#MarchMeetTheMaker #2: How You Started. This 23 year old vegan college “kid” is me, Tracy Perkins circa 2004. I was 2 years post op after having the bottom portion of my left lung removed, still in a massive stage of healing and a year away from an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies and Religious Studies with a minor in Geological Science but already working in the School of Earth and Space Exploration gearing up for a Masters in Geological Science. I had been making soap and other body care for about a year by the time this picture was taken. I was laying the groundwork for what we are now. I designed my own website and coded the html. I had a sweet friend code a form for me so people could submit orders online. 😂 Everything was an experiment, still learning so much and so curious. I was making products in my little apartment and remember getting essential oils shipped there was a big deal, they were not readily available as they are these days. A tea tree bottle broke in the mail once in the apartment office and they thought I was some sort of terrorist. 😂 I started making things because I was not well and needed something different but didn’t know what exactly.. I knew I only wanted natural ingredients in what I made but was still using toxins in my daily life (hello face covered in department store makeup that would ultimately swell my eyes like crazy because of parabens and other un fun things). How I started is through trial and error and very very slowly.. It took me a long time and I was determined and I am still learning and evolving even now. When people approach me as if Strawberry Hedgehog is an overnight success or how could I possibly do what I do.. it is a decade and a half of trying hard, failing and trying again. #smellyalater #strawberryhedgehog #whatveganslooklike #vegansofig #happysoaper #sillysoaper #soapgnome #veganladyboss #oldschoolvegan #imakeyoursoapwithlove #dontquityourdaydream