Staff Photo by Brian Lazenby
Jennifer Jack stocks handmade soap and body products at her business, Good Fortune, near Athens, Tenn. She said business has doubled since the company was featured this month in Southern Living magazine.
Open House
Good Fortune will hold an open house on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For directions to the Athens, Tenn., studio or for more information, visit www.goodfortunesoap or call 715-2647.

ATHENS, Tenn. -- Jennifer Jack always knew her handmade soap and body products business would be successful, so she was prepared when sales suddenly skyrocketed as a result of recent national publicity.

Her company, Good Fortune, and its Soap with Spirit product line are featured in the October issue of Southern Living magazine.

And MSN Careers featured her story of leaving the corporate world where she had been a graphic designer to start the business.

"I always knew it was going to get big, so we were prepared with large amounts of inventory for when it did," said Ms. Jack.

Sales at the company have doubled since the story appeared, and the 30-year-old entrepreneur said traffic to her Web site has increased tenfold.

Ms. Jack was prepared for the growth in part because of her work with the Small Business Development Center at Cleveland State Community College, a free service offering business planning and counseling services to entrepreneurs.

Brenda Sheehy, a small business specialist who worked with Ms. Jack, praised her marketing skills.

"She really laid down a business plan," Ms. Sheehy said. "She's a very creative entrepreneur and offers a quality product at an affordable cost."

The company she started with about $10,000 in her grandfather's barn in 2006 is expected to generate about $40,000 this year.

Once the sole employee, Ms. Jack now has five part-time workers at Good Fortune and its products are now available at a variety of stores in 18 states.

Still, the company remains small, which is fine with Ms. Jack.

"We want Good Fortune to stay true to its roots," she said, yet she has big plans for other aspects of her business.

Ms. Jack is a believer in the adage, "You get what you give," and the new Soap for Hope brand keeps true to that philosophy by benefiting disadvantaged girls.

"Affecting girls at a young age is a way to affect global change," she said.

The pilot outreach program will select three to five area girls and will give them all the tools they need to make and market the natural, handcrafted soap and body care products. Soap for Hope will then buy back 75 percent of the products the girls produce.

The profits will go into a college fund for the girls, and the products will be sold in commercial stores to generate more funds for the program she hopes to expand worldwide, Ms. Jack said.

She also is offering Soap for Hope products as a fundraising projects for area schools, churches and sports organizations that will earn money for the groups as well as benefit her outreach program.