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

Ashtine, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

I would encourage schools across our nation to provide opportunities for students to participate in trade programs like welding, woodshop, mechanics, CAD, etc. In addition, they should create a program that networks with local businesses in related fields, introducing students to those industries and creating a work-trade program. In my region, we have a program called HIPPO, which helps students build their resumes so that they are more prepared for the workforce after graduating.

With a background in teaching at the UVA in Douglas County, Oregon, one of the programs I led was an after-school program for teens aged 13-18. When I was a teen myself, the biggest highlight in high school was experiencing welding for four years. I told my teens, ‘Experience a skill that inspires you. It doesn’t matter if you make it your career; what matters is that the opportunity will give you skills that you will carry with you for the rest of your life, and you can fall back on at any time. High school is free, so experience all the opportunities it offers because in the real world, it will all cost you a pretty penny.’

At that time, from 2012-2014, I was still welding as a hobby while teaching ceramics, running a youth program, and teaching summer arts for the youth. In 2015, I switched gears to dedicate my time back to welding and to follow an inspiration I had back in high school. That inspiration was my welding instructor having us create a metal rose from steel. This moment was the initial spark I had as a youth in 2000, dreaming of how beautiful it would be to have a metal floral shop of blooms that would live forever, symbolizing one’s love. In 2017, I launched my metal floral business, Studio Black Avenue, and to this day, I am still a metal florist with a blooming business because of the skills I learned back in high school.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Ashtine Rieke, with a passion of welding for 24 years. Today, I run a successful business called Studio Black Avenue, a metal floral company, providing a variety of blooms to choose from, symbolizing one’s love. What sparked this idea you may ask… We’ll, I give credit to the 3 different welding instructors I had back in high school. They all wanted me to join the union and become an underwater welder. But my dream was to be an arts teacher, which I had the wonderful opportunity of experiencing this moment years ago at my community center, UVA. To this day, I am still passionate about teaching the arts but in 2015 I also desired to fall back on another inspiration I had back in high school. The moment my welding instructor had us students create a rose from steel. That moment, sparked my initial idea of how beautiful it would be to provide metal blooms that never died, to have and to give a gift that forever blooms. I have been blooming forever strong these past 7 years, launching my metal flower business back in 2017.
One of my main stample marks here at Studio Black Avenue, is long stem metal roses, constructed from copper and steel. Offering a wide range of colors to choose from between copper rainbow-thermal patina’s to heat treated colors. But, roses are not the only blooms I offer because my passion in welding is to create a bloom for you to celebrate that special occasion like weddings and anniversaries, in addition to creating one-of-a-kind blooms that beautifies one’s home space. From large scale to small display pieces, I enjoy creating sentimental keepsakes, boutonnieres and headpieces, giving one’s self a beautiful accent piece that can also be worn to any formal occasion, with a bonus of being displayed as an art piece.
Here at Studio Black Avenue, a metal floral boutique, you can purchase metal floral blooms at anytime and have that bloom shipped out the next day.
In addition, I take in regular custom orders, providing for my cliental the opportunity to order unique blooms that are hard to find on the web. You can preview my portfolio on my social feeds, IG: studioblackavenueashtine
FB: studioblackavenue and to order today, my website is www.ashtine.com

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Here in Douglas County, we have a wonderful program called Dream Savers linked with SBDC and CCD. Dream Savers is a 3 to 1 match program, helping its community achieve their goals in various categories from home loans, schooling, to helping jump start local businesses. The idea of a 3 to 1 match program is for you to save an agreed amount of money deposited into a specified checking account and then once you have completed the program, the grant foundation matches that amount times 3. This program helped facilitate the funding I needed to launch my business with the tools and the remolding I needed to orchestrate a space for my business. In addition, providing education to give me the tool-sets I needed to run a successful business.

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

In 2015 I followed my dream of creating a metal floral business. I came to a cross road finically in the Spring of 2015, when I had to choose between living comfortably in my 2 bedroom home on 1 acre over living in my business establishment that was still in the middle of remolding. I knew that for me to live the dream that I had desired, I would have to sacrifice what was comfortable. To live in a space that became my education school on how to work and repair a building to code standards. Had I not experienced that moment, I would not have the knowledge and skills I have today that helped me achieve my ultimate dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashtine.com
• Instagram: studioblackavenueashtine
• Facebook: studioblackavenue

Image Credits

Jonathan Cummings; welding photo
Ryan Mckinnon; wedding photo’s
Sierra Kamakeeaia-Miller; profile photo