Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Moore.
Ashley let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always knew in my heart that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I grew up watching my mother run her own business, so it was already instilled in me at a young age. Although I didn’t want to be in the same industry as her, I knew I wanted to follow my passion and be my own boss. Fashion has always been my thing and in 2009, I decided to apply to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) to study Merchandise Marketing. Once I got accepted, I just knew that my dreams were about to take off. My dream was to become a buyer, travel around the world to study fashion and open up my own women’s storefront boutique. My first-born son Amari at the time was four years old and was diagnosed with a rare lung disease called chronic pneumonitis of infancy. After spending five weeks in the hospital with him and learning more about his illness, per the doctor’s order I would have to take a leave of absence from school and quit my job to care for him. I was so broken during this time because I knew I needed to work to provide for us but at the same time had to get him to doctor appointments at the hospital which was 2-3 times a week. I then decided to follow my other passion which is caring for kids. It’s like a light bulb went off. I decided to open up my own daycare. I had it all planned out to open my own daycare, run my own schedule so I can get my son to and from doctor appointments and still make time to pour into my kids at daycare. It was hard to put my fashion dreams on hold, but I knew God had bigger plans and wouldn’t fail me.
Great, 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?
This has definitely not been a smooth road for me. I’ve learned that there’s no success without struggle. Amongst other things, one of the biggest struggles was caring for my son who had demanding appointments 2-3 times a week at the hospital plus running my business every day from 6:00am-6:00pm. He was hospitalized numerous times and we once had to travel to Stanford for a lung transplant evaluation. But Thank God we didn’t have to go through with it. I also birthed my second son Ayden and while six months pregnant with him, donated my bone marrow to my sister. That was hard for me to watch my sister go through her own trials with her health. I remember driving up and down the 405 freeway almost every day to be with her. When her situation became a matter of life over death and I knew she needed a bone marrow I knew a decision had to be made in order to save my sisters life. It was a lot of questions and concerns about me donating to her while pregnant, but it was another situation in my life that I had to pray my way through. I’m a firm believer in prayer and no matter what obstacle is thrown my way I pray and have faith that God will work it out.
Also, being a single mother to two young boys hasn’t been a smooth road while running a business. Being a parent and knowing that I wanted a great education for my boys, I knew I didn’t want to settle on what school I put them in. I didn’t want to put them in school around the corner from my home just because it was convenient for me. Once my son Amari received a clearance from the doctors to go to school, I found an amazing elementary school and made the decision to drive 45 minutes away from home to get them to school. Throughout the years, another challenge was finding the right assistant to help run daycare while I get my boys to and from a school. Finding an assistant has to be one of the hardest struggles while owning a daycare. I look for those that have the same love and passion as I do for children. I also look for candidates that I can trust while I’m out handling business and will treat my parents with respect when they drop off and pick up their kids. You have some great candidates that do amazing during the interview, pass background check, does CPR training but once they get the job starts to get comfortable and slack in working to fulfill their duties. I’ve had assistants not show up and leave me stranded when my boys needed to be picked up from school or call out last minute. I’ve heard some crazy stories about why they couldn’t come into work. So, there’s been a lot of hires and a lot I’ve fired. It’s truly hard finding the right assistant but honestly through it all I’ve also had some amazing assistants and I’m currently blessed with two of them right now.
Ashley’s Kids Korner – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Since opening the daycare in July of 2010, I knew I didn’t want this to be your ordinary and boring daycare, where kids sit in front of the television all day long. I knew from the start I wanted to have a preschool curriculum in place. I didn’t want them to just sing their ABC’s and recite 123’s but to be able to identify the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, days of the week and months of the year. My goal every day is to instill in them respect by respecting themselves as well as others and also resilience by teaching them not to give up by encouraging them to try again whether it’s building block towers that keeps falling when they’re building or putting back together a broken toy. Although I own and operate a home daycare, I run it like a preschool. We take field trips, we have picture day twice a year, we do arts & crafts, music and movement, sing alongs, story-time, and nature walks. I encourage social, cognitive, emotional, and physical development. I think what sets me apart from others is that I’ve found ways to incorporate my other passions into my life. I was able to pursue my other dream which is fashion. Instead of pursuing a women’s brand like I originally planned in 2009, I now run an online clothing boutique for boys called Kai and Ashton. Kai and Ashton are my boys’ middle names. After having two boys I fell in love with boys’ fashion and love dressing my two. I’ve also learned that two incomes are better than one and have plans on becoming a serial entrepreneur. So, I’ve been blessed to live out both of my dreams which is loving and caring for children and also fashion.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment of my career is honestly moments that are created every single day that I wake up. The love that I receive on a daily from my babies are the best moments. When I walk in the door, they all run up to me and give me the biggest hugs and kisses. They randomly tell me “TT Ashley I love you.” This touches me in a different way as a provider because I know that I’m fulfilling my purpose in life with them. My goal every day when I wake up is to pour love into them. There’s a quote I recently read that says “When you use your passion in the service of others it becomes a purpose” that quote resonates with me because I know that I’m fulfilling my purpose by living one of my passions. It’s bigger than a paycheck for me. I miss my babies on the weekend and find myself scrolling through my photo album on my phone looking at moments captured and videos of our days. I have so many visions to take Ashley’s Kids Korner to the next level and just like every obstacle I’ve gone through with prayer, determination, consistency and God’s plan my dreams and vision will come true.
Pricing:
- Please email for pricing
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: ashleyskidskorner, kaiandashton, ashleynicole0906
- Facebook: Ashley Nicole Moore
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