Volume 1, Number 6. July/August 2007

Clearly, She's a Genius

Text by Melanie Feitman

“I was an overweight, stay‑at‑home mom," says Dawn Dallaire of her pre‑business mogul days. Then, Dallaire fell in love with a plastic fish suspended in clear, glycerin soap in a clear plastic bag and tied with a bow. She first encountered this charming specimen in what used to be Complements, a home interiors store that has since closed for business. She bought a few to use as stocking stuffers for her children, but the simple novelty would serve a much greater purpose in her life.

"I just couldn't stop thinking about it and I wanted to try to make them," says Dallaire. "So I went to the craft store and bought a soap‑making kit and some really expensive clear glycerin soap." At home in her kitchen during the holidays of 2002, she produced the first of her now‑famous goldfish-in‑a‑bag soaps, but they were less than perfect.

"I became obsessed with getting it right." The secret to a perfect goldfish in a bag is learning how to properly suspend the goldfish without allowing it to sink to the bottom or turn upside down before the soap solidifies. She tried many techniques before arriving at a solution which is now a trade secret.

The soaps made great gifts for her children's teachers and friends. Gifting them is what actually led the soap maker down the road to running the full‑time business it has become today. A teacher's assistant at her child's school saw Dallaire's creation and gave her the number of a man at AmericasMart who might be interested in carrying them in his showroom.

At 300‑plus pounds and with no business experience, Dallaire was less than confident about going this route, but she was determined to try. "I called him and made an appointment to show him the soaps. I had the original goldfish in a bag and one other design that was a ballerina." She mustered up all the courage she could find, drove to downtown Atlanta, and attempted her first sale. The showroom owner liked what he saw, but didn't take her on. He told her that having only two designs would not show well and that she needed an entire line. "I cried all the way home," she says.

But Dallaire is a woman with determination, so an entire line was born. She moved her operation from the kitchen to a corner of the garage, then expanded to the entire garage. "I was making soaps all day and bagging and tying them in bed at night." It was not long before she had her line in a wholesale showroom.

 

Her first big "show," the Orlando Gift Show, was a leap of faith for Dallaire. She even held a sort of dress rehearsal in her living room to help ease her nerves. "I set up the booth in my living room just as I planned to do so in Orlando and practiced." She took her parents with her and they sold $5000 worth of product. She considered it a success, especially when repeat orders came in later.

Dallaire admittedly may have a touch of stage fright, but she’s warm and friendly, bubbly even, one‑on‑one.  So when she was stationed next to Larry Brown of the Lebermuth Fragrance Company at the Atlanta Gift Show, she made a new friend. "We were both overweight and by the end of the week, we had made a friendly bet with one another." The two would meet again at next year's exhibit and whoever had lost the most weight would be treated to dinner at the
restaurant of their choice by the other.

“I was sitting at my booth the next year and saw him coming down the aisle. He took one look at me and said, 'I won.' That night, my husband and I took him and his wife out for a painfully expensive dinner," says Dallaire. True to her nature, Dallaire went home with another healthy dose of determination, poured herself into her work and became dedicated to improving her health. "At the next year's show, Larry didn't even speak to me." She was 130 pounds lighter, but it wasn't that he didn't recognize her. One of Larry's booth mates claimed that Larry was simply speechless.

Once Brown recovered from his shock, he continued to mentor Dallaire on the ins and outs of importing and other business conundrums. As any good business advisor would, Brown knew a great opportunity when he saw one. Clearly Fun Soap was exploding with growth, having picked up Bath & Body Works, Linens 'N Things, and an appearance on QVC in the works for October 2007. Dallaire needed help, so Brown jumped the Lebermuth ship this past March to become a partner, bringing co‑worker Don Eisner along as a third partner. Don has already relocated from Indiana to Griffin.

The three of them together with a dozen staff, produce a fun, clever line of soaps ranging in form from the original goldfish in a bag, bars with tubes of lip gloss inside, themed bath confetti, shaped bath gel pouches, gift sets, custom promotional soaps, and licensed characters such as Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Although Dallaire resides in Fayetteville, she chose to locate her company to Griffin where she found reasonably priced real estate and an able workforce. The facility on North Expressway isn't much to look at from the outside, but it's a great‑smelling, bright atmosphere inside that is bustling with excitement over what is clearly the next big thing in soap.