Founder Interviews: Caitlin Abshier, Revive Bath + Body

On the second episode of our brand new interview series, Startup Atlanta hears from Caitlin Abshier, Founder of Revive Bath + Body.

Not all startups are the same.

In a world filled with SaaS startups, mobile and desktop apps, social networks, and agencies, startups that focus on tangible consumer products tend to have unique challenges to overcome.

This is why we found our next interview with Caitlin Abshier, Founder of Revive Bath + Body, to be particularly intriguing and captivating.

Caitlin’s founder story is one of true grit and determination; She reveals the struggles she faced as she started up her hand crafted soap business while in college, making and shipping product from her basement, and tapping into the right networks to succeed.

Revive Bath + Body are makers of truly natural bath and body products including bar soap, loofah soap, lotions, bath soaks, and a variety of other great items.

Their products contain natural and plant-based oils and are only scented with high quality essential oils. They never use any chemicals, synthetic preservatives, parabens, chemically made fragrances, or mineral oil in their products.

Made in the USA in Atlanta, GA.

Listen to the full episode of our second “Founder Interviews” podcast series below to see how Caitlin went from Zero to One and turned Revive Bath + Body into a six-figure business.

Interview Recap:

Tell us more about yourself and your business.

My name is Caitlin Abshier and I graduated from KSU in 2014.

I was born an entrepreneur and I think that everyone that is an entrepreneur knows that they’re supposed to be doing their own thing.

Revive Bath + Body was started just out of a passion for soapmaking — you don’t really find a lot of people passionate about this craft.

How did you know thar “now” was the right time to start your business?

I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur but I didn’t really know what that looked like.

I never thought it would be me doing my own company. I always kind of wanted someone to direct me, but now I’m just going out there and figuring it out every day on my own.

In addition to Startup Atlanta and Switchyards, what other resources do you recommend that people who are starting up in Atlanta take advantage of?

Working out of Strongbox West was a changing point in the business.

We started in my basement, making soap, shipping soap, and getting these huge pallets of oil. It just came to a point where I couldn’t work alone anymore — it was just too hard.

I had to find a new office and, on a whim, I emailed Strongbox and Amy emailed back saying she had the perfect space for me… and it was exactly what we needed. Not only is the space perfect but the community is perfect.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting up in the city of Atlanta?

Just don’t stop.

It’s easy to say, “I can get a job somewhere and get a paycheck and I need to pay my rent.”

If you have to pay your rent at $700 a month, then you have to make $700 a month in sales that month at least. That needs to be your motivating factor. It doesn’t need to be, “This is too hard.” It’s not too hard.

It’s worth it. Just don’t give up.

Thanks for checking out the second edition of our “Founder Interviews” series!

We hope you were inspired by Caitlin’s story (and enjoyed Michael Tavani’s guest appearance as we were literally talking about him)!

Now go and restore your life or consciousness with Revive Bath + Body.

We know that the first two episodes of our “Founder Interviews” were raw and gritty as they were recorded live during the recent Startup Crawl event. However, we have a great lineup of entrepreneurs that will be featured in the upcoming editions and we will be upping the production quality by interviewing them out of the SalesLoft and Nebo offices.

Are you an Atlanta-based entrepreneur interested in being featured in our “Founder Interviews” series?

Drop us a line and let us know!

With ❤ for ATL Startups,

Startup Atlanta, Content Committee Lead