Her Story
About Ashley
I've been in marketing for 5 plus years, and if you're talking about fashion, then 8 to 10 years. A typical day-to-day for me is usually capturing a story for somebody in a collaboration, whether it's our local 93Q Houston radio station or other local small businesses or well-known businesses. I go there, get to know people, and collab on things. I just did a feature with our local news station, CW39, about fashion trends for rodeo season. I guess a typical day-to-day is me going out and capturing a story and bringing it to life so that people can connect on social media, bringing them into the hat store and THS Ranch to get the true experience of what it's like to connect again, because I feel like we've lost that touch. Everything is so digital, but when you come into the hat store, you get really top-notch customer service and high-quality items, and it just kind of feels like you're back in the days, like the 50s, when you used to go into hat stores and get fitted Halston hats. Right now we're with a local Italian restaurant doing a photo shoot where they're wearing our clothing from the boutique. It's a lot of collabs, a lot of Texans helping Texans.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ashley
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My professor Dr. Dragu would tell me to stop putting others before myself, and she said you have to put yourself first. That's always been a struggle for me, but I still have that in the back of my head, not to get lost in the background and take more actions. Instead of trying to lift everybody else up, I kinda let myself fade in the back, but she definitely helped me go into my own light.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Since it's a creative field, I would say to give yourself that time that you need to get creative, because I found it difficult with such a strict schedule and people needing things fast. Just give yourself a little more time, because creativity, it just kind of comes in waves. Try to be in flow state and let things come naturally to you, rather than forcing them or doing something for a specific outcome. Just try it, and if it does well, great. If the content fails, then we'll pivot. What did we do wrong here? We can change that. I feel like we need more creatives. Taking my own advice, just going with the flow, and doing what feels right, and trusting your creative process, whatever that looks like.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I feel like everything is so digital, but we've lost that touch. I feel like there's a lack of inclusivity in sizing in fashion. I've noticed that a lot of people that are buyers for boutiques and department stores, most of them are business degrees, so they're not creatives. I feel like creatives should be the ones doing that, because they're excited about it. These people that are more about logistics is the reason why so many of our stores have clothing that looks sad. I remember clothing looked exciting and designers were happy, but this corporation kind of killed the mood. Like, I designed for Lucky and Blessed, and they killed my whole spirit. I feel like it takes the creativity out of the designers, and I've noticed a lot of designers that were great in school, they had their own taste, they aren't doing it. And the people that were great at taking direction, that it's not a natural gift for them, they learned it, and they're not the best, to be honest, but they're the ones thriving in the workplace. I feel like there's a gap for creatives.
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