Connecting Land and Sea

I love the idea of bringing land and sea together. It’s at the heart and soul of The Wild Journal. When I meet Mike Benigno at Locals, I realize immediately that idea makes up his entire business, Holland Avenue Soap Company, a company born out of the covid pandemic. Mike’s a creative and a water person. I spend an early summer morning with him, listening to him talk passionately about creating beautiful artisanal soaps while watching the entire process, from sea to garden, to kitchen.

You grew up in Rockaway but spent more than a decade living elsewhere. How did the move back happen? And how was it different being back?

I grew up in Belle Harbor, where my parents still live, and after living in Brooklyn through my 20s and early 30s, my wife and I realized all we were doing was traveling out to the beach every weekend. When we were looking to buy our first home, Rockaway really fit the bill. By Thanksgiving 2019, we found and moved into a nice home on B.92 Street that was big enough to fit our daughter who was due to arrive soon and, unbelievably, had views of the ocean so we would be near family and never miss a beach day. At the time, we actually had no idea we were moving into a really special little section with surfers, small businesses, and a community of creative people and changemakers. There is such a strong sense of community that we never experienced while living anywhere else.

Chatting over coffee recently at Locals Collective, you told me the story of starting Holland Avenue Soap Company. Your business idea grew during the pandemic in the fear of not having access to cleaning supplies, which was crucial with a new baby. Could you explain more about the backstory of how it all came to be?

Our pandemic experience involved the isolation and loss that so many experienced in NYC and elsewhere, except we were brand new parents. Early on when we were struggling to find out more information on COVID-19 and scrambling for sanitizer and cleaning supplies of all kinds, these were in such short supply. Of course we all learned more, but the experience got me thinking about the value of these products, how they’re essential but we take them for granted. Whenever my wife and I travel and visit shops, we’re always drawn to local soap because they’re all different, creative  expressions of a functional item. They aren’t souvenirs and they don’t sit around like useless junk — you’re buying (or in some cases gifting) an item meant to be used up.

After spending a good amount of time in spring 2020 tending to a garden plot in the Beach 91 Street Community Garden and feeling the joy that can come from urban spaces like that and Edgemere Farm, we started to think about ways to share those experiences. I had been experimenting with a soap kit my wife wanted for Christmas but never got around to using and friends were intrigued by our first test batch, which used some local Rosemary. Later, when I found out that soleseife (salt brine) bar soap could be made with seawater, I knew immediately that connecting land and sea was what we needed to do. It just felt meaningful, and it still does. I knew, without needing to know any more, that this could be a business. It was almost like I envisioned a fully fledged lineup of a dozen varieties being picked up by customers who appreciated them as much as we did, and then had to reverse engineer it all and create it. 

This all happened in the context of some really tough and introspective searching that I did during the pandemic. I spent a good amount of time wondering what the world would be like when we emerged on the other side of COVID, and, for me, I just couldn’t see myself in my line of work, which was communications and marketing, and continuing to be as disenchanted as I had been for years. When we launched, I was trying to manage a really demanding full-time job that felt like the logical next step in my career and also wishing I had something else completely different to somehow make that all tolerable. In the end, there became such a disparity between the two worlds. In one, I navigated the bureaucracy of a complex organization, which was soul-numbing and stressful. In the other, I was creating cool products, building a brand, and doing every aspect of the work myself. I didn’t mind late hours working on soap, building this up. That said something to me very clearly and eventually that voice became louder and I said yes to it. I quit my prior role, (which I started just after going to grad school and getting my masters!) and went for it. It’s not always without stress now, but there’s so much positivity where there wasn’t before, and I’m available for my family in new ways. Sometimes all the positivity in the soap side feels like it’s making up for the turmoil I put up with, and I’m motivated by that.

Did you know initially you were going to use the ocean in your products? How important has that become to the brand?

At the outset, I think we didn’t know how important the seawater aspect would turn out to be for us, but the seawater and garden ingredients has helped our soaps provide a different kind of sensory experience. It's another layer of depth that our customers recognize and appreciate, and I think it's one of the biggest things that set us apart in the crowded soap space.

You not only include the Atlantic Ocean in your products, but you also include herbs from the Beach 91 Community Garden. That’s pretty special to use the land and the sea. Tell us how the garden plays into your product.

We get plants and herbs that we infuse into many of our soaps from the Beach 91 Street Community garden, right around the block from our home. It’s in the middle of the block, about four doors down from the ocean, and a number of gardeners have been kind enough to donate their plants or give me permission to take things like rosemary and basil when needed. It was a very clear way to connect the outdoors with the soaps we make, and in the end it helps make them that much more special. Typically, if I know I’m making a batch that requires an infusion, I’ll go around the block, harvest some, and then add it to the olive oil on a very low heat for a few hours before beginning the soap making process. It gives the oil a subtle but flavorful aroma that provides a bottom note for the scent.

How did you learn to make soap? And not just soap but really beautiful artisan soaps with scents like Deep Sea, Winter Swim, and Seaweed?

I learned by researching and reading as much as I could about soap making, and then collecting and comparing different recipes to actually understand as much as I could. It's really two distinct crafts: soap making and then scent making. In some ways, it's the same as any other creative process where you work and work, and hope to develop a style. In the process, I became a member of a soap guild and learned to use 3-4 different base formulas for soap making. The scent piece was a whole other animal, one that's much more difficult. Seaweed is our most popular soap, and it came about when I was experimenting with patchouli essential oil and looking for ways to brighten it up without losing some of the bottom, earthy notes. I'd say I'm still continuing to learn a lot about both aspects, but it's really intentional, tactile work, and I love it. I sometimes think to myself, is this the feeling that every maker has? I really just love every aspect of it, and after working really demanding jobs that burned me out throughout the last two decades, that's such a new feeling.

Has the soap making process evolved over time? 

Artisanal soap is really having a moment. Real soap is made using the classic cold process method. We use this technique, and it involves saponification that occurs with a mixture of lye solution and fats. I think part of its appeal is that consumers are wanting to understand so much more about the companies they patronize. Many store bought soaps aren't even soaps at all in this sense - they contain detergents and other ingredients to keep costs down and amp up specific qualities like lather. And so with handmade soap you know that you’re getting the benefits of quality ingredients and essential oils, and nothing added to bulk it up or artificially enhance a product. We also never use any colors, aside from those that come from natural clays which are real clay powders that come from the earth.

10% of all your sales goes to Laru Beya Collective. They’re such an integral part of our Rockaway community. What inspired you to add this special element to your business model?

Small businesses help communities in many ways, but we wanted to be intentional and clear about the values we hold as a business, and maybe even to inspire others to do the same. We chose Laru Beya after  my wife and I witnessed recovery efforts from two separate tragic drowning deaths on our block during our first two summers back. Upon reading more about it all and learning about how drowning disproportionately impacts people of color, we wanted to get involved. By connecting the historically excluded youth in Far Rockaway to the ocean in a way that others tend to take for granted, Laru Beya's doing great work exactly where the need is, and we see our business as a small way to help.

How has life and business been post covid?

Overall, great. The experience of the pandemic really impacted my views on work and how I spend my time. I completely re-oriented myself to focus on reconnecting with work I love. Soapmaking has quickly become the center of that. Overnight, I went from the bureaucracy of a large organization to a work environment with tons of Yes's. Today, we do markets all the time, sell through our website, do all these local collabs, and are on the shelves of about 7-8 stores that we love. To create a product that others embrace has changed me, and this business has helped me envision and create a new way of working and living that's actually aligned with who I am.

What plans do you have for your company in the near future?

We're celebrating our one-year anniversary this spring and just launched in shops in Northport, Long Island; Brooklyn; and Montauk. We're also getting even more involved with Laru Beya. I'm doing a soap class with their summer mentees, and we separately just launched a collab with the NYC Plover Project to bring more local attention to their efforts to help the Piping Plovers. They're an endangered species of shorebirds, and Rockaway is the home to some of the small numbers that summer in NYC.  

Do you consider yourself a water person?

I'm a water lover through and through. To me, water has a healing quality. I’m actually working on a project with a friend to kayak every mile of the Delaware River - we’re about half-way done. Life spent on or near the shore just feels different, and the collection of people you encounter is unique. Hands-down the best thing I've done since moving back has been joining Rittaa Ikonen and the @seachanges_rockaways winter swimming crew. It's a casual, communal group that swims each Sunday at 2 p.m. on B. 97 Street from November through May, and it's really come to be a ritual. Connecting with the ocean on a weekly basis, you get to experience the seasonal changes in a new way, from the November swims when the water seems barely colder than the summer to the depths of January when the water drops to the high 30s. It's a huge joy. Therapeutic, too.

What does living at the beach mean to you?

On a surface level, living at the beach every day gives you the chance to experience it at its best, even spontaneously. There are days when bad weather leaves and you're left with open, empty beaches because no one else ventured out, so you get these really incredible opportunities. You're so much more connected to the outdoors. Living here year-round also means becoming a part of a really unique community that's committed to being out here. We're definitely isolated from the rest of New York City, and the community of creative individuals and makers has never been stronger in Rockaway.

What are 2 or 3 things you know for sure, Mike?

We all can do so much more than we think we can.

Everyone is searching for more peace and connection than they currently have.