Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Lacy and Carley Steiner.
Jenn and Carley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Jenn is the owner of Bar Method Silver Lake, so we actually met in one of her classes! We initially bonded over our shared love of indoor plants, true crime podcasts, rescue dogs and DIY projects. While we have different professional backgrounds (Jenn is a business owner with a marketing background, and Carley is a screenwriter and college film professor), we shared a love for teaching others how to master new skills.
Don’t Ask, Do was born from the feeling of indescribable joy when you fix, make, build, bake or tackle a task that initially seems…well, a little daunting. We noticed that a lot of people hadn’t learned basic life skills like how to change a tire, roast a chicken, or hem a pair of pants. Home Ec may be a thing of the past, so that’s where we step in. Our blog and live classes make the life skills you may have missed along the way accessible, and bring a community of like-minded doers together in an organic way. We cover all the topics adults face, bringing in experts to cover everything from car maintenance, to using power tools, to turning your Pinterest DIY dreams into reality.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With any live event, there will always be unforeseen challenges you just don’t see coming. Have we nearly burned off our eyebrows while assembling outdoor heaters so our guests would be nice and toasty during an evening event? Sure. Did we learn that hot glue guns and bourbon cocktails can lead to a few self-inflicted burns? Yep. We believe that you learn to do by doing; if it’s not a little bit of a challenge, then where is the potential for growth?
Please tell us about Don’t Ask, Do.
At the Don’t Ask, Do website, we break down all life skills into themed adulting courses; for example, Home Ec covers everything from cooking to sewing, Shop Class is all about tools and construction, Nurse’s Office focuses on all things health-related, while Drama Club is about emotional growth. To round out our curriculum we also have Detention (sex, drugs and anything else that might get you into trouble), Locker Room (grooming, fashion, and makeup), and Driver’s Ed (car essentials). We like to think of ourselves as Guidance Counselors, and make sure to bring in experts from every field to collaborate with in our posts and live classes. While there are a lot of craft, beauty, and DIY blogs out there, we want to bring a variety of skills to one place and constantly present our readers with new challenges.
If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
We’re still learning! Something we struggle with is respecting our own personal value. We have to remember that, while we want to make this program accessible for everyone, we also have to balance that with the costs required to host these classes. We are both obsessively detail-oriented Virgos, so we also have to rein each other in from our very extra tendencies.
Pricing:
- Our pricing varies based on the skill we’re teaching in any given class. Our previous three events had $20 ticket prices. At each Don’t Ask, Do event you can expect food, drinks, all the supplies needed to learn a new skill, something to take home, and a donation to a charity we’ve chosen to sponsor.
- We recently held a plant propagation class with a $20 ticket price. The ticket included a plant-based dinner, cocktails, supplies to make a sustainable plant arrangement in a beautiful pot, tools, and a donation to the charity Tree People.
- Our clothing swap event focused on learning about reselling and investing in sustainable fashion. The $20 ticket price included dinner, cocktails, the opportunity to swap clothes, a lecture from an expert in fashion resale, and a donation to the Downtown Women’s Center.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dontaskdo.com
- Email: dontaskdo.school@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Arden Ash
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
