We recently connected with Ashley Chotai and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Both words in our business name, Ambiance Viera have real importance to our small business! The first word is AMBIANCE which we value tremendously. We always want our clients to walk into their finished design and say “wow, it is so inviting!” Good ambiance makes you want to sit and enjoy a space, so that response is the best thing we could possibly hear.
We offer a wide variety of design aesthetics so we did not want our name to indicate a certain look but rather focus on highlighting the feeling of a space-and ambiance does just that! As for Viera, it is the town we live in and service the most. While we take projects on the space coast of Florida all the way to Orlando, Viera is our target area and also the place we call home! The business name just felt right-and we continue to love it!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sure!! My name is Ashley Chotai and my husband, Lex and I own Ambiance Viera! We are a boutique design firm on the space coast of Florida. From new builds, large remodels, redesign of current spaces in client’s homes or even simple styling, we design them all. We are regularly working on a variety of projects, varying in size, style, budget, and design demands.
Our main goal is to help clients love their homes! We take time to learn our clients and their personal styles before running with the design.
We are a husband/wife owned team and my husband Lex and I wear a lot of hats. We love keeping our business small so we can personally be involved in each project and connect with our clients. We have design assistants that help with a lot of errands and the busy work in design and that helps tremendously!
Our business started very small, taking on just a few projects a year when we had young babies but as the years went, project requests kept growing and growing until BOTH of us were full time! Lex left his full time career to go from part time with Ambiance Viera to full time. That was just over two years ago and we have never looked back!
Each project is different. We partner with a wide variety of tradesmen and services to be able to provide a full home of customizations, top notch construction, and of course stunning furnishings, textiles and decor.
We absolutely love what we do and cherish each home we get to transform-because ultimately–each home transforms a life!!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Business is full of pivots. While we think of our business model as very simple and straightforward, we are constantly adjusting to make sure our process, supporting documents, and communication is easy to understand, fully covering each detail for clients. We make regular business adjustments or additions to make sure clients are fully in the know and both our clients and our business are protected and we all feel comfortable working together!
Our business also has forever moving puzzle pieces and logistics so learning to think quickly and manage all the details efficiently is essential to success.
How’d you meet your business partner?
While I was living in Los Angeles (the place where so much of my design journey began and was inspired!), a friend worked for a company in the film and tv industry that my husband also worked for, but in Toronto. She met him at a company party in NY and set us up! We talked for 8 months before meeting in person and we have been together since the first time we met! We spent three years as newlyweds in Toronto where our first son was born, and then decided to move to Florida to be near family , where we had two more children. We moved to Florida in 2015 and started taking design clients in 2016!
Our son Bentley is 8, daughter Zara is 6, and son Xander is 4! They all love design and like to help decorate our home and keep it tidy (winning!). They say they want to work in our family business when they are older!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ambianceviera.com
- Instagram: Ambiance Viera
- Facebook: Ambiance Viera