Family Ties: In Arizona, this mother and daughter-in-law are united by their passion for crafting artisan products
Written by Nicole Newman
“The maker movement has really pushed the thinking for all to contribute and learn. It’s really shining that light on awareness and that’ll help the community survive in the long run. That’s what makes a community: the local makers.”
We met Hope Mendrin of Hope's Artisan Bread at Meet The Makers: Phoenix this past February. Hope's classic sourdough was an immediate hit, and when we launched Makers Marketplace, we made sure to invite Hope to sell her products in the shop.
Hope jumped on the idea, and quickly suggested we consider extending an invitation to Nora's Soap Shoppe, an artisan company that creates small-batch, cold-pressed bars of soap. After getting in touch with Nora, we realized that Nora and Hope's relationship extends far beyond business: Nora and Hope are mother and daughter.
tasteMAKERS brand manager Nicole Newman had some time to chat with the pair about their love for the maker movement, their individual businesses and their shared artisan values.
Hope (left) and Nora (right) at Nora’s first pop-up shop.
Nicole Newman: Let's start with your origins ... how did you get started? What made you say, "I should start my own business?"
Nora Mendrin: I have really sensitive skin. I always had a problem with store-bought soaps and washes. My sister [began] making little soaps with her girls like 15 years ago and those soaps didn't effect my skin. With a lot of research and interest …
Hope Mendrin: I was the official sampler!
NM: I hesitated because of social media. It's so huge. And now-a-days, in the industry. Hope had said she'd help me with that. And then in 2013 I said, let's do it and see how it evolves.
HM: I married Nora's son Jacob in 2012. And my family is in Australia so Nora became kind of like a second mother for me. And I saw how happy my mother-in-law was finding her passion with soaping. I started making sourdough bread in 2018. My family did taste-tests and got to enjoy all of my mistakes. Then my mother-in-law encouraged me to join a farmers market and in October 2018 I went to my first one. My whole hobby in bread making turned into a passion of helping others find comfort.
NM: I think that's exactly what it started as, a passion, and then just evolved.
NN: How did you hone your craft? Was it difficult?
HM: With bread in particular, there are so many elements and variations that make or break sourdough. Sourdough can be effected by temperature, water, flour ... it was just the difference. We really focused on the flour we used, the organic flour and local flour. We really focus on the local food economy. Then we worked in different flavors. For me, it would be that I learned the characteristics of my sourdough starter. A friend in Utah sent me her family's sourdough starter which was actually from the Black Plague-period. It's very difficult to make sourdough, so that kept me coming back and trying.
NM: I can attest to that! I actually compare soap making to baking. … It's like baking a cake, there's different oils and flours and butters and once you master that recipe you can go from there.
HM: I love to share some of the techniques she uses in her soap making and use them in my bread making. Knowing we've shared that is really exciting.
NM: In the cake decorating aspect, too, I'll pipe soaps like they would pipe icing.
HM: It just takes time. Time and focus to learn. And get to know the farmer and miller and baker; those things are important in your local food economy, especially because of the times now we are all leaning on each other. We understand how hard it is for each other right now and the pressure to meet demands for our community. Most importantly, even just having a mother-in-law who is now [like] a mom, we lean on each other for our small businesses and have created our own little makers movement in our own family.
NN: Can you talk a bit about your business relationship? Do you share customers? Business ideas?
HM: In Australia, it was a really heavily farm-to-table type community. When I came to the States, it took me effort to find that movement here. Bringing that into our family was something I needed to help my transition. Nora started making soaps and I started with breads and it's really helped. On top of that, we always share our businesses. She's helped us in the kitchen, deliveries, packaging the breads. We helped her get into coffee shops.
NM: I grew up on a little farm. We had our own vegetables and animals. We made goat's milk and goat cheese until I was about 13 years old. My mother embroidered and crocheted, baked, sewed. All of that went into me. She didn't sell her products, you didn't really do that back in the day. But that's where it came from for me to learn how to create. We still grow our own vegetables and with soap making, it sparked a creativity I didn't know I had.
NN: How do you think the fact that both of you are artisan makers effects your relationship as mother-in-law and daughter? What kind of bond have you created through this?
HM: If you think of a typical mother-in-law and daughter relationship, they aren't very close. And my mother-in-law didn't have a daughter so that kind of helped fill a gap. We are able to get to lean on each other and are passionate about one-another's products. Just yesterday she called me asking, "how do I do this?" When the maker movement came up it was so exciting and I thought, who else can I get to be a part of this.
NN: What values do you share that you can attribute to the maker movement?
NM: Just going back to growing up, really, my mother was a maker and creator. Even in her older age — she's going to be 84 years old this year — I always watched her crocheting, doing crafts. She's definitely a maker.
HM: Coming from a daughter's perspective, the admiration of hard work and making things that are not commercially produced. When things are done with hard work and made with love by hand ... with my mother-in-law, it takes a lot of time and patience. It takes her eight weeks to make her soaps! And in sourdough, it takes three days to make a loaf and everyone asks how I have the patience. I just think about, well it takes eight weeks to make soap!
NN: Why do you believe the maker movement is important? What is its effect on the food industry (or soap!) as well as the economy? Do you think it is impacting American culture?
HM: The maker movement has really pushed the thinking for all to contribute and learn. It's really shining that light on awareness and that'll help the community survive in the long run. That's what makes a community: the local makers. I believe much good can come out through connection of local makers. We all have responsibilities in today's time to help cultivate the community whether you are are a craft food maker, a home baker or chef using traditional methods, a parent, gardener, [educator], etc. We really believe supporting these things can help create a grassroots movement not just locally, but nationally, too.
NN: Hope, why did you choose to participate in the Makers Marketplace at our event in February?
HM: Initially, I reached out because I admired and loved your mission of bringing out local makers. … I wanted to be a part of that community and I wanted to live it and be there. When I heard about it online, I reached out and I had such an amazing time learning about the other people there and learning their stories. When you reached out about the online marketplace, I wanted to be a part of that. It was just such an exciting opportunity for me because I'm so fascinated by our local economy. Not just farmers and growers, there are so many other people ... crafters, olive mills, soap makers.
Hope’s Classic Sourdough
NN: We mainly are food-focused. What made you want to recommend Nora's Soap Shoppe? Nora, what made you want to participate?
HM: I saw the way you were presenting makers. I know how passionate my mother-in-law is about using high-quality ingredients like cocoa butter and olive oil and … felt like if I were going on the market, I would love to see soap. If you think about it, a traditional market would have everything under one roof.
NM: When she recommended me, I didn't quite understand what it was. I had to keep asking her about the platform. When I went on, I saw that it was mostly food, but also candles and the wellness section. I hesitated originally but she encouraged me and I thought I would really be honored to be a part of this.
HM: And we love Cat Neville! She's not just for the local community, but the nation as a whole. She's bringing awareness to so many people; it creates a want and a desire to go to so many places and support those people We feel a connection to them. She brings light to local movement.
NN: Hope, right now, you're selling your classic sourdough on Makers Marketplace. Can you tell me a bit about it? What sets it apart from the bread you can get at your local grocery store?
HM: We use a process which was [created] hundreds and hundreds of years ago. We naturally leaven using a sourdough starter and through the fermentation, the gluten becomes relaxed. Typically, people can digest [sourdough] bread a bit easier. … It is soft and baked fresh for the market. We love seeing people who come to us so happily saying, "Hope, we are able to digest your bread." We don't use commercial yeast, no preservatives, no additives. We use the highest quality ingredients available to us locally and regionally.
Nora’s Sample Set
NN: Nora, you have five different soaps available in the marketplace. If you had to pick one, which is your go-to?
NM: The full-bar soaps, those are all equal. I would say the sample set because that would give the customer five different soaps, colors, fragrances, textures.
NN: What recommendation do you have for other families out there who want to hone their unique craft, start a business or support the maker movement in general?
HM: I would say to really focus on, first and foremost, what you're passionate about. There is always going to be good times, but there will be hard times. And those hard times shape you, and help you learn and grow in your business. Personally, there's been so many things that could have made me throw the towel in but I kept going and have helped so many people with their gut health. Putting heart into what you're doing, bringing in your family to help or even just for moral support.
NM: It's never too late to start any craft. I'm a mother-in-law, and my age is up there! It's never too late and if you have an interest or a passion. Just start. Start creating.
HM: It's interesting that we have to think about this because when I moved to America, I had a whole different goal in my life. I never thought being a bread baker was in my future. But listening and looking back at the little things that were hinting at me and putting me in this direction, I would just say to be open to new opportunity and those little nudges.
NM: Hope nudged me all along and I would just say, go for it! It's been the best decision. I enjoy creating, I enjoy what's turned into a small business from a hobby.
HM: Both Nora and I, we didn't get funded to start from anywhere. We started with one bread in the oven, one bowl and went from there. The first money we made went back into the business. Things took time. We hold so much more respect for it because we built it on nothing.
NN: As we wrap up here, do you have anything to add?
HM: We are supporting our local communities. Cafes and farms... I'm supplying bread to cafes and that's helping our following and the community. And the maker movement is showcasing art. Art in bread, floral designs. My mother-in-law makes designs in her soaps.
NM: It's all hand-made! I've been told it's true art and I never knew I had this creative side in me.
HM: Lastly, I want to say that I never would have known about any of this if it wasn't for Edible Phoenix. Edible is all around the country, it's not just local, but I wouldn't have known about you all if it wasn't for the ladies at Edible Phoenix. And Cat, what she envisions for the future of food in America, it's all just wonderful.