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

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I wish our educational system would encourage students to follow their talents more. As a student, I excelled in school. I graduated with honors and followed every traditional road given leading to “success”. The kicker is that I don’t even use my degree. I know that most of what we are taught is about evolving our problem solving skills but what if the measure of our success was our happiness and not our GPA. Why do we wait until college to have a choice in what we study?

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?

Th goal of the AH brand was pretty simple upon creation. I wanted to offer the luxury look for less. It goes back to my childhood. The closest I got to Louis Vuitton as a child, were the knock offs sold at the corner gas station (giggles). As I grew I noticed how certain items established a person’s place within the societal hierarchy. Luxury goods meant you were worthy. They meant you were better.

Thankfully, my family did me the awesome service of exposing me to the thrift store very early. There I learned how to take simple items and develop extraordinary style. I was given a twist on the norm or handed the golden key if you will. When I headed to college in Atlanta, Ga, (Clark Atlanta University), I wanted to expand my knowledge of fashion. Within the Fashion Merchandising program I was taught about sourcing materials and the how the differences between luxury and standard goods weren’t as large as the price tag would have you think. That’s where the idea of “I have to share this” came from. I knew how to source and there was a look I knew I wanted to make affordable. AH is affordable luxury and sustainable style.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience. I would define that as choosing to get back up despite repeatedly being pushed down. In the span of 30 plus years on this earth, life has turned me into a human punching bag but my father’s spirit lives in me. He was a sickle cell warrior in a time where discovery was still being performed. He still managed to become a community leader, an educator for over 30 years, and an amazing parent and best friend to me. Every time life has handed me a “sit this one out” hand, I immediately think, what would my father say?

I’ll give you an example. During my senior year of college, I developed an infection on my brain and lost my memory for over a year. My family, my friends, the entire campus…were devastated. I only graduated because I had a 4.0 GPA when I went down. Can you imagine someone full of life and potential being reduced to mumblings? That was me.

Shortly after “recovering” from that illness (by that I mean being able to recognize family members), my father passed away. Everyone expected me to completely fall apart again and spend the rest of my life on a disability check. I refused. I got back up just like my father would have expected. I relearned how to write. I used tools to aid in my memory loss like phone reminders and sticky notes. Slowly I rebuilt Ashley. Before the Brian infection, I wanted to leave my mark on the world. After it, I was more determined to do so.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A major lesson I had to unlearn was “hard work is all it takes”. That has to be the biggest lie I have ever come across. You not only need hard work, you also need people, luck, and a whole lot of faith. Less religious people would call that hope. Yes it is beautiful to be hardworking but you have to have a purpose behind it. When you discover that purpose, God sends the people. There is so much that goes into being successful and it starts with realizing that you can’t do anything alone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashleyhordge.com
• Instagram: @ashleyhordge.co
• Twitter: @ashleyhordge.co

Image Credits
E. Mackey, Exhibitjay, HiDef Pixel