Lathering Up a Friendly Goods Company: Chat with Chestertown Entrepreneur Sam Shoge

Published in Chestertown Spy | April 2023

One thing the pandemic gave to all of us, aside from dread, illness, and the time to catch up on twenty years of back reading, was the opportunity to discover and try new interests. Some even began a business.

For Sam Shoge, a serendipitous afternoon with a friend in Galena ignited an interest in a new hobby—making soap.

Little did he know that his new-found fondness for kitchen alchemy, blending goat’s milk and other organic ingredients, quickly moved from gifts for friends to a full-blown business.

But here we are, and Friendly Goods Company, founded by Shoge and his wife DeLia, joins a growing list of Kent entrepreneurs who have been embraced and spurred on by the Chestertown community to create handcrafted environmentally friendly body care products from lotions and shampoos to lip balm and, of course, soap bars.

While Shoge, former Chestertown council member, chamber director, and now an independent economic consultant at Rivers and Roads Consulting, won’t be quitting his day job anytime soon, he’s enthusiastic about how his venture has gained traction in the community and online and looks forward to adding to his product list.

The Spy recently talked with Sam Shoge about the founding of Friendly Goods Company. For more information, please go here.