Consider the Wildflowers
Consider the Wildflowers
082. Ashley Schoenith: Apron Parties and Oprah!
Heirloomed began as a way for Ashley to spend time with her grandmother back in 2006. Whenever Ashley visited home, the pair sewed aprons together at her kitchen table.
Ashley hosted brunch parties with other women where she would sell the aprons they made. Her day job working for a branding agency meant she knew how to market the events, and it wasn’t long before a young editor asked to pitch her story to Oprah magazine.
To Ashley’s surprise, Oprah not only picked up the story but ran a six-page spread. Unsurprisingly, they sold out of aprons within an hour!
Fast forward eighteen years, Ashley Schoenith is no stranger to change. Her company has gone through multiple iterations and even a name change, but one thing remains the same: her mission to keep family heirlooms around for the next generation.
Her goods have been featured in major media outlets such as Oprah, Martha Stewart, The Food Network and Southern Living Magazine.
WILDFLOWER SHOWNOTES : shannaskidmore.com/ashley-schoenith
📌 RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Ashley (00:00):
I worked for branding agencies and I was in account management, and what I knew to do was market it. So that's what I did Right off the bat. I got this fresh young editor who never had a placement in Oprah Magazine and she was like, Hey, I love your story. I'd really love to pitch it to Oprah Magazine. It would be a big first hit for me. And I'm like, okay, sure, that'd be great. And lo and behold, she calls me a couple months later and is like, Hey, they're interested. And it turned into this big beautiful four to six page, spread the deep dive story behind our company. And it was just this, the epitome of a press hit. And of course, I was two months away from having my first child. So when the story hit, I think I sold out of aprons within the first hour or something on my website, and I'm like nursing my baby, sitting in my front room of my house with all these people helping me pack aprons.
Shanna (00:59):
You're listening to Consider The Wildflowers, the podcast episode 82. Apron parties and Oprah Heir Loomed began as a way for Ashley to spend time with her grandmother back in 2006, whenever Ashley visited home, the pair sewed aprons together at her kitchen table. Ashley hosted brunch parties with other women where she would sell the aprons. They made her day job. Working for a brand agency meant she knew how to market the events. And it wasn't long before a young editor asked to pitch her story to Oprah Magazine. To Ashley surprise, Oprah not only picked up the story, but ran a six page spread. Unsurprisingly, they sold out of aprons within an hour. Fast forward 18 years, Ashley s Schoff is no stranger to change. Her company has gone through multiple iterations and even a name change, but one thing remains the same. Permission to keep family heirlooms around for the next generation.
(01:46):
Her goods have been featured in major media outlets such as Oprah, Martha Stewart, the Food Network, and Southern Living Magazine. If you dig professional bios, here goes As a self-proclaimed old soul. Ashley s Shov has a deep rooted passion for the nostalgia of things from the past and keeping their story alive on a mission to keep family heirlooms around for the next generation. She has a honed design aesthetic, heavily influenced from the details and craftsmanship she finds in vintage goods, apparent in her surface patterns, textile design and product work as a nod to her longtime line of home and kitchen textiles and her quest to preserve her own family recipes. She recently published a cookbook, the Heirloom Kitchen on Shelves Now, and a new interiors collection of fabric wallpaper and cushions filled with timeless patterns for your collected home. A longtime lever of sourcing vintage, she enjoys spending time in Atlanta with her husband, Shane, three young children, Wyatt, Sawyer, and Waylon and their pup May.
(02:39):
Okay, formal introductions over. Let's dive in. Hey, it's Shanna, and this is Consider the Wildflowers, the podcast. For the past 15 plus years, I've had the honor to hear thousands of stories from entrepreneurs around the world. As a former Fortune 100 financial advisor turned business consultant, I have a unique opportunity to see the reel behind the highlight reel. I'm talking and loss statements, unpaid taxes, moments of burnout, and those of utter victory. Or as my husband says, the content everyone is wondering but not many are talking about. And now I'm bringing these private conversations to you here. The untold stories of how industry leaders, founders, and up and coming entrepreneurs got their start, the experiences that shaped them and the journey to building the brands they have today. Stories that will inspire and reignite encourage to redefine success and build a life and business on your own terms. Welcome Wildflower. I'm so glad you're here. Hi, Ashley. Welcome to the show.
Ashley (03:32):
Thank you so much. I'm glad to be
Shanna (03:33):
Here. Okay. I feel like when I was prepping for a call, I had a little flashback to, oh gosh, I'm going to go ahead and say 2011, maybe 2012 when I was first introduced to your work through what I'm assuming was maybe the original iteration of the company. I don't know. I'm excited to get into it. I smell aprons.
Ashley (03:56):
Yes, that's so long ago. But yeah, that's my recollection as well.
Shanna (04:02):
Okay. So that was so fun. And because at that time I was doing a lot of floral work with Amy Saba out of Atlanta. Im pretty sure, gosh, if my memory, let's go way back. We got your aprons for workshops. We had 'em for the whole team. I mean, was that kind of beginning or, yes. Okay.
Ashley (04:27):
Yeah. I mean, we started in 20, no, we started in 2006 was our technical launch date of the company. And yes, our original name was Ice Milk Aprons. We just made aprons. We sold kind of upscale aprons in glass jars. So we had a single product. I think we probably had eight to 10 designs. And yes, we did. We sell to a lot of chefs, hostesses and floral folks and creatives in their studios and things like that. So I know it's been a while,
Shanna (05:01):
And you grew pretty fast. I mean, I remember even back then, I think you were on Oprah featured in some pretty big publications.
Ashley (05:10):
My background was kind in advertising and marketing and branding agencies. So that was kind of the world that I knew and that was kind of what I knew to go after. Those were back in the days really pre-social media. I mean,
Shanna (05:26):
Definitely
Ashley (05:26):
Twitter blog. I mean, I think I was one of the first people on the Twitter blog platforms, but I mean, it wasn't like it is today. It was very much driven by more traditional advertising. And again, my background is really truly in branding, so it was kind of a new world. But yes, we were very fortunate out of the gates with that more singular visual product, had beautiful photography, which also I think is how we're connected there as well, but had just such pretty shots and caught the eye of some awesome placements out of the gates.
Shanna (06:06):
Okay. And then at what point did you either rebrand or just move over to Heirloom?
Ashley (06:15):
We did. We rebranded having the name aprons in our company. Title to me was a little limiting. Again, my background is just in the brand storytelling world, and my goal has always really been for us to be a lifestyle brand and be able to tell those stories. So we do still to this day, we do a ton of content, food content in the kitchen, in the home. And that has always been such a softer, more thoughtful sell to me, making a recipe and showing us wearing an apron while we're making it, or a plated dish with a TT towel. So yeah, heirlooms was really, it came out of the nod to where we began. I started the business with my grandmother just as a way to spend more time with her. And we started sewing aprons together. There's really no master game plan of being a hole in the market.
(07:11):
And that nod was really to the family heirloom. The jar came with a little heirloom tag for you to stitch your initials on it, couple blank recipe cards. And the apron was all packaged inside. So it was really meant to be something that you treasured, that you made dishes with, you learned from your grandmother, your mother, you brought your children in to cook those family recipes. And then my hope was that you would pass that apron down with all of the knowledge and the apron to make all of those things one day. So the family heirloom is and has always been the heart of our business.
Shanna (07:50):
I love it. And did you have your blog from the beginning? Yes, because it
Ashley (07:56):
Was, I created it on my Mac from, I would go to the Apple help station and they helped me build my website, my blog at the beginning it was so rough. But yeah, it's come a long way.
Shanna (08:08):
Websites our whole thing, but now I think about all the software available and how much easier it is to make a beautiful, I'm not saying it's easy, but it's easier I think, to make such a beautiful website. So the blog was always heirloom?
Ashley (08:25):
It was, yes. Well, not necessarily brand wise, but I do think that was one of the first things that kind of started that term. We added the ED to give a nod to the past, to heirloom and just kind of my love of, I get a ton of inspiration from the past in my design work and in our content, just that nostalgia, but still trying to be relevant for today. So our blog content has always really focused a lot on just what our customer base or possible customer base might be interested in or might have a fondness for. So it's a very high level, especially from the beginning, a very high level sales funnel to a sale.
Shanna (09:13):
Okay. I'm so excited. There's so much to unpack here. And I just went full on in, but I do have one question. I didn't prep you for this. This might be hard.
Ashley (09:24):
Okay. You
Shanna (09:24):
Started in 2006 with this love of lifestyle and story and heritage with an apple mat. Going to get your website bill now looking forward, goodness, almost 20 years, 18 years with the see, so, so many more. I'm going to air quote lifestyle type blogs and content. I would just love if you would reflect on seeing the industry, I guess that I could call it, of lifestyle brands growth. And is that something that got you really excited? Is that something that you were feel like, oh, this is the competition, or Yeah, I just want your take on this industry that in 2006 probably you had no idea. I'm sure there were other people out there doing it, but it's so less visible then.
Ashley (10:24):
Yeah, it is crazy how it's changed. I mean, I always tell people I did it backwards. I didn't truly intend to start a business. I'm very entrepreneurial minded and my mom is an artist graphic designer. My dad was in real estate and business. So I feel like I have both of those roots. But no, I mean, most of the times when you see a business modeled after something like ours, they started with the content or they were a blogger and they kind of blew up that way. And then as a result, they started selling things or they had a TV show or something like that. So I do kind of feel like we've a little bit done it backwards. But no, I mean the platforms have just changed. Again, social media came on the forefront, which is a storytelling platform and a connecting platform. So it has made it both harder and easier, I would say, to go down that route.
(11:21):
So I think it's been great. I mean, my idol in terms of lifestyle is probably Martha Stewart, and she was kind of, again, just her content I really resonated with and the way she has gone about just ebbing and flowing with her brand, but still staying true to herself, which has changed over the years. I mean, a lot can happen in 20 years, and I'm certainly not the same person. And our brand is certainly not the same brand, but it's a heck of a lot easier some days to just sell a single product and put it on the shelves and not do all the other things. And I definitely get a lot of pushback from buyers who want to buy just the product. And I'm like, but we have this whole story to tell. What if we could do this? And packaging is really important to me and showing the story. So selling online in some respects is a lot easier for me than sitting on the shelf. You have so much more opportunity visually to tell that story and to be that lifestyle brand. But I think it's a patience game, and I'm in no hurry to make it happen. For sure. I think the journey and being a part of that story is what I enjoy the most about our brand.
Shanna (12:36):
Ashley, I love it. Okay, let's go back 18 years. You've had kids. I mean, just so many things has happened in the course of it. Like you said, 18, 20 years is a lot can change. So take me back to when you originally had this idea of sewing aprons with your grandmother. Did you have another job? Did you want it to become a business? Just tell me about those early days and then I want to walk through the growth.
Ashley (13:06):
Sure. Yeah. So I smoke aprons again from Tallahassee, and I moved to Atlanta after college and just would drive home. And my grandmother lived there and my mom lived there, and I just kind of wanted to spend time with them. She was obviously, I grew up baking and cooking and learning from them in the kitchen, kitchen. And my grandmother was also just a great sower, a seamstress, so all of our grandmas were. And so yeah, I'm like, okay, what can we make? And somehow we got on this kick with aprons. So I would find fabrics in Atlanta, I would drive them home. We would sew these aprons at our kitchen table. She would sew them while I left, and I would come back and do these kind of brunches, ladies brunches at my place. And a friend would invite a friend and you would bring a dish, and then I would kind of pop up this little trunk show with aprons.
(13:59):
Everyone would wear their aprons and people would buy aprons. And it was just a very, very fun organic start. And again, I would take pictures of them and we had a photo shoot. And what I knew to do, I worked for branding agencies and I was in account management, and what I knew to do was market it and pitch it. And so that's what I did. And right off the bat, I got this fresh young editor who had never had a placement in Oprah magazine, and she was like me. She was out there hustling, and she was like, Hey, I love your story. I'd really love to pitch it to Oprah Magazine. It would be a big first hit for me. And I'm like, okay, sure, that'd be great. And I think at the time, TE was working through a friend of mine who was kind of starting PR consulting.
(14:56):
So I'm like, all right, great. And lo and behold, she calls me a couple months later and is like, Hey, they're interested. And it turned into this big beautiful, I don't know, four to six page spread all about it, what the deep dive story behind our company. And it was just this at the time. I mean, that was the most epitome of a press hit. Oh, and of course, I was two months away from having my first child. So when the story hit, I think I sold out of aprons within the first hour or something on my website, and I'm nursing my baby sitting in my front room of my house with all these people helping me pack aprons. It was a kind of crazy, crazy wild ride. But it settled down after that and worked into more of the, okay, how are we going to take this? And I consulted for a while and then just ended up not being able to juggle all of the things I was doing full-time, a little bit of a workaholic, so I didn't have enough hours in the day and transitioned, consulted with my agency, and then finally transitioned to doing this.
Shanna (16:17):
Did you see this becoming the business that you wanted? I mean, how did you set that vision in front of you? I mean, it sounds like you just had your first baby, you're selling these aprons. I mean, did you consciously make that choice, this is what I want to do, this is the future. I see.
Ashley (16:35):
I mean, honestly, no, not really. I mean, I feel so fortunate that it's always, the business has always been things that I love to do, and I'm doing it on my own schedule, which I now have three children. So as a mom of three children running my own business, it's that personal time and that flexibility to pause at 3:00 PM and go pick them up at carpool is just invaluable. But the fact that I'm just doing what I naturally love, I definitely get that comment from people a lot, is like, this is just such an authentic reflection of my home and my personality and the things that I love to do. I love to shop vintage, I love to cook, I love to entertain. So for me to be able to do that through my job, I feel very, very fortunate.
(17:32):
Some days are better than others, of course, with all the challenges that come with running your own business, as you know. But yeah, no, I think it has ebbed and flowed over the years in terms of interests, design, aesthetics, the brand has kind of grown up with me and changed over the years as a result of that. But so have my customers. So it's, they're 15 or they're 75. And I like to say my customers an old soul. And that's what I describe myself as. It's just that it's that mindset. And so there's a lot of room to play. I'm not married to one design aesthetic. I'm not married to one product. It's really peaking the interest of our audience and our community and of our customer.
Shanna (18:23):
Tell me, Ashley, as the business grew, do you feel like it always, it sounds like that's the dream, right? To do work we love and to have the flexibility to spend time with our family. I mean, that is the dream, but I know I'm sure not every day in there has felt dreamy. And I would just love to hear, and maybe for you it has, how have you seen the business grow and what do you feel like went really well? Were there things that you're like, oh, that just didn't work? How have you kept a pace that feels good for you? I'm just am so interested of, were you able to keep it just this business you've really loved or did you like, okay, I tried to grow it really big and then that crashed down. I just kind want to hear what went well and then what hasn't gone well or kind of lessons learned as the business has grown?
Ashley (19:19):
Yeah, I mean, that's such a loaded question, especially over the course of the last 20 or so years because we've seen crazy economic things, just crazy world things happen and a lot of stuff out of your control, which is always the case. So yeah, I mean, I think my goals have changed for the business. And if I'm being totally honest, I think they continue to change. And we have any product-based business too. We've had great very large scale customers that have come along and have let us have a couple really amazing years, and then we'll shift and have a dip and that's fine. I think our core business of our online retail customers, our direct to consumer customers and that community staying engaged, and then really our independent stores across the country, we sell wholesale as well. So those people, I mean, we've worked with some customers and some stores have been with us from the very beginning. And to me, that's what it's all about. So we can go out there chasing the next big thing, and it's very easy to get caught up in that. But to me, the win is the people that stick around and stay with us and the relationships that we create along the way. And people will send us stories of their family heirlooms or something they've done or recipe now that they've made, and that is just gold. That's like business gold. So that long-term play, that's always my mindset.
Shanna (21:10):
I love Ashley, how you said the goals continue to change. I think allowing it to the business to be almost like open-handed in what's coming or transitioning with the times. I mean, I think about 18 years and like you mentioned in the beginning, I don't even think Instagram was around or it was very new. All of the website platforms that have come along are probably were very young or weren't around a lot has changed in 18 years. And so I'm curious for you, Ashley, have you just been able to keep the mission and the heart of the company top of mind? I mean, is that what kind of is the driving factor? Of course, my finance background I go to, okay, but what about sales goals and did you try to hire a team and this pressure to build bigger? Did you ever feel that pressure or was were you truly able to just say, okay, how can I serve my customers, create more story and memories and families? What kind of has driven you for 18 years?
Ashley (22:21):
Yeah, I mean, no, I would say that's maybe the biggest thing that's changed is I'm very goal oriented, very strategic plan oriented. I have my to-do list every day, and that keeps me going. And when I have a very solid plan, I'm great. And when it starts to ebb and flow and starts to change, I'm like, what are we doing here? So I definitely need that focus. I'm very half and very half creative minded. So over the years I have grown our number of skews through certain periods of time and tested things, and that's been great. And then paired them back down and kind of reevaluated and seen what direction we need to go in. And honestly, that just continues to change. Certain things get popular, certain things, certain categories, ebb and flow. And that's probably been the hardest thing is yes, I'm very business-minded and want to keep growing, and then I got to pull back down and say, is this going to fit my, can I be traveling three weeks out of the month?
(23:32):
No, I want that kind of trajectory. Do I want a retail store where I have to be there every day? Yes and no. So that's honestly been one of my hardest struggles. I saw a balance question in here, I think when I was looking, when we were chatting before, and I don't know what balance is necessarily. I just really want to be there for my family, and that is a huge struggle for someone that wants to be successful and wants to do a good job and sees big things out there in the world. So I don't know. I don't know what the answer is to that. And I definitely have tried a number of things for my family. I've tried a number of things for my business. We've had more employees, we've had less employees. And again, it's just kind of something that's grown. It's grown depending on our client needs, our product needs, our family needs. And I feel pretty good about not wanting a giant empire these days. I think it's just about being happy about putting out quality things that fit with our brand and resonate with our customers and that connection. And I think there's a way to be extremely successful without having a studio full of 90 employees and four storefronts, something like that. But I don't know. I think there's a model that can work, and I think it changes as we go along.
Shanna (25:13):
I feel like this is the theme I keep coming back to, just reassessing co goals continue to change. Do you feel like you sit down each year or maybe each season and reassess your values? What is priority in this season of life? I do love that question. How have you found work-life balance? I don't love the word balance either, but I do love the word harmony. And in 18 years you've had three littles and then kiddos and then medium size, and then they're probably big now. And so that's allowed you to do different things in the business. Would you say that your business has not had a straight upward trajectory? It's more so in this season I'm okay with these goals.
Ashley (26:00):
Yes. I mean, our trajectory honestly has been thankfully a pretty upward steady path, but how we've gotten there each year has been pretty different. So I'm very thankful for that. And again, I always take a very layered approach to our business. So I'm constantly reassessing. I always have a five-year plan, 10 year plan. I always have those big long-term plans. I'm a happy New Year's resolution kind of person. I love a fresh start. I love to look at my metrics. I love to set my goals. So I definitely, I probably plan a lot more than the normal person and build back out my to-do list from there.
Shanna (26:44):
So the business has had an upward trajectory, but you said that it's come about in different ways. You've had a lot of different layers to the business. Will you unpack that a little bit? I love how sometimes I do think time and money play together, but I think strategy comes into play. So maybe you transitioned away from fully custom handmade aprons and focus more on a different type of product. What do you mean when you say it's had an upper trajectory, but it's grown in different ways and unpacking the different layers and how you've strategically continued to grow, even though probably in different seasons you haven't had the same amount of time to give to it?
Ashley (27:29):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would say again, we layer some years I'm a little bit more focused on our wholesale business. Some years I'm a little more focused on our direct to customer business and big accounts, layering in big accounts or growing the number of SKUs we have licensing as a component for categories that we never want to do or cannot be the expert in. Betting is one of those categories. We are not equipped nor do I care to be equipped in the category of bedding. And we have wonderful licensing partners that help us with our brand partnerships. So I think just building in those layers and seeing where you can do something really cool or make a difference. We have a cookbook that just launched this January, January 24, and that is something that I've always wanted to have as part of our product assortment, if you will, as part of our story.
(28:35):
And we've pulled recipes and shots from the last 18 years of us doing content from that and family recipes that have been around for generations. So I think that project specifically is a great culmination and has really been a product that technically is a marketing piece for us. It's a branding tool for us, but it's such a great full circle example of that layering and of all the things coming together, the website, the blog, the old customers, the family heirlooms, the visuals, and that is a huge chunk of our focus as a product or a collection for 2024. So that's so vastly different than normally for Spring we'd be doing our full line of aprons and tea towels and candles and our collection. And this season we're focused on that and promoting that as a brand and as a product. So I think just thinking about what's next and how that's going to impact our business, and hopefully that will help us get into even more stores or get back into stores we haven't been in a while and sell our collection as well. So I love how things work together and I love the threads that each thing uses to tie to the next thing I guess is my overall. I love to just weave it all together.
Shanna (30:00):
Yeah, I love it. And it does, it comes back to the brand. The products are an extension of the brand and the lifestyle you're hoping to showcase to others it sounds like. And I just think that's so lovely. Looking back, Ashley, do you see any major shifts, turning points, pivots in the business where either you wanted to go a different direction or the industry maybe forced you into a different direction? I would love to hear if there's been any major turning points.
Ashley (30:33):
Yeah, we probably had more major 20 points than we should care to have. But yeah, I mean I think a lot of them have been internal more than anything. I think it's taking a look at the business and saying, wow, like I said, these goals have really shifted or wow, maybe people aren't setting as many tables as they used to set and now that's coming back around. I think it's crazy, honestly, it's crazy how many changes we've seen with the millennial crowd and TikTok and I mean entertaining just so they're so old school to me in some sense. And I love that. So it's really brought back around a lot of things that for a minute sat on the back burner. But yeah, I mean we've had a lot of just pivotal shifts, whether it's been a big press hit, whether it's been introducing a new collection, coming out with a new product, we've had a lot over the years and I think those little moments of learning and those little aha moments that help shift us and move us into a direction are, I'm not a major pivot person.
(31:53):
I try not to be. I think we just have to say like, okay, we see things going in this direction and we're going to start heading and testing and seeing what sticks. We came out with a lot of patterns and prints and things, which we've been pretty solid in stripes and very timeless in the past. So lately we've been testing some more patterns and that's been great. And I think it's just, again, it's just about seeing what resonates. Always we'll have out of the 25 things we launch, we'll always have five things that really hit. And learning from that I think is what it's all about.
Shanna (32:40):
How have you, I hear your product, you are always testing new products, trying new products, keeping a pulse on your audience, that's not always easy to do. How have you been able to test and for new product based businesses, listening test new things, but without fear or maybe with fear, but because financially a commitment to have this product line and inventory, and I don't want to call it in some cases a gamble and educated guess, it's like you said, there's going to be five out of however many that really do well. How have you learned to embrace that testing and continuing to grow your product line and listen to the audience?
Ashley (33:30):
I've learned the hard way is probably the most honest answer. We definitely went through a couple years where we really expanded our skews and also some of our customers are different than some of our other customers. So staying true to the brand at its core, I think that's been one of my biggest learnings is when I try to go too far to one side of, well, this buyer really wants, if we can put this together for them and then at the end of the day it comes out as something that I'm like, huh, that's not something I would've produced on my own and felt comfortable selling or it feels a little off brand to me and that's where I'm most unhappy. And at the end of the day when I do stick to my guns and I do stay very on brand, it generally works out better and sells better because it's who we are.
(34:21):
So definitely the hard way, definitely by having skews and designs and things sitting on the shelves and having to figure out how to offload them is the honest answer. And again, I try not to go so far down the line that I know it's not going to work. I do a lot of surveys. We usually do a survey at the beginning of the year and just a lot of calls just visit our retailers and say, Hey, what do you like about this? You're like, Hey, I'm thinking about doing this. What's working for you in the store right now? And just testing, just asking colors. Maybe we don't go full on blue and white, but maybe we put out three designs in there and we just see does the blue do better than the green? But at the end of the day, I've also learned nobody cares if we miss an email on a Monday. I'm the only person probably that noticed, and if we put out an ugly tet towel or if we have a collection that just literally doesn't sell A, nobody knows, and B, nobody cares. So move on, take whatever you can learn from that and don't keep s sinking costs into it just because you've already started it. And that's a hard lesson to learn. Yeah, it's not a fun one.
Shanna (35:38):
Yeah. Goodness. Yes. Well, speaking of money, I'm interested, what do you feel like on the financial end of running the business, especially a product-based business has come easily for you? And then what has been harder for you in managing the money side of the business?
Ashley (35:57):
Product based, inventory based businesses are struggle when it comes to cashflow and comes to the money side of things. I think just having a plan really, really honing in on our production timelines and our launches and looking ahead and saying, all right, we know we need to have Holiday Inn by this date and we need to have this much inventory to make this much sales to hit our sales goals and kind of working backwards. And I think over the years, just trying to make that a little bit more of a process than a throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping it sticks. And again, that balance of saying, well, if we want to make X number of dollars and backing in how much we need to make inventory wise for that, that doesn't always mean you're going to sell that much. So there's a balance there of saying, well, we might need to readjust our sales goals, or, oh, we've had this new opportunity come along, how can that fit in?
(37:01):
So I think the biggest struggle is really just the inventory and how much of it we can pre-sell, how much we can float with bigger orders, and then how much we truly believe in. And we can test ahead of time to say, we feel confident this is going to be our best seller, and we're going to go a little deeper in that collection for the direct to consumer where you're truly just investing in the inventory and hope you sell it through the end of the season. We're fortunate that a lot of our stuff is more timeless. It is more evergreen, things like fashion, a fashion business where the trend comes in, it goes out and then you're stuck with it. We don't have as much of that. I really don't rely too heavily on the trends, and ours is pretty timeless. So we've been fortunate in that sense that if something does stick around a little too long, then it just takes us longer to get through. But it's not gone, it's not out of season or out of touch.
Shanna (37:56):
I love how you talked about cashflow and that's such an important piece of, especially a product-based business with inventory, cashflow is everything. Would you say that you keep that same mentality? I like how you said almost like small changes over time. Something I see you got an Oprah feature very early on, you sold out in an hour. Some people are like, okay, I got to completely shift my business model and come up with enough product to sell for the demand. And then it's like, oh, well, the demand. Do you see what I'm saying? It's like you grow too big. Would you say for you, you're okay if you sell out, that's a good thing. You've just kind of slowly grown and that has been helpful.
Ashley (38:43):
I mean, I'd love to say yes, but yeah, I mean it's hard not when something hits or when you get a big customer, a big press hit. It is hard not to be like, everybody loves this, everybody loves this. I'm going to make five times the number of them and I'm going to sell out. And honestly, every time I have done that, it's such a balance. It's such a balance of when the shiny new object syndrome wears off or when you've hit your limit of the people that are interested in it, what we're selling. It is a vibe. It's not everybody's vibe. I say all day long. I could probably whittle up a much more lucrative look or a much more lucrative category of products and make a whole lot more money. I think staying true to who you are and staying these days, I would much rather make what I make collection wise and sell out of it than make five times too much and have to sit on it and sell it for the next two years. And I think some of that is my creative energy and wanting to get our new stuff out there. It's hard to be patient sometimes when you have a creative mind constantly wanting to create new things.
(40:02):
So I think it's just, again, I keep saying it's just a balance and watching it, but also, especially if you have a business where it is more singular in product, say it's like an apron for example, and you have 40 different versions of that apron, you will see your bestsellers and you will see some that hit. And when you do have something coming up, yes, I do think you should build up that inventory and capitalize on it, but just be cautious of not going too far over the line and digging yourself into a hole. Yeah.
Shanna (40:37):
Well, it's so hard to find the balance, like you said. Yeah. What would you say, Ashley, in your 18 years of business or previous life before that is the best thing that you have learned about money?
Ashley (40:53):
I think I continue to still learn there. I think it's one of those, I mean, what is the saying? Going to have money to make money. I do get a little discouraged. We're not an investor based business where we have a hundred million dollars sitting at our beck and call waiting to do something with it. And I do think in the social media world of today, we see all those big beautiful shiny brands that are on every platform, that are in every magazine that are targeting you on every channel. And I look into them and the ones I really admire. And that is a direction, that is a direction that works really well for a lot of people. And it's hard to not compare yourself in the social media world sometimes, and organic it's, it's not what it used to be. There's not a one hit wonder.
(41:52):
So I think you just have to figure out the direction that resonates with you and stays true to your values and goes with your goals, but also be open to the opportunities that are out there as well. There's a lot of things that having a lot of money can afford you in business and it can allow you to grow. But at the same time, there's a lot of things that we have done successfully and done the right way because we didn't have as deep pockets and we were organically funding and growing our business from the revenues we were generating. And I think had we had deeper pockets from the beginning, we probably would've spent a lot of money in places or invested in different products or such that maybe would've not led us down the right path. So I think there's something to be said for being patient and learning.
Shanna (42:51):
I love that. I see that a lot in the finance world too. I'm like, it's a luxury sometimes to not have to pay yourself, but at the same time, if you have to get paid or if you have to fund the business by yourself, you make different decisions and you learn different habits early on. There's probably pros and cons to each one. I have so many more questions I want to ask you, but I do want to get into a quick fire in just a second. But one thing I am very curious about, Ashley, in 18 years of your business and having a branding background, marketing background, how have you been able to keep up with or maybe one or two ways that you've kept your brand relevant with all the marketing changes? If you were to look back and say, if I had to do marketing all over again, I would focus on word of mouth or knocking on doors, or are there any things like that that you're like as the marketing shifts and changes and it's going to continue to do that, it's going to be Instagram today or Threads or whatever it's next,
(43:56):
How have you kept your business and your audience growing and engaged?
Ashley (44:04):
Yeah. I mean, there's so many channels and I'm a heavy podcast listener, a heavy business book learner. I love to learn. I love to test. I think for us, again, I know I keep saying this, but it's just saying true to our brand and who we are and the new platforms that arise every time one does, I look at it and I say, how can we be relevant on that platform? Or how can we use this marketing channel to reach our customer? TikTok is such a great example because I'm unlike the opposite of someone who gets out there and dances on the screen. I feel like I'm pretty present on social media most days, but Instagram is definitely Instagram, Pinterest days, those were my gravy train for sure. But our customer is there, and I think acknowledging that this is where the audience is, this is where the attention is, or this is where a potential audience is, and speaking to them in a way that you can't feel non-native to the platform.
(45:12):
So I'm constantly trying to test and get on there. I play around with it myself. I'm a consumer of the content that's being put out there, and I'm, TikTok has been the hardest for me, and I don't do a ton on there, but it's an opportunity. You can go viral on TikTok, and again, our customer is not necessarily a certain age demographic or a certain very specific demographic. It's a mindset. So I think our customer is to be found in many places. I tried threads, I jumped on threads right away because I thought this could be something. And quite honestly, at this point, I'll jump on anything because I'm hoping there'll be some next big wonderful thing that I'll love down the road. But I like it. I mean, I love marketing, I love branding, and so I see it as a challenge to reach our audience. And a challenge is how we can create content in a beautiful and relevant way to tell our story.
Shanna (46:16):
Ashley, I'm just curious, how do you keep up with all these things? Who do you have a team that's with you? Because I know when you say talk through, okay, a new platform and we'll test it out, that's hard to do if you're kind of on your own. So I would just kind of love to hear, if you want to speak to maybe even the harmony of, you have three kids, you're a mom, you're running a business. How do you have help on the other side, or what kind of help do you have to make sure you're able to do all of these things?
Ashley (46:56):
Our help has ebbed and flowed again too over the years. We have a lot of external resources I would say that we pull in when we need to. But I think just having that structural game plan of, okay, this is our email schedule, this is our social media schedule, and carving out times for when we're packing orders, when we're focused on marketing and having that running to do list and carving it out and who's going to do what has been important. We've always been very lean and a lot of the stuff day to day, like social media, I can farm out, but I feel like sometimes it's best coming from me and my brand voice and staying very true to that. Everybody's opinion of that is very different. But to me, where I feel like we've made the most success is when we have backend help that supports our plan and our structure from a business operations and a marketing standpoint, the marketing side of it and the day-to-day, like getting out orders and things like that. It's pretty consistent, but we definitely pull in extra hands when we have a big customer. We have a big during the holiday season, things like that, but some of our longtime, like our photographer we've worked with for the last 20 plus years, so our team tends to stay pretty much the same. I
Shanna (48:22):
Love how you said building it lean, but it sounds like you just have very clear this is what we want to accomplish, this is the time we're carving out to accomplish it, and just staying focused kind of on task
Ashley (48:38):
Task. Yeah, I would say task focus is more this is what we need to get done by the end of the day. And as a small business, you can run yourself crazy. I never get through my to-do list, so I just have the top four bullets every morning. I just move the top four bullets to the top because lo and behold, some new fire comes up, some new kid comes home sick, whatever it may be. But again, it doesn't matter if our Monday email goes out on Tuesday, nine times out of 10, it doesn't matter. It's fine. And if you're a ginormous company, that doesn't happen because you have way more layers in place or staying until 10 o'clock at night to get it done. And maybe I'm logging back in at 10 o'clock at night to get it done, and that's fine. But yeah, I think it's more about what do we need to get done by what days and what do we need to get done where that timeline can shift.
Shanna (49:39):
I love that. Thank you so much for sharing because I just think it's interesting you have a brand that's around, like you said, a mindset, a way of doing life, and you want to stick to those values yourself. But as a small business owner who's running a lean business, sure, a lot of tasks that you are doing yourself. So I love the idea of keeping those four priorities priority each day because inevitably things come up. I love it. Ashley, this has been so fun. I feel like there's so many more things I could talk to you about, but do you want to go into a quick fire before we say goodbye? Okay. Okay. So these are just kind of fun questions. One, what is one thing you would be embarrassed if people knew
Ashley (50:29):
What my desk looks like right now? Probably I think I have my own organizational system for sure, and my desk is always piled high with things, so it's probably my workspace. I love it.
Shanna (50:46):
Isn't that so funny how we all, I clean my desk before I come in, otherwise my brain is just a scattered mess.
Ashley (50:53):
Yes, not me. Okay.
Shanna (50:56):
Any regrets or wish you could do over moments?
Ashley (50:59):
No regrets. Absolutely no regrets. I mean, sure, there's things I've been like, dang, I wish we hadn't done that. But again, I'm all about learning from the moment and moving on, and our past leads us where we're supposed to be led, so no regrets. I think you got to go with it. Yeah.
Shanna (51:18):
Big win or pinch me moment.
Ashley (51:21):
I mean, I would say recently it's been our cookbook that has been, again, just so long in the works, years and years and years, it's been on my list. So to finally have it out and hold it, it's like a child. And then to have people texting me and posting on our social media pictures of recipes that they made out of the cookbook or that they received it, I mean, I didn't think about that part of it. What I'm getting back from it. And it's only been out a couple weeks, so it's like who knows? That has just been definitely a recent pinch me moment. So fun to see what you've created and what you've worked on for so long. Be a real tangible thing out in the world. I
Shanna (52:13):
Love it. Okay. Best advice or just really good advice that you have received?
Ashley (52:20):
I have received, I've received so much good advice and I'm so thankful. People are just so generous in this industry. I love having coffee with people and just chit chatting and something always comes out of that. I met the founder of VA Tree recently, Susan Gravely at a show we were doing in Charleston over the holidays, and she had just actually come out with a book and I was asking her some questions. I love how timeless and true they've stayed to that brand dinnerware, it's like Italian dinnerware. And she was just so generous. She just said, don't let anyone tell you what your brand should be. You need to lead your brand. You need to be consistent with it. And she was like, don't change your price point and don't change your product to fit into someone's need, someone's whole because it will never serve you. And hearing that from such a wonderful founder and such a wonderful longstanding brand, and like I said, I've tried to keep that my mantra and when I haven't, I have felt it. So hearing that reaffirmed for me was very powerful. So she probably doesn't know that, but I really valued her advice.
Shanna (53:48):
I love that so much. And because so often we are told to look for the whole, and of course how we can uniquely fit the whole, but I think there's so much joy, especially as a creative, doing work you love and then finding who that can impact. So yeah, that's very powerful. I love it.
Ashley (54:09):
Yeah.
Shanna (54:10):
Okay, last quick fire and then we'll send it off. What are you working on now? Sounds like you just finished a big project or one resource that you would love to share.
Ashley (54:21):
Well, yes. We're really focused on the cookbook, especially the first half of this year, but we also have been working on a new interiors collection, which will be fabric by the yard wallpaper cushions, and I am so excited about it. I think it's been a foundational pivotal moment. I think this will be something for our brands that really helps us to transition and shift into some other places that kind of fit our five to 10 year plan. So, so excited for that to get out, and we've been working on it for so long. I'm really excited to see it come out into the world.
Shanna (55:05):
Ashley, that's so exciting. I have just loved talking to you. And one big takeaway for me, I'm a big planner. I love planning. I have a whole course that I teach on goal setting, but I plan in one year increments, and you have really encouraged me. I'm going to walk away and I need a five year vision. I need a 10 year vision looking even further in the future. So thank you for that encouragement, and I'm excited to be like, where do I want to be in five years?
Ashley (55:35):
Yeah, and it changes. I think that can change just as easily as your daily to-do list or your one year plan. But yeah, I love all your content and your coursework that you're putting out because it's so helpful for companies like us.
Shanna (55:51):
Yeah, I mean, I think we're kindred spirits and creating a plan is so helpful. And for me, creating a plan keeps me intentional. That's what I love about, even if it shifts and changes, it keeps me focused on priorities. But looking back, I'm like, I have never done, I mean, when we do planning, we are like five years from now, 10 years from now. But yeah, I haven't done it in a while, so I'm going to go do that. I'm excited. Okay, Ashley, let's send it off and go back 18, 19 years. What would you tell yourself on day one, driving home to see your mom and your grandmother making these aprons? What would you, looking back now, tell yourself in the very beginning,
Ashley (56:35):
I would really just say to jump in, go do it. I think a lot of people are nervous to make that jump, to make that leap, but you don't have to know all the things. I think the best learning is just hands-on learning. It's learning from other people, and it's just by doing it. So just jump in and go and get started and give it a try. And if it works, great. If it doesn't work, try something else. It's so fluid and you'll never know, and you'll never regret not giving it a go. Yeah,
Shanna (57:11):
I love it. Ashley, thank you so much for sharing your story and just so much I'm sure you've learned in the past 18 years and just staying true to your mission. So thank you for coming on the show.
Ashley (57:24):
Thank you so much. It was so fun. I appreciate you having me.
Shanna (57:28):
Hey, wildflower, you just finished another episode of Consider The Wildflowers the podcast. Head over to consider the wildflowers podcast.com for show notes, resource links, and to learn how you can connect with Ashley. One final thought for today from Oprah. Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world. As always, thank you for listening. I'll see you next time.
