AyeshiA Smith is both the CEO and Technical Designer of the next big fashion brand, AyeshiA, an all-inclusive luxury women’s wear brand designed for women who appreciate custom made pieces that creates confidence and are timeless. She specializes in designing, patternmaking, and hand sewn production. Ayeshia discovered her love for fashion at the early age of 5 and at the age of 13 she started sewing and repurposing denim jeans into designer handbags and selling them at her high school. Since then, she launched her business in January 2013 and the rest is history. She has showcased her line in several fashion shows across the country including LA Fashion Week and her goals for 2021 include showcasing in New York Fashion Week, making more connections and converting more sales. Being the boss of her brand and a fulltime mom to her two kids is challenging, but well worth the reward. Be on the lookout for more to come with vibrant and timeless brand, AyeshiA.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is AyeshiA, LLC all about?
AyeshiA is an all-inclusive luxury women’s wear brand made in the US, created and hand sewn for women who appreciate custom made timeless pieces and confidently express who they are through fashion.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I discovered my love for fashion at the age of 5 when I was introduced to classic films with all of the beautiful clothing and at the age of 13, I knew I wanted to create beautiful fashions for women to wear that would help them exude the confidence that we as women may not always have due to societies perceptions that are projected onto us. My heart is the fullest when my clients put on one of my pieces and instantly light up from the inside out. When I first started my business in 2013, I was a young single mother, absolutely clueless about what all it took to establish a solid foundation for a business and all of the obstacles I was going to face on this journey. It has been an interesting journey and I am grateful for it because of who it has made me today.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
The top 3 skills I would say you need first is tough skin, especially in the fashion industry because you are going to get a lot of no’s and there are some tough critics out there that will try to tear you down and if you do not have tough skin you will not make it.
Secondly, I would say you have to be determined because you are going to fail BUT it is the failures that set you up the most for future success because you will know how to overcome the obstacles you encounter over and over throughout your journey and it creates growth.
Lastly, I would say when you reach success do forget where you came from and the road you traveled to get there. Keep researching and learning especially if you want to continue to elevate and grow your business to levels that you did not expect to reach. Also, make sure you speak positive affirmations over your life and your business and it will manifest believe me I am a bigger believer in speaking things into existence!
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
I am planning to grow my brand to a global level. My brand will be a household name one day soon. I will continue to trust the process and manifest greatness into my brand and not lose sight of what inspired me to become a designer in the first place. One day, I will be a vessel to help someone else just like me.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
The way I separate myself from my competitors is by creating a lane of my own. I have never been a follower of trends because of course it will eventually go out of style. I focus on creating timeless pieces that are vibrant and expressive that will be around forever.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
One mistake I truly regret when first launching my business back in January 2013 is not utilizing social media to my fullest advantage. There are so many connections that can be made through these platforms. I said I would not make that mistake again. I was recently invited to join Clubhouse and in doing so I have made so many connections in just a week and reached out to so many people and have been getting a lot of great feedback and offers.
Second mistake I made when I first started out was being too timid and afraid to connect with other entrepreneurs or just speaking out confidently about my brand. I was so shy, and I used to hate public speaking, but no one can learn about you or your brand when you are afraid to speak. I remember showcasing my brand at LA Fashion Week in 2014 and was terrified to network with people when that was the perfect opportunity to make new connections and elevate my brand. Definitely was an expensive lesson learned and when I showcased in fashion shows from then on, I made sure to put myself out there and introduce myself.
Third mistake I made was not creating the proper content to gage my audience. I mean if you are a fashion designer your social media should display just that, and mine did not in the beginning. I was telling people I was a fashion designer but if you went to my page you may see a few photos here and there, but it was far from a professional page. Now my page consists solely of my work and it is clear to my audience and potential audience that I am a fashion designer.
How do you go about marketing your business, and what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
The way I market my business is through social media, I typically pay to run ads on both my Instagram and Facebook business pages. I also pay to run ads on google as well. When the pandemic first hit in March and everything shutdown, I remember making a mask and posting it and not thinking much of it, then I decided to run an ad and boom hundreds of orders came through it was unbelievable. Mind you I am a one person operation so I was staying up 16-20 hours around the clock making face mask.
If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?
I would most definitely use all platforms to showcase my work, make as many new contacts as possible, create content for people to see and really put myself out there for people to get to know me as both a person and creative. And most importantly register your business, learn the business side of things, establishing your target market, keeping up with the insights and conversions, etc.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would spend the money on all the essential items needed such as becoming a register business with the state I would be selling in, logo creation, labels, establish business account, inventory and marketing. From there you could apply for grants to get more funding for your business to help get you up and running smoothly.
How can we get in touch with you?
You can visit my company website AyeshiA.com, find me on social media via Instagram, and Facebook. You can also email AyeshiAllc@gmail.com.
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