How It All Started

The long way around.

Emily grew up in Medford and Ashland. Her family came from Illinois, but Southern Oregon became home. She spent her childhood outdoors, a kid with a creative spirit and a lifelong love for the natural world, the kind of little girl who made tiny "perfumes" from crushed rose petals, lilac blossoms, and spearmint leaves swirled into bowls of water. She was also a kid with severe acne who couldn't find a single product on the shelf that didn't make things worse. That frustration, the gap between what her skin needed and what the industry was willing to make, stayed with her.

Andy is a fifth-generation Southern Oregonian whose family has been in the Rogue Valley since 1854, when his ancestor Wallace Bishop left New York, traveled the Oregon Trail, and homesteaded just north of Phoenix, Oregon, five years before Oregon was even a state. Deep roots, long commitments. That's the family pattern.

They met in their early twenties the way a lot of college kids do, renting a big house with friends, splitting bills, sharing kitchen space, and laughing their way through the chaos of early adulthood. Emily and Andy were true friends first, the kind who could turn an ordinary night into a story just by being in the same room.

And it was back then, during those roommate days, that Emily made her very first batch of real soap, with Andy right there beside her. It was equal parts curiosity and kitchen alchemy… and it came with a legendary beginner mistake: the aluminum pot. (A very bad idea. Aluminum and lye do not mix.) The batch fizzed, the lesson landed, and they laughed so hard they could barely breathe, because of course that would be their first attempt.

Then life pulled them in different directions. They went their separate ways for about a decade.

But when they reconnected, it wasn't awkward or cautious. It was like colliding with your long-lost best friend and realizing, in the same breath, that this person is also your soulmate. Familiar, electric, undeniable.

And somewhere between that friendship, that laughter, and that old kitchen memory, between "remember when we tried to make soap?" and "what if we really did this?", the rest didn't just become history.

It became a soap company.

Going All In

In 1998, Emily drew on her creative spirit, the same instincts that had her crushing petals into water as a girl, and began cold-processing her first real batches of soap. Not to sell. Just to create something she could actually trust to put on her own skin.

By 2001, she was ready to share it. On her 24th birthday, she set up her first booth at the Lithia Artisans Market in Ashland. That same year, with the help of her father Ed Zobel, a physics, mathematics, and computer science teacher at Crater High School, she launched emzblendz.com. Ed built the first version of the site. Emily filled it with soap.

The moment it became a real business wasn't a spreadsheet decision. It was becoming a mother. Emily wanted to build a life where she could provide for her family while being present for it, and working for yourself is the only way to truly set your own schedule. So she went all in.

In March 2004, Em'z Blendz opened its first retail store on Oak Street in Ashland. The little soap company from the kitchen had a real home.

Soul and System

Emily Whitlock is the original founder, chief formulator, and visionary. An artist, herbalist, aromatherapist, and master soap crafter with over 25 years of experience, Emily is both the soul and the science of Em'z Blendz. Every formula starts with her: intuitive, purposeful, and born from her own journey to heal her skin and create soothing remedies for the people she loves.

Andy Whitlock is the operational backbone, graphic designer, photographer, and chief soap maker. He brings the technical precision and design eye that transforms Emily's formulations into the products, labels, and experiences our community knows and trusts. He builds the bridge from the workshop to the world.

Together, they are one voice. Emily's artistry and deep knowledge of skin science combined with Andy's craft precision and systems thinking. That partnership is the engine behind everything Em'z Blendz makes.

Rooted in the Rogue Valley

The Rogue Valley isn't just our mailing address. It shapes what we make.

We both grew up in and around downtown Medford. As kids and teenagers and young adults, this was our neighborhood. Andy could be found at Magic Man or at Chip Wright's Karate. We both spent summers at the Hawthorne Park pool. We didn't cross paths until our twenties, but we were always Medford people.

Andy's roots here go back generations. Wallace Bishop's son Guy was born in Medford in 1889 and never left the valley. The family farmed the Rogue Valley for generations. Andy's grandfather, Frank Minchow, served 30 years in the United States Air Force and retired as a Chief Master Sergeant. Andy's parents, Jim and Carmen Whitlock, spent decades as a general contractor and interior designer, building and designing well over 150 homes across the valley, including custom builds, spec homes, and Habitat for Humanity projects during the housing downturn.

So when it came time to grow the business, staying downtown wasn't even a question.

In October 2023, we expanded into our first Medford location at 24 N. Bartlett Street. Then in March 2025, we made the move to 232 E. Main Street, inside the historic Hoover-Cooper Building, originally built in 1890, to combine our production studio and retail store under one roof. Now passersby and customers can watch soap, lotions, and bath products being made right in front of them as they shop.

Our Ashland boutique on Oak Street remains open, a great spot for longtime customers to grab their favorites in one of the most beautiful small towns in Oregon.

Several of our soaps are inspired directly by the places around us. Mt. Ashland captures the crisp, forested air of Southern Oregon's beloved ski mountain. Our Oregon Orchard soap is being renamed Pear Blossom, after Medford's annual Pear Blossom Festival and Parade, a community tradition since 1954 that draws tens of thousands to downtown every April.

We live in one of the most beautiful corners of the Pacific Northwest. Crater Lake is an hour and a half up the road. The Rogue River runs through our backyard. From world-class fly fishing and whitewater rafting to hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, mountain biking in the Applegate, skiing Mt. Ashland, or just watching the sunset turn the valley gold from Upper Table Rock, this is a place that feeds the spirit. The outdoor life here isn't a marketing angle. It's just how we live.

That connection to place shows up in our products. The herbs, the essential oils, the scents we reach for, they come from a life lived close to the land in Southern Oregon. Always have.

Andy serves on the board of the Downtown Medford Association (DMA), a community-driven nonprofit formed in 2018 that works to strengthen and revitalize Medford's downtown core. The DMA brings together business owners, property owners, and community members to advocate for economic development, historic preservation, and the kind of vibrant street life that makes a downtown worth visiting. We're proud to be part of a growing community of local businesses in the heart of downtown who genuinely support each other.

Honest Beauty

We believe in what we call "Honest Beauty." In a world of synthetic shortcuts and confusing ingredient labels, we offer radical transparency.

We use traditional cold-process methods to preserve the integrity of our ingredients. We intentionally superfat our soaps, leaving extra nourishing oils in every bar. Our products are fresh, like food for your skin, which is why we recommend using them within six to nine months. We trade shelf life for skin health, every time.

This isn't just a business. It's an antidote to the disconnection of modern life, a way to turn a daily routine into a meaningful ritual of self-care.

Come Find Us

Whether you visit our stores in person, shop with us online, or watch us make your next favorite bar of soap through the front window on Main Street, you're not just buying a product. You're joining a community built on trust, craft, and a whole lot of Oregon spirit.

Our team pours the same care into every interaction that Emily and Andy pour into every batch. From the retail floor to the packing table, every hand that touches your order is part of the Em'z Blendz family.

Live Healthy and Happy from the Skin to Within...™