Carina Herten, Soap Maker, Happy Goat Soap
I was born and raised in the north of Germany in a very small village with lots of animals. I am a trained dental technician and have worked in the job for nearly eight years. The German Government reformed the health system, and all of a sudden, I was without a job. A friend of mine suggested coming to Ireland. I needed a new start, job-wise and life-wise, so I looked for a job, packed my stuff and moved to Ireland. The original plan was for a year, but I felt like I belonged here. Even when I met my husband again, we have known each other since we were sixteen; he had to move over for me as I didn't want to go back to Germany. I worked in a few different office jobs the first few years, and when I left work to stay at home with our first son, we moved from the east to the west coast of Ireland and bought our house with a bit of land. And that's how the goats came in. We had this field, very overgrown, and I got the idea to get two goats to help us with it. And I fell in love with them. One and half years later, our first milking goat joined us. I was making soap already, and now I could combine Soap and Goats, and that was the start of Happy Goat Soap.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Facebook and Instagram I just absolutely love the connection and the growth of the community, especially here in Ireland.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I just love living in the countryside. Having my animals and the daily chores gives me the feeling of being a part of the natural circle, a connection and a purpose in life. And I love to be creative and to make soap, so connecting all that together is absolutely fabulous. Our goats, we have six at the moment, even though they are livestock, are more pets with a purpose. They have all names and are just beside the house. I don't take the goat kids away from their mom; they stay with her all the time until they are three weeks old, and then they sleep separately. Mom is getting milked in the morning, and they are then back together the whole day.
Carina Herten
This is called milk sharing, and I think it is a great way to keep everyone happy. All our goats are tame and love their scratches and attention. Goats are very clever and can be as loving as a dog, but they have a lot of personalities as well. Each one is different. Molly is our herd Queen, she is the matron, and she shows it; Beavis is the second in line. He was my first goat; his brother Butthead passed away, unfortunately. Beavis is the goat on the label of Happy Goat Soap. Dobby is the joker, he is always trying to get us laughing, and he is extremely food motivated. He loves to play with the kids; human or goat doesn't matter to him. The two kids from this year are Oreo and Brambles. Then we have Hayley. She wasn't in great shape when I bought her, but she is getting there now; she is shy and often just watching everything; I think she never really learned how to be a goat; she got so much better, though.
It's great to see an animal that was in bad shape thriving under the right conditions. I always had problems with my skin, I had eczema, and I could not use any normal soap as a child. I could just use soaps with medicated plain stuff. All the other children had these colourful soaps, but I couldn't have them. And when I started to make goat milk soap, I wanted to make colourful and beautiful soap. So, that people with sensitive skin can have nice looking and smelling soap as well. Going on Farmers and Craft markets with my soap is something I really enjoy as well; I always enjoyed Farmers and Craft Markets, and now as a Trader, it is even more fun.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I love to be able to connect my love for goats and my love for making soap and being creative. I really enjoy the markets as well, and it's nice to be able to meet and talk to the customers. Tell them about the goats. I think it is something special that the milk is not anonym. People know where the milk comes from.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Everything in life has a reason.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Nothing specific; I love to work with my animals; they inspire me, nature inspires me.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
I am very proud of myself that I left Germany at that time; for me, it was the best thing to do. I was never in Ireland before, and I was so scared when I stood at Dublin Airport with my two suitcases. I had given up my flat, my friends, everything, but I trusted my gut instinct.
Carina Herten
I am a much happier and more complete person now. It was scary, and it wasn't easy, but I made it. I am very proud of my family as well. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am, especially not without my husband; he is always supporting me even though I drive him up the wall with all my ideas and animals.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I love the farmers and craft markets; it's a great way to meet new people. I can meet customers as well the other Traders. I have to say social media is a great platform as well. I met so many lovely people on Facebook and Instagram. So many people come to the market to the stall and say that they follow us on Instagram or Facebook, and they came just to get some Soap. I think that is really amazing.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
A good few skills from my dental technician times are very helpful.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I am just at the start; there is still so much to learn, I see it as a journey.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
There are so many very talented Soapmakers; it's amazing what they can do.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I keep chickens as well, breed Swedish Flower Hens and Swedish Svarthona as well as grow a few own vegetables for ourselves.
Carina Herten
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
It was mostly positive for me as I had time to build up my homepage and social media without the added pressure of markets. We are here unbelievable lucky in the West of Ireland anyway.
We are in the middle of the countryside, so we have enough space around us, and the animals still need to be cared for, so not so much has changed for us. It was more like school holidays.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Get your soap recipe perfect, and get all assessments done first. It takes so much time to figure out the right recipe.
Sometimes you have to change something during the assessment process to be prepared.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Sometimes it's too fast, too soon. You get a lot of pressure to do this and to do that, get bigger fast. But you can see it in nature; if a seed is growing too fast, it will get flimsy and bend and won't reach its full potential. If it takes time and is lucky, luck is always a big part as well, in my opinion, and grows slowly it will be a nice big plant. Everything takes its time.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"If it's for you, it won't pass you."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I am not really into brands. I try to support our local shops and Farms where ever I can. We all need to support each other a lot more again. If you support your neighbour, he will do the same for you. I absolutely admire people who have an idea and go for it. A Farm not far from us did exactly that. They had a vision, and they went for it. They do raw cows milk directly from the Farm with rare breed cows only milked in the morning, and they are flying it now. It takes so much work, and it's so brave.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Carina Herten
What is success? Sometimes it's a success if everyone wakes up the next morning. Or when I come out of the goat shed at two at night with my seven-year-old son after we waited for hours and he fell asleep in the straw, and our goat had the perfect birth and mommy and kids are fine.
I am just so happy, and then I look at my son, and he is grinning just like me. And then you lose an animal, and you cry, and it hurts.
You question yourself, and you feel like a complete failure, and you dream about this nice estate house with a small backyard. But then the sun goes up the next day, and you just do it all over again, and somehow that is a success.
But in all my time working "proper" jobs, I never had that complete success feeling. It's hard to put into words, but when you look at your animals, and all look good, the coat is shiny, the feathers are nice, everyone looks healthy, that's a great feeling.
Or when I finally got the one design in the soap, I tried a few times to get it right. And I never knew before I cut the soap if it turned out the way I wanted it. The feeling of the cut and then when it's right is just amazing.