Meet Erin Waller of Liberty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Waller.

Hi Erin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I blended my first shampoo bar in late 2023. I’d wasted so much time trying what was already out there and feeling shortchanged. I wanted more control over what I was putting on my skin. I’d battled with oily roots, flat and limp hair that wouldn’t hold a curl and wouldn’t grow. And honestly, I was exhausted. I just wanted to simply be clean, and to feel comfortable in my skin, and I wanted to make something that made that easier.

Within a month of blending and using my first bar, I was in business. Not necessarily because that’s what I had intended, but because the women in my life wanted to know what I was doing with my hair. When I told them, their inevitable request was for me to blend them a bar. Their investment in my ideas paved the way for the business we are now, and I’m grateful.

My step-father was a retired TWA pilot, and a traveling minister. He’d met my mother in Alaska, when I was just a kid, and transplanted us both to the Kansas City area 30 years ago. He had a penchant for unique phrases; he’d tuck them away in his brain and pluck them out whenever he needed to show off his knack for coloquialisms, a trick I also developed. He had a phrase he used, whenever someone would quip about how circumstantial the patterns of life are. He’d wave the notion away with his hand, and say,
“It’s all dumb luck and witchcraft.”

A year after I’d lost him to interstitial lung disease, I found myself with a budding little business, and a billion ideas that suddenly jumped to fruition. When met with the challenge of finally picking a business name, there was really only one good answer;

It’s all just Dumb Luck & Witchcraft, anyway.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ve learned a lot of unique lessons in the last year and a half. My approach is through authenticity, and an authentic road is never an easy one. Feeling out every little detail of what resonates for your business is a full-brain pursuit. It can get exhausting, but if the idea is still there in the morning, you’ve got something worth hanging on to.

As an independent vendor starting out, knowing what you’re about is foundational, but you have to stop comparing your page one with someone else’s page 56. Finding your direction takes experimentation, rejection, and the ability to weather what gets thrown at you during any given event season. I’ve learned to lean into the things I really want to do. If it brings you joy, there’s a chance that someone else will find joy in it, too.

Don’t be afraid to make friends. You’ll learn quickly that you’re a part of such an amazing community of makers and dreamers just like you, and it’s a huge opportunity at every event or market to reach out and network with other artisans and creators. I always walk away from each event with more knowlege, whether it’s a display hack, tech reviews, promo collaboration; the vendor community has been easily the most appealing aspect of chasing this dream. I make new friends everywhere, and I love it.

And plan ahead. Plan, make lists, prioritize, and plan some more. But, also realize there will almost always be something you forgot. The show will go on anyway.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Everything I make, whether it’s a shampoo bar, a body oil, or an artwork, originates with my passion to create something simple, beautiful, and pleasing. I specialize in therapeutics because of my own battle with mental health, and an inner drive to create things that make caring for ourselves simpler and more enjoyable.

Even the mold I’ve chosen for my bars was selected with mental health in mind. I’m often challenged by depression, and when I am, the last thing I have energy for is an arduous cleansing process. I chose a massaging bar mold, and designed my shampoo formula exclusively so it can be used head to toe, making getting clean a simpler task.

I utilize only all-natural goat milk soap as a base because of it’s remarkably gentle cleansing properties. I’ve selected cold-pressed, organic plant oils and butters due to their overall dermatological recommendation, and the overwhelming amount of peer-reviewed medical research data supporting their benefits. These ingredients are hypo-allgenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and nutrient dense. They also require no preservatives or synthetics to remain shelf-stable. Our fragrance profiles are also selected from all-natural fragrance oils only, and each blend is designed to be pleasing without being overwhelming.

Simplifying the cleansing process makes it easier for someone who just wants to be clean and comfortable in their skin to do so, and that’s what I’m all about. The pathway to better mental health starts with small steps, but they always lead to somewhere better.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think it takes great commitment and dedication to chase a dream. I believe it’s a stalwart and authentic spirit that triumphs in spite of challenges. It’s that loyalty to oneself and their dream that defines success. It’s not a level, or an achievement, I think success is that moment of realizing anything is attainable in the first place if you’re really true to yourself, and you believe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dumbluckandwitchcraft.com
• Instagram: dumb.luck.and.witchcraft
• Facebook: @dumbluckandwitchcraft