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

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

Early on, when I first decided to transition my jewelry hobby into a jewelry business I failed daily. One. myself, by failing to believe I had everything within me I needed to take the next step, doubt and procrastination always seemed to win! I would fail to do my due diligence for my business because of the self-doubt. It wasn’t until Covid 2020 when the whole world had to come to hault and I had to reevaluate myself as a person.asking myself the hard questions like “what are you afraid of “and then being hit with harsh truth, that I was afraid of success, that was a big red flag for me. That’s when I discovered I wasn’t happy with the way I seen myself or my brand. At that point, I decided to do the self work first, and then I rebranded not only Relentless Being, but myself. I decided to show up as the entrepreneur I had always aspired to be. No longer accepting procrastination or doubt as a characteristic to describe me. Realizing that nothing in life is easy, can be a scary and intimidating. However, what good is the peak of the mountain if you never endured the climb, I mean you would literally only be getting a small peek of it! lol

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?

Looking at it in hind sight, it seems like this industry chose me in a sense. It started one day when I found myself in need of accessories to complete my outfit. I had looked high and low in every store known to woman, searching for earrings that stood out and made a statement. All the stores had all the same style and color selection not to mention, massed produced. I ended up settling, and man, why did I do that? I decided to wear the earrings and ended up standing behind a lady in line, and you wouldn’t believe that she had on the same earrings as me! That did something to my soul, I heard the universe speak to me in a sarcastic tone and say ” You can just make them yourself”. So I did! On my spare time I started making earrings for myself. Shortly after, a family member discovered me making a pair and offered to pay for them. That’s what sparked the idea for me to put my hobby into full swing and answer the call to duty, that the world of individualism so desperately needed. Vowing to never duplicate any of of pieces and 13 years later and we still stand on that promise. It gives me the most pride that all of our pieces are handmade and one of a kind. This gives our clients full creative control when ordering custom looks, curating unique statements for lasting, memorable moments like birthday, proms, weddings, and girls trips is what set us apart from other accessory brands. We also provide wire wrapped jewelry that is not only fashionable but also offers healing benefits known as our “Becoming” collection. Recently we have started creating more than just jewelry we have started offering customized hats and crowns. We even have something new coming that I think everyone will fall in love with, we don’t believe in limitations at Relentless Being so stay tuned for what’s to come.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started Relentless Being with 2o dollars that I took an invested into this jewelry making kit I purchased at Walmart. I would use old jewelry, up-cycle the materials to make new earrings. I also used random materials from around my house like old clothing, or some old greenery for example to cut the cost of materials. Avon was big back then, I was a consultant at one point for them too. Having that insight, I used their business strategy to promote and sell my products. I started hosting jewelry parties and I would invite all my colleagues, family and friends to sell my pieces. I would use the earnings from the last party to pay for more materials, promote and host again.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

One way I keep in touch with clients is by getting out and interacting with them at vendor shows. Its there that I can learn face to face about the challenges they face when wearing jewelry like needing to wear clip-on earrings because like my own mom, have splits in her ear lobes, and don’t want to be limited on the ability to find the quality, style or designs they desire. I am able to get real feedback about colors that they would like me to use next or a theme allowing me to keep the promise to deliver one of a kind designs uniquely tailored to the needs of our clients fostering brand loyalty.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://relentless-being.square.site/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/relentlessbeing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/relentlessbeing
• Other: instagram.com/ash_catmeow

Image Credits
Photographers: Kj Photography, Gerald Fields Photography, KG Hall, Bfaimages Models: Mikecia Wilson, Mita Parson, LaDiamond Stevenson, Simeon Moore, Ayumu Hinata, Ashcat Meow