Episode 94: Katie Carson Built Royalty Soaps… Then Turned Down TV & a Book Deal

Katie Carson built Royalty Soaps from a teenage soap-making obsession into one of the most recognizable names in handmade soap—but the story didn't go the way you might expect.

In Part One of our conversation with Katie Carson, we go all the way back to the beginning: a homeschool soap-making class, a dad who eventually told her to turn it into a business or stop making so much soap, a $500 loan, Etsy, farmers markets, YouTube, and the viral soap video that changed everything.

Then things got BIG.

Royalty Soaps reached a point where Katie had 15 employees, viral videos were bringing massive attention, and opportunities were coming from every direction—including television and a book deal.

And then Katie made a decision that might surprise you:

She intentionally stepped back.

We talk about why she turned down bigger opportunities, what happened when business growth started taking over her life, why she fired her YouTube management team, and what success actually looks like to her now.

This is not a “how I built a million-dollar business” story.

It's a conversation about soap making, entrepreneurship, family, creativity, social media, growth, burnout, and deciding what kind of business—and life—you actually want.

And yes… there are several Heifer tangents along the way. 😂

This is Part One of our three-part conversation with Katie Carson.

Part Two gets into YouTube, content creation, social media, family business, and what people don't see behind the scenes.