Ashlie Marie is the owner of Ashlie Marie Beauty Co., in Eugene, Oregon. She is constantly sharpening her skills and staying "in the know" when it comes to hair design and beauty.
If you've ever personally met Ashlie Marie or had the honor of sitting in her chair while she works her hair magic on you, you can FEEL her passion. She is passionate about beauty, business and her family. This is the first thing I remember about her when I sat in her chair over 8 years ago. Go follow her on Facebook and Instagram, and then go and book your own appointment with her.
We were so excited to feature such an amazing woman in business. She will never stop growing, she is a force in the hair industry and has amazing advice for other female entrepreneurs.
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Ashlie Marie Scott. I am 32 years old. I have been with my husband Brad for 9 years. We have two sons, Truxton (7) and Jasper (5). We love to travel and we are often chasing the sun. I also enjoy vacations with my girl friends or even just a meal and drinks alone. Having time away from work and family is important to me.
I have ALWAYS had a love and passion for fashion & beauty. I graduated high school and went straight into beauty school and I have been a cosmetologist for 12 years. I have owned my own business, Ashlie Marie Beauty CO, for a year and a half. I absolutely love my job and I always look forward to going to work!
How did you get into your business? After beauty school I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out what direction I wanted to go. I was jumping from salon to salon, working on commission and leasing a chair. I learned so much in those years, but it was at someone else's expense... It didn’t pay well, but it was comfortable, so I continued for five years.
When I got pregnant with my first son, I decided I needed to have more flexibility so I took a really big risk and walked away from what was comfortable and started my own salon, kind of. I turned a room in my home into a hair salon. I hardly had any clients and had no idea how long I would do hair from home. I just knew I wanted to be there physically for my baby, I also needed to pay bills and wanted to continue following my passion.
With the help of social media and very loyal clients, friends and family, I built my business from the ground up and within a year I was doing well.
After doing this for five years life threw me a curveball and I was forced to “ figure it out “ all over again. My marriage was in a difficult place and I ended up needing to move myself and my salon out of the home. I ended up finding a building to lease for a reasonable price and a scary decision turned into Ashlie Marie Beauty Co. Opening my own salon forced me to be better and work harder than ever before. {Shortly after opening the salon my husband and I also decided to continue to work on our marriage}. So it was an all around great decision.
What has been your biggest challenge?
You can never have the perfect plan! You really don’t know what’s going to happen until you just go for it. I was never guided into where I am now. I got a certificate from the beauty school and paid lots of money to follow my passion. I wasn’t set up with a job or even business skills. The biggest challenge has been taking risks to figure out the next step.
What do you wish you’d known when you started? I wish I would have known how to utilize Social Media better. Skills like capturing a quality before and after photo would have helped me build my business even faster. I try to show all my fellow beatification friends the tools I use daily to keep building my business through social media. It’s free advertising, how amazing is that?
If you could narrow your success down to one thing, what would it be? Consistency!
It took a lot of time and patience to have the consistency I have now, and it’s a balancing act. As far as my business goes, most of my clients know what to expect with me. I have set a standard that I can stand behind and one that I deserve. Because of the standard I’ve set I hardly have no shows or cancellations. (Which is the biggest complaint I hear from other stylists). Setting a standard for yourself is so helpful. I have also set a consistent schedule. My clients know I don’t do evenings or weekend appointments and most of them understand and are willing to adjust their schedule to fit mine. If I were to be inconsistent with my schedule I could easily get walked all over and my job would become stressful. Stay consistent and things will be a lot less chaotic.
Where do you see yourself in a year?
I recently changed my business to a sole proprietor, which will make it possible to hire employees. It terrifies me to hire employees because some days I feel like I can barley handle my own children... within a year I would like to figure out how to hire employees. I want to hire 1-2 stylists that I can mentor, stylists who are as passionate, motivated and as eager to learn as I am. It’s really hard to find people who are passionate and driven. My goal is to find at least one person to grow my business with.
What are your top three tips for women starting a business? 1) Don’t rely on anyone. If you have to rely on someone your not ready.
2) Making money is important, but my advice is to try and make it more about making your dreams come true. If you follow your dreams and your passions the money will be easy to make.
3) Find balance. You will likely be communicating with people constantly to build your business or brand. You will get messages early mornings and late nights. Try not to let it completely consume you. Set time aside to reply to the messages and set time aside for you and the other responsibilities in your life.
What is a typical day for you like?
Well, I wake up flawless... just kidding! 6am: hit snooze 2 times. 6:15am: Shower. My husband takes care of the kids while I get ready. 6:30am: coffee and breakfast with our kids. 7:00am: Make up and hair. 7:30am: everyone is out the door for school, daycare and work. 8:30am: This is the latest I show up to my salon to make sure everything is tidy. 9am: First client. I take 3 color & cut clients 4 days a week and I get out of the salon by 5:30pm to pick up the kids from child care by 6pm. The boys and I like to meet up with my husband after he’s off work at one of our favorite dinner spots and have family time. We try to have the boys in the bath by 8pm and in bed by 9pm. And.... REPEAT.
What’s your business motto or quote you live by?
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate. I see a lot of people focusing on negativity and I’m definitely guilty of doing so myself; but if we spent more time focusing on what we love and the positive I think we can get a lot further in life and feel so much better.
If you were starting your business over again, what would you do differently?
I think everything is a learning experience and I’m very happy where I’m at today, but I know I still have a lot of room to grow. If I could do one thing different I would have used my resources better. There are so many people out there who are filled with free advice and information. You don’t have to figure it all out on your own. I’m stubborn and I tried to do a lot on my own so it took me a lot longer than necessary to get to where I am today. I also think that working for things that we need is important and I think a lot of us work to pay for that we need and just stop there, I did that for a long time. Finally, I bought something I didn’t need. I bought my dream car and now I have proved to myself that I can work harder and succeed more. I suggest setting big goals early on so you’re doing more than just getting by.
**If you are in the Eugene, Oregon area you can book an appt with Ashlie Marie here.
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