We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Blain recently 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?
Believing in your power- Believing in your power means you believe in your ability to face any adversity and setback and come out stronger on the other side. The first step in being resilient is believing in your power to face any obstacle, and tackling it head on. I would define resilience as the ability to bounce back from whatever life throws at you. Life for each of us throws a ton of unexpected curve balls, and being able to face these curve balls and tackle them is resilience. Resilience is having the ability to roll with the punches life throws at you, and being able to come out stronger on the other side. Some characteristics I would pair with resilience are strong, confident, and motivated. You need to be strong to be able to roll with the punches and come out on the other side. Confidence is also a trait in resilient people because you have to be confident in your ability to bounce back when dealing with adversity. Last but not least, being motivated that you will come out on the other side is another trait of resilient people.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York to a middle class family. After working in corporate for a few years after college, I realized I was doing work that I was not passionate about. Always being into skincare and self-care, I knew I wanted to eventually be in this industry and make my mark. I started my business ZenLuxCo which felt like a magical feat to do, because it has always been a lifelong goal of mine to become an entrepreneur. I think what makes my company stand out is I not only sell items to my customers, but I also promote wellness and self-love. Along with promoting our items and self-care kits on our socials to our audience, I also post wellness and self-improvement content. I did a segment on my company’s Instagram page called ‘How to Practice Love Languages on Yourself’. In this segment, I described each love language and provided easy practical ways to practice each of the five love languages on yourself. After posting this content that spanned over 2 weeks, I received so many messages from my followers telling me how helpful the content was and how it made them see things differently when it comes to the relationship with themselves. Creating this content helped me realize that content that not only provides sales but also provides value is what separates your brand from others.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Believing in your power- Believing in your power means you believe in your ability to face any adversity and setback and come out stronger on the other side. The first step in being resilient is believing in your power to face any obstacle, and tackling it head on. 2. Having a strong mindset- By having a strong mindset, you must first have the mental strength to handle any setback and adversity. Once you mentally prepare yourself, you can then quickly recover and become more resilient. Your ability to bounce back becomes stronger.
3. Step out of your comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone causes you to grow in areas you might be weak in. It strengthens your resilience because it causes you to adapt to change and grow in areas you might be initially hesitant to grow in.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I would have to say my dad helped me tremendously in my entrepreneurial pursuit with starting my business. He himself is a business owner, so he knows firsthand how it is to build a company from the bottom up. Seeing him do it, caused me to build the courage to make the first initial moves in making my own business moves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zenluxco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenluxco/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-blain-
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@zenluxco5481?si=NigBPN4_Hng7Fzn-
