Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Lexi Bullis, founder of Alpine Soap Company

 

SLINGER, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A hometown snowboarder has her sights set on the Olympics.

Lexi Bullis grew up in Slinger and has competed all over the world.

But that can get expensive, and U.S. Ski and Snowboard-- which is the sport's national governing body-- doesn't financially support snowboard racing. So, she started a business to support her dreams.

"We don't use a fancy cutter to cut our soap," she said, her knife slicing through a tray of fresh soap. "We do it the old way."

Bullis knows a thing or two about cutting the right lines.

"It feels like halfway between fudge and cheese," she said, describing the consistency.

Whether it's soap or carving her way down a mountain on a snowboard.

"My ultimate goal is 2026. Like that is kind of what everything is going for," Bullis said.

Bullis is talking about the upcoming winter Olympics in Italy.

She's a professional snowboard racer, accomplished on the world stage.

"By 18 years old, I was racing in this international circuit," she said. "And then I qualified for junior worlds in 2018, so I went to New Zealand."

The Slinger native grew up on skis.

"My mom had me on skis when I was about 18 months, two years," she said.

She turned her focus to snowboarding as a teenager.

"My sophomore year of high school, my stepbrother came home and said he signed up for the snowboarding team. And I was like, well, that kind of sounds fun," she remembered.

It was also familiar.

"It wasn't jumps and tricks and stuff, it was racing, like ski racing, but on a snowboard," she said.

But what does that have to do with soap?

"Snowboarding and travelling all winter get quite expensive," she explained. "And that's kind of how Alpine Soap Company was born."

She started Alpine Soap Company in 2019, after her freshman year of college, to fund her dreams.

"So, right now, at least last season, it paid for about two-thirds," she said of her expenses.

Bullis says expenses can run up to $40,000 a season.

So Alpine Soap Company has grown.

Including shower fizzies.

"They're like a bath bomb, but you put a tablet on the floor of the shower and as it disintegrates, it's aromatherapy," she said, describing the colorful tablets.

There are also candles and wind chimes.

"You'll hear this outside," she said, holding up a wind chime made from a blue bottle.

Her hard work making and selling these products goes hand in hand with her efforts to promote her sport.

"We're trying to be a team under a nonprofit umbrella that we've created," Bullis said. "We have to find our own coaches, find our own lodging, flights, all of our own travel."

But it's a sport she loves and is still closely connected to in Slinger.

Her dad is the coach.

"My dad is now coaching about 60 athletes between the high school and middle school programs," she said with obvious pride.

It's a far cry from the program she helped start in 2015.

"We had nine athletes, we had five girls and four boys," she remembered.

Now, she's inspiring a new generation of snowboard racers. 

"There are several girls who have committed to chasing me, basically, and beating me one day. And there are a couple of girls I think might do it," she said with a smile.

It's an uphill climb for this downhill racer.

But any way you cut it, Bullis is determined to succeed.

"I notice that a lot of things aren't getting done, and I know I can help," she said.

Bullis starts her first training camp Nov. 4 in Canada.

You can find Alpine Soap Company selling its products at Cider Day Fall Fest in Greenfield on Oct. 21. Her motivation on both fronts is helping others.

"Through my company, and helping people, I guess with their skin, and seeing the relief. Or helping, kind of, this sport grow," Bullis said.

For more on Alpine Soap Company, click here.

If you'd like to nominate an Everyday Hero, send Natalie a message at [email protected].