This Friday we chat to Jacqueline Sava, creator of Soak Wash inventor and all round high achiever, aka Director of Possibilities! Soak is approaching its 20th anniversary and Jacqueline tells us how she combines her family, work and her close-to-heart interests. Entrepreneur, designer, writer, mum of twins, crafter and sewer…phew!
Life Before Soak?
Sometimes I feel 27, sometimes 85 – I am actually 49. Sometimes it seems like I’m just a kid, so how could everything around me be real, and sometimes I am so exhausted I can’t believe I still have so much life ahead of me. Soak is close to its 20th anniversary and I can barely recall life before Soak. I wrote my first business plan at 16 as a school project, so I guess I was destined to be an entrepreneur.
Soak evolved from my award winning knitwear business Jacqs Hats. I took machine knitting during my undergrad and fell in love with knitwear and the machine and began designing (and selling) knit accessories. My formal background is Industrial Design – so product development skills were very helpful as we developed Soak which was conceptualised in 2003 as a secondary product for Jacq’s-Hats knit accessories.
While meeting with our knits customers, people kept asking how to wash their newly purchased knits. In response to customer demand as well as resurgence in the traditional craft market, Soak launched in 2006 – quickly and successfully, satisfying the sophisticated sensibilities of knitters across Canada. Over the years, we have identified other markets where there is a single wash solution, mostly with dated packaging, marketing and fragrances that dominates the market.
Why the world of lingerie?
After launching in the craft market, while I was in night school pursuing my MBA, I started looking at other markets where delicate clothing wasn’t getting the care attention it deserved. That’s how we ended up in the lingerie industry. In most countries, there was one lingerie wash that dominated the market, and sat on the shelf like an afterthought. At Soak we want people to keep their lingerie wash on the counter, not under it (with other detergents) so we created a brand that is like skin care for your clothing. Beautiful packaging, fresh scents and all the marketing support shops need to be successful.
Every person has a favourite item of clothing they long to wear more but they don’t as they are afraid to wash it. Our mission is to take the fear out of laundry and to get people back into their favourite clothes (and lingerie). With laser focus, we are working towards Soak being in every lingerie shop around the world. Lingerie sits so close to the body, so proper care is essential. We’ve all used a detergent or even a hand soap we didn’t like, and that experience turned us off hand-washing. When we developed Soak, we knew it had to be not only amazing for fabric, but also for the user and user experience.
What is different about working in this sector?
Unlike our other industries, like knitting, quilting and craft, the lingerie market has embraced Soak as part of the core offering in a shop. In other sectors, we are more like the shoe polish to the shoe – off on a shelf, sometimes overlooked. In the lingerie sector, Soak has earned its place as a top earning brand in many shops. Successful Soak retailers understand that Soak is part of the core offering, not a secondary add-on item.
A Typical Week in your life
I have two types of weeks – at home weeks and travel weeks. At home weeks start with early mornings, often working with the UK or EU before my twins (and husband and dog) wake up. Then it is a couple hours of family management to get everyone fed and off to school before work, either at the office or at my home office (desk in the living room). On a good day, and when I don’t have meetings in the morning, I like to get my workout in before 7am. I admit morning workouts aren’t as consistent as they used to be, but it is on my goals list to get back at it. You can check in on me in a few months to see if I got back on track. At work I spend a lot of time in meetings and focusing on the future of the brand. I also oversee product development and developing new scents, which I love. The evenings are filled with kids’ activities and in the summer gardening. We live in a 1901 school house about an hour from Toronto, so there’s always lots to do inside and out. In my limited but cherished free time, I like to quilt, sew and cook with my kids.
Travel weeks are filled with store visits, tradeshows, exploring new cities (finding local designers, coffee shops and great shoes) and meeting new customers. Most recently, I had the privilege of conducting training at Harrods between days working and exploring London. I cherish work trips because I get my mornings to myself, and fill my creative cup in new places. I come home both exhausted and refreshed.
Those Special Moments
We once shipped a full container of Soak to a customer. That was a huge amount of bottles. I posed for photos in the truck!
Seeing Soak in stores still makes me elated. Last year’s trip to Poland was extraordinary. Seeing Soak in so many independent retailers there was delightful. I cherish the fact that a product I created adds value and provides income for so many other business owners, most of whom are women. In the craft world, I had a very special meeting with Kaffe Fassett at his home studio. I had previously only seen his studio in books. That was a true highlight. He is an exceptional designer and colourist.
Seeing Soak in department stores and national chains is also delightful, such as Rigby and Peller, Addition-Elle in Canada, on Madewell.com and Nordstroms.com and of course at Harrods.
My favourite part of Soak as it is now, is our extraordinary team. I have so many great people by my side so we can share the travel and load, allowing me to spend more time with my kids while they are little. There was a time when I couldn’t imagine not being at every event, in every city. Now we collaboratively choose who goes where, so we all have a solid work and live balance. My daughter Stella has been called the heiress to the Soak Empire, so it’s important to both a leader at the office and at home. Felix has recently learned to read, so I also loved the first time he hung out in the warehouse and actually helped out pulling orders, rather than just messing with boxes.
If you were not working with Soak, then what do you think you would have done instead?
When I was in school, I wanted to design shoes. I still have designing/making a pair or two on my bucket list. Over the years I have taught design strategy, and a lot of entrepreneurship business classes, so I think I might have taught full time. If I do teach more in the future I will be better for all the years at Soak. Nothing beats real life experience.
Any idea where you will be in 10 years time?
Our mission to create a soakworthy movement and create a cultural shift that helps people be their best selves by caring for and wearing their favourite clothes, both handmade and purchased. My vision for the future is more about a shift in the way people shop and dress, rather than an evolution of our brand. In a perfect world, Soak would be the first to mind choice for delicate fibre care around the world and Soak would be the only care solution trusted for people’s most cherished items. With that, people only own and wear their favourite clothes.
On a shorter timeline, we are working on some top secret magic for our upcoming 20th anniversary. And now that the world has settled a bit from the pandemic, we are back to working on larger and alternative formats, including refill size bottles.
Your proudest moment to date?
Seeing my kids notice ‘mommy’s soap’ in stores when we are out and about or travelling is among my proudest moments. I also love watching a customer tell another how Soak saved something they cherished, or enabled them to wear their favourite clothes. I do love big moments, like seeing Soak in Harrods, moving to bigger warehouses and counting the numbers of countries we sell in – but it is the little, unsuspecting moments that really move me.
Your biggest mistake?
Early on, we had an issue with a Soak fragrance. The lab approved a batch they shouldn’t have and we didn’t catch it until the product was at a tradeshow and on shelves. We had to recall a full production run of one of our scents. We had just landed a major US department store, and I will never forget the conversation where I had to tell the buyer to toss bottles from every shop. They didn’t have a way to recall stock, so that was really hard. So many lessons learned. I thought I could problem solve it on my own. In retrospect, I really should have leaned harder on my community and mentors for advice on how to proceed. That mistake was very expensive – both financially and emotionally. We moved on and will be forever wiser.
“We’re no longer a super nimble tiny company but we want to maintain our entrepreneurial spirit and passion”.
What is your greatest challenge?
Our greatest challenge is growing in a controlled way. We have so many opportunities on the horizon, so taking the time to evaluate our options and stay true to our goals is super important. Collaborations and events are presented to us weekly, so sometimes it is hard to be strategic rather than reactive as we evolve and grow. We’re no longer a super nimble tiny company but we want to maintain our entrepreneurial spirit and passion. Balancing the two is hard as we grow.
The one product you cannot live without?
Can I say, Soak? Or is that cheesy? As a product developer, I love to experiment with brands and products, so I don’t have a favourite skincare routine, or lip gloss (although I do love Chanel lipstick as a treat). I purposely buy different soaps, shampoo, even coffee beans. I love to check out different packaging which makes me whatever the opposite of ‘brand loyal’ is. I do know, that before Soak I used shampoo or dish soap to wash my good clothes and knitwear (yuck), and now I don’t go a week without using Soak. I have a bottle in the kitchen, the laundry room and in every bathroom.
Time out
In the summer I love to row before the day starts. I have a single skull and have been rowing for about 25 years. When I have free time I love to sew. I quilt and make clothing. I co-wrote a book called Handmade Getaway, which is about planning and executing the perfect sewing getaway with fabric food and friends. I still escape to the woods a couple of times a year for a week of solid sewing with my friends. The balance of free time is family time. My twins are 8 and I love exploring the world with them, seeing everything through their curious eyes.
“People told me that lingerie wash was a ‘one product’ category and that the ‘one product’ already existed so I shouldn’t bother with Soak”.
Pet Hate?
I very much dislike when people who think they know it all and don’t have anything else to learn. I firmly believe we can always learn more, develop new skills and improve on old ones. I find it really challenging when people are so set in their ways that their mind is closed to new ideas and alternative options. People told me that lingerie wash was a ‘one product’ category and that the ‘one product’ already existed so I shouldn’t bother with Soak. Look at us now!
