Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My name is Ashley Williams, I am the owner of Shadess To Krave! Shadess To Krave got started back in June of 2014. This is my story behind my mission.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started Shadess To Krave back in 2014! My kids father had lost his job and of course my income was the only source to pay bills. I prayed and talked to God about help! I knew I wanted to sell something but didn’t know quite yet what I wanted to sell! I promise you I heard God speak to me and said sell sunglasses! I had to questioned it like “HUH? SUNGLASSES? WHAT…. LORD GOD DON’T NOBODY SELL SUNGLASSES LIKE THAT” LOL. I kept faith and did it anyways. I made a instagram, created a name I felt will go with what I was selling (Shadess To Krave). I already had 6 pairs I personally took care of for a while. To be honest I started off with just trying to make a quick sell and go ahead about my day. But it did not turn out to be that way! I actually fell in love with selling sunglasses! Along side learning the differences in the lens and the frame material. But what was very important from the beginning that I totally was not interested in at all was branding my business completely or even getting it certified through the state of secretary. I got a logo made, I got business flyers made with my logo on it and every information that was possible to be reached out too! I got a website made for customers to be able to shop any time of the day and night! You have to have patience growing a business… NEVER GIVE UP! We still have ups and downs… But one thing I can say we have been seen by many. If you are in Miami and read the Miami Times we have been featured as one of the top 10 black owned small business to shop from in Florida! Keep it going you never know who is watching you.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Actually this is my second page on social media due to the fact my old page was deleted… I do not know how that happened but I definitely had about 10k followers! How I revamp my new page I posted more videos and constantly posted about what I was selling and where I was going to be at every weekend! My saying is always “CATCH US IF YOU CAN!” We consistently join every event we can all weekend long from friday through sunday two in one day! Sometimes I didn’t make kit home I will pull over in a plaza to get rest before making it home. I told my kids I am doing this for our generational wealth! It got to the point event planners reached out to us to join their event! We have been to events from The People’s Market with (The Only L Boutique at The Ancestral Landing) (@onlylboutique) to events that Trina the rapper had with (Rarri Anthony) at Hollywood live with 99 jamz being present! We always every where pushing a brand that I created based off hard times my family fell on!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearned was to never buy a lot of inventory before building your strongest clientele. I did that my first 2 years in the business to wear I had to donate most to my kids school store at Nathan B. Young… I was excited to have so many but didn’t not realize I wasn’t going as hard as I think I should have been. But now we have over 2,000 different pairs pf sunglasses and we do not restock on sunglasses once they are sold out! We only keep up with seasons.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shadesstokrave.net
- Instagram: @shadess_to_kravee
- Facebook: Shadess To Krave
- Youtube: Shadess To Krave Sunglasses Haul
- Yelp: Shadess To Krave
Image Credits
A’zaiah and Michael