"The soapberry opened up a journey that changed my life"

“Soapberry not only improved my hair but also opened up a journey that changed my life,” shared Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam, founder of the BoBoon Herbal Soapberry Shampoo brand.

When her name was announced at the National Final Awards Ceremony of "Women's Creative Startups and Green Transformation 2024" organized by the Vietnam Women's Union, with the Encouragement Prize for the BoBoon herbal soapberry shampoo product, Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam (Duc Nhuan commune, Mo Duc district, Quang Ngai province) could not hide her pride.

"This award is a recognition of my entrepreneurial journey, a journey full of effort and perseverance to develop traditional products of my ancestors," Ms. Ngoc Cam confided to PNVN on the eve of the award ceremony in October 2024.

Since receiving the award from the 2024 Women Entrepreneurship Competition, Ms. Ngoc Cam's BoBoon herbal shampoo product has become more widely known. Ms. Cam also has many opportunities to share her entrepreneurial journey, inspiring many other women to confidently start a business from familiar, close ingredients from their hometown.

“Soapberry not only improved my hair but also opened up a journey that changed my life,” said Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam.

Dream of starting a business from soapberry

Ms. Ngoc Cam recalls that more than 5 years ago, when she was pregnant with her first child, she had to face one of the common worries of women after giving birth, which was hair loss.

"There were days when I didn't dare look in the mirror. Seeing my hair falling all over the house, I was very worried. My mother advised me to boil soapberry water to wash my hair, a method that was often used by grandmothers and mothers. When I first heard it, I just thought it was a folk remedy, but after researching, reading scientific documents and seeing many women successfully apply it, I started to try it.

Unexpectedly, after just over a month, my hair became thicker, shinier and stronger. I wondered why such a natural and safe method is not widely popular in today's era?"

On my entrepreneurial journey, I have always received the attention and support of the Women's Union of Duc Nhuan Commune as well as the superior Union. They not only encouraged and guided me to participate in the Women's Entrepreneurship Competition, but also created opportunities for me to participate in promotional programs and product introductions, giving me more motivation to turn my entrepreneurial project into reality."

Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam

Thinking is doing, Ms. Ngoc Cam started experimenting with formulas combining soapberry with lemongrass, grapefruit peel, lemon, ginger, basil... Every time she washed her hair, she tried it out. The family's small kitchen gradually turned into a laboratory for all kinds of soapberry products.

BoBoon products are made from traditional medicinal herbs such as soapberry, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, and grapefruit peel.

Starting from zero, the 50m2 yard next to Cam's house has become a workshop. Regardless of the sun or rain, the couple together carry out the steps of washing, roasting, grinding, cooking, separating the essence, filtering, concentrating...

After many failures, sometimes the oil batch was spoiled, sometimes it clumped and separated, but they were not discouraged. It was that perseverance that gave birth to the first bottles of soapberry shampoo under the BoBoon brand.

Efforts to overcome the Covid-19 "storm"

In January 2020, Trinh Tran Gia LLC was officially established. Ms. Ngoc Cam also launched the first product line: BoBoon herbal soapberry shampoo. But then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Hundreds of orders were returned due to the impact of the pandemic.

Ms. Ngoc Cam's startup secret:

- Persistently pursue your passion.

- Towards community values ​​and sustainable development.

- Not only investing in research and production, branding, packaging and labeling issues also need to be taken into consideration to enhance the product, create trust and facilitate customer access.

"Many nights I stayed up all night, looking at the returned packages and crying," Ms. Cam recalled. Instead of giving up, the couple decided to weather the Covid-19 "storm". They sought to diversify their products, combining sales via social networks and e-commerce platforms.

While working, Ms. Cam and her husband learned how to film and edit videos to promote the product. All production processes, from roasting the soapberry to packaging, are posted online so that consumers can see them with their own eyes, thereby gaining confidence in the product.

Just like that, the product was gradually accepted by the market. When the pandemic passed, from a line of soapberry shampoo products, Ms. Cam has now developed more than 20 product lines, including concentrated shampoo, grapefruit-coconut conditioner, grapefruit essential oil hair growth spray, soap, lip balm, dishwashing liquid...

All use traditional medicinal herbs such as soapberry, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, grapefruit peel, etc. To ensure a stable source of raw materials, she cooperates with local households to grow and supply medicinal plants. From care to harvest, everything is guaranteed to follow a clean process.

BoBoon production facility also creates jobs for 5 official workers and many seasonal workers in the locality. Not only serving domestic consumers, her products are also trusted and ordered by Vietnamese people abroad.

Brand building secrets

Ms. Cam always believes that BoBoon is a solution for women with postpartum hair loss, so that people like her, who were afraid to go out because of weak hair, can regain their confidence. During the process of researching and developing the product, Ms. Ngoc Cam did not carry out massive promotional campaigns but built trust from her own stories and experiences.

Ms. Cam said that she is continuing to implement the plan to build a soapberry garden to be more proactive in terms of production materials, while expanding the cooperative model, supporting local women to start businesses from medicinal herbs. "BoBoon is not just my brand.

That is the passion of young women who want to preserve traditional values ​​in modern life. I hope that more women will believe that starting from small things in life, such as the pain of hair loss, can also become a startup idea, motivating them to create products that meet the needs of real life.

Starting a business is not easy, but if it comes from perseverance in pursuing the problem you want to solve, from personal experience, then every step is valuable. I don't do it to be famous, I do it because I know it is necessary for many people," Ngoc Cam confided.

Boboon herbal soapberry shampoo is a concentration of herbs for nearly 36 hours. The product has 3-star OCOP certification.

Contact information: Trinh Tran Gia Company Limited, Duc Nhuan Commune, Mo Duc District, Quang Ngai Province; Representative Office: No. 55, Road 4B, Vinh Loc Residential Area, Binh Hung Hoa B, Binh Tan District, HCMC; Tel: 0902 613 983

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/trai-bo-ket-da-mo-ra-mot-hanh-trinh-thay-doi-cuoc-doi-toi-20250606132950651.htm