When her name was announced at the National Finals of the "Women's Creative Entrepreneurship and Green Transformation 2024" competition organized by the Vietnam Women's Union, receiving the Encouragement Award for her 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 in developing traditional products passed down from our ancestors," Ms. Ngoc Cam shared with PNVN on the eve of the awards ceremony in October 2024.
Since receiving the award at the 2024 Women's Entrepreneurship Competition, Ms. Ngoc Cam's BoBoon herbal soapberry shampoo has become more widely known. Ms. Cam has also had many opportunities to share her entrepreneurial journey, inspiring other women to confidently start their own businesses using familiar ingredients from their hometowns.
"Soapberry not only improved my hair but also opened up a life-changing journey for me," said Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam.
The dream of starting a business with soapberry fruit.
Ngoc Cam recalled that more than five years ago, while pregnant with her first child, she faced one of the common worries of postpartum women: hair loss.
"There were days I didn't dare look in the mirror. Seeing hair scattered all over the house, I was very worried. My mother advised me to use soapberry boiled in water to wash my hair, a method that our grandmothers and mothers used to use. At first, I just considered it 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 had grown thicker, shinier, and stronger. I wondered why such a natural and safe method wasn't more widely available these days.
Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I have always received the support and encouragement of the Women's Union of Duc Nhuan commune as well as the higher-level 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 product promotion and introduction programs, giving me more motivation to turn my startup project into reality.”
Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Cam
Without hesitation, Ms. Ngoc Cam began experimenting with formulas combining soapberry with lemongrass, grapefruit peel, lemon, ginger, basil, and other ingredients. Each time she washed her hair, it was a new experiment. Her small family kitchen gradually transformed into a laboratory for creating various soapberry-based products.
BoBoon's products are made from traditional medicinal herbs such as soapberry, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, and grapefruit peel.
Starting from scratch, the 50m2 yard next to Ms. Cam's house has become a workshop. Undeterred by sun or rain, the couple works together to carry out the processes of washing, roasting, grinding, cooking, separating the essence, filtering, concentrating, and more.
Despite numerous setbacks—sometimes the oil batches spoiled, other times it clumped or separated—they did not give up. It was this perseverance that led to the creation of the first bottles of soapberry shampoo under the BoBoon brand.
Efforts to weather the Covid-19 storm
In January 2020, Trinh Tran Gia One-Member Limited Company was officially established. Ms. Ngoc Cam also launched her 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.
Ngoc Cam's secrets to starting a business:
- Persevere in pursuing your passion.
- Towards community values and sustainable development.
- Besides investing in research and production, branding, packaging, and labeling also need attention to elevate the product, build trust, and facilitate customer access.
"Many nights I stayed awake, looking at the returned packages, and tears just streamed down my face," Cam recalled. Instead of giving up, she and her husband decided to weather the Covid-19 storm. They sought to diversify their products, combining sales through social media and e-commerce platforms.
While working, Ms. Cam and her husband also learned how to film and edit videos to promote their products. All production processes, from roasting the soapberry to packaging, are uploaded online so that consumers can see them firsthand, thereby building trust in the product.
In this way, the product gradually gained market acceptance. When the pandemic passed, from a single line of soapberry shampoo, 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, etc.
All products utilize traditional medicinal herbs such as soapberry, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, grapefruit peel, etc. To ensure a stable supply of raw materials, she collaborates with local households to cultivate and supply medicinal plants. From cultivation to harvesting, everything is done according to clean procedures.
BoBoon's production facility also provides employment for 5 full-time workers and many seasonal workers in the local area. Not only does she serve domestic consumers, but her products are also trusted and purchased by Vietnamese people living abroad.
Secrets to building a brand
Ms. Cam has always believed that BoBoon is a solution for women experiencing postpartum hair loss, so that those who, like her, were afraid to go out because of weak hair, can regain their confidence. During the research and development process, Ms. Ngoc Cam did not conduct extensive advertising campaigns but built trust through her own story and experience.
Ms. Cam said she is continuing to implement her plan to build a soapberry garden to be more proactive in terms of production materials, while also expanding the cooperative model to support local women in starting businesses from medicinal herbs. "BoBoon is not just my brand."
This reflects 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 distress of hair loss, they can also become entrepreneurial ideas, motivating them to create products that meet real-life needs.
Starting a business isn't easy, but if you persevere in pursuing the problem you want to solve, and draw from personal experience, then every step is valuable. I'm not doing this to become famous; I'm doing it because I know it's necessary for many people," Ms. Ngoc Cam confided.
Boboon herbal soapberry shampoo is a concentrated blend of herbs, aged for nearly 36 hours. The product has received OCOP 3-star certification.
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/trai-bo-ket-da-mo-ra-mot-hanh-trinh-thay-doi-cuoc-doi-toi-20250606132950651.htm
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