by Rudolfo Carrillo
RM Soap Market has a brick-and-mortar location in Albuquerque’s famous Coronado Mall. Amid the food court’s fragrant aromas, young people laughing and shopping, and a plethora of shopping choices for the informed local consumer, RM Soap Market stands out.
That’s because Tony Feltman, the Colorado Springs proprietor and visionary behind RM Soap Market, is an engineer by trade and a compassionate human at heart who knows he can make a difference in people’s lives. That vision is reflected in each of the RM Soap Market locations in our Rocky Mountain region—the brand has shops in Albuquerque, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Boise, Idaho—as well in Feltman’s demeanor and business model. It’s also apparent through RM Soap Market’s online portal and the opportunities it provides to many special needs affiliates throughout the region and nation.
Feltman told ¡Viva New Mexico! that all the aspects summarized above came into focus when his plan to get into manufacturing intersected with the needs of his wife’s sister Kari. That story, the tale of how a simple, ascendant soap company came to provide needed support and economic opportunities for the differently abled within our communities is better told by Feltman himself.
¡Viva New Mexico! sat down with Feltman to talk about soap, success, and community support. The story is engaging, and the narrative that Feltman led us through that day left us convinced that Feltman’s business model is a thing we should embrace, as shoppers and as citizens seeking collaboration, inclusion, and compassion for those whom we work for and with as we navigate the mall, the city, and the world at large.
Here’s a meaningful excerpt from that lucid and significant chat. Please enjoy it as you consider adding RM Soap Market to your consumer and community routine.
Rudolfo Carrillo: The story behind RM Soap Market is fascinating and socially important. Could you please fill our readers and viewers in on your life, vision, and work?
Tony Feltman: I’m a farm boy from North Dakota. I think I was seven years old the first time I was in a combine. My feet didn’t touch the ground, and I remember my grandfather telling me very, very vividly what to do in the combine. I grew up with a real work ethic; my dad worked construction, as well. Later, I had an opportunity to go to engineering school at the University of North Dakota; while I was there as an undergrad, I had to go see about a girl in Colorado. So I moved to Colorado in 2001. I married her. She’s actually from my hometown. We’ve got four boys, aged 16, 12, 9, and 6.
What happened after you moved out West and settled down?
I cut my teeth in manufacturing, to be honest with you. I had a couple opportunities to start my own company so I started a company and rode this kind of crazy rollercoaster ride of manufacturing and component manufacturing. In 2021, I had an opportunity to sell it. I didn’t make a lot of money, but I made enough to shift to what I call my ‘purpose project.’
What is that purpose project, and how did it come about?
My wife and I have a passion for the disabled. My brother, [who’s] seven years younger than me, is autistic, very low-functioning, and never spoke a word in his life. I’ve always been infatuated with exactly how that works in society, within the family construct, but what really changed my world was in 2008.
This was before we had our first child. My wife looked at me one day and she said that her sister Kari, who has learning disabilities, has no opportunities in our hometown and [she said] ‘I’m moving her in with us.’
How did that event further shape your project?
While I was growing the manufacturing company, this was about 2015-ish, about three years into it, I joined the board of The Resource Exchange. Essentially, The Resource Exchange is the mediator between state funding and day programs for the disabled in our state [of Colorado].
Their biggest problem with giving these folks with disabilities an opportunity was business. There’s a flower shop, maybe a restaurant, maybe a coffee shop, but you’re only employing one or maybe two people with disabilities. I thought to myself, if I ever make it, I was going to do something about that situation.
And soap offered a path toward that goal?
Well, my neighbor owned a soap company. Rocky Mountain Soap Company was the original company. It was started in 2014. I purchased it in 2022. Shortly thereafter, we got sued by Rocky Mountain Soap Company out of Canada, so I had to shift the name to RM Soap Market, which is what we call our brick-and-mortar shops today. Our soap products have now shifted to Story by RM: our soap, your story; their purpose, and it’s really all about their story.
I did some research and found out that Story by RM, as it’s officially known, is a purpose-driven line of handmade body care products crafted to create employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Could you please tell our readers more about that aspect of RM Soap Market?
We’ve shifted our thinking on disabilities about a year ago now to this purpose-driven mission focused on how we help people with disabilities. We let them participate in all of our activities. I don’t think they need a job title. They need [meaningful] tasks. One to four hours [working with us or our products] gives them tons of purpose in society. Now we’re working with restaurants and banks and different local organizations; we’re going to have teams of associates coming in, changing the soap in the bathrooms, giving high-fives, maybe watering flowers, representing our brand in an uplifting way.
And participant employees can also get involved as brand entrepreneurs too, promoting and selling RM Soap products, I’m told. How does that work?
So they actually own their own business. It’s called myStory. Here’s an example: Kari is my sister-in-law, so her online business is called myStory by Kari. She owns her own business. She gets her own commissions. We transfer her earnings directly to her ABLE account. [An ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) account is a tax-advantaged savings and investment plan for individuals with disabilities. It allows individuals to save up to $100,000 without jeopardizing eligibility for essential, needs-based public assistance programs like Medicaid, SNAP, or SSI.] We provide the product and the know-how to market the product. We’re providing a path forward. Essentially this teaches our program participants business and administrative skills as well as self-sufficiency.
How would you gauge the success of your community-based, affilative, community-building business model?
I’ll just tell you a quick story. Chloe’s one of our myStory affiliates She got our first $26 commission check and tears coming down from her eyes. Her mom was crying, too, and she told her mom, “I finally get to buy my best friend ice cream!” So here’s the deal. The money doesn’t matter to them. It’s the doing; it’s the purpose and inclusion. It’s the dignity generated because 26 bucks can feel like a million dollars. It’s unbelievable to see how just a little bit of self-worth just opens up our affiliates and participants. That’s what we’re doing. We call it live, participate, play, and belong. That’s our model. That’s our umbrella. We want to create what we call the participation economy, an economy where people with disabilities are participating in society.
To learn more about RM Soap Market, its brick-and-mortar store locations, or the Story by RM program, visit rmsoapmarket.com.
