Meet Ashley Blankenship

We recently connected with Ashley Blankenship and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I had a bit of a difficult childhood. I was a recording artist at the age of 12. I left school, began working with a tutor, and started traveling the world recording and performing. Working 16-20 hour days at such a young age gave me a great work ethic, but not without a lot of trauma to go along with it. My mom was also a drug addict at the time. I got used to functioning in a deficit both emotionally and physically. While I don’t recommend a traumatic upbringing, it helped me realize how strong I am. How much I can endure is only limited by my choices. No one else has control over what I can do. I also learned the difference between need to and want to. There are many things we feel we need to do because of outside forces. In reality, we have many more choices than we know. We are in charge of our own lives and can choose and shape our lifestyles into what we want them to be. I now believe resilience doesn’t mean enduring everything that comes your way, but maneuvering within situations to bend them to fit into what you want for your own life. It’s not easy and mistakes are always made. But there are no dead ends, only changes in direction.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m the owner of Red Rocks Spirits. We currently sell Red Rocks Vodka here in Colorado. My goal is to provide the highest quality spirits at affordable prices. I know what it’s like to have champagne taste on a beer budget and I think when you can eat and drink well, it makes a big difference in your quality of life. My goal is to bring people together from any and all walks of life, to share an incredible drink together. Nothing bonds us quite like grabbing a drink with one another.

We have some exciting plans in the works to introduce a whiskey next year. It’s taken me a while to find the right recipe, but I wanted to make sure it was right before release. I’m actually a whiskey drinker. That’s my spirit of choice. I’m also not a cocktail person. I like my spirits on the rocks, so whatever I offer to the world has to taste really good. The kicker was I needed it to be deliciously affordable as well. That took a while to figure out, but I think I did it. I think we’re going to be offering a very high-value whiskey, just like we do with Red Rocks Vodka.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

My tenacity, creativity, and discernment have been my most helpful qualities while running Red Rocks Spirits so far. There are some really frustrating things that happen while running your own business. It’s a complete emotional roller coaster ride. Some days feel like we’re really doing something great and other days feel like we’re completely lost. My advice is to find someone who is in your corner to support you through the tough days. A mentor, a friend, anybody. It’s so helpful to have a cheerleader because you can’t succeed if you give up.

Never give up, but also be flexible. There are many things that will not go as you thought. That’s ok. Keep moving and growing and learning and you’ll be better prepared for the next time. Being creative helps when trying new things. It’s difficult to know what’s going to land with people for me, so I have to keep coming up with new ideas until something works. It’s usually not what I think is going to work, so trying all types of things is helpful.

Finding people you trust to bounce ideas off of is also very helpful. Finding a counterpart that has different skills than you have, but works at the same pace as you, is very important. You will also find people who are not the right fit for you. Cut ties early. I learned that the hard way. There’s no point in dragging things out until things get ugly. Noticing what to look out for when meeting potential partners or employees saves so much time and money. I tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and overlook red flags. I’m now taking everyone at face value. When they show me who they are, I believe them. For a bleeding heart like myself, that can feel very harsh and uncomfortable, but a thick skin is needed for protection as a business owner. I’m growing mine!

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

We are bootstrapping this company, which means, we don’t have a lot of money. Learning how to do everything that Red Rocks Spirits needs has been a great opportunity for me to strengthen all skills. Learning how to make a website, learning bookkeeping, learning how to sell, learning social media, learning bottling, learning, learning learning. I love that I currently have a hand in everything but only because when it’s time to grow and start hiring others to take my place, I’ll have a good understanding of what skills they’ll need to be successful. I look forward to being able to go all in on one aspect of the business because I don’t think you can be the best unless you have a lot of experience and focus. For instance, my husband handles sales and he has grown exponentially in his abilities whereas I’m growing at a slower pace, but at more skills. I think both will be helpful moving forward, and right now, we’re doing what works best for us. We’ve been able to accomplish some pretty exciting things like becoming the Official Vodka of the Colorado Rockies!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Luke Spawology (main photo)
Michael Walker (product photo)

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