You Can Sit With Us - Interview with Ashley Reeves of Ashley's Fresh Fix

This is Law and Wit, Episode 35, You Can Sit with Us, with Ashley Reeves of Ashley's Fresh Fix. Welcome to Law and Wit, Creative Counsel for Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Brittany Rettell, mother of 4, entrepreneur, naptime lawyer, and attorney for creative entrepreneurs. I'm here to share inspiration and action so that you can tackle your business blocks and confidently own your business in every sense of the word. Thank you so much for being here. Welcome back everyone, and I am so excited to share our guest today. Um, so I have Ashley Reeves on here, also known as Ashley's Fresh Fix online, and she's a wife and mom of 4 kids, a full-time social media influencer and entrepreneur who's juggling multiple online businesses, a couple of which I've had the pleasure to work with her on. Ashley's been featured on Good Morning America, Nightline, Whole30, and lots of other venues. She's a foodie with a fun family who is actively involved, um, in all of her projects. She's a social media marketing expert and a branding coach who loves helping others to build their businesses. She's dedicated online community of like-minded women who follow her journey, um, to build better body images, share new products and methods to improve their lives, including her recently released top-rated meal planning app. She loves connecting with others online and is grateful for the opportunities it's brought her and her family. And I am so excited to have her on to talk to us today. Welcome, Ashley.

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here finally. I feel like we've been talking about it for so long.

It has been. And you know what, that's the whole reason. It's a catch-22. I want to have you on here because you're amazing and you're doing all kinds of amazing things, but thus you are a busy woman and you are hustling and you are not letting a lot of moss grow on your life in any way, in any shape, or form.

Yeah, we're all just trying our best.

Exactly. It's just some people's best just involves involves a lot more LLCs in other people's best. So that's, that's all you. Well, for those people who might not be, you know, as familiar with kind of your online influencer journey— and yes, we'll say that with like a roll of our eyes about journey— can you kind of give us the Reader's Digest, you know, version of kind of where you got started and then how that's kind of evolved to what you find yourself working on today?

Yeah. You know, I actually got started blogging like 10 years ago when I had my first baby and like everyone and their mom was blogging and you had the little sidebars with all the couples.

I had one of those too.

Yes. Yeah. Oh my God. I loved blogging and I saw a couple, I followed a couple of blogs of people that I saw doing really great things. Like, I mean, Nene Dialogues was one of my favorite blogs to follow back in the day. She's, she was just super awesome and I just saw back then a long time ago, I remember overseeing like the potential it had, not anywhere near to what it's like today. But I just thought like, how cool, like you can really talk to people well here. And, um, for me it was kind of an outlet for some postpartum issues that I was having. I, um, really didn't know— none of my family had babies, no sisters, no, um, cousins, like no, none of my close friends had babies. I was the first one of my friends, um, that were close to me that had a baby. And I just really felt pretty lonely and isolated. And I just remember that summer I had my baby and then I stayed home with him for a summer before I went back to work. I was teaching first grade at the time and I just remember blogging felt like a connection to me. And, um, I started blogging and I met a few, like a handful of girls that I'm actually still really tight with today and they've all kind of like quit blogging. But there was some of us that like kind of ran around together and it was, it was just so nice and so refreshing. So I kind of started there and it was more just like a family connection type thing. Um, and then I realized it could be like informational. And so I started— I'd had a lot of experience with like dieting and clean eating and weight loss. And so I thought that would be an interesting blog topic. So I started a blog called A Daily Dose of Dieting, and I did that for about a year. And I was consistent every single day. I blogged like healthy living tips.

Um, content is queen, girl.

Wow. Yeah, yeah, really. I don't know what I was doing. I actually— I'm kind of sad, but I actually deleted the blog. After I closed it about 2 years because I just never, like, it wasn't making money, it wasn't really serving any purpose and it just started, it was taking a lot of time so I closed it and I deleted all the content. I don't know why, don't ask me why. It'd probably be really helpful to use some of it for my current job but deleted that and then just 'cause the blog was too much work. It was way too much work. I had a second kid by then and it was just a joke. So when Instagram came out, Um, I was on the waiting list with Instagram for the filters. I just thought it was like a filter app where you could like get a cool filter for your pictures. And I was like, yeah, I want that filter with like the film around the edges.

Like, yes, yes, that. And then you've arrived.

I know. And so I got on the waiting list for it because I was at an Android at the time. And when I finally got it, I was like, oh, awesome. And I opened it and I remember looking at it being like, oh, you like follow people? Like, is this like a little Facebook? Just Very confused, but oh my gosh, just fell in love with it. I kind of got that connection that I had back when I was blogging with way less effort and just really, really loved it. So I stayed there for a while and I saw the potential of people building businesses online. It was just kind of at the baby phases, I think, when people started using Instagram to build businesses. And I wasn't ever trying to build a business, but I did decide, well, I did this dieting blog, so I'm going to move it to an Instagram. Let's see if I could try that. Started Amazon Ashley, which I did because I was tall and I thought it was like an Amazon woman thing.

Way before Wonder Woman was back in vogue, let us, let us, you know, yeah.

So anyways, started that and I, it was random, but when this guy came to my house one day, he was, our house was for sale, and he asked me what I did and I kind of explained I had this Instagram account and he goes, that's so crazy, I actually teach Instagram marketing at these places. It was just so weird. It was like the weirdest connection. And he just looked at my account. He's like, do you realize what you could do with this? Like, do you realize the value? I think I had like 10 or 15,000 followers at the time. I didn't really know anything about monetizing. And so he honestly kind of taught me what it was possible of. And he had a few suggestions and it's actually really sad. He passed away soon after that. But he kind of like turned my mind to like, this could be a business. So I kind of just started treating it like one and I just have always been doing different things to grow the brand and work with a lot of companies. I've sold my own products through my Instagram. I've done like watermelon slicers and ebooks and measuring cups and all sorts of things. And then I also, but primarily, I would say like 90% of my revenue right now is with sponsored work online. Um, and I'm always juggling about 25 projects at any given moment, but that's, um, that's kind of like the bread and butter of my business right now. And then I spend a lot of time working on the app, which is an amazing app, but we don't, you know, that's a free app right now. It's not building revenue. We're just focused on building a really awesome product. Right. And just getting as many people obsessed with it as we possibly can. And then we have, monetization ideas for the future, but right now we just want everyone to have it in their hands and fall in love with it. And I work as a branding coach on the side too. I just have a lot going on.

So that's kind of— in all your spare time? Yeah.

Yeah. And then I had 2 more kids, now I have 4 of them, and we just like just try to keep our head above water most days. Yeah.

And obviously you're, you're doing it swimmingly all the way around. So, um, so, you know, as part of that journey, as you were kind of, you know, you knew from your days, you know, blogging that you, you like to write and you like to share tips that you kind of found yourself in even a certain space in there, you know, in terms of like healthy eating and cooking. How did you start to integrate that more? You know, when you say that you started, decided to treat it like a business, what did that look like for you? Because I think that sometimes that's a big question that people have in terms of when are they ready to start treating it like a business, what should they be looking for, or if they are ready, then what does that next step or couple next step looks like for them?

I wanted it so bad. I, as soon as, as soon as I was kind of aware of what it could do, I was like, okay, I'm gonna like try really, really hard. And I was very consistent. So when you say how would they know what the next step is, I would say get serious about it. And I was really consistent. I was posting every single day some kind of something like And at the time before I would batch create any content, I would wake up in the morning and be like, okay, what am I going to post about today? And it was kind of like what I did every day. And I put a lot of effort into it. And then I started connecting and networking with people who were online too in my communities. And I started, you know, trying to grow my community because I also saw the value in growing. Like the more people are there, obviously the better. And it honestly wasn't until, I don't know the exact, I think I probably had like 30,000 followers or something when I started monetizing and working with companies who were willing to, you know, and I started off with trade, just like free stuff was always great and then it gets to the point where like you don't want anything for free anymore, you just need to pay your mortgage with.

Yeah, like that's all well and good, you know, cute bags and dresses but also there's rent and food and Costco does not accept trade, yeah.

Oh my goodness, and it's so time-consuming. So anyways, it kind of started there, but I would just say like, get started, and I think the next step is like, get serious. Put a plan together for what you want to post online and what you're gonna do to provide people value, and just work. Like, I set aside time every day that I was doing it.

And this was before, you know, that you said you started to get into kind of the batch content habit, which obviously most people say if you want to, not feel like you're hamster stuck on that content wheel is really a secret, which is to plan out and then have time when you can just kind of knock a bunch of stuff out. Bang, bang, bang.

Yeah, it's the only, the only way to do it. I can't— I actually don't even know how I survived my life when I used to put together, like, shoot and post photographs and posts every day. I don't know what I was thinking.

You know, you know, it's what you knew at the time. What— how did that look like having kids and still, you know, mommin' it and having all that mixed together? So, because I know that's a question, especially for those mompreneurs out there who are trying to figure out what does that balance look like and how can you be present with kids but also invest time and means you need to be on your phone. That's the reality of it.

Yeah, it is. And that's honestly been a really hard part of this kind of business for me is figuring that balance out. When I first started, it was nap times and late nights. My husband actually at the time was going to BYU getting his master's at night and he also was working a second job at night. So he would work full-time teaching during the day and he was gone every night. So at the time I would put my kids to bed and I would just work and that was, and I was up really, really late and I wasn't sleeping well. I mean, that's what I had to do at the time. But I would also say as soon as you possibly can get out of that pattern, because getting a babysitter has really changed everything for me, even if it's just a couple hours a week to just focus. Now I'm doing about 2 to 3 days a week. It just kind of depends on the week. But yeah, it was a lot of late nights, a lot of nap times, a lot of juggling. It was also a little different before Instagram stories were around. You just had to get a picture up and you never had to like actually— especially with food, I never had to post pictures of myself hardly ever. I started mostly with It was easy to be in my pajamas and be nursing babies and posting pictures of food we were eating anyways. Um, but yeah, that was, that was kind of what it looked like at first with 3 little boys running me ragged. But, um, it— I did to the most— to the best I could, I kind of got them involved. Like, they would help me with cooking and stuff like that. And, um, yeah, there's— it's kind of just been a process that's an evolution, but What happened to me is I just got honest with myself, and I think this will be different for everyone, but for my circumstances, I had to get a babysitter because our family dynamic— I don't have a husband who is home a ton. I know a lot of people who can get some work done because their husband can cover whatever. His schedule, especially a couple years ago, was just insane, and he is so supportive but really couldn't help out in that. Respect. And so a babysitter has just been great because it took away a lot of my mom guilt because I was just honest. I was like, I'm putting my kids to the side while I'm working, or my work is being pushed to the side when I'm taking care of kids. And I felt like no one was really getting like the best version of me. And so now I'm just kind of really protective about how I use my time. And I just make sure when I'm at work, I can work like crazy. And when I'm at home, I can just spend more time focused on my kids. And it's not always perfect, you know, but it, it works a lot better for my mental health right now.

Yeah, but I really like what you said there about you, you took, you know, inventory of knowing yourself and, you know, what was working for you, what was working for your family, and, um, you know, being really introspective about those questions and about what were the needs of the resources that you needed to make it work. So, and not, you know, as they say, don't should all over yourself, but not letting an idea of what it should look like or what it should feel like or what it should be a good number of hours of childcare, um, you know, keep you from having the goals that you guys have as a family, the larger vision. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. And I just knew if I wanted to take it to the next level, it was going to take more time. And that was the reality of it. I was doing okay and things like I was making some money and, you know, initially I was excited if I made a car payment with my money and then I was like, oh, I could, buy our groceries for the week, or then it was really cool when I could cover our mortgage payment. Then it was, okay, I want to make as much money as my husband every month. And then I was like, okay, I want to make more than him every month. It was just like all these things that kept going. And it really just was like, okay, if I wanted it to— I was kind of at the like, I can make a car payment and pay some groceries. And I was like, I just want to— I knew the potential and I knew I loved doing it. So I just needed to push myself a little harder to make it go to the next level.

Yeah, well, I like that, putting it into terms that make sense for your family and the, you know, busting the myth that you can get to the next level without having that investment of time and energy, which is not doing anyone any favors to think that like, oh, you know, I can, I can, I bet I won't need to have help, or that I won't need to reevaluate what your day-to-day looks like, or what people in your, you know, your, your family dynamic need from you.

So yeah, exactly.

Very, very true. So otherwise you just, you run yourself ragged and then nobody, nobody is happy with the result. So, well, I wanted to, I wanted to touch a little bit about, about your— because you do such great work online, as I've, you know, followed you for a while and now gotten to know you better personally and professionally. You do such great work on talking about body love and positive body communication, and I know that you have some plans for sharing more of this on this topic. Um, but I wanted to have you kind of speak a little bit about how that has evolved with kind of some of your other businesses, things that you do online, because for you, one day you might be talking about, you know, Traeger grill recipes or watermelon slicer or, you know, lipstick. And the next day you're talking about, hey, let's talk about body love and being okay in our swimsuits and what that means with just getting in the water with our kids. How do you mix that all together so it makes sense for you and your audience?

Yeah, I started with food and it was like a really safe, I don't know, content span for me because no one ever saw me and I could share food. Like I said, I could be in my pajamas and whatnot. But really it just got boring and the stuff I had initially started talking about, I wasn't interested in talking about anymore. And I just remember thinking, oh, as soon as I post about anything else, everyone's gonna leave. Like I just thought like, I'm gonna lose all my followers I'm going to wake up one morning and like 50,000 people are just going to be like, yeah, never mind, I'm out of here. So, but I just, I just was slowly starting to introduce myself and I think slowly my audience got to know me better and they started trusting me more. And I've just always been, it's just part of my personality to like talk too much and have too many conversations.

Hey, join the club. We'll make t-shirts.

Okay. So I just like talking about more stuff, and it was, it was just slowly like evolving into that. And I just wanted to— I saw how, um, you know, and honestly, I saw a lot of need for, um, my family to share what we care about. There's a million adorable perfect families on Instagram, but I just, you know, I don't know, I just saw something, and I honestly don't even know if I could put it into words, but I just thought my family needs to be here. There's a reason that this platform exists for us. And I just started sharing slowly. And I just would think, one thing I always thought about is what would I want to read or what would I want to see online? And a lot of it, sometimes I was interested in recipes, but sometimes I would want to know what someone's favorite lip gloss was, or I would want to know, you know, like triggers or anything like that. And so I just started sharing stuff that I'd be interested in seeing. And I think it's just really, I don't know, transparent and genuine with my audience, that they just know I'm sharing about things I love. And I wouldn't call it training, but I would call it like, I didn't train my audience, but I think I've gotten them accustomed to how I just kind of share a mix of everything. But my biggest thing is, I just want, and I feel like I speak to women mostly, I do have some men followers, but I just want women to feel like their day is a little bit easier after they've interacted with anything I do online. So whether that's like thought processes or emotional attachments or simple tips and tricks for living your life or like just refocusing on your purpose as a mother, anything like that. I just want them to feel like they're, I just don't wanna waste anyone's time. That's really important to me. And I gauge, I watch analytics and I watch who cares about what I say. And I'm always interested, things that I think people go, I'm, you know, crazy for sometimes just don't land. And the things that I, you know, lip gloss— who would have known people really, really care when I talk about lip gloss? But it just, you know, I don't know. And I just feel like sometimes people need certain things online, and sometimes they also just need, um, just real life everyday things that are applicable to them.

And having that good mix. And, um, but I like what you said, that you are— that you're observant you know, that you're very observant of what other people are doing online and what you are seeing from your own audience, you know, what's resonating with them. Um, and that, yeah, you do include a mix because people are complex and they like a mix of stuff. And, you know, we all just don't want one flavor of ice cream, um, even if it's great flavor, you know, we like to have a little mix all over the place.

Yeah, exactly. And I feel like people just like— I mean, I just think the fun is in the details because no one's ever one-dimensional. Like, you want to hear and learn more about someone. Definitely.

So, and as you've tried to talk more especially about healthy eating and what that looks like for you, you know, I was listening to something else, I think another interview that you gave, and you talked a little bit about just how that transition was for you as someone who felt like maybe they didn't fit the typical mold of someone who could talk about clean eating or like clean recipes online and how that evolved and changed for you. I know for some people who maybe feel like there's another cause or something else that is meaningful to them, but they're worrying if they're really the right vehicle or if they have the right tools to address that. You know, what would be your advice for someone who has something that they're, they are, that is really does mean a lot to them and they just want to have kind of that courage, that motivation to share and dig a little bit deeper?

I just think you have to You kind of have to turn inward for that kind of stuff. I think it's one of the worst things you can do is look for validation from outside sources. And if you let that need for approval from other people hold you back from making choices, then it's just, you know, basically counterproductive. And I think that I'm so, so, so, so, so glad I remember exactly where I was when I had the thought to do a healthy eating Instagram account. And I remember sitting— I was at the hall. I was in the hallway at church. And I remember thinking about it. I also remember thinking, oh, people are going to think I'm so stupid. Like, you, are you kidding me? You're, you know, I know this is a podcast, so your people can't see me, but I'm like a taller, bigger girl. And I just thought like I absolutely didn't look like what I imagined some healthy recipe blogger to look like. But luckily, luckily, it's like insane to me to think I could have missed out on all of this because of that insecurity. But luckily I didn't. I didn't listen and I pushed forward. And in doing so, I found a whole new community of people. Like the, and not to say the fitness community hasn't embraced me, they've all been super lovely. Everyone I've met with has been super nice. But I also found this like secret stash, I think, of women who just want relatable to them. And I know super healthy fitnessy stuff is relatable to some people, but there is a lot of people also who just wanna do a little bit better, try a little bit harder, or feed their family a little bit better and aren't able to put in like, I don't know if you would call it the commitment or the diehard grit of some fitness and healthy eating people.

Right, that the close-ups of the rock-hard abs are not meaningful to them. It's not helpful in their journey, in their discussion of like, but what am I going to cook for dinner tonight? What does that actually translate to? Yeah.

Exactly. And I just started thinking about, I like took it back from a, from a, from a food perspective or anything. And I was like, I just had this visual of sitting around a table with people. I'm like, the food's there, like it's on the table. But it was more about what was going on when you go out to dinner with friends, like the conversations you have. So I just always have this visual. I'm like, anyone can pull up a seat. I always say like, you can sit with us is like my theme. I like love that. And I want my community to feel that. I'm like, come sit at the table. There will be food here because we all like food. Everyone loves food and we'll eat whatever. But like the conversations and things you talk about when you go to dinner with people, you know, over the food, it could be anything. You know, it could be about a book that I'm listening to or like clothes that I'm wearing or like makeup that I love, like anything like that. It just fits for me because I just have this visual of what would I talk to people I cared about over dinner? And it just, for me, that's kind of where it all stemmed from.

That's awesome. I love that you actually have a visual of when you are creating content and when you're, you know, what it would actually look like. So I mean, maybe, you know, your, maybe your handle should be like Ashley's Diner. I mean, honestly, you know, it should be Ashley's really, really big table. Yeah. That we're all getting together around. Um, but I mean, I think that translates, you know, I, I think people feel that. And I think, you know, someone was asking me the other day, 'cause they're a follower of you, they followed you for a long time, since your Amazon Ashley days, and they were like, what, do you know, like, what is her secret sauce? Like, she's been able to change and kind of morph and evolve with stuff, but you know, she's doing so well and everyone loves her stuff, and I was like, I think, you know, she just gets it. She gets who she's talking to and she gets what they need, and she's really good at figuring out, she's figured out her own why, which is why she can serve that up to other people.

Yeah, that's so true. It's like, that's so nice of that person to say. And, you know, I think it looks like, it might look like I have it all figured out. I don't, like, we're all struggling and trying to like figure it out day by day. But having the why figured out for me, yeah, for sure. Like, I know exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing. And I go back to that constantly. And I feel like I'm trying to, I honestly feel like I do that check-in almost daily. With myself and with what I put out online. And that's really helped me kind of like just steer clear of any garbage and like distractions that people who do online work can get caught up in. Like, I don't have interest in getting involved with a lot of the dramatics that come along with this kind of a job. And I just like know what I'm going for and I know where I'm headed and I just feel really crystal clear about that. And So I don't know, it just kind of helps for me. It helps me just weed out anything else that's not important.

Right, you know, and just your mental process and keeping kind of, you know, cleaning up your business mental work, you know, all the way around in your business planning.

Yeah.

Yeah, that makes sense. Well, that's a great segue because I did want to ask a little bit about, you know, what you do in terms of your brand work and your brand coaching. And I know that figuring out your why is a big part of that. So I know you've worked with Allison Faulkner, The Allison Show, on some of her projects and a branding coach and worked with other companies and spoken and kind of delved into that a lot more the last few years. For people who are trying to figure out for themselves, what tips do you give them in terms of figuring out their why or why is it so important?

It's so important because almost every question someone asks me about their business could be answered if they had their why. If they had it really clear. I know people say, well, I don't know what to post on social media. You need to know why you're posting. I don't know, I'm so worried about the algorithm. Well, if you actually know why you're doing what you're doing, you're gonna create content that naturally beats the algorithm so you don't have to stress about that. When people ask how to make more sales, it's, well, figuring out that why so your people are learning how to connect with you better. Like, any question that someone has, I feel like can be answered when you figure out your why and you do that branding work. And I'll just nod to this because I don't know the nature of your followers, but I am just as guilty of this as anyone else that 2 years ago I thought branding was a logo and the colors you put on your website. And I thought I was fine. I thought I was like, yeah, I got a great brand. I'm, you know, I make a little bit of money. I've like figured this out. And Allison is a good friend of mine and she invited me to that workshop and I was like, I can only describe it as like an earthquake underneath me where I felt like I had this awesome thing set up and it was like, shh, no, you actually You don't.

It's all going to come tumbling down.

It really did. It all had to kind of come tumbling down for me to rebuild it and define it. But since then, I've been so fortunate to work closely with Alison. She had this small, intimate, wonderful workshop and she just, you know, we went to lunch one day and she just wanted to grow it and she needed some help and I had had so much personal personal success from doing the work that she taught that I was all in. I basically had a testimony of the content and oh my gosh, I just felt so fortunate she trusted me with it at all. And we were able to kind of grow the workshop into what it is today, which the next one is on November 30th and we'll have, I think, 160 attendees. It started with 12, so it's just kind of crazy. And we do I don't know, I feel like we've probably done 8 to 10 a year between the ones we host and the ones people hire us to come teach their consultants. But it's, it's amazing. And I just think it's so important because now more than ever, there's so much stuff online. There's so many people doing so many things. And there's MLMs and there's a million bow shops and a million, you know, healthy eating recipe bloggers. And there's a million of everything. I actually don't know if there's a million lawyers. You've got, you've got something going for you.

I think I've got a few. I've got a better gig, you know. But also it's hard because I had to— and I went to workshop last year and it was helpful even for me as a person who has a very different business than most of the other people there, you know, because I have a business that is not fun and sexy and always pretty online. And so I really needed to figure out why I like doing this particular kind of law and why I like reaching this particular type of client.

So yeah, and that's what I mean, like you, um, You have all these people who can get really stirred up in things that don't matter and they freak out because, you know, they get so mad if someone does something that looks like what they did. But like, newsflash, there's probably pretty much nothing you can do online that doesn't look like something someone else has done at some point. Like, we're just there. It's like, it's 2018. I don't think there's—

I mean, there's new ways to do things, but everything's a remix and we should be okay with that, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. Most likely you're not going to come up with some idea that no one's never heard of. That's so amazing. You know what I mean? It's just reality. So point being, like take for instance people that do an MLM. Let's say they're selling clothing or something and there's, you know, thousands and thousands of distributors that are selling this clothing or representatives or whatever they call them. And people can get really panicked like, oh my gosh, all these other people are doing it. This feels so competitive. This feels stressful. Or they'll say they don't need branding work because they sell someone else's brand, but they don't understand that no, like you are the brand, and if you want to be successful at an MLM, the thing that you need to do is build a really freaking solid brand, because that's going to give you a leg up on everyone else that's doing the exact same thing you are. And that goes for boutiques, and that goes for, I mean, podcasters, that goes for everyone. No matter what you're doing, you have to find that why, and you have to find what makes you unique from everyone else that's doing it, and get it really defined. I feel like that is where I would recommend people put like full steam ahead energy into instead of all the other. I just like roll my eyes when I see everyone doing like another Instagram algorithm hack class and all this stuff. I'm like, oh, it's so stupid. You could go crazy chasing all the algorithm changes and trying to figure out a way to smart out the system, but in all reality, you need to just figure out what your brand is and get really clear. And if I haven't already made it obvious from what I've said, Your brand is what you stand for and what you believe and your values. And the way that you can connect with your audience more is finding ways to make sure that your audience understands your values and what you stand for. And they want to do business with you because they believe in what you believe, not in what you're doing. They believe in the same values you do. And anyways, people just get wrapped up in products and it's more about, it's just more about feeling.

Which sometimes, you know, scares people to death and sometimes is, you know, calming to them. So, you know, you got to make your own peace with it, but the truth is that people are not interested in your products or your services. They want their problem solved and they want to know why you should be the one to solve them.

Yes, and I just think I've sat in those workshops and so when I'm at the workshops, I'm working as a coach, so I'm doing a lot of one-on-one work with our students and I sit with people who are just starting businesses who opened their Instagram account last week, and then we've also sat down with like multi-million dollar CEOs that need help and are blown away by the content. Like the content is so awesome and so applicable. And yeah, I would definitely recommend the workshop to anyone, you know, within shot of this interview.

And no, it's not going to be anywhere else. So yes, you do have to maybe get a hop on a plane to Utah, but you know what? Utah's great, and go get yourself a soda, you know, make it a package deal.

Yeah, we make, we put travel guides together and stuff for everyone that comes out. It's just, it's really, really fun. We don't, we do not have people that regret it, like, and it's just been incredible to see the evolution of the people that we meet through the workshop and what comes and happens for them afterward. And I think it's important that people know I don't do the workshop I mean, I make some money, it's my time, it's work time, but I do not do it for money. It's by far actually probably the least profitable thing I do. I do it because I believe in it and I feel so strongly about it. And I think if more people had this kind of crystal clear vision of what they were doing and why they were doing it, I feel like we would all live in a happier online space and there wouldn't be so much cutthroat competition and there wouldn't be so many distracted people just throwing up whatever they possibly can to get engagement, all this ridiculous stuff. I just feel like if everyone felt really solid in what they were doing and why they were doing it, it would just make it a happier online place for everyone.

Yeah, it's a little bit about, you know, like middle school. It's just that people, they just need to be a little bit more secure about themselves, because when you know what you're about, then everyone, everyone's in a better place mentally, emotionally. Yeah, for sure. Plus, you know, people discover deodorant and daily showers, like It's all a much better situation a couple years later.

We all win.

Um, okay, um, I, I wanted to make sure that you, um, told us a little bit more about the, um, process of the app that you got to be involved with. So talk a little bit about, um, Favorit's. Um, is that how he pronounces it? No. Yeah, Favorit's. Um, and tell us about, yeah, what that process looked like being involved, because apps are hot. And, you know, I know a lot of people who think that that they might, you know, want to build an app someday or be involved with that process. So can you walk us through a little bit behind the scenes of that?

Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's called FavorEats and it's kind of like favorite eats combined. It is a free app. So anyone listening could download it that's on an Apple phone. And I know there's some Android people that don't like that, but we're getting there. But anyways, so it's just kind of a testimony, I think, to networking and being in the right place at the right time, kind of. But I actually, the, I would say the main— I'm a co-owner, but like the main owner, there's 4 of us, and he was someone I had worked for in the past, and he had hired me to do some sponsored work for another project, and he just recognized my work ethic and saw, I don't know, my ability to convert a sale or whatnot. And so we had just kind of stayed in contact because even though that particular project for him didn't map out, he saw value, I think. Well, I assume since he's probably onto it. But, um, so I just started meeting with him and we would brainstorm a lot, a lot, a lot about what this would look like. And I just, you know, basically to build an app, you need a really, really great idea and you need a lot of money. Like, that's the truth of the matter. And then you need to be able to take that idea and and get it in front of people. And so the team that I work with has been awesome because I don't bring a dime to the table. I've never put a penny into it actually, but it's been a very, very expensive, I don't even wanna say how expensive project, and the main guy that I'm working with has funded it 100%, and that's his contribution. My contribution is like the social media and the marketing and bringing that to the table and getting out in front of people, 'cause you know, we have this great app and this great idea, and he has all the money to build it, but then what? How do we get it out into the world? So I willingly and excitingly aligned my brand with it, and I said, yeah, I want this to be my app, and I want this to be the thing that I push and promote. I believe in it, and we worked for, it's almost been 2 years, you know, doing field research and market studies and getting every possible suggestion we could together and figuring out, there was lots of, there was just lots of research involved, figuring out, making sure nothing out there was like this, and if there was anything similar, how could we make ours bigger and better and more efficient? And there was a lot of back and forth with a lot of developers and designers. I mean, there was just so many meetings. I sat there and nodded my head and pretended like I knew what was going on when I really didn't. And then like when they're talking about backend stuff, I am the most untech-savvy person, but I could tell them when they would show me the design, I'd be like, yeah, no, no, this needs to be over here, 'cause you know, they're men, and I work with my friend Amy on it, and so we are, you know, looking at it like as women that are probably their target audience, 'cause most moms are doing the meal planning. Just making sure it looks easy and was efficient. I mean, there was so much like product stuff, but it has been a process. Apps are so much work, and I, but I think it's going to pay off so much in the end and I believe in it so much. Like the product is incredible and the reason I've put so much time into it without being paid is because I see that long-term value. So I'm an owner of it now, so you know, at some point it will probably sell. We might do subscriptions. There's a lot of different things we could do with it, but yeah, that's kind of been the process honestly. It was a lot of, I was connected with someone because of a good past work experience and relationship, And we were just able to move forward. And he'd had a lot of really, really great business experience before this where he had built these massive companies. And I just really trusted him and his vision really matched well. And it's just a really great team. It takes a team. It is so far from mine only. There's a lot of people helping, like so many.

Behind the scenes, yeah. Then when it was time to launch, what was your plan or what did you think that what was going to be kind of the best strategy or your plan in terms of launching it, getting people excited about it? That's a big deal for an app is definitely because without the users and the social component, it makes it really hard to start gaining traction, right?

Exactly, yeah. One thing that was really important to us and still is incredibly important to us is we wanted to make something that people genuinely wanted to share about. They wanted to tell their friends about it. They wanted their family to join. It is, I mean, it is a meal planning app, but that's really just scratching the surface. It's a very interactive meal planning app where, you know, it's its own little social media where you follow people and they're rating recipes and they're building their meal plans so you can check in and see what your friends are doing and people that you trust. Like, hey, I know Brittany's making this for dinner and she, you know, the app prompts you to give it like a thumbs up or thumbs down. If it's something you love, I totally want to try that for my family. And it just, it makes everything just really slick and easy. It creates, you build like a drag-and-drop meal plan and get an automatic shopping list. Anyways, what we basically did is we wanted to make the features really well known and we talked about them for months leading up to it. So we built up the anticipation, honestly more than we wanted to. Everything just took a lot longer than we wanted it to. We probably talked about it a little too soon, but by the time we launched we had a pretty impressive waitlist email for people that wanted to know when it went live. So that was important. We've done a lot of incentivized sharing, like if people share, we like to incentivize them with like reposting and stuff on our accounts. We ask for a lot of user feedback. We had a Facebook group that was kind of our beta testing group that used the app for a while, for a couple weeks, and we were answering questions on there constantly for them. And we would ask for very— we said, you know, we were very clear, like we don't want you to make our feelings feel good. We don't want you to tell us how awesome we are. We really want you to look at the app and we want you to be critical, like what's broken, what is not useful, what's worth your time, what's not. So we had all these kind of like super users in there and we gave them the green light to share. So they were kind of like experts on Favorites. And, you know, we've worked with influencers getting the word out about them and obviously As a founder myself, I'm talking about it as well too. And it's just, that's kind of how it's snowballed into what it is. That's awesome.

So, and I love the, certainly even though you're in the field of, you know, food and healthy eating as an influencer yourself, I love, you know, you recognizing that you can't do it alone. That, you know, there's so much power, you know, if you believe in influencer marketing, then there's so much power in connecting with other people too in that space and exploring their communities and their approach of the way that they're connecting to something like this. And just how important that is, you know, not just to have a zero-sum or, you know, like you said, kind of having that amateur, you know, or insecure feeling about working with other people even when they do maybe the same thing that you do.

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree with that.

That's awesome. So, okay, well, that's what's wonderful. So moral of the story is apps are awesome, but also a whole lot of work.

Yeah, like, just be ready. If you're ready to work hard, it's great. But yeah, just be— I think people come in with like, you know, hard eyes, like, oh, an app sounds awesome. But I'm like, yeah, do you know how many times I've wanted to quit this thing? But I stick with it because it's so awesome. And it's honestly, now that we're like kind of over the hill, like getting it out to release initially was, was just exhausting, and it felt like it was never gonna happen. We kept having all these holdbacks. Now that it's live, it's really exciting. We're always improving it and we're growing it. We have all these different strategies for marketing and everything, but the fact that it's live and people are out using it and loving it, like, that's so rewarding and so awesome. And so it just makes me just so happy.

Yeah, and hopeful, you know, for things to come. Yeah, down the pipeline, I'm sure, as that expands and, you know, it finds its it finds its legs. So, um, okay, well, since you consult people on, you know, social media, uh, social media, and are kind of an expert in that space, especially with the journey that you've had, you know, that you've shared with us, um, so you have a kind of, uh, 5 mistakes people make when they're trying to build an engaged community. So, and, you know, probably the big one, probably one that you already gave us, is they don't know what their why is. Yeah.

Um, yeah.

So, so other than that, you know, what do you see that people are doing out there that you wish you could just, you could just tell them, you know, if you could give everyone, you know, some of your time, a little consult?

Yeah, I would, I would say one big mistake is waiting. I think people procrastinate and put things off because, you know, there, I mean, there's a million different excuses like, oh, I'll do it when this kid is this age, or I'll do it when I have I'll have this much money in the bank or I'll do it whenever. And people will have procrastination written all over the place. It's just a form of fear. We talk about that a lot in Brand School actually, but procrastination is a form of fear. And we, yeah, people just wait. So I say just get started. You won't know until you get started and you kind of figure out the bumps as you ride it out and get it, get it rolling. I also think that people compare a lot and they spend a lot of their energy comparing and looking at what's going on around them exactly, you know, what we were talking about, getting really clear on what you're about and what you want, fueling your energy in that direction, getting crystal clear on your why is a way better use of your energy than looking at what other people are doing around you. And also, just be ready to put in the work. Like, just, I think that people also get really, like, same thing, like really starry-eyed about things that sound really fun. But you know, when it gets down to it, it actually still is just a lot of work. It's work I love and that I feel grateful to do, but it is, it's work. It's a lot of emails, it's a lot of meetings, it's a lot of, you know, back and forth. I don't think there's such thing as a job that's perfectly fun all the time. And so just, I think if you're ready to work hard, then, um, then you're ready to take on the world essentially. But just be prepared for that because I think some people quit when it feels hard, but it's actually just work. No, it's like, no, work does take some work.

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, even when you love it, there are gonna be parts that are not your, your bag, and you got to wade through them, or at least get to a point where then you're doing well and you can hire someone else.

I know, right? Yeah.

And you can decide, you know, what, what's your cup of tea and what's not. So, yeah. And I mean, I just, I like your perspective on just being clear about brand and moving forward, you know, when working with people, but doing in a way that makes that makes sense and is clear about your goals. I know with some of the projects that I've helped you with that you even work, you know, with family members and, you know, it's really important in that dynamic, I think, to be professional about it and to be really clear about what are the expectations in terms of time or energy because relationships like that are obviously a lot more important than the business that you're doing and you want to make sure that you are, you know, preserving that above and beyond. What would be your advice to someone who is working with family member, whether it's a spouse or a sibling or—

Oh man, that's a loaded question. Um, okay, here's what I think about working with family members. I think that if you already have issues getting along with someone in your family, don't work with them. Like, because there's only going to be more added stress to the situation. So I would just say rule out if there's already some underlying issues even subtle, I would just say rule it out. I would also say when you're sitting down with members of your family, kind of set up scenarios, which is what I did with my sisters. We were all really honest about what we thought we could give and what we thought we couldn't give. And we sat down and made goals together and we, we like communicate a lot. Like we, the, the people that I'm involved with, the sisters I work with, We are talking a lot and I've been really open with them when I felt overwhelmed or I can't do much. And I, in a way, it's kind of nice to work with family because I feel like they understand me and I don't, I don't know, I'm like, I feel like we genuinely have each other's best interests. And I, when I look at it, and because I have my hand in so many projects, when I can see I'm not doing 100% for them and I know that this, my work affects their family's income. You know, it just matters to me that like, I was just really honest and said, you guys, I love you. I just want like, I chose that particular company to back up my ownership percentage because I knew I wasn't giving it the max that it needed. And so I contribute where I am able. So yeah, I would just say a lot of communication. I would also say that everyone kind of understands you are family first, but it's also a job and you have expectations. We would do weekly check-in calls to make sure everyone was completing the tasks they were assigned to do. You know, we ran it like a business. It wasn't just like hanging out and eating lunch and being like, oh yeah, we should sell that too. Like, once again, it goes back to it's still a job, it still is work, it totally can be done, and it is a lot of fun. I love, love, love working with my family. But yeah, it just has to be done in, I don't know, in smart ways. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And I like, you know, what you mentioned there, you know, and this is— I would concur with all of this, especially on the legal side of this, is having upfront communication at the beginning, you know, and really talking about clear expectations, who's going to be bringing what to the table, and what does this look like when things are going great or when they're not going great for people personally, professionally, whether you make money or whether we're losing a whole bunch of money. Yeah, it's so true all the way around, because sometimes if it's stuff in the middle, then yeah, you can kind of skate by. But, um, it's once you start getting any of those highs or lows, then then everything changes, yeah, for the worst. So yeah, we call those bad. We call them— in, in my field, we call them like business divorces or business breakups, and they can be really, really ugly.

When we were signing contracts for my app, I felt like it was more legally binding than a marriage.

Probably. It probably was. So yeah, and that's, and that's true. And you just want to be thoughtful and have already kind of worked it out with yourself and with with the people, especially people that you care about, what that's gonna look like. You know, there shouldn't be any surprises there, yeah.

Yes.

For sure, for sure. So, well, I mean, this was just so wonderful having you on, Ashley, and having all these tips. So if people want to know more about you and following the gazillion projects that you're involved with, from your watermelon slicers to your app to the Bloody Buddy cup, which is now a trademark, works. Thank you very much. So, to all the other things that you're working on, your brand coaching, your social media coaching that you do for people, where should they be connecting with you?

The best place to find me is on Instagram for sure, just Ashley's Fresh Fix. It's Ashley with an S, Ashley's plural. And then I also do a lot over email, which is hello@ashleysfreshfix.com. But I would say Instagram's the first place to hit me up.

Yeah, Instagram's your jam for sure. You've gotten that figured out. So, you know, Queen, Queen A over there for sure. Well, thank you so much. It was so great chatting with you today.

You too. Thanks, Brittany. We'll talk to you soon.

Wasn't that just a fabulous episode with Ashley? I know we kind of recorded this a while ago, so it's crazy to me, even in the last few months, the changes that she's made in her business, things that have changed and evolved and ebbed and flowed. So it was a really fun exercise to be able to listen to this episode with that understanding. So I definitely want to mention that since we recorded this, Ashley moved forward and she has her Better Body Love course is live right now. And so it is open, and I think she's only offering at her introductory price, which is only $50. Guys, it's nothing for an online course, especially one that has so much heart and soul and thought that's gone into it. From someone like Ashley. So we will definitely link to that in the show notes. So if you're interested in getting that for yourself or maybe loved ones, certainly if you have women in your life or in your family who— and you want to just be practicing better thought work for yourself about your body and the way that you're feeling about it, no matter where you are on your own fitness or health or wellness journey, definitely check that out. It's an incredible resource, and I've loved everything that I've been seeing as I've been working working through the program for myself and thinking about it with my— I've got two daughters that I'm, you know, always interested in my experience and what I'm teaching them and what I'm modeling for them. But also when I'm talking to friends who I know are sometimes even grown women who are still struggling with these issues. So that's something I feel really strongly about, passionate about, I share with Ashley. And so I'm really, really happy and just proud of her for getting this out there and sharing this with the world and using her talents talents and passions to bless other people's lives. Um, like she mentioned, if you want to connect with her on Instagram, I'll link that in the show notes as well. And then as we were just talking about this episode, if you are interested in working, um, in going and attending Brand School and wanting more information about that, that's also going to be in the show notes. Um, so those happen a couple of times a year. The next one that's coming up is actually at Alt Summit, which is super cool. So they are bringing for the first time— it's not going to be in Provo, but Brand School workshop is going to be live during Alt Summit conference, which I'm going to be at. So I'm super excited to be able to be there and be elbowing with everyone. But I know there's a couple more planned for the year, but they— the spots usually fill up fast. So if you're interested in that, you know, I'm not an affiliate or anything for it. I just— I've been to it, I loved it, and I know how much clarity it can bring to entrepreneurs. I think I think specifically women entrepreneurs. Not to say that it doesn't have value if you're a guy. We love our guys, we love our boss men in here, um, but boss dudes. But, um, I just know for so many women that I have in my circle who've gone and had, you know, really incredible changes in themselves and their business, and to get such good clarity about what their brand should really look like, about what their why is. And as Ashley says, it just impacts so much of the work that you're doing depending on what your offerings are and how you're approaching that, what your messaging is and how you're connecting to your audience and the things that you're saying yes to and the things you're saying no to, which are almost just as important. Okay. And I also want to remind you about some of the free resources that I have. So if you've been listening to my podcast and whether you're new here or you're an oldie here, happy to have you. Thank you. And I want to make sure that I'm not closing out without making you aware of the free resources and, and some paid resources that I have for you. First is my legal checklist. So if you want to have like a good overview of what things should you be looking at in your legal checklist, even if you maybe are further along in your business but are maybe worried that you step— you skip some of those steps, that you, you were so great at hustling and just getting the ball rolling, which is for so many of us what happens. Things just blossom and you hit a vein and you you just went for it, that's awesome, that's good for you. But we maybe need to back it up a little bit and look at where in our business are we missing some of those foundations, those legal business admin foundations that can really support you and make sure that you're protecting yourself, protecting the people that you're working with, protecting your customers as you move forward and go forward to solve those problems. So you can get that resource at brittanyratelle.com/checklist. Okay, so B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y-R-A-T-E-L-L.com/checklist. T-t-a-n-y-r-a-t-e-l-l-e.com/checklist. And that's a free one-page PDF for you to go over and check off and for you to just have a start, okay? So you can do that first starting step of what are you supposed to be doing and working on, okay? And you also get added to my email list, which has tips and tricks for you. It has links to my legal lives that I do on Tuesday nights so that you can review and re-listen to some of those if those might apply to you. Of some of those questions or questions that you have, which there are a lot of them are kind of frequently asked questions. It's rare that I get one of those questions where I don't get a lot of other hearts and answers back and DMs and people saying, thank you so much, I had the same question, I've been trying to get somebody to answer forever, or trying to get a hold of someone who actually knew something and understood what it is that I'm doing in my space. Um, that's what that is for you. The other resource, um, besides obviously you know about the podcast best, because you're here, um, is the things that I share on my actual Instagram feed. So if you connect with me, um, that's where I am on social most of the time. I love Instagram. That's where my creative people are. And like Ariel, that is also where I want to be. I want to be where my people are, which is on Instagram. So make sure you're connecting with me on there, um, and I keep you posted of any of the legal lives I'm doing or any sales that I'm having on my digital products. So there's basically two ways ways to work with me if you are interested in getting your business legally legit. The first is working one-on-one with me as, you know, an official attorney-client relationship. And the way that you start that process is by booking a consult with me. I offer free 20-minute consults so we can kind of quickly get a rundown of your business. You can tell me where you're at, maybe where you want to go, and then I'll kind of give you a rundown of what that would be in looking for me— some details, prices, number, timeline,, and then you decide if you want to move forward. So, so it's not a scary thing. If you've never talked to an attorney before, that's great. No worries. You don't have to be a pro at this. You are a pro at your business. Let me be the legal pro in your corner. The other way to work with me is if you want to download and purchase some of my do-it-yourself legal templates. So it's kind of like a LegalZoom, but I've niched down and made these specifically for creative entrepreneurs. So I've really looked at what is out there in the marketplace and what are the most common agreements and pain points that my clientele, that my customers are having, and what agreements do they need that they can solve some of their problems, and how can we make sure we are drafting those that reflect the realities of modern law, meaning that we have sponsored content agreements. Because if you're a blogger, an influencer, and you're doing deals with brands, what— and you are having— you're doing sponsored content with them, then we need a decent agreement that talks about that, that talks about rights and exclusivity and the deliverables and the timeline and what happens if they don't give you the approval for the stuff and what happens if they mess up your timeline because they're late and now you're posting, your calendar is all off, your editorial, your social media calendar. We cover all of that in that and that's just an example of one of the agreements that I sell. I also do independent contractor agreements, I have a website bundle which gives you the legal, you know, legit docs you need for your website. It's got all kinds of useful stuff for you, so check it out at creativecontracts.co. Also link in the show notes, creativecontracts.co. And it's a great resource just to start exploring and looking at to see what you might need for your business. I only do sales a couple, a couple times a year, but I really try to get and keep things reasonably priced in there for my time, and certainly what it would be for you to talk one-on-one with an attorney. You're getting a crazy deal. So I know that sometimes that's hard to hear because you're like, well, Brittany, I don't want to spend any money on legal. I get it. I, I know that I am not, you know, confetti and cute branding and business cards and, you know, gold marble office supplies. There's a lot of other fun stuff to spend on your business besides me. However, investments in the legal side of your business and this admin, this foundational side of your business can not only save you money, guaranteed it can help save you money, it can save you time, it can save you headaches, it can save pits in your stomach when people rip off your stuff or you have to have really, really awkward, hard, contentious conversations with people about stuff because it wasn't laid out really clear in agreement who was going to do what and who's responsible for what and what's going to happen when things go right or when things go wrong. So just like we talked about with Ashley today, especially if you care about the relationship you have with people that's outside of the business one, you got to have something in writing, you got to have a decent contract to protect both of you, okay? It's not just for you, it's for them too. It's having that one-stop shop, that one document that you can both look at and really dial in and make sure that you're on the same page. So, okay, I'm almost approaching my hour mark so I am going to sign off. But please check those resources out and if you haven't subscribed to the show, subscribe. If you haven't let a rating or review please do that too. And tell a friend. I, as a small, you know, shop woman, you know, one-woman shop here, I really depend on you guys to share, um, and to help spread the word about this podcast and these resources. Because I really— is my— it's my why, because we're talking about whys today. It's my why to build more confident female entrepreneurs. That is completely my why as to why I'm doing what I'm doing. And I hope that all of my offerings and my education and connection with you supports that. That's my dream and my goal. So if you believe in that mission too, if you like and want to help women achieve their dreams and for them to be able to accomplish the things that they have, those big dreams in their hearts, and for them not to feel silly or stifled or overwhelmed by some of these steps, by some of these things that they need to wade through and overcome, then let's make sure that we get our stuff in gear. Let's stuff taken care of. Okay, one step at a time. You guys are totally capable. I believe in you. You are real business owners, so let's own your business. Thanks again for listening, and I'll see you next week.