Meet Melissa Statom | Co-Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Statom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Running a business and opening a storefront has always been something that we’ve wanted to do. Making soaps and other products for others was a hobby for many years. We had first to believe that we could do this and be successful. We also did a lot of research to understand what needed to be done and were comfortable taking risks, knowing that we may fail. Ultimately, we saved up our money, invested in our small business, and dove head first into starting our ‘Little Dragons Soaps’ shop.

Time will determine the success of our shop, and what the future holds, but we are having a lot of fun building our business.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our business is the Little Dragon Soaps store. It is a small mom-and-pop business in Peoria. We currently mainly sell soap and bath bombs but are looking at expanding into other products as we grow the business. As the business is relatively new to open, we are in the early stages of business, trying to increase clientele, get the word out about the shop, and keep it fun along the way.

Starting a business is not an easy task; it’s not just about the product. Your product can be amazing, but if nobody knows about it, it won’t sell. We are very reliant on word of mouth at this point.

I’d like people to know that Little Dragon Soaps is a new soap store in Peoria. We have over 100 combinations of types of soap and scents to choose from at any given time. We try to support local distributors and other local micro-businesses where we can. We started making soap for fun and to make soap with base products that we were not allergic to, we love our soaps and hope that you will too.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting our itinerary would include kayaking on the Salt River and having some backyard BBQs.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to thank my parents for their guidance in that failure is not a reason to stop; but rather a time to reflect, rethink, and re-strategize to try again and do better.

Website: www.littledragonsoaps.com