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

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was moving from Chicago to Georgia during Covid and trusting that my career could provide a sustainable and consistent income for me to live the life I desired. When I arrived in Georgia I was working with one stream of income and definitely made sure that I could at least pay my rent and all of my bills which were around $2500 at the time including my phone bill. I was also taking care of an ex partner of mine so I had to make sure I made more than just the bills so we could still buy groceries and do the nice things we desired. Going to Georgia with just my partner and I without knowing anyone or any family would’ve seemed scary but it truly motivated me to go harder. I began promoting my services which were surrounded around graphic design and marketing at the time and I began to build a more consistent clientele just based off of my own consistency and skill set. Due to Covid being a time where everyone started realizing that it’s time to pick up a skill and or start a business due to the increase in lay offs my graphic business started booming and lead me into the direction of making my first 6 figures within a year of being in GA and betting on myself.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into the industry I’m currently in by realizing how important it was to my soul mission to help women of all races elevate emotionally , financially, physically , and mentally . I also knew a part of my calling was to help motivate and uplift those who may have an idea of their destiny but aren’t quite sure on how to execute it. As a woman I know how hard it is to see others winning and not be in the exact position of knowing when your time will come so when I began 8 Tier Emporium Inc I knew I wanted to help women invest in the rental arbitrage industry for financial reasons while also taking my mentorship sessions where I give the formula to healing internally decluttering your mind, and staying focused on the tasks needed to truly generate generational wealth. I want all of my supporters to know that anything you want this lifetime is achievable with the right mindset and the right energy/action placed behind your goals. I see so many women give up on their entrepreneurial goals due to comparing themselves to others and I try to explain to everyone that timing is everything you want to make sure your mentally intact and emotionally intelligent before achieving all of your blessings because you need to ensure you can handle and take on everything that comes with that territory. When it comes down to what I am the most proud of it will have to be my drive and my healing journey Im truly a self motivated self made boss. I’ve had ups and downs have battled depression anxiety etc and still have always found away to keep going and have also taking it into my own hands to get help mentally physically and spiritually to balance out the internal warfare I’ve encountered throughout my life .

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

I had a situation recently where I had my business bank accounts closed due to utilizing a virtual address which I later found out were not accepted at the bank I was using. Due to the closure of the accounts I had fell short on payroll and had to temporarily lay off my assistant and locator due to the bank not releasing and delaying all of my funds for months. I had to temporarily restart over financially and grind my way back to the top all while still affording the lifestyle I chose to live . My rent is very high and I had to basically restructure my entire business temporarily just to get back in alignment financially. It was a long 4 months but I didn’t look at it as a failure it was more of a lesson and blessing in disguise. I was able to still market and capitalize off of my services and get back to where I needed to be so by the time the bank finally released my funds I was just up even greater. Sometimes your greatest lessons and blessings come in forms that you don’t quite understand at the moment and that’s okay because eventually it’ll all make sense. It’s important to trust your journey.

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

I believe that truly believing and investing into myself in all ways and outwardly expressing and showing that helped build My market . We’re in a day and age where you have to physically show people your growth , your mindset, and your skill set so just by me having a background in marketing and internalizing that mindset alone it has truly helped me with my audience and continues to help me Expand.

Contact Info:

• Website: 8tieremporium.com
• Instagram: 8tieremporium_
• Facebook: AshleyEpps
• Youtube: @yelshaluxe

Image Credits
My 8 Tier Emporium team including keeta Dione