Hi Ashley Casoria, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Since Ashley + I each turned 14, our dad walked us both into 2 family-friends restaurants and told them we wanted a job. We grew up watching our dad be successful and overly hard working, and to put it simply, that stuff sticks with you. We both have worked ever since then, and had so many different interesting jobs growing up. We both worked for Red Bull on their wings team at different times, both while in college, and I think it’s fair to say for both of us, that’s where the real creative/marketing side of us, as far as work ethic, started. – It was such a fun job to have, especially at such a young age, and although we both took different professional routes after college (Ashley stayed in marketing/branding and I went the sales route), creating The Little Gatherings together, and sticking with it even through all of the hard work it takes to own a business, we credit to working so young and learning what it means to make money of your own.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
As a brand, we really pride ourselves on collaborating with other small businesses/female owned brands locally. We started at a time (during COVID), where a lot of creatives were launching so many cool businesses, and since we began The Little Gatherings in 2020, we have used these vendors as much as possible at our events. Our “add ons” or suggested vendors for florals, charcuterie boards, photography, balloons, and a ton of other things are all other badass small business owners, mainly females, who we love sharing the space with!
The most special thing about what we do is creating these moments for people. We like to think we take a typical date night or birthday celebration and really elevate it, so that the people enjoying our work get to feel a part of something beautiful for a few hours. – We have also gotten to expand on our original picnic idea and use the same design ideas to make table top magic for baby/bridal showers, be a part of micro wedding coordination, run and design styled photo shoots for big brands, and a plethora of other amazing opportunities. – At the end of the day, it’s amazing to get to call each other and talk about how cool it is to be the hands and vision behind these picnics/proposals/events that bring people so much joy!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, whew! What a whirlwind! We learned so many things the hard way haha – we would say first would be to have a teammate if at all possible. We have talked to a lot of other business owners who are doing it solo, and we feel super blessed to be able to have each other to vent to, lean on, and just do it all with! it makes the hard stuff a little easier, and it makes celebrating double the fun to have someone to do it all alongside. second, a positive attitude. as cliche as that may sound, it can be super daunting at times to have a full schedule on top of all of the other daily life things that need your attention, and we really try to keep any and all situations we go through as business owners, positive. That is not always possible, and we recognize that, but we are huge on talking things out and really learning from any good or bad thing we face to continue to get better in our business. third, stick to what you know! there is a LOT of noise out there in any sector of work, and social media making you feel behind or like you are missing out or not doing enough. Let the noise be noise, and just keep doing what you do best and remembering why you started.
Early on, we would say just ride the waves as they come. We wouldn’t be where we are if we didn’t have to go through some hard stuff to get here. From simple things like answering inquiries and what to include to make sure nothing is missed, to bigger things like how to deal with South Florida’s weather owning a company that predominately is outdoors, we just learned as we went. We cried and laughed and still do! You will never have it all figured out, but we think that’s what makes our business what it is. We’re just 2 sisters who have a passion, and we try not to make it a whole lot more serious than that. – Take a breather, have a glass of wine, make to do lists, stick to a plan, and just start. You will always wonder what could’ve been if you don’t at least try.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
WEATHER!! always! – South Florida is so unpredictable, and our business is mainly set up at outdoor locations, so that makes things very challenging at times. Between the rain and the heat, we have really had to put some boundaries in place to protect both ourselves and our clients. – We have added a mandatory “backup plan” on our questionnaire that is sent out to each client before their event in case of rain, and have stopped taking day time beach set ups in the dead heat of summer to avoid passing out from carrying all of the items down to the sand in 95 degree heat. – again, just pivoting as things come up and not being scared to remind yourself that it is YOUR business at the end of the day, and it has to work for you, first and foremost.
Contact Info:
- Website: thelittlegatherings.com
- Instagram: @thelittlegatherings
Image Credits
@makaylacaseyphotography, @florserra.photo, @hallealessia
