We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Muller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
When I first started my business I honestly had no idea what I was doing and if anyone would even want to buy my items. I was terrified to put myself out there, thinking that I was not good enough. I finally reached a point where I just decided that if this was something I really wanted to do, that I just needed to do it! I started out by applying to a show that I really had hoped to be apart of but thought that it would be a long shot to be accepted. I was shocked when I was actually accepted. I honeslty believe that was the first step to overcoming imposter syndrome. When someone shows you that you are worth being a part of a big event, it makes you feel just a little bit more confiednce in your abillities. At this point I was commited and could no longer back out, forcing me to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to grow.
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?
Flexibility- You have to remain flexible. From your display set up at each show to the products you sell, you have to remain flexible and be willing to make shifts when needed to better your business
Know your worth- Don’t undersell your items just because you don’t think anyone will pay what they are worth. Even if your supplies don’t cost that much, your time is valuable. The time you spend making your items is time spent away from something else, so take that in to consideration when pricing your items. Your people will find you and be willing and appreciate your time and effort.
Just keep going- You will have amazing days and then you will have days where it just doesn’t feel worth it. As long as it is still something you are willing and want to put time, effort, and money into to make it grow, push through the bad days because better ones are on the other side.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Keeping up with inventory is currently my biggest struggle. We are headed into the busy season of holiday shopping and shows so I have to have a lot of stock ready to go with not much time between shows. I also recently opened a space at a Painted Tree store, so keeping that stocked up as well has really added more challenges. However, these are all great problems to have and I am truly grateful for all the support people have shown me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tightlywoundknitwit.com
- Instagram: @tightlywoundknitwit
- Facebook: @tightlywoundknitwit
