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Spandex & Wine
Spandex & Wine is a podcast for finding balance between being healthy & living a happy life. Hosted by Robin Hackney, a 23-year veteran in the fitness industry & wine consultant, this is a place to be our authentic selves as we have real conversations exploring wellness and all things wine! Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Spandex & Wine
Goats to Glory: A Mother's Side Hustle Success w/ Cynthia Maddock
Ever wondered what's actually in your "natural" skincare products? That question led me to today's fascinating conversation with Cynthia Maddock, founder of Madd House Hill, who creates genuinely natural goat milk skincare from her own farm.
What began as a humble side hustle to earn pocket money for her college-bound daughter has evolved into a thriving business built on transparency and quality. Cynthia breaks down why not all "natural" or even "goat milk" products live up to their labels, revealing how many commercial brands use synthetic bases or artificial ingredients despite their clean marketing. By contrast, her products use real goat milk from her family's 15-year goat-raising experience, therapeutic-grade essential oils instead of lab-created fragrances, and premium ingredients like olive oil rather than cheaper alternatives.
The star of her product line? An ingenious all-natural insect repellent combining nine essential oils that both repels bugs and moisturizes skin—perfect for children and sensitive skin since it doesn't require washing off like chemical alternatives. We also discuss how goat milk products offer remarkable benefits for conditions like eczema and psoriasis, with many customers finding they don't even need lotion after using her soap. As Cynthia wisely notes, "What you put ON your body is just as important as what you put IN it," reminding us that our skin absorbs whatever we apply.
Ready to experience the difference of truly natural skincare? Visit maddhousehill.com and use code spandexandwine10 for 10% off your order. Your skin—and the environment—will thank you!
Thanks so much for listening!
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Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine podcast. I'm your host, Robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here. This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy more specifically, happy hour. Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine. I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot and, along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey. Ready to jump in? Pour something in your glass that makes you happy, because it's time for Spandex and Wine.
Speaker 1:Hey everyone, Welcome back to the Spandex and Wine podcast. I'm your host, Robin Hackney, and to say that I have met the most interesting people through my fitness business, through the podcast, through Plexus, would just be an understatement. I love hearing what everyone does for a living and when today's guest joined one of my fitness classes and I learned more about what she does, I'm like, okay, I absolutely want to have her on the podcast. Today, Cynthia Maddox is sharing with us everything that she does and makes. You guys know that I did a dive into removing endocrine disruptors from my skincare, from my cleaning products and just as much as I can through my household. I mean, I do have some trade-offs, but definitely skincare was one thing that I did, and when I learned that Cynthia has goats and she makes moisturizers and she makes soaps and she makes insect repellent, I'm like this is a conversation that we need to have. I absolutely love her products. I loved the time that we spent together and I hope that you'll enjoy this episode. Hey, Cynthia, how are you today?
Speaker 2:I am fine, Robin. It's so good to see you again.
Speaker 1:It's good to see you as well. Yes, I know we were just chatting before I hit record about the cameras and technology with Zoom, and I know I've shared this story before on the podcast. But my very first episode the lady came on and I had her video and so I'm talking to her and right when I hit record she clicked the video off and she thought it would mess something up if she went back on the video. So the entire first episode I just talked to a black screen. Oh no, oh no.
Speaker 2:Yes, I know it's so crazy. It's much better to see the face and the expressions. And well, I guess sometimes it's better to see the face and the expressions depending on what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. Well, I've been looking forward to our conversation because I want to hear how you got started. And then you know, of course you're gonna have to go back and explain to the listeners everything that you do, but I have been using some of your products and I absolutely love them, so I wanted to share it with everybody. So just kind of fill us in on what you do and how you got started.
Speaker 2:Sure, sure. So Madhouse Hills, we actually started in 2016. And we produce all natural goat milk, bath and body products. And it actually just started as a um. My, my daughter, was going off to college. I still had three kids at home that I was homeschooling. But wrapping those up and I'm like, you know, maybe I just need to do a little something to make a little extra money, um, to give her some pocket money, even though she didn't really need it. I just like, what can I do? And we had been, you know, raising goats for, oh gosh, I guess we're going on 15 years now. And it started, you know, with my kids, 4-h projects and we would do cheese and foods and stuff, but with, you know, the kids at home. All that went really quickly.
Speaker 2:I was buying goat milk soap from. Someone loved it, and so it kind of was like okay, you know, we were making it for us, but not in large quantities, and it just became, you know, maybe I will just make some and take it to the farmer's market and see what happens. And I'm talking about it with my husband. He's like well, how much are you thinking? You know, like what are you thinking? I'm like I don't know, I have no idea.
Speaker 2:And so it just started just with this small little you know, soap is what it started with and not really knowing how it was going to be received and how it was going to be loved. And it just kind of took off from there. And you know, we think back now where I was just saying, oh just, you know, just a little pocket money, which is just so funny because it just started so small and each year the growth has just proven to us that there's definitely a market for that. And that daughter now is out of college and I don't think she ever got any money from me each month, just because starting off I had this thought and so, but she certainly went to some markets with me. So that's kind of how it started. And you know, each, like I said, we just have grown each year and it's just a really a great, beautiful natural product.
Speaker 1:I love it, I love that and you know, last summer not this summer, but the past summer I started like really summer, but the past summer I started like really focusing on what I've been putting on my body and in my body and cleaning products, lotions, soaps, and eliminating as many endocrine disruptors as I can. So that's one reason why I was drawn to everything that you do. Can you speak to the benefits of natural products versus some of the other ones?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I would just say that that it's like what you just said is one of our biggest things is, I think people, a lot of people, are aware of what they put in their body. You know what they're eating and for us, I mean, what you put on is just as important as what you put in. I mean, your, your skin is your biggest organ in your body, so what you're putting on is going in and I think, with the disruptors that you mentioned and all of the artificial, unnatural ingredients that are out there, I think if you can find a product that is natural, that does the job and more, why would you not use? It is kind of our philosophy and talking with people, talking with our customers, you know they're like oh, I tried this natural soap. I mean not all natural soaps, you know, are created equally, and if you look at a natural soap that maybe you're going to get at, I mean even Whole Foods, I mean that's the first, you know natural store that I think of. You flip it over and it's really not a natural bar of soap, right? So you still have all kinds of unnatural things that are not natural in the bar and even a goat milk of soap. You know, not all goat milk soaps are created equally.
Speaker 2:I say that because a lot of goat milk soap there's a very large company here in Kansas City that they have a goat milk soap. They don't have goat milk from goats. I mean there's just. You know you can buy. You can buy a goat milk base, you can buy something that is created to be a goat milk. You know for that product and so you even compare that one goat milk soap to another. It's very different depending on what the ingredients are. So we just say flip over the box and if you can read the ingredients and you're familiar with the ingredients, or you can say them and know what they are, if your dog, my dog, can get a bar of soap and be okay, you know my dog has eaten a foot stick or an insect repellent. I mean I think that says a lot right If they can do this and they're going to, they're going to be okay.
Speaker 2:And I think the other thing differentiates us is that we do not use any artificial fragrance oils, any fragrant scent, and so we just use therapeutic grade essential oils Again, all natural, it's not made in a lab, and so people you know will come to us and say, oh, do you have, do you have, caramel apple soap? I'm just throwing a crazy scent out there for you. You're not going to see that. You know, get that from us.
Speaker 2:You're going to have. I mean, that's going to be something that's just very artificial. And even those fragrance oils can be disruptors because, again, they're just, they're made in a lab, they're made, you know, with test tubes. So everything that we put in and even our oils. We're very aware, we're very conscious of so the number one oil in our soap is olive oil, and we just don't use any cheap oils. And olive oil, as you probably know, has so many benefits as well you know the great fats and the shea butter.
Speaker 1:So we just are very aware of what we're putting into the products perfect, oh my gosh, I it, and I want to know your number one bestseller. Actually, I already know the answer, but I want you to say it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of. You know it's our all natural insect repellent, so it's it's kind of a it's the stick and we sell more of that and I think it's a great product. It works and you know it's got nine different essential oils that naturally repel bugs. But it's also lotion, and so it kind of does double duty, so you can travel with it, you can put it in your car, you know it's safe to put on your kids. You don't have to put it on your little ones and wash it off at night. So it protects from the bugs, but it also moisturizes the skin and it's all healthy and it's in a eco-friendly paper tube, which is also something we're really moving towards a sustainable, you know packaging and product. I mean ingredients. So that's a big. That's something that we're always kind of leaning into. But the stick, yeah it.
Speaker 2:I think we have a lot of customers that start with a stick, because there's just a lot of people that are kind of afraid of bar soap. You know they're used to that, what's that? Bath and Body Works you know they can go and get their favorite scent and they want that pump and they want that gel to just go right on, and so people are kind of afraid of the bar, I think. Or they'll say it's just not my thing, so they'll start with the stick. Everyone wants. No one wants bugs, right. So the stick is always a gateway for a lot of new customers. You know, for the soap. But yeah, we ship it all over the country and it's done all over the world with our customers, and it's done all over the world with our customers and it's pretty much become a year-round product for us.
Speaker 1:So it's a good one.
Speaker 2:But we have a soap also, and I think you have the soap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say I haven't tried the stick yet. I need to get that. I've been using the soap and what I do with the insect repellent soap I think you're the one that told me this, I'm sure you were. I saccharine soap I think you're the one that told me this, I'm sure you were I get it wet and I like kind of suds my hands up and then I just put it on my arms and my legs and you know, back of my neck, whatever, and it makes my skin so soft.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's what? Yeah, that's what do you do? You, yeah, do you shower with it or you just do it before you go out?
Speaker 1:In the summertime, yeah, like if it's really buggy out at that time, then yes, I shower with it, but otherwise I just have it by my sink and I'll just go in every now and then, Like every time I go to the bathroom.
Speaker 2:I'll just make sure that I put it on me.
Speaker 2:No, I love that way. I haven't necessarily heard of people using it that much Most people that use the soap but we get ideas from our customers all the time on how they use the product. So I love that. That's what you've done with it, but like that. So the bugs love my husband. They don't, and maybe they love you too, but they don't bother me as much as they bother John, but that's all he uses in the spring and summer, so that's all he showers with. And we laugh because he'll go to you know, he was like at the dentist and there'll be like, oh, what are you wearing, you know? And he's like, oh, it's my insect repellent, but it smells good and and it really does work. So but the stick is really nice. You've got grandkids, so you will. You would love the stick for those, for those grandbabies for sure.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, well, and I'm glad you mentioned that, because safety for kids and then also someone with eczema, yeah, would that be okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's the great thing. I mean, the goat milk products is really what, like we started with some cases of eczema in our house and that was really kind of what propelled me to start doing more and researching and starting that. So people with eczema, psoriasis, skin sensitivities, just dry skin, thinning skin the goat milk is just pretty magical for all of those. You know those sort of things. So I mean, and that's it, our customers besides it's just so moisturizing, you know, and you use it and you get out of the shower and a lot of people will be like I don't even need lotion after I use that because of the moisturizing. You know components of the soap, so it's great for the skin sensitivities and skin conditions.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's great. I know I need to hop on your site and order some more things, but can you tell the listeners where they would find you? Sure, and are you on social media? Just share all that information.
Speaker 2:Sure, sure. So our website social, it's all the same and it's all very easy to find. So it's all Mad House Hill, which is our farm name, mad with two D's like David. And so our website. You can order online and we also have a calendar of events for local Kansas City, local if you want to find us, and we're happy to ship. You know, with every order that you place, or every customer when they purchase something, they always get a sample of a different soap for them to try as well. So we want to make sure you're trying different scents. You know you don't get stuck with just your lavender, but we're very easy to find, very easy to find.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I'll make sure I put that in the show notes too. And since this is spandex and wine, can you share what type of wine you enjoy typically?
Speaker 2:spandex and wine. Can you share what?
Speaker 1:type of wine you enjoy typically. Oh gosh, you know what? I am not a wine drinker. You said that you meet some neighbors at the winery occasionally. We do.
Speaker 2:But well, okay, we meet at the local winery, like in the summer. I will do their. Oh gosh, what's the one at Nighthawk? What does they make? A drink, oh gosh.
Speaker 2:The slushie, not the slushie. Like, I can do a slushie, I can do a slushie, oh goodness. No, that's okay, I am. I totally lost it. But you do the wine, it's like a spritzer. You do the wine and it's like a sprite sangria, thank you, they do a wine sangria. That's it. That's it. So no, I um, I used to be, many years ago, a wine drinker because we lived in california napa and we used to love all of that, and I'm, at some point it just yeah, I use it more of a mixer now, but my husband loves a good red wine and, gosh, we have a bottle from our. What do we have in our fridge? We just found it from our wedding wine from 30 years ago and we were yes, and so we were laughing about how much it cost us 30 years ago per bottle and how much. You know how much it is now, but anyhow, so.
Speaker 2:I don't have a favorite to just pull out for you.
Speaker 1:That's okay. That's okay. A wine, slushie and a sangria. That works. Yeah, yeah, that works. Yeah, so Well, cynthia, thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to be here. I really appreciate it, and I hope that all the listeners will just hop on your site and get a few products ordered, especially that insect repellent, because bugs are going to be with us for a little while longer still.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know, and if you're traveling, you know, I was talking to someone in Texas that's where our social media team is and she's like we have bugs here year round, and so I got kind of in the Kansas mindset that when it freezes, you know, um, but you know what, let me, um, I can, let me send you over a coupon code for your customers and you can add that to your show notes and they can get some. We'll give them a little percentage off if they decide to order online. Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Yeah, happy to do that. I will get that sent over to you, okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, great to see you. Thank you so much. All right, thanks, robin. See you next time, bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Just a big thank you to Cynthia for sharing time with us today and also sharing a discount code for her products. When you go to madhousehillcom and mad is with two D's and enter the code spandexandwine10, you will get 10% off of your order. And you guys, I'm telling you, you're going to absolutely love it. You're going to fall in love with her products and you're doing something wonderful for your body. So until next time, cheers, friends. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1:If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to follow Spandex Wine so you don't miss an episode. To do this, just go to the podcast and click subscribe or follow. Wherever you're listening, look for the plus sign or follow button. This is one of the best things that you can do for the podcast. If you'd also be willing to give a five-star review, that would be amazing and much appreciated. Lastly, please share an episode with a friend or five to keep the love going, and join the Spandex and wine community in our private facebook group by searching spandex and wine. Feel free to reach out to me at any time by emailing info at spandex and winecom or text me at 913-392-2877. I appreciate you, thank you.
