Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Ray. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I’m extremely happy as a business owner! The thought of having a regular job, or wondering what it would be like, hasn’t crossed my mind in ages. The differences between having a regular job and a business owner are like night and day. The freedom to operate, own, price, sell and profit off of a product that you’ve created from the ground up and seeing others appreciate and request it, is a feeling like no other. Having a regular job, you don’t have a lot of freedom or say in anything, you have to abide by a certain time schedule and someone is watching over your shoulder at almost everything you do and not to mention that you’re working for someone else, helping them making more of a profit than you are with a low hourly wage.

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

My business is called Sweets & Treats by Ashley, a black & LGBT owned and operated home based, made from scratch bakery. My primary focuses are cupcake jars, brownies and cookies, but I also do cheesecakes, bars and pies on occasion. I started in 2o21, once I graduated with my pastry degree.

As a child, I’ve always been interested in being in the kitchen and baking. As an adult, it became one of my favorite hobbies. During the pandemic, I decided to take a leap and enroll in school for pastry arts. Being visually impaired, I doubted that I could complete or succeed in the field and it made me very nervous. However, once I gained the confidence and found what works best for me, I excelled in school and expanded my knowledge and capabilities when it comes to baking.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Advertising is SO important! For me, advertising on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, the neighborhood app, etc, are all great ways to introduce people to your product. I would advise to promote something at least once a week and keep your page active and up to date!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Because of my vision impairment, I have been told or made to believe that I wouldn’t be successful in a lot of different categories, including baking since it requires a lot of vision to end up with the finished product. Even with those negative statements being mentioned to me, I was determined to try and successfully succeed in something that I have come to be extremely passionate about. Using accomodations that would help me in the kitchen, such as talking scales and large print measuring cups, have given me the confidence to continue to strive for greatness in the kitchen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetsandtreatsbyashley_/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/sweetsandtreatsbyashley21/