First up is Ashley, of Ashley Erika Designs. I've been keeping my eye on her a lot over the last several months (I hope you don't think that's creepy, Ashley - haha), as her yarn choices and design style remind me so much of my own. I also love that Ashley sticks to a colour scheme, that always seems to incorporate a staple neutral.
Click on the "Read More" link to read Ashley's interview and to find out more about her, her craft, and advice she gives to up and coming designers, and make sure to follow her on social media to keep up with her knitting adventures!
www.ashleyerikadesigns.etsy.com or on instagram @ashleyerikadesigns
or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ashleyerikadesigns
What specific skills/services/products/expertise do you provide?
Knit and crochet accessories, yarn-themed product such as tote bags, mugs, and t-shirts, and knitting and crochet patterns
How + why + when did you get started? Did someone teach you, or are you self-taught? What other key elements help to tell your story?
I taught myself to crochet in 2012 and fell in love right away. I taught myself to knit a year later and have been growing my small business ever since. My business came about spontaneously when I had no where to put all of my creations. I have always loved making things and have always had a creative spark, and when I discovered yarn I knew it was for me.
What do you love about what you do?
I love working with wool blend yarns because they are soft and cozy but are high quality in comparison to synthetic yarns and will last a long time. I also love the way wool looks on a finished piece.
Greatest accomplishments?
I have so many, I don't know where to begin. I consider every step I take in my business to be a big accomplishment. I think my biggest accomplishment is becoming an established small business. I never thought I would be able to do something that people actually cared about, but I've spotted a few Ashley Erika Designs pieces walking around the streets of Winnipeg and it is the most incredible feeling, to see someone sitting on the bus, or walking around with their family at the Forks, and be able to say to my family or friends that I'm with, "hey look at that girl's hat, I made that!" I think being able to successfully share my passion with the world has been my biggest accomplishment.
Biggest challenges?
Definitely the pressures of "being creative". Sometimes it feels like I am obligated to make something new and unique, but creativity doesn't work that way, and sometimes doing what you know is more than enough and when I'm in a creative rut I try to remind myself of that, and that I'm not the only one making, but I'm also not the only one struggling.
Who is your biggest supporter?
It's hard to name one. My husband is definitely my biggest motivator, my mom and best friend are my best customers, and my husband's best friend calls himself my "#2 fan" because #1 is reserved for my husband of course. I have a really amazing support team, and I couldn't do it without every one of them.
What are some of your short-term goals?
My short term goals would definitely be to create a really great, reliable, consistent, and versatile shopping experience for my customers at markets this fall. In the years past, my best market from a shopper's perspective is my first market because all of the styles for that season's collection are available and there are lots of colours to choose from, and as the fall passes by, the inventory dwindles. This fall I hope to have a little bit more of everything in stock so when you come to shop at my booth, and you really want matching hats for you and your friend, or a scarf and mittens set for yourself, you will have the options available to do that. While I love one of a kind pieces, it's no fun for a customer who really wants the hat that the other person just walked away with.
Long-term goals?
Down the road (and I mean probably pretty far down the road), I hope to make my business a full time job. I don't want to do this too quickly because the most important thing to me is quality, and you can't achieve high quality too quickly. It takes time. And growing an engaged and loyal customer base takes time. I want to do this over the next few years, but at my own pace. I want to design and create first and let my business grow as it may. It's already much more than I ever imagined it to be, who knows where it will take me next.
Wise advice for any beginners out there?
Don't compare yourself to everyone else, and don't do what they want you to do if you don't want to do it. Do what you want to do, and do it for yourself first. If you love your work, and if you're passionate about it, people will love it too. But don't be afraid to push yourself to do bigger, better, and sometimes scarier things. That's what makes you grow as a business and also as a maker, whatever your craft might be.
Any last things about you or your small business that you'd like to share? (Really, anything at all. Like, you could tell us about your cat, or what you ate for breakfast this morning, or about why you don't like your lawn mower, or what you planted in your garden this year, or what time you normally go to bed, or...)
I love travelling and I really hope to see a really good portion of the world someday, but I'm also an introvert and one of my favorite things in the world is staying home and watching a movie with a glass of wine or tea or both (and yarn, always).
If you met me through friends or work or anywhere outside of my business, one of the first things you'd learn about me is that I knit/crochet. Not because I'd tell you, but probably because I'm likely going to be knitting right then and there when you meet me, or wearing something I made. I don't go anywhere without yarn (which was the inspiration for a tote bag I make that says "If I can't take my yarn, I'm not going". In my life there is no truer statement.)
I have a degree in philosophy. Don't ask me what I will use it for. The answer is, nothing. But it's the only thing that I truly found fascinating in school and to this day I "philosophy the sh*t out of everything" as my husband likes to say. It's just the way my mind works, and I kind of love that about me.
I have a gigantic book collection (300+ I believe) and I haven't read a ton of them because after buying most of them I found yarn and it took over my life, oops. Now I'm my friends' and family's own personal library. I still love reading when I can't be knitting.