We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashten Cydnee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashten below.

Ashten, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

A few months ago, due to the recent changes in the economy, I lost a lot of my long-term clients. They were no longer able to afford to invest in digital marketing services from a small agency, and I was therefore no longer able to maintain my small group of team members. After letting go of my team and my client roster, I sat and thought about what I wanted to be doing with my business moving forward. I was managing 6+ social accounts, writing 50+ captions a month, and assisting in brand photoshoots and the creative direction. My entire business was about “managing” and I found myself craving something different. I decided that this moment of losing my clients, something I felt to be a failure at the time, was actually a gateway to change. To go from managing to creating. Thus, my creative studio was born. I let go of the pressure to “do it all” and instead pivoted to doing what I wanted to do, which was more in the content creation space. Now, I take product and lifestyle photos for small brands and businesses. I have more creative freedom and expression, more control, and less stress.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello, my name is Ashten and I am the founder of Asher St. Studio, a creative space for self-expression and brand building. I started my freelance business back in 2021 after leaving my nursing career. After the pandemic, I realized that nursing wasn’t something I really ever wanted to do with my life and was instead a desperate child’s attempt to fulfill parental expectations. Coming from an immigrant family, creative expression or jobs wasn’t something I was necessarily encouraged to explore. And when I told my family that I would be leaving my nursing career in pursuit of entrepreneurship, well, you could say it didn’t go well.

But I was entering a time in my life where across all avenues, my inner self was screaming for autonomy and creation. I was desperately craving to reintroduce myself to the world and to chase my most inner desires head-on. Thus, Asher St. Studio was born!

My studio started off as a Virtual Assistant studio assisting brand and web designers in their day-to-day business activities and quickly pivoted into the realm of Operations Management. From there, I began to understand the nuances of brand strategy and the branding process. From there, a handful of clients requested to expand their packages to include creative assistance, and all of a sudden I was knee-deep in the overall process of being a brand designer. I began to assist with the strategy, offering insights based on what I knew regarding social media and analytics, designing logos in Adobe Illustrator, and compiling final files.

I discovered quickly that I could do this on my own and so I did. Asher St. Studio transitioned from a “do-it-all-for-you” studio to a Brand + Social Strategy studio with a team of three independent contractors who assisted me in completing all of our client work. For two years this really worked for us and our clients, but as an individual, I found myself more burnt out than ever. I was managing 6+ accounts and wearing a variety of hats to get everything done on time.

In the fall of 2023, we said goodbye to our entire client roster and I let go of my team of independent contractors. I no longer wanted to live my life “managing” and instead, listened to that inner voice that asked for more creativity in my day-to-day life. Now, Asher St. Studio is a creative studio offering content creation, brand and lifestyle photography, and brand experience building. I pride myself on offering strategy for brands who want to create a multi-sensory digital experience for their customers that not only attracts buyers but builds community as well.

Through content that is visually stimulating and unique, our clients are able to showcase their brands and products confidently and adequately on their social media platforms.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building your social media presence can be really daunting at first. When you are looking at your new profile and see that haunting “0” in the follower column, it can be quite defeating. But something that helped me when I first started my online business was investing my time. I invested a lot of time in learning how to make quality social graphics that showcased my creative skills and eye. I invested time in creating Instagram reels that weren’t just trendy, but heavily packed with useful information. I tried to steer clear of copy culture and spent a lot of time and energy on my Instagram stories so my new followers felt like they new me.

Now, regardless of the various pivots I have taken in my business, my online community have remained loyal, excited, and feel as if they are on this journey with me–cause they are! If I were to offer anyone advice on starting their account, it would be to lean into what makes you different. It’s easy to swipe past the same trending reels, but its easier to spot someone doing something different, especially if they are doing it authentically.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Perfectionism is the killer of creativity.

For a large chunk of my young life, I have spent hours worrying about what something will look like and what others will think, and living in a state of fear of being perceived. It took a while, a lot of trial and error actually, but I’ve gotten to a place where I can impulsively set up a small product shoot just because I bought new products and really liked them. I’ve learned to create even when there isn’t an invoice attached to it. To create when I feel like it and to let it look how it’s meant to look by allowing the art to do its thing instead of focusing on what other people may think of me.

I’m learning that perfectionism does not provide room for growth and innovation. Creativity and exploration allows ones soul to play and their imagination to dance.

Contact Info:

• Website: asherst.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asherst.studio/

Image Credits
Asher St. Studio