The Soap Lady

Contributed by Emily Dix and Tanner Jackson

Way back 15 miles in the country, near Wytheville, Virginia, there is a small, green, block building that will take you back in time 50 years.  This is where Crystal Gillian makes her craft at Mule Hell Trading Company.

Our class at Wytheville Community College’s Appalachian Governor’s School took a trip there one crisp summer morning, to a place called Cripple Creek, Virginia. As we pulled up, as soon as we got off the bus, we could smell the strong scent of the soaps.   As we walked through the door, we saw a small black-haired lady, standing on a stool stirring soap.

We could look around and see that she is very dedicated to her craft. She has over 60 products ranging from soaps to lip balms and everything in between.  As we walked through the store we could easily smell the variety of soaps . . . my favorite was Milk and Honey.

We were wondering where the name Mule Hell came from.  It is the name of the road where her grandmother’s house stands, which is where she lives now, and the road about two miles away from her Company.  Her grandmother made soaps when Crystal was younger, but Crystal never tried to make it herself until she was 22.

When Crystal moved away from southwest Virginia, she transferred into the modern world of London, and the city-life.  She married and had a child.  She had many jobs but none of them ever worked out.  When she moved back to Virginia, she moved into her grandmother’s 140 year old house and found the tools her grandmother used to make her soap.  She also found bars of soap that were 50 years old and were still useable.

The soap interested her so that she decided she would learn how to make it.  She had no help, only books and her small memories of her grandmother.  When Crystal first tried to make a bar of soap, it did not work out for her. It took her three tries to finally get it right.  In 2010, she started making soap to sell, but she didn’t know if that would be enough to make a living so she did other things such as work at a greenhouse and a community garden.

Her soap business took off faster than anything else and she couldn’t supply enough for the demand.  She stopped doing the garden and the greenhouse and spent her time solely making soap in her house.   The inventory was overwhelming and she didn’t have enough space.  In 2011, she took out a loan and bought an old store, restored it and established her own company. Within three years, she has grossed over $120,000 dollars and her company continues to grow.

She has her products in many local stores and sales her soaps at festivals in southwest Virginia. If you would like to visit her, then take a trip around a curvy road surrounded by farm lands and experience the culture and the true heritage of her lifestyle.  Her shop is located at 134 Francis Mill Road in Cripple Creek, VA. If you would like to contact Ms. Gillian you can email her at crystalgillian@embraqmail.com, visit her Facebook page at Mule Hell Trading Co. or you can ‘give her a holler’ at 276-621-4741.

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