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

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The majority of my sales come from in person shows and those can be scary for some artists to think about doing. There’s so much unknown. Will people like my things? Will they buy them? Will people even show up? The answer to all of those questions is, we don’t know. But you always have to take that chance. My first big craft market was terrifying but the amount of love I got back from everyone filled me up so much that I couldn’t wait to do another one. Sure, some markets can be great and others not great at all. Trust me on that. I’ve had a market where I didn’t sell a single item. But then I’ve had markets where I walked out with thousands. And every show you learn something knew. But the most important thing is you have to put yourself out there and be consistent about it. Don’t just do one show and get discouraged if it doesn’t go how you expected. Find your target market, look up shows in your area, and put yourself out there. Markets are scary but not getting your product seen and given the chance to be put into the world is even scarier.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When I first became a new mom all I knew was I wanted to find my passion and start my own business. We were on government assistance and my husband was in school to become a special education teacher. I had a drive inside of me that I wanted to provide for my family while being able to stay at home with my new baby and just do what I love. I found a weaving loom at an estate sale and dove head first into learning how to weave. I saw a hole in the market where there was no all in one way for a beginner to learn this craft so I designed my pop out loom & tools beginner tapestry weaving kit. And that is when Black Sheep Good was born. I did the work and emailed hundreds of yarn and gift shops. Most of them didn’t even open my email but I persisted and within a year my weaving kit was in over 100 stores! I started popping up at local craft markets and selling them there while connecting with people in my community. Wanted to create more I stumbled upon some fabric dyes at a creative reuse store and started experimenting. Realizing that a slow dye process using ice ended up creating the most beautiful watercolor effect. I ended up falling in love with ice dyeing clothes and yarn which opened up a whole new part of my business. I love being able to bounce between my love of weaving and dyeing. Some give the advice of sticking to one thing but for neurodivergent people like myself, I need to be excited and doing the same thing over and over again would burn me out. Trusting in your gut and going for what you want is the best advice I’ve gotten. You’ll always have that voice of impostor syndrome that will creep in but you always need to listen to your gut.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After about 5 years of wholesaling my weaving kits sales started going down a bit and yea that is discouraging but I just had to redirect myself and start focusing on something else. Giving myself a break on something that was burning me out was what I needed to respark that joy it once brought me.

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

When you’re wanting to build your brand you want to first ask yourself if you want to be a personal brand or a product brand. I am just one of those people who loves community and sharing my process so I find myself in the personal brand side of things. Popping up at local craft shows and markets is a great way to get yourself out there, get your brand out there. And the more people know about you, the more people will come to you. Be yourself, connect on a personal base and your brand will be just fine.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blacksheepgoods.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/blacksheepgoods