We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ash Laverdiere a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ash, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Growing up in a small town outside of Victoria, I always had big ideas about fashion, music, and art. I was naturally creative and loved expressing myself through various mediums. However, my ideas were often met with confusion or raised eyebrows from those around me.

As I got older, I spent several years building a music career as a singer/songwriter. As time went on I felt that I needed something more stable and turned to a career in finance. I spent fifteen precious years climbing the corporate ladder until I was in a senior leadership role at one of the largest investment banks and…. I hated it. I was making more money than I had ever dreamed, yet I felt like I wasn’t living authentically.

One day, a friend asked me to help her shop for an upcoming event. As I helped her navigate through the racks and put together her outfit, she asked me when I was going to open up my own clothing store… That was it. I realized helping people feel good in what they wear was something that I had been doing for friends and family since I was a kid. I had a natural talent for styling. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head – I could combine my love of fashion with my innate creativity to build a career that was both fulfilling and challenging.

From there, I threw myself into learning everything I could about fashion and styling. I took courses, worked with local retailers and eventually started my own styling business.

Now, as the founder of twoblueprints Personal Styling, it is my mission to help others develop the style skills they need to express the truest, most genuine version of themselves through the clothing they wear.

Although the story behind my mission was not a straight line, every experience has led me to this path, and I couldn’t be happier.

Ash, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Who I am:

I approach my every day life with curiosity and creativity. The evolving and highly personal world of fashion has always been a passion for me, a medium which allows me to play and be adventurous. While my primary focus is wardrobe and personal styling, I don’t limit my creativity. I also sell a curated vintage collection, am a content creator, an event planner and an active mom. I have a successful career in finance under my belt that has served me greatly in my approach to business. Most importantly, I have a loving, supportive husband and two amazing little ones that give me the energy to take on the world. I am so grateful for what I get to do every day.

What I do:

Styling:

Twoblueprints styling is based on two principles that allow for the most impactful changes in perception of self.

1. Less is more. Ever felt like you had nothing to wear, but your closet is literally bursting with clothes? This is so common and the biggest block to finding joy in getting dressed. With my wardrobe clean out I guide clients through the clothing editing process. We remove the dead weight pieces to make space in their wardrobe and minds for pieces that support their style vision. We donate and consign pieces that don’t make the cut and organize their space to honour the pieces that stay.

2. Personal styling is just that PERSONAL. We create an individual mood board specific to the client and then shop intentionally for any pieces that are missing. We use my capsule shopping list to prioritize any critical missing pieces. And then we spend time styling the pieces (new and existing) into outfits that feel perfectly you. Once we agree we have a slam dunk fit, it’s photographed and placed into a style guide. The style guide is a pretty document with your own clothing styled into an outfit and with an explanation of why the outfit works and how to replicate. Now you have the skills and style blueprints to replicate outfits on your own!

Vintage:

I have a passion for vintage clothing and I love sharing the joy of vintage with clients who wouldn’t normally wear it, Styles are cyclical and it’s very easy to find vintage that wears very modern. I love it because it brings a unique piece that is specific to the clients style. It’s a treasure in their closet that no one else will have. You can also make super high quality garment construction and fabrics more accessible by shopping vintage. Or course I love the sustainability of it too.
In addition to sharing vintage with clients I have an arm of my business (twoblueprints VINTAGE) and I sell my collection to the public. I do this through social media, pop ups and soon on my website!

Content creation:

When I started my business I had no idea how to use Instagram. Every single day I spent part of my day focusing on learning how the algorithm worked, what content I loved to consume and how to edit eye catching content. This ended up being another way for me to express myself creatively. I caught the eye of a few marketing firms and local retailers and have been creating branded content for other businesses in addition to my own. This content can be viewed on a secret page on my site. www.twoblueprints.com/portfolio

Event planner:

I love bringing people together in the community to support local business and connect over a mutual love of fashion/music and art. My last two event sold out and it was humbling to see the turnout and the support. My events are always based around shopping local/Canadian and then I bring in other local artists for pop ups to make the event a diverse celebration of creatives.
My next event will be one of my largest and will include a fashion show with all proceeds going to our local women’s shelter.

What am I most proud of?

Leaving a stable job for something that was a complete unknown is something I had never done. All my creative endeavours had always been half hearted while I continued to pour my energy into my corporate job.

When I left my role in finance, it wasn’t the ideal time to do it. The problem is there never is an ideal time and I think I realized that. Once I left, I knew I had to commit with all my being if it was going to work.
I’ve never looked back.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

When you’re first getting started, I believe it’s necessary to do more for less until you build your reputation. My first few clients I had I did for free or heavily discounted. I didn’t cap the hours I put into it and I kept working until I knew I had exceeded their expectations.

Word of mouth got me customer after customer. The majority of my business is based on referrals and connections through clients or local retailers who have worked with me.

I also get business from Instagram. I believe that the time you put into Instagram is what you get back. You don’t need a huge following to monetize, you need an engaged one. When you create content, create it with the confidence, effort and intention that you would if you had 1 million followers.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was diagnosed last year with ADHD. This revelation rocked the foundation of who I believed myself to be. Growing up and having undiagnosed ADHD made me believe that I was unintelligent and that there was something wrong with me. The limits I put on myself that stemmed from my core beliefs really held me back,

Once I got my diagnosis and treated my condition, I had to unlearn many unhelpful things I believed to be true about myself. This is a work in progress, but putting myself out there every day in the community, with clients and on Instagram has been part of my unlearning. I don’t let failures stop me like they used to. I learn from it and move on. You don’t need to have late diagnosed ADHD to learn something from this.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twoblueprints.com
• Instagram: @twoblueprints

Image Credits
Photo:: clothing on ground and shopping photographer: @storycatcher_photography Makeup: @twoblueprints Stylist: @twoblueprints Model: @twoblueprints Photo: dark and colourful, sequin jacket, ash and boy/girl styled Photographer: @kyliemae_photography Photographer assistant: @chloebikow Stylist: @twoblueprints Style assistant: @leifbouchard Models: @twoblueprints, @leifbouchard and @tinybabymakeup Makeup: @tinybabymakeup