Lisa Miller, President and Owner of Forever Clean Soap Works, Inc., in St. Joseph, MI, started her business with a simple, powerful mission: to create high-quality, non-toxic products for her family.
What began as a personal quest has grown into a thriving retail location where every product—from soaps to custom solutions for sensitive skin—is handcrafted on-site in small batches. Eschewing detergents, phthalates, and parabens, Lisa’s “special sauce” lies in her original recipes and her commitment to small-batch quality. After years as the sole creator, Lisa is now expanding her internal team by training a new apprentice.
Lisa first encountered the South Haven Regional Business Hub online and through a personal invitation from Debi Howe. Joining the Growth Series proved to be a turning point, providing her with the confidence to step out of her comfort zone and tackle the aspects of business ownership she previously feared. “The program showed me that I should try things I was afraid to do before because it would expand my business,” Lisa shares.
Since completing the program, Lisa has shifted her strategy from “doing it all” to hiring experts in areas where she needed professional support. She invested her Hub Growth Series Award into a complete website overhaul and professional email marketing campaigns, both of which are already yielding immediate results. Her advice to fellow entrepreneurs is to embrace the “leap of faith”: being too cautious can be a detriment, and calculated risks are often the only way to truly advance and expand.
From Solo Creator to Scaled Success: The 2026 Journey of Forever Clean Soap Works
Lisa Miller started Forever Clean Soap Works in 2012 with a mission that was close to home: she wanted to create high-quality, non-toxic products for her family. What began as a personal quest for clean ingredients—no detergents, no phthalates, and no parabens—blossomed into a beloved brick-and-mortar staple at 416 State St. in St. Joseph.
For years, Lisa was the heart, soul, and sole creator behind every recipe. But as 2025 approached, she realized that being “too cautious” was starting to limit her reach. After connecting with the South Haven Regional Business Hub through Debi Howe, Lisa joined the Growth Series, a move she now calls a “leap of faith” that changed everything.
The program gave Lisa the confidence to tackle the parts of business she used to avoid. “It showed me that I should try things I was afraid to do before because it would expand my business,” she shares.
Turning Growth into Action
Since her time with the South Haven Regional Business Hub’s Growth Series, Lisa’s business has undergone a complete transformation including:
- Building a Team: For the first time, Lisa has moved beyond temporary help and is officially training an apprentice to master her proprietary, small-batch recipes.
- Digital Overhaul: Recognizing that she couldn’t do it all, Lisa used her Hub Growth Award to hire experts to fix her website and optimize her e-commerce. The result? A professional online presence that finally matches the quality of her physical store.
- Connection Through Content: She has embraced the power of modern marketing, launching a YouTube channel to educate customers and expanding her email campaigns—efforts that are already showing immediate, measurable results in her sales data.
Today, Lisa isn’t just a soap maker; she’s a leader who has learned the value of investing in professional expertise. By stepping out of her comfort zone, she has ensured that Forever Clean Soap Works isn’t just surviving, but thriving and expanding into new markets.
Her advice to fellow entrepreneurs is simple but profound: “Being too cautious and conservative can be a detriment to your business. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith in order to advance and expand.”
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Lisa Miller, President/Owner Forever Clean Soap Works, Inc. 416 State St., St. Joseph, MI