Meet Ashley Leahy of Candid Home

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Leahy.

Hi Ashley, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I left my corporate visual merchandising job at Diesel to come out to LA in 2016, initially meaning to go into art department work in tv/film. I managed to snag a few freelance set jobs which were really fun but too few and far between, so I swapped to freelancing for an interior designer and working at a furniture shop. My future business partner and I met at that shop, and after leaving decided to open our own furniture shop/interior design hybrid studio together… it was decided somewhat on a whim but we put our all into it… We opened the brick + mortar with no following whatsoever, just a mashup of experience that we thought would translate… and eventually it did!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all! We opened in 2019 with a website launching the same day as we opened our doors and though the shop looked great, it was slow going getting people to find out about us. It felt like we started to get traction JUST as the pandemic hit and we had to close… My business partner ended up leaving the company mid-pandemic, so I’ve been doing it alone since…that was its own big challenge especially with scheduling since I had to add staff at that time. Since then we’ve had fires/tariffs/poor economy overall etc… one thing after another… honestly the whole thing has been struggle! Luckily I am adaptable and too stubborn to quit.

We’ve been impressed with Candid Home, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We don’t really have an exact specialty… I gravitate towards color, pattern, and sustainability, but otherwise the store is just a big room of everything I love, chosen for its special meaning to me… if I lose passion for an item, I stop carrying it, but otherwise anything goes.

This past year we’ve gone much more gung-ho with the interior design side of the business, so I want people to know that we’re open + accepting projects of all scales!

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that the weather is generally predictable, and you can schedule logistics without worries like snow or ice storms etc. What I don’t like is obviously the traffic, and that you can realistically only plan 2 errands a day, or you’ll be late for everything 😉

Contact Info:

• Website: https://candidhome.co
• Instagram: @candid.home