We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Winder recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Taking risk is a way for me to not overthink and execute! Over the years becoming an entrepreneur I have reinvented, rebranded, reset, restarted and reapplied what I’ve learned. At age 17 (2004) I started the brand Flawless Expressions (FE) which was the beginning of what now is an expansion. I started the brand as hair and nails offering services from hair repair to a full set. At age 28 (2015) I executed another expansion. I love a good pair of eyewear which extend to FEeyewear – set your sights on eye fashion. Fast forward to age 34 (2021) I learned a new service: full body waxing and instantly loved the fast pace service and the amount of guest I could service within an hour. I started FE Salon & Wax in 2022 – offering full body waving services. I kept the vision and created extensions of it which now represents beauty and fashion.
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?
I got into the industry starting at the age of 14 when I attended a cosmetology magnet program in high school where I practiced my craft, took on an shampoo assistant role, completion of state board hours which led to passing my exam and becoming licensed my senior year. The types of services are full body waxing for women and men. The problems I solve for my guests are helping them look and feel good about themselves. I’m most proud of my ability to start over it’s been since 2018 where I stopped hair services and decided in 2021 to become a wax specialist. The main things I want my current and future guest to know about my brand is the customer experience. I strive to provide an at home feel, great conversations, a place to unwind and gain a repetitive clientele.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
I turned my part time wax specialist role into a full time at home business. I started by working for a waxing company for a year in a half perfecting my skills. I saw how easy it was to gain rapport with my guest and their trust with such a personal service. My experience is how I scaled to what it is today by taking a leap on faith as I no longer wanted to deal with the over head or a company controlling what I can make financially in the beauty industry. Some of my key milestones were to see my clientele follow me once I left, regain self confidence and the power of prayer.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
What illustrates my resilience is the ability to start over from scratch. Taking the clientele I built in hopes of them rebooking and referring. I’m very passionate about the beauty industry at times when my results aren’t going as planned I get impatient during the process. Trust its not easy, but remaining consistent is a way to get the results.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fesalonwaxsuite.as.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fashion_hairess?igsh=MWZwa3B5YzFvNzV6cw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashley.winder.94?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-winder-a0678b52?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Other: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/styledtoschool
Image Credits
Image w/ pink scrub top and black Leo top:
Photographer : Anthony Carrington for Iconic Image Photos