea and Ontology with Penn State University Press in 2007 and The Correspondence of George Berkeley with Cambridge University Press in 2013). In the past few years, however, he has been working in the philosophy of economics and business, and is currently a Research Scholar in the Center for the Study of Political Economy at Hampden-Sydney College. He has presented his work in the philosophy of economics at conferences in Europe, ranging from Ireland to Estonia. In his spare time he plays the bagpipes, sings in an Irish band, engages in deep thinking about games (which he also plays), and works hard at avoiding adulthood.

Marc Hight will be speaking on Marketing to (Other) Humans.

Kate Jakubas spent a decade working with large manufacturing companies, using engineering and quality management tools to reduce costs and improve products. In 2013 she founded Meliora Cleaning Products, making people- and planet-friendly household cleaners and soaps. She scaled up production  to keep pace with tripling sales year over year and now manages operations at the Chicago soap factory which makes half a million dollars in product annually with only two dedicated production employees. She maintains a Six Sigma Black Belt certification from ASQ and uses her manufacturing knowledge to help artisan makers create better products with fewer resources.

Kate Jakubas will be speaking on Maker to Manufacturer: Using Tips & Tricks Learned on the Factory Floor.

Susan Kennedy is the owner of two businesses carrying handcrafted soap and cosmetics. SwampFires creates Celtic wares and Spirited Apothecary, and The Charming Orange is and American Craft Art Gallery and Apothecary, both based in sunny South Florida. Susan has been making soap and other apothecary products for over 30 years and has been an artisan crafter for nearly her whole life. She has years of experience in setting up artisan manufacturing spaces to optimize space, increase efficiency, and improve ergonomics to reduce strain and injury. Susan has presented many conferences including but not limited to the Southeast Equestrian Trails Conference and the Florida Trails Association Conference. In addition to more formal “stand-up” presentations she has over 100 hours of presentation/demonstration hours on using a pottery wheel and the history of ceramics, given to Scout troops and the public at regional festivals, as well as many hours of teaching soap and cosmetics making.

Susan Kennedy will be speaking on Studio Makeover: Setting Up Your Soap and Cosmetic Studio for Efficiency and Safety.

Lisa Lauze has a gift of finding high quality products for the bath and body industry and working with US and international vendors to ensure the very best deals for her customers. She coordinates pre-buys for her group members allowing them to combine their capitol. Consequentially, enabling them to meet the high quantity minimums necessary to get the lowest price per item. Lisa allows access to products smaller scale soapers would never be able to access on their own. You can view a catalog of the products she has made available at www.scentedangel.com.

Lisa Lauze will be speaking on Unique Packaging & Labeling Made Easy.

Tammy Lisi has been developing new and innovative formulations for over 25 years. She has extensive experience in new material discovery, physiology, and analytical methodology making her unique in the industry. She has her own consulting firm (Unicorn Chemist) and is well known for being the chemist behind Beyond Coastal Sunscreen, Formulate Hair Care, and HarvestLand Ingredients. She is sought after for innovative solutions to every day problems. She started writing Unicorn Chemist to help small companies grow.

Tammy Lisi will be speaking on Advanced Formulating Techniques to Optimize Natural Ingredients.

Zahida Map is the founder and creative force behind Handmade in Florida, an artisan soap company known for its signature swirls, trend-setting designs and award winning soaps.

The concept of Handmade in Florida was born alongside her son in 2007. As a new mother and member of the corporate management team, she decided to trade-in her fast paced, jet-setting career to enjoy motherhood and what some folks term, “the simple life”.

Zahida’s journey has been anything but simple! What began as a creative outlet has blossomed into a globally recognized brand -- nurturing creative freedom, while also quenching her thirst to run a world-class business.

You can find more of her work on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Zahida Map will be speaking on Creative Soapmaking, Big Time!.

Catherine McGinnis is the owner of Soaping101, one of the most popular social media outlets for soapmaking tutorials and advice. With fifteen years of experience in the industry, she is passionate about helping soapmakers sharpen their skills via seminar talks, comprehensive classes and online videos. The style and know-how she offers in her videos and to the soapmaking community is an extension of her genuine nature. She considers soapmaking an industry where information can be freely shared and enjoyed.

When not in front of the camera, Catherine is the owner of a trendy brick and mortar soap store, The Soap Deli. She also created and personally directs the annual soapmaking social gathering, SoapCon, and serves as Treasurer on the HSCG Board of Directors. Catherine holds a Bachelors’ Degree and MBA in Marketing and Economics.

Catherine McGinnis will be speaking on Groovin' the Big Batch Swirl.

Dr. John Mikrut's expertise in physics pairs well with his joy of teaching and mentoring others in the artistic science of soapmaking. John has been making soap since 1998 and in, 2012, he became the organizer of The Soap Collective, a featured MeetUp.com group for soapmakers.

John restructured The Soap Collective and transformed it into monthly instructional labs where soapmakers are coached and supervised through various soapmaking techniques. John has hosted over 200 soapmaking meetups. Under his leadership, The Soap Collective membership has grown from 103 to 971 members. Several members who came to John as novices now operate their own professional soapmaking businesses.

Along with his comical sidekick, Bruno the African Grey parrot, John makes his own soap products under the brand of Bruno's Beach House. John also enjoys woodworking and makes quality custom-made soap molds.

John is a graduate of Northwestern University with a doctorate in physics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a post-doctoral scholar in physics and molecular biology

John Mikrut will be speaking on Web Sites - Behind the Scenes and Sculpted Soap and .

Cheryl Mitchell discovered her love for teaching three years ago while working with the local libraries giving free classes about aromatherapy, herbs, body care and natural cleaning. She has been formulating natural products since 2004 and is a certified Aromatherapist and Herbalist. Her education and love of all things natural has created successful retail stores in both Savannah and Weston, Missouri and an amazing online business. In 2018, she opened a supply business called Miss Doyle's after publishing an Odor Neutralizing Spray Book and other unique recipes.  If she isn’t working in her shop, she is teaching classes or hanging outdoors with her husband, Robert and her kids Morgan, Gaige and Emma, and her dog Aurora and crazy cat Calabar.

Cheryl Mitchell will be speaking on Creating a Personal Care Line with 5 Amazing New Products.

Cindy Novack is the owner of Candles and Supplies.com, Inc. located in Quakertown, PA that she started in 1999.  Cindy started out creating in her home while still working full-time; selling through fundraisers, online, and craft shows. Candles and Supplies has since evolved into an operation with a large warehouse, a huge selection of products and ongoing candle and soap making classes. Cindy loves to help others create their own candles and soaps, be successful, and have fun doing it.  Cindy has been making candles for over two decades, has an Advanced Soap Making Certification through HSCG and teaches classes in her own store, art schools, trade shows and seminars.  In her spare time Cindy likes to read, horseback ride, garden, distill hydrosols and essential oils, travel, hike and basically just enjoy the outdoors and everything nature has to offer.

Cindy Novack will be speaking on Making Natural Candles and How to Sell Your Products if You are Not a Salesperson and .

Cari Clark Phelps owns Clark Creative Communications, Savannah Georgia’s premier advertising agency specializing in lifestyle niche product marketing. Phelps leads the go-to creative team for inspirational, unique, new-to-market products launched in the South. Rule-pushing, big-thinking, boring-box-destroying strategy defines her approach, and her 20-year career spans crafting attention-grabbing, results-oriented brands. Packaging clientele include luxury health and beauty, home fragrance, gourmet and natural foods, beverage and high-end pet products.

Launched in 2011, Phelps is Founder and Creative Director of Salacia Salts, a line of chic coastal inspired skincare. Her collection of 58 products–not including private label products for celebrities like Paula Deen–have been gifted at the Oscars, Eva Longoria's Women Empowerment Luncheon, South Beach Food & Wine Festival and the Kentucky Derby. Salacia Salts products have been featured on Buzzfeed, USA Today, Bravo Television's Southern Charm, Garden and Gun and Southern Living.

Phelps developed Savannah Bee Company’s now-iconic brand in 2000. Her creative vision is still seen throughout their marketing, packaging and retail locations nationwide.

Phelps knows first-hand how to start, brand and grow a new niche company. Her award-winning packaging work is internationally published, including on the O-List. She considers her team the creative force behind the South’s most inspirational brands.

Cari Phelps will be speaking on Packaging Redefined: How Sustainable Choices Can Work for Brands and Bottom Lines.

There are several different ways to make soaps (“Cold Process”, “Melt and Pour” & “Extruded”) and not all are equally well understood.  With our experience we aim to shine an informative and enjoyable light on the similarities, differences, pros and cons of each process and the details of the ingredients used in these to create beautiful soaps.  Product labelling can sometimes be inconsistent, and this results in some products having some ingredients listed that others do not despite both products containing the same ingredients. We want to discuss why some ingredients would be listed or not, how else they could be classified and make it clear about the function of each ingredient within the process.  As part of the presentation we will discuss the science behind this, the marketing aspects and the trends that are leading ingredient selection in the USA and beyond.

Our aim is that attendees of the HSCG Conference leave with a clearer understanding of what ingredients are used in the different types of soap making and what it means to you and your business!

Paul Pickering will be speaking on SOAP - What's in it and Why?.

Marie Rayma is a professional graphic designer, author, and the creator of the popular DIY blog and YouTube channel Humblebee & Me. As a designer she’s worked with brands like Neal’s Yard Remedies and The North Face, and as a creator she’s written and photographed her book on DIY makeup—Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup & Skin Care, released by Running Press in Philadelphia. She lives in Calgary, Canada where she spends most of her time making colourful messes and taking pictures of them.

Marie Rayma will be speaking on Graphic Design & Photography for Makers: An Introduction and Demystifying DIY Makeup and .

Soap Making started out as a way for Zakia to escape reality while exploring her own version of creativity. What started out as a hobby quickly transformed into a business with people from all over the world buying her handmade products. 

Thanks to the power of live streaming and social media, Natural Soap By Zakia was born with a growing fan base. She would broadcast live while making soap and share the finished products on Social Media increasingly people would come back for more and more and her nickname became SoapLadyZ.

She is the owner of Natural Soap By Zakia where soap nation buys her handcrafted products and Creator of Live Soap School where she blogs and teaches people around the world the art and science of soap making. She truly enjoys motivating and inspiring others to unlock their creativity through the craft of making soap. Finally she has authored the New Soap Makers Cookbook series to help new soap makers discover the craft in a fun and easy to understand format.

Zakia Ringgold will be speaking on How to Leverage Live Streaming & Chatbots in your Business.

Dr. Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University’s “Office for Science and Society” which is dedicated to demystifying science and separating sense from nonsense. He is well known for his informative and entertaining public lectures on topics ranging from the chemistry of love to the science of aging.  Professor Schwarcz has received numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public. He is the only non-American ever to win the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award for demystifying chemistry.  He hosts "The Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal radio, writes a weekly newspaper column entitled “The Right Chemistry,” has appeared hundreds of times on television and is the author of 16 best sellers.  Also an amateur conjurer, Dr. Joe often spices up his presentations with a little magic.

Joe Schwarcz will be speaking on Mirror, Mirror On the Wall....

Gifty was born in northern Ghana, on the edge of the Sahara and into a community and culture where shea butter had been made and used for millennia for food, cooking, skin care and more.  Handmade, using traditional techniques passed down through generations.

In the early 1980s Gifty went to Ottawa, Canada to complete high school and attend university where she completed undergrad and advanced degrees in development and political science.  She was shocked to discover that shea butter was virtually unknown and unavailable, and that what was available was often of poor quality and uncertain origins. 

This troubled her and as soon as she could, she began making shea butter products for friends, family and select customers, bringing the shea butter from women’s groups near her Ghanaian home and working to maximize impact on women and families. 

She was touched by the women constantly asking her to find ways to buy and sell more shea butter.  That they didn’t want charity, they just wanted a way to earn money to support their families.

In addition to being a full-time mother, making and selling shea butter products and a very active community volunteer, Gifty has worked in and supported Wayne’s corporate social responsibility and training businesses and activities throughout their 20 years of marriage.

Gifty Serbeh-Dunn will be speaking on Shea Butter: How it's Made / Impact on Family & Community.

Jackie Thompson, HSCG Certified Master Soapmaker and author of Liquid Soapmaking is a proud supporter of the HSCG. She is a past board member, honorary lifetime member and currently serves on the Certification and Policies, Procedures and Bylaws Committees.  She has spoken at numerous soapmaking conferences on various soapmaking topics and written articles for Cut to the Trace. She and daughter Gaily have been soapmakers since 1998 selling Gaily Rebecca Soaps retail, wholesale and private label.

Jackie Thompson will be speaking on Groovin' the Big Batch Swirl.

Kansas City native, Janae Tyars, pursued her education in the study of fine arts at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She then graduated Cm Laude from the University of Advanced Computer Technology in Tempe, AZ. After her exciting career as a lead graphic designer for the award winning Phoenix Home & Garden magazine, Janae Tyars ventured out on her own as an entrepreneur. For the past 10 years she has owned and operated a family bsiness offering graphic design and event video production services. Her family and her children are a constant source of inspiration and motivation.

After losing her father-in-law to cancer, it sparked a passion to reduce the amount of toxins in her home. Not afraid of a challenge, this loving wife and mother of four small children, decided to create a line of products that she and her family can confidently use. After falling in love with all aspects fo soap making, she decided to offer her products to the world. Utilizing design skills from her experience as a magazine designer and various client projects, she decided to develop her own body care line called Tyars Essentials. But, her mission doesn't stop there; she continues to design and develop brand identities, packaging and web design for her fellow soap making community.

Janae Tyars will be speaking on Unique Packaging & Labeling Made Easy.

A love for all things handcrafted, a 10-year paralegal career, and a passion for research led Kathy White to study soap making and cosmetic formulation. With a focus on plant-based ingredients and anhydrous formulas, Kathy has built a product line for customers who want vegan, organic, “pure, clean and simple” skincare products. She divides her time between running her soap business, writing, speaking, and teaching soapmaking classes. She has written articles for a local gourmet, “foodie” print magazine, Edible Austin, Making Soap Magazine (formerly The Saponifier), and Soap Collaborative. Kathy also served as the editor of Soap Collaborative for 10 months. She has been an HSCG member since 2014 and a certified advance level soapmaker since June 2017. Kathy has been a speaker five times at the Lone Star Soapmakers Seminar in Round Rock, Texas, and teaches soapmaking classes in the greater Houston and Galveston, Texas area.

Kathy White will be speaking on Making Stone Salt Bar Soaps and Creating Scent Synergies in Cold Process Soap and .

Clyde's passion for art led him on a journey to learn more about of painting and the creative process. As a math teacher, he applied art and visual work to help his students understand math concepts. Fascinated with a creative approach to help students learn, Clyde focused his work at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education on the importance of guiding student learning through creative explorations.

"After I became hooked on soap making, my love for teaching persisted. I started my YouTube channel and found that I could use my teaching skills, follow my passion for soap making and share what I've learned as an artist." He has presented at SoapCon 2016, the 2017 HSCG Conference in Las Vegas and last year in Atlanta. 

Today Clyde regularly adds soap making videos to his Vibrant Soap YouTube channel. At Vibrant Soap on Instagram he regularly shares photographs of the things that inspire his artwork and soap. Life experiences prepared Clyde well for designing his soap and presenting about soap, color, and design. 

Vibrant Soap website: vibrantsoap.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibrant_soap/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vibrantsoap/

Clyde Yoshida will be speaking on Developing Innovation- Pushing the Limits of Soap Making.

Dave Yoshida began his professional career in the world of nonprofit organizations, focused mostly on HIV/AIDS and literacy issues. In both realms, Dave made countless public presentations on a variety of relevant topics. Probably the best skill he developed in his early career was the ability to break down complex topics and explain them in a way that is straightforward and easy to understand.  Since establishing his tax business in 2006, Dave has volunteered as an IRS presenter on payroll taxes, income taxes for small business, tax for nonprofit organizations, and various other topics. Some of Dave's more recent presentations have been in conjunction with California's Employee Development Department, California Society of Enrolled Agents, and local San Diego organizations Acción San Diego and Grant Writing Specialists. Dave is an enrolled agent, licensed to represent taxpayers before all levels of the IRS. He serves approximately 700 clients each year with varying tax and business needs.

Dave Yoshida will be speaking on Getting Your Ducks In A Row: Business and Tax Basics.