We recently connected with Ashly Wright and have shared our conversation below.

Ashly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

Social media is a powerful tool that, when used wisely, can greatly benefit a small business. I grew up in restaurants as my grandfather owned several in San Francisco and was well known, so he never struggled with keeping the dining rooms full and the customers happy. My love of food and beverage was innate, but also grew stronger from a very young age. My husband and I decided to open our own restaurant in a space we found serendipitously, so it really felt meant to be. We did almost all the work ourselves to renovate the space, while our budget was limited. With no money for advertising, we used social media, specifically Instagram and Facebook, to showcase our menu items in hopes it would draw a crowd. It worked, and continues to do so as the food gets rave reviews and the good old fashioned “word of mouth” advertising does what it is supposed to do.
My husband and I do as much as possible on our own with day to day operations for the restaurant to open. We take much pride in food presentation, which is also helpful for social media presentation. Many of our customers see what we post and come to the restaurant based on those reminders. We love the mix of clientele. It has also been really cool to see the people that post pictures of their breakfast and lunches, which they share to their friends as well. We have a strong reach thus far for not being opened very long and we are grateful for that. When the budget permits, we may hire someone to help with pieces of it, but we also enjoy the process ourselves because of the brand and vibre we created.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in restaurants and watched my grandfather navigate the industry in the heart of San Francisco. Being in a restaurant felt like my second house. After trying out other industries after college, I came back to where I belonged, food and beverage. It led me to meet my husband, Michael while I was working for Marriott and he was a fine dining server at an adjacent restaurant. Marriott moved us to the East coast, where we have settled and a stroke of luck led us to New Market where we purchased a building that was dual zoned merchant and residential. We did what felt right and planned to open a restaurant. My husband remodeled the entire space himself and although it took longer than planned, it’s everything we wanted it to be. We are very proud to support local from everything to showcasing work from local artists and supporting local farms and bakers. We strive to ensure the food is as fresh as possible and make many things from scratch such as our signature wasabi vinaigrette and our jalapeno crema. I am so proud of what my husband and I have accomplished in a short time and we are very grateful for the support of the town and New Market residents. What sets us apart besides that is our theme is the fact that it’s a nod to the history of where we came from and what New Market represents. We honor the legacies of those before us and that is evident in the space and the decor. Our family is committed to the town continuing to thrive. We are also proud to have given over 10 high school kids their first jobs and an opportunity to learn the industry, customer service, and what we believe help form wonderful life skills that will stay with them.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

We believe that hard work, consistency, and respect are the foundations of a positive work environment. It is important to act in a way that you want your staff to mirror, and understand that no job is beneath anyone. In an industry that focuses so heavily on customer service, it’s important to pay attention to the customers and make sure that they are having a great experience. This industry is not for everyone, and that’s okay, but a good energy, an attention to detail, and genuinely caring about the job shows that we care about the people that come through the door. We take time to coach and train our employees and we understand that mistakes happen, we just fix them- ideally before the food leaves the kitchen ;-) We work hard to give all employees what they need- time off, vacation requests, a hearty and healthy meal while they work, and an environment that they look forward to walking into. We have very low turnover and a list of applicants that want to work for us and that speaks volumes. We are extremely family friendly and everyone is welcome here. Plus, the music playlist is fantastic so that always helps. ;-)

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

When we moved to New Market in 2018, my husband Michael and I immediately became involved in as many things as possible. We wanted to meet people, get to know the town, and make sure we were on the right path. I joined the event committee and the Green Team and my husband who is a Frederick county fire fighter also ran for Town Council and has been a part of that since 2021. We gained respect from people in the town and they have been our biggest supporters. And we had fun doing it! Recently I became a member of the Frederick Tourism Board of Directors and shortly after I was asked to join the executive committee. We have heavily networked since we arrived and it has absolutely confirmed how much we love the town and the people here. We wouldn’t be here without them.

Contact Info:

• Website: prospectpantry.com
• Instagram: #prospectpantry
• Facebook: prospectpantry