Left Hand Soap Company, located in the Parkview Plaza Shopping Center in Tuscaloosa, handmakes a variety of fragrant, olive oil, coconut and castor oil-based soaps.

Soapy Jones started Left Hand Soap Company in 1999. It began as the effort of a cash-strapped recent college grad to make Christmas gifts for friends and family. It exists now in a Tuscaloosa storefront that sells more than 35 unique kinds of solid soap, six liquid soaps, and a variety of balms and scrubs.

But don't mistake her moniker for just the handy nickname of a soap maker. Though that's how it started, Soapy Jones became the legal name of this small business owner about 6 years ago.

"It was a nickname that my husband Erik gave me when he came in about 12 years ago. I liked it and it stuck," said Jones. "I think I legally changed it because people kept asking, oh, but what's your real name?"

Left Hand Soap Company originally moved into the space at Parkview Plaza just as a workshop, but decided to create a storefront in 2014 when customers began knocking on the door. "It was overwhelming. We didn't expect it."

Owning a small business has its challenges, Jones admits. But she credits an increase in farmers markets like Birmingham's Pepper Place and Tuscaloosa's River Market. "It's sometimes hard for me to explain the difference in owning a small business 17 years ago and owning a small business now, just in terms of support. There's no way to quantify it." She said.

You can learn more about Left Hand Soap Company by visiting their website. And you can see more stories like this one by subscribing to the This is Alabama YouTube channel, or liking This is Alabama on Facebook.