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

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Naming my boutique was a little bit of a battle. I had a list written down of possible options but none of them seemed quite right. I wanted something different that was unique and defined me and my personality but that could also resonate with my potential customers. The name came to me on a trip I took with my mom. I love the outdoors and I love to explore new places and find things off the beaten path. I applied that concept to shopping – finding businesses to shop that are “off the beaten path” and aren’t the norms we usually stick with or styles we usually fall back on. Shopping small or with businesses we usually don’t, makes us step out of our comfort zone and Explore More!

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have wanted to start and own my own business since I was young. Having a boutique has been in the back of my mind for probably 10 or 15 years. I love clothes and I love shopping so that business idea seemed like it would be the perfect fit, but I was always scared because the fear of failure and not knowing what I was doing. I had some pretty significant changes in my life over the last year that made me once again realize that things can change in the blink of an eye and tomorrow isn’t promised. That really pushed and motivated me to start. I had a lot of support from family and good friends so that helped make me accountable and not give up. Right now I’m an online only boutique. I offer products such as clothing, home decor, jewelry, hats, and accessories. Some of my inventory comes from other small businesses which is important to me. I love supporting them and incorporating their items in my store!
One of my many goals in this adventure was to be as budget friendly as possible for my customers. I want my items to be affordable without sacrificing quality. I feel like so far I have achieved that!
Eventually I would like to start a program where in certain months I donate a percentage of my earnings to different charities or local organizations in my community.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I use my website to sell my items. I chose Shopify as my ecommerce provider. I had used them before at a previous job and felt like they were the right choice for me. They have great tutorials and step by step guides of how everything works. Most questions that I have are answered through their help center on their website.

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

That you can’t please everyone and that’s ok. Your business isn’t going to be for everyone but the people who it’s for will show up! Just be yourself and the right people will find you!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://exploremoreshopmn.com/
• Instagram: exploremoreshopmn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploremoreshopmn