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

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In 2017, I joined my first start-up. It was one of the first hospitality companies to build and scale a business using a short-term rental model (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.). I was the 14th employee so I had a front-row seat to watching this small company grow to over 100 employees. I started on the customer service team and we did a lot on that team. We managed reservations, relationships with all of our vendors (housekeeping, procurement, maintenance, etc.), and everything in between.

It was my interactions with our customers that gave me the idea. They always asked where they could put their bags and we never had a solution for them. Not one idea. During that same time, I started working with our product team to develop new internal tools but I honestly had no idea what a Product Manager did. I used our company education stipend and enrolled in a PM course and I used the idea of luggage storage as my test concept for the class. I had no idea the work I did in that that class would be the groundwork to really building a company.

I wanted to know if this idea was viable and wanted to include this part in my final project. I built a website, social media accounts, and did some small marketing in Austin, TX to see if anyone would store their bag with me. When I got my first booking and inquiries for various groups, I knew I had something.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always been a leader. From being a D1 college soccer player and team captain to various leadership roles within organizations, it’s part of who I am. My leadership on the field has translated to being a leader in business.

I successfully ran the first-ever walking food tour company, Foodie Foot Tours, in the state of Oklahoma for several years before closing it during the pandemic. That led to the launch of my CPG brand, The Adventurous Bartender, a dice game for entertaining guests at home. These businesses have brought accolades from companies like Intuit and Target.

I’ve learned that my happy place sits at the intersection of solving problems that can be seen as small and bringing a new experience to my customers. I have a love for hospitality and creating experiences has led me to where I am today with Secure the Bags. This isn’t just about luggage storage. This is a physical manifestation of my idea of hospitality. I’m using this space to tell a story.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I started my food tour in Oklahoma, I had no plans on moving. Well, you know how the love story goes. I met a man, we dated for a while, and when he had the opportunity to relocate for work, he took it and I went with him. Luckily I had a wonderful tour guide who was more than happy to take over the tours full-time and had great relationships with my restaurants. What I didn’t anticipate was the high turnover in the restaurant industry. I went from having these great partners in the restaurants to having new managers and staff to deal with. One manager might see the benefit of my tours and the other could hate the idea and cancel the concept for their location.

The first few months after I moved were some of the hardest times. Trying to work full-time, run tour operations remotely, and grow my team was giving me panic attacks. I had to rely heavily on friends and family to step in and manage relationships, sell tours, and even lead them if the groups were over a certain size. I could have easily given up and walked away but I pushed through. I knew how my tours were helping keep some businesses open and that people enjoyed this fun, new way to experience Oklahoma City.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Social media, as crazy as it can be at times, was the tool that allowed me to connect with so many hospitality experts. I came across Damon on Instagram as he was building his first boutique hotel. That was around the time I was seriously considering making Secure the Bags a business. I slid into his DMs (all business) and asked if he had some time to connect about my idea. We talked in 2019 and he gave me some pointers and tips to consider. Over the years, we kept in touch here and there but nothing consistent.

I was laid off in 2023 and I knew it was time to revive the concept, he was the first person I contacted. We had a few conversations and I eventually hired him as a consultant to help me with some foundational work. He has a phenomenal background in hospitality and I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose that focus along the way. I never anticipated us really having a connection on the vision. As each meeting went by I knew he believed in what I was building and would be an asset to the team I want to build.

Don’t be afraid to shoot your shot when you identify good talent. I’m still considered a solo founder but he is the first step in building the team I need to win.

Contact Info:

• Website: securethebags.co
• Instagram: securethebagsco