How I turned my love of clothes, fashion, people, and branding into a personal styling business.

1.    Learn everything you can about the things you love & enjoy doing in your current job

2.    Figure out what your weaknesses are & how you can get better at those things

3.    Surround yourself with people who are willing to teach you

4.    Build & foster relationships with co-workers, peers, and mentors

5.    Take risks!  Fear will only hold you back if you let it

Back in 2018, I began dipping my toes into a serious shoe blog called Shoe Obsessed.  My blog focused on show-stopping footwear, fashion news, and general current events.  Since then, I’ve shifted my focus from footwear and fashion news to creating a small business with a mission to help people find the next, new version of themselves.

While this blog is a synopsis of the past three years of my life, there’s certainly more to tell.  Between 2018 and summer 2021, my life has become a series of chapters ranging from positive highs and negative lows. 

Let’s start by talking about my most recent experience leaving a decade’s long career in the retail industry to transition from Store Manager to Solopreneur.  This transitional leap of faith wasn’t made without months of hesitation and loads of advice from my circle of support.  It would be a nice story to say I’m diving into AKCstyle full time, but I’d rather be transparent. 

My passion is AKCstyle, but passions rarely pay the bills in the beginning.  I’m not ashamed to admit this transition comes with a few “side-hustles” to keep my head above water.   One of which allows me to journey down a new career path in marketing with an industrial supplier who is taking a chance on me.  Figure skating is the other passion/ “side-hustle” which has been a part of my life since I was three years old.

All in all, I know life is not as fulfilling without taking risks.  So, while the path to my future is a little foggy, we all must start somewhere.

Here’s how I transitioned from lover of fashion to Solopreneur in three years. 

First, I started focusing on the aspects of my job I really loved and enjoyed.  Learning about fashion design and the life cycle of the products I was selling was the first step.  I researched every question I had about how the products on my salesfloor were created, marketed, and sold.

Next, I figured out the parts of my job I wasn’t good at and didn’t enjoy talking about.  I wasn’t a numbers person when I became a Department Manager at Nordstrom.  However, I learned from my peers who were great retail mathematicians and analyzers of business, so I could get better.

This third step in my journey is probably the most vital.  I learned how to make lasting connections with co-workers and customers alike.  Building relationships is something I figured out I was very good at during my time in retail. 

For anyone reading this post who works in sales, you understand the value of relationships in business.  The circle of support I spoke about earlier in this post is one I’m extremely lucky to have but took years to build.

Well, as I mentioned, this is NOT a step-by-step guide.  At this point my expertise in personal styling is wide ranging, but my knowledge of business how-to is just beginning. 

For anyone reading this post who is thinking of taking a risk to change their life, my advice is to just do it.  It’ll be a bumpy ride, that’s the only thing that’s certain, but 100% worth it.  You never know where life will take you, and if you don’t learn to start riding the wave you might get swallowed up in the swell.

Stay Well,

Ashleigh

Founder of AKCstyle

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