North Canton Man Finds Luck in Ocracoke Soap

When it comes to ideas, Bill Buell is full of’em.

You could say the same about him and luck, too.

Buell, an insurance guy by day, has been making and marketing Ocracoke Soap for about three years and said he planned to make it for himself and friends until someone from an Ocracoke, NC, business found his product on Facebook and asked to sell it in their store.

The product had been online for, oh, five minutes.

“I definitely have luck on my side when it comes to that stuff,” Buell said. “I think a lot of it, too, is you just have to try a bunch of things, and if one of them works, then it works.”

Buell credits word of mouth advertising for how his products got picked up at other stores throughout the Outer Banks. And now, even though it has that tie to Ocracoke Island (his favorite vacation spot), the Ocracoke Soap Co. can be seen in stores in many places throughout the country. They also take orders through their website.

Buell, of Buell & Associates, and his wife Sarah, of Stark Parks, work together in their North Canton home to perfect the colors and scents.

“She’ll say, ‘This smells good,’ or ‘Yeah, you’re right, this one’s horrible,’” he said.

Buell said that’s part of the excitement of it — finding just the right combination of ingredients to make a great product. The products they have now range from 100 percent vegan bar soap to lotion, scrubs and loose leaf tea.

Their most popular scent is “The Beach,” followed by “The Sea,” but others include Figalicious, Blushing Jasmine and Oatmeal Rum. Buell said the lotions (a goat milk and honey blend) are non-oily and can help moisturize skin, especially in the cold winter months. And the soap is completely vegan and all products, aside from the lye, are edible (but we don’t suggest it as a meal).

You can order Ocracoke Soap products online, or, for more specialized custom gift baskets, call Buell at 330-705-3215.

Buell’s small-business ventures don’t stop there, either. He’s also one of the creative minds behind “The Buckeyehead,” a foam buckeye helmet for Ohio State University sports fanatics (Buell and his wife both are OSU grads) and other Ohio fans.

Buell and partner Danny Craven had been working on the idea for about a year and just started selling them two weeks ago. In that short time frame, they sold 100.

“You see Cheeseheads at the University of Wisconsin games, and it’s a state-wide thing. It’s fun.”

You can find them at Buckeyehead.com for $29.95.