How This Mom Of Four Created A 50+ Unit Soap Franchise To Take Back Control Of Her Family's Skin Care

In 2016, Magen Morgan began making soap with a clear vision in mind. As a mother, she was concerned about the chemicals and ingredient lists her growing family had gotten used to. As she developed her recipes, it became clear there was no reason for many of the ingredients big-box soap brands used.

“I realized that even things labeled ‘baby’ or ‘free and clear’ were not necessarily free and clear,” Morgan said in a recent “Meet the Franchise” podcast with 1851 Publisher Nick Powills. “That is where it started for me, with this spiral that there are so many things out there that could be made better, purer and cleaner.”

In 2018, Morgan opened the first Magnolia Soap Co. in New Albany, Mississippi, a brick-and-mortar store focused on natural and transparent products, in-store soap creation and family-focused classes and events.

“Everything that we are using is right there in front of you,” Morgan said. “That is where Magnolia came from: the need for transparency in ingredients and what is going on your skin and in your skin.”

Her store quickly became a pillar of the small community of New Albany, and in her first year Magnolia Soap Co. recorded a profit of $700,000. With the momentum of immediate success in her first year, she carefully considered expansion plans for the first few company stores. Morgan stress-tested her new company and new role as a founder across a few market types in Mississippi.

“I tested in my hometown, I tested in my backyard, and I tested in a college town (Oxford, Mississippi),” Morgan said. “It worked in Oxford, so I wanted to try somewhere different, bigger, and far away to see how I could manage that. I tried the location in Jackson, Mississippi, which was three and a half hours away with a much larger demographic, and it worked there.”

While Morgan considered expansion, her plan had always been to expand through corporate stores until someone who shared her passion for the brand’s mission approached her about opening his own store in Memphis. In 10 years, the brand has grown from Morgan’s store in New Albany to 50 stores across eight states.

Morgan takes her role as a founder very seriously, seeing herself as the guardian of a brand mission and model that will reach its potential only if the right entrepreneurs, individuals like her very first owner who walked into her store and approached her, are awarded stores. The opportunity is specific, financially sound, and approachable at the same time, something not every franchise can boast. According to Morgan, Magnolia Soap Co. is 97% women-led, which in a world of high-intensity restaurant franchises, home-service brands like plumbing or HVAC, and larger-than-life brands with high entrance points, is a point of pride.

“We give women and empty nesters a place to jump back into the workforce, find a passion, get involved in the community, and build something to leave to their grandchildren.”

Morgan joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills on a recent episode of the “Meet the Franchise” podcast, where they discussed the origin story for Magnolia Soap Co. and how Morgan plans to continue this impressive growth. A transcript of his interview with Powills has been provided below. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.

Nick Powills: How did you start Magnolia Soap & Bath Co? What is the founding story behind the business?

Magen Morgan: Magnolia Soap came out of a passion for a plant-based alternative to everything in the world these days. I had started having children, I am a mom of four, so I was very cognizant of things that I was putting on my baby. I realized that even things labeled "baby" or "free and clear" were not necessarily free and clear. That is where it started for me, with this spiral that there are so many things out there that could be made better, purer, and cleaner.

We started in a small little shop in downtown New Albany, Mississippi, population 6,200 at the time, and we absolutely crushed it. People loved it. People loved the attention to the ingredients and the transparency in the ingredients. They loved walking in and seeing us pouring the soap.

Another thing about Magnolia Soap is we are experiential retail. We are not like walking into Walmart or these big-box stores where you just see a bar of soap on the shelf. You can walk into our locations, and it is just like if you were in the mountains seeing all the taffy in the windows, and you stop in because you want to go. 

You can watch us pouring the soap right in front of you. Children can come make bath bombs with us. Then all of those products are going back on the floor. It is literally pour, cut, and on the floor. No ingredients are stripped out. Everything that we are using is right there in front of you. That is where Magnolia came from: the need for transparency in ingredients and what is going on your skin and in your skin.

Powills: Okay, so you have this complete vision and purpose on store one. How do you jump from that to, "Now we are going to franchise this thing?"

Morgan: I did not intentionally start Magnolia Soap with the idea of a huge franchise system with over 50 locations. That is not ever where my head was. I knew that I wanted multiple locations, but I thought in my head that I was just going to have a bunch of corporate stores.

After proof of concept on corporate locations one, two, and three, a gentleman approached me in my Jackson, Mississippi location. That was a much larger location with a bigger demographic than where I had stores previously. I was testing the markets: I tested in my hometown, I tested in my backyard, and I tested in a college town, which was Oxford, Mississippi (University of Mississippi, Ole Miss). It worked in Oxford, so I wanted to try somewhere different, bigger, and far away to see how I could manage that. I tried the location in Jackson, Mississippi, which was three and a half hours away with a much larger demographic, and it worked there.

From there, a gentleman came in and said, "I want to open one of these in Memphis." Memphis is about an hour and a half away from New Albany with a much larger demographic. At the time, I told him, "There is just no way I even know what to do. I do not even know how to franchise. I do not know what the first step would be."

He said, "Well, if you will go through the process with me, I will do it with you, and I am going to be your first franchisee." 

I called my attorneys and started the process.

From there, I had to get serious about franchising. It has been a fun ride. It has been hard and brought a lot of kicks to the gut, but it is business, it is fun, we are growing, and we are excited. I still have that franchisee who came in and asked to start way back then.

Powills: Did he expand or scale anymore, or does he just own one store?

Morgan: He has two locations currently.

Powills: That is awesome. Out of curiosity, have you used something like the broker network to grow, or has it been all organic growth?

Morgan: It was super organic for probably the first 40 locations. It was all word of mouth, friends who had shopped in locations and decided they wanted to do something.

We also started expanding and growing right in the middle of COVID-19. We grew 700% during COVID-19. It helped that we were a plant-based cleaning product company. We had hand sanitizer; we had all the things. A lot of professionals were taking a step back from nursing and the daily grind of crazy businesses, and they wanted to do something for themselves. We really grew during COVID-19, but it was completely organic up until recently.

We jumped into the broker network about two summers ago. We were just dabbling and have not done a lot of deals with brokers, but we are looking to get into the broker network a little bit more aggressively moving forward.

Powills: I think your purpose is so beautiful, and the challenge with broker franchising is it comes down to how much money a candidate has and who pays the highest commission. That makes it hard to hold onto the true purpose. Your first franchisee walked into the store, saw it, got big eyes, and asked how to get it to Memphis. That does not happen the same way in the broker community. It does not mean that it cannot, but hearing that the first 40 were organic is great.

Now you are trying to balance how to find business people who align with that passion, right?

Morgan: That is the double-edged sword of broker networks. We have done broker deals, but those people often have a hard time aligning with the mission and the brand. My original franchisees ask why we are bringing these people in because they do not fit us, roll with us, or have the passion behind the brand.

That is the reason we slowed down on brokers. They are not always the right fit. Do I have an amazing couple of franchisees from broker networks? Absolutely. But I have taken them under my wing, hosted lunches, and helped them understand the passion behind the brand, what we have built, and everything we have done in the last five years to get here.

It is hard when deals are made with whoever has a pulse and can write a check. That is not what I wanted moving forward, so we took a break. I took about eight or nine months away from brokers. We only recently started back with broker networks three months ago.

Powills: Right before I got on here, I was doing another podcast, and the guest said something interesting. They are a 100% broker network business, which usually causes me angst if you are trying to build culture and take care of franchisees. I asked how they protect their culture and bring in passionate franchisees. They said, "We set the standards of what our ideal candidate is, and that is what we promoted to the broker network, not that we are just trying to sell franchises."

If you put a guardrail on the front end stating candidates must be owner-operators who are involved in their community, rather than semi-absentee owners, then you only say yes to those candidates. That protects the culture a step before candidates even arrive, rather than letting a broker just chase a commission.

Morgan: I agree totally. On the flip side, a friend of mine is a founder of a huge, growing brand, and she is 100% broker-based. She is experiencing doubts now. It is hard to build the culture you want with 100% broker leads who are not excited about the brand. Organic leads are just so different.

Powills: They are going to care at a different level and be part of your tribe. If I bought your business today, I would blow up your website because it speaks so much to brokers. The first message is "Own a franchise," and the features listed are standard bullet points like exclusive territory.

At the beginning of this conversation, you explained how owners can feel good about the products they give their community, be a champion, and build an experiential business that makes soap exciting for children. Your story is so much deeper than what is on the site. What are your comments on that?

Morgan: In franchising, founders are told they need to scale, grow, and bring in C-suite executives because they do not know enough. I got wrapped up with the wrong franchise sales organization (FSO) that wanted me to hire everything out. I am in the business every single day grinding, doing the website, and managing operations. While that is understandably not scalable, that group came in with a "sell, sell, sell" mentality. The story of seeing bubbles coming out the front door or pouring soap at the bar got lost. That story is how I sold 40 locations. The FSO sold a lot, but the story gets lost when outside groups and C-suite levels take apart the brand.

Powills: I have empathy for you going through that. Franchising looks attractive on a P&L, but the best brands taking care of franchisees are often not private equity-backed or FSO-driven. You have a point of differentiation, a clear vision, a smart buy-in cost, sound ROI structure, scalability, and validation from those first 40 stores. The franchise industry wants to explode that financially, but it has the potential to be much bigger if the purpose and vision are protected.

Morgan: You have to be strategic, especially at the 50-location mark where you need more infrastructure but must protect the brand's integrity and existing franchisees. We have had locations hit over $1 million in sales selling an $8 bar of soap alongside laundry wash, candles, cleaning supplies, and mop soap. We want to protect that by bringing in the right partners to help us grow strategically without growing into a hole.

Powills: Your ad campaign for new markets should be, "Hey [Insert City], you're dirty." Having a million dollars worth of soap sold must be surreal as a founder. You saw a gap in the marketplace, solved it as a mom for your kids, and now it is a mission.

Morgan: It is totally a mission. It is easy as a founder to get imposter syndrome and still think of yourself as a small business. But looking back at a system of over 50 franchisees is amazing. We recently had our convention where franchisees got together, listened to speakers, and prepared for the Christmas season, which accounts for a third of our annual business. It is rejuvenating to see that passion. As a founder, my job is to manage, grow, and protect this brand for incoming franchisees.

Powills: What is your dream now?

Morgan: My dream now is to continue growing this as a legacy for my four children. They love being a part of everything we are doing. I had my four-month-old baby with me at the conference. My sister and other family members work with me in the brand. My dream is to leave a legacy my kids can be proud of.

Powills: When kids walk into something their parents built, it creates a unique legacy. You do not have to sell another franchise to achieve that; your kids will already be able to tell that story. You are pioneering something with a ton of runway because the product, service, and opportunity are sound.

Morgan: That is the beauty behind this brand. In many service-based franchise industries, an empty-nester mom might not be excited about doing air duct work or painting a building. Our primary demographic is women, we are probably 97% women-owned. We give women and empty nesters a place to jump back into the workforce, find a passion, get involved in the community, and build something to leave to their grandchildren.

Powills: Here is my final takeaway: take a picture with your kids and change the website headline from "Own a Magnolia Soap and Bath Company franchise" to "I did it for them: Build a legacy that you can be proud of." That shows you care about people before diving into the business opportunity.

Morgan: I love that. I am probably going to do that today.

Powills: Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing your story.

Morgan: Thank you so much for having me.

Watch the full episode above or on YouTube.