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

Ashley , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I came up with the idea to open an online boutique because I truly love fashion. It’s something I’ve always been into. I love beauty, makeup, dressing! I use to sell shoes a while ago and stopped because me and my husband open a food truck. I just felt like something was missing with me although our food truck business is very successful! I talked it over with my husband and he said go for it. My husband is my photographer and business partner and I love that because sometimes us women need a male perspective on clothes. Also I love coming up with the boutique because ima thick girl and most times shopping at online stores it’s difficult because the sizing be off. So opening a boutique as a more thicker curvy girl was a plus for me and women built like me.

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

I’m Ashley and I’ve been an entrepreneur since 11 years old. I’ve always had a side hustle selling SOMETHING lol. Me and my husband open a food truck called The Bells Sweet Factory with $40 and now it’s a 7 figure brand. Selling has always been a thing for me. I always look at what others not offering and simply offer it. We came up with the idea to open an online boutique called Bellionaire Chic for curvy thick ladies like myself. We wanted to offer high quality items that’s affordable and trendy. I love the ladies has been supporting me even while the economy is slow right now. I’m proud to be doing what I love now along side my husband.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

So I met my husband Thaddeus back in 2008 in New Orleans. That’s where we both from. We was friends 3 years and became a couple 2011. We’ve been through everything together! We both quit our jobs and started our first business together The bells Sweet Factory which is a food truck here in Dallas. Almost 6 years later we launched our women’s online boutique called Bellionaire Chic. We’re now married with 7 kids altogether.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

We started our business literally with $40 selling plates out the trunk of our car and kept flipping that lol. Of course now that we launched our boutique we have the capital from our food truck to help fund it. But the boutique does make enough money now to cover its own expenses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://BellionaireChic.com
• Instagram: Bellionairechic

Image Credits

Thaddeus Bell