Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Johnson. 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. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Most US eyewear is designed for a narrow, Eurocentric face, leaving millions of women used to wearing glasses that are too tight, too narrow, slide down face, hit cheeks, or touch lashes.

Mohala Eyewear is an inclusive eyewear brand that offers three unique nose bridge fits, various widths, and adjustable frames made with your face in mind. These custom glasses won’t slide, fall off, indent cheeks or touch lashes—and they look great, too!

Each pair sold sends a girl to school through our partnership with Room to Read. We have donated over 160 years of school and counting

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, I’m Ashley Johnson. I’m obsessed with leveling the playing field. In Dec. 2017, I founded Mohala Eyewear an inclusive eyewear brand with 3 unique fits, various widths and adjustable frames to create the perfect fit for every woman. I bootstrapped the business while working a full-time job and I left my full-time job in 2021 the same year we became the first AAPI, female-founded eyewear brand to be sold at Nordstrom.

Most U.S. eyewear is designed for a narrow, Eurocentric face, leaving millions of women with glasses that do not fit properly, are too tight, too narrow, slide down the face, hit cheeks, or touch lashes. I studied eyewear designed in other countries and found they were designing for their population’s face shapes – unlike the U.S. that was only designing for one face shape. We launched 3 unique fits to provide custom glasses that won’t slide, fall off, indent cheeks or touch lashes!

Growing up as a mixed-race woman I often felt left out of the fashion and beauty world. Products were not always made for me, people in the media didn’t look like me and these experiences made me feel invisible and less valued. I believe inclusivity in business advances inclusivity in mass culture. We are creating a brand where everyone feels seen.

I’m passionate about social entrepreneurship and the for-profit world supporting the non-profit sector. If we could help move more money from the for-profit world to the non-profit world, imagine what an impact we could make! When a girl is educated she is more likely to create a smaller and healthier family, earn a higher wage, educate her own children, avoid childhood marriage and sex trafficking, reduce poverty, grow the economy and make the world a better place.

Each pair of Mohala Eyewear sold helps fund a girl going to school. We have donated 160+ years to Room to Read Girls’ Education Program to date. This is what I am most proud of about Mohala.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I wanted to create eyewear that was top quality but at a fraction of the designer eyewear prices. I was completely new to eyewear when I started and so I cold called three eyewear entrepreneurs and they were all kind enough to take calls with me and from one of them I learned about a trade show where he had sourced all his vendors. I attended the trade show (I made a business card on VistaPrint that had a gmail address, I had no website, no product nothing!) and I was able to connect with the top acetate manufacturer and get referrals from him (he has been a tremendous help to me) on quality factories to work with etc. . . I visited over 12 factories before choosing my female owned factory and I visited the factory yearly until Covid hit. At the trade show I also found an inspection company that I have been with since I started. They visit the factory and inspect every order before it ships out. I also send our frames to their inspection lab to check the polarized axis install and the UV protection on the lenses for every shipment. I find having a third party inspector really helps to keep the factory on their toes and give you visibility into the shipment before it ships.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Definitely my biggest pivot to date was when Covid hit. We were about 60% e-commerce and 40% wholesale prior to the pandemic and we lost 100% of the wholesale accounts that year and an account that owed us money filed for bankruptcy. I was only 2 years into my business and still working my full time job but I knew I had to pivot into a strong e-commerce plan – fast. I moved from Mailchimp to Klaviyo and set up email flows for the first time. I started running social media ads (not a lot but a little bit) and I started hosting Instagram Live shopping shows. I improved my email opt in offer (spin-to-win, this is dated now but was good for a time) and did a bunch of giveaways with other brands to drive more email opt ins so we could retarget them through Klaviyo email marketing. I rebranded my website with new brand colors and a new elevated photoshoot and rewrote the copy to make our product offering clearer as people are new to eyewear coming in different sizes. This website revamp improved our conversion rates. We grew 112% that first pandemic year which I never thought would happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: mohalaeyewear.com
• Instagram: @mohalaeyewear
• Facebook: @mohalaeyewear
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymohalaeyewear/
• Youtube: @mohalaeyewear7360
• Other: TikTok @mohalaeyewear

Image Credits
Kenna Reed, Melanie Tjoeng, Channel Kameni, Jordyn Juniper, Jessica Pine, Kyera Dalesandro