HUNTSVILLE – Darla Stipanovich is searching for a dedicated and passionate successor.

The founder and owner of Soapstones Soap and Skincare Inc., a popular and well-loved independent shop on Main Street in Huntsville, listed her business for sale in August.

“The person who would be interested in this would love skincare, love handmade products, love the potential and would also have an extremely good business sense,” said Stipanovich. “You don’t have to come in here and start making soap. But you can, if you want.”

She said she and her husband moved to Huntsville in 2002. They had extremely stressful jobs in Victoria, B.C., and were interested in relocating to Muskoka.

“In my wildest dreams I never imagined that it would get as big as it got. Never. And I have a wild imagination,” she laughed.

She said they planned to take an early retirement, but she knew she would have to keep working. So about five years before they moved, she started making artisanal soaps to sell at high-end juried shows and markets, she said.

It was a craft she learned from her grandmother, who had made soap for her family in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri.

“I had in my mind that this is what I would do – I would find something that I adored and was very passionate about and I would start my own business,” she said.

She soon packed her recipes and trekked to Muskoka to found Soapstones, which opened on Brunel Road in Spring 2003.

“I immediately had people interested, wonderfully so,” she said.

And that interest, she said, was earned by putting her feet on the street – attending book clubs and church breakfasts, handing out free product to whomever would take it.

“I needed to let people know this was something different, something of value, something new to Huntsville and Muskoka,” she said.

She said she worked seven days a week and, as business increased, both her husband and daughter helped create the products – soaps, scrubs, shaving butters, lotions, candles and a baby-friendly line, among others.

“And we’re still adding,” she said. “We just added a new fragrance to the line today.”

She credited the Huntsville-Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Huntsville BIA for networking and marketing opportunities that have since helped the shop grow not only into a new storefront three years ago, but also into a successful wholesale and online business.

“In my wildest dreams I never imagined that it would get as big as it got. Never. And I have a wild imagination,” she laughed.

And a lot of that success is due to the business’ strong ethical values.

Stipanovich said she not only wants environmentally friendly natural products made through transparent processes, but also organic and fair-trade raw materials.

“The women who do the shea butter, for instance, are paid a proper wage in Africa,” she said. “And we’ve also got our cocoa butter now on a fair trade contract.”

The main street location is now a retail storefront, production facility, warehouse and shipping-receiving centre. Those parts of the business, plus her recipes, trademarks, expertise and other corporate assets, are what Stipanovich is offering for sale.

“The business is at the top of its game, (and) every business should be ready to sell,” she said. “I would like to retire, but I also understand that it will take someone with a special imagination to see the possibilities of this business. It’s ready to expand.”

She said, if she retires, she plans to stay in Huntsville to focus on environmental initiatives through town hall and mentorship for young women through YWCA Muskoka.