The Mompreneur Collective
The Mompreneur Collective shares real stories of women balancing the demands of motherhood and entrepreneurship. From startup struggles and mom guilt to breakthroughs and business wins, these are the stories behind all the hard work.
Hosted by ICF Certified Life & Business Coach Jamie Smith, each episode will offer insight, encouragement, and give you simple doable takeaways for building a business and a life you love; One that works for you and your family. Because success isn’t one size fits all, and neither is motherhood.
Whether you’re an established entrepreneur, just starting your journey, or dreaming about taking the leap, this podcast will leave you inspired, informed, and reminded that you're not alone. 💛
Here, we believe that motherhood and entrepreneurship can thrive together.✨
🎧Tune in every other Tuesday.
The Mompreneur Collective
The Side Hustle Season Won’t Last Forever: How She Built a Million Dollar Business that Gives Her Freedom
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What does it really take to turn a side hustle into a million dollar business and eventually create the freedom you started a business for in the first place?
In this episode of The Mompreneur Collective, I sit down with the mompreneur behind Bella Vista Painting & Drywall, Ashley Ortiz, to talk about her journey from working a full time job while building a painting business after hours with her husband to growing a successful company generating more than $1 million a year.
With three kids and a mortgage, quitting her 9–5 and blindly hoping for the best wasn't an option. Instead, she built the business alongside her day job until she reached the point where doing both was no longer sustainable and she realized the biggest thing standing between her and going all in on her business was one uncomfortable conversation with her boss.
We talk about what happened next: hiring a business coach, learning to delegate, creating systems, building a team, navigating entrepreneurship with your spouse, overcoming imposter syndrome in a male-dominated industry, setting boundaries with clients, and learning not to take every piece of criticism personally.
We also get into something many entrepreneurs need to hear: the beginning of your business doesn't have to look like the rest of your business. There may be a season of late nights, sacrifice, and feeling like you're drowning...but with the right support, systems, and team, you can build a business that gives you more freedom instead of just creating another job for yourself.
If you're a mom building a side hustle, wondering when it's time to leave your 9–5, struggling to let go of control, or dreaming of creating a business that supports your family and your life, this conversation is for you.
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Welcome back to the Mompreneur Collective, the podcast where we share real stories of incredible women who are just out there doing their best to balance the never-ending demands of motherhood and entrepreneurship. My name is Jamie Smith, and I'm your host and certified life and business coach, and I couldn't be more excited to be here with you today. Normally, my podcast episodes feel like they're kind of back-to-back, but for some reason, from the last recording to this one, it just felt like forever. So I'm happy to be back on the mic with you today. I kind of missed it. So our guest today is a take no BS mama from Washington named Ashley Ortiz, and she owns a commercial painting company named Bella Vista Painting in Drywall. And today what we're gonna get into is how we believe it's so important to build a foundation for your business first before just jumping in blind. We'll also get into how she's managed to become a success in a traditionally male-dominated industry. So without further ado, let's welcome her onto the show. Hey Ashley, welcome to the Mompreneur Collective. I'm so excited to be here with you today, and I'm super excited to have you share your story with our listeners.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01Of course. So I would love for you to just start out by sharing how Bella Vista got started. And, you know, you mentioned to me in one of our previous conversations that you wanted to make sure as an entrepreneur that you didn't just jump into starting a business blind. And so I would really love to hear just how it all got started and how you did that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, I mean, starting a business, you're always kind of blind, right? But I didn't want to just like fully jump into the deep end without, you know, a life jacket. So we uh my husband had been a painter already for quite a few years. And at the time he was working at the drywall union, and my dad my dad happened to be one of his bosses, and then I was working at an automotive shop in the back office like 30 hours a week. And my husband's like, let's start a paint company. And I'm like, let's fucking not. Like, let's not do that. And he's like, Come on, like, let's do it, let's do it. Like so-and-so did it, and so-and-so did it, and they're doing great. And I'm like, I don't want to do that. Like, then I have to talk to people, I have to do this, I have to do that. Like, I know, because I knew what was gonna happen. He was gonna go out and do the manual labor, like the painting. Oh, and I was gonna have to do everything else, like literally everything except the painting, and I didn't want to do it, but he wouldn't leave me alone. I'm like, okay, fine. And so I went and I got the license, did all the things that you know, in the two states that we work in, um, did everything. And then I said, All right, we're licensed. Like, now we can start finding clients. And he's like, Wait, no, I don't know. I'm just kidding. Like, I don't know if I want to do this. And I'm like, Oh, too bad. Like, I just paid thousands of dollars to get license. Like, you better put your big boy pants on. We're doing this now. You you wouldn't leave me alone. Right. So at the time we had three kids and a mortgage. Like, you can't just be like, Okay, I have this business license. I'm gonna like just do this now. Like, that would not pay the bills, like would not feed my kids. So he still worked 40 hours a week at the union. I still worked 30 hours a week at the automotive shop. And with clients, like we at the time I had found on Facebook and the Vancouver mom's group, because I live in Vancouver, Washington, I was like, hey, like I'm starting this business, like I don't know where to start to find clients. Like, what do I do? And someone had suggested the mob, which was called the mom-owned business. So I'm like, okay, cool. Like I found that on Facebook, and then from which it's kind of fallen apart since then, since after a bunch of like a lot of the political stuff, the COVID stuff, just all the things that had gotten real ugly for a while there. And so it kind of fell off. But in there, I then I learned about like BI and things like that. So like slowly we just started, I I started networking. My husband did not do any networking. I started networking and started to gain contacts and real estate agents and started to get clients. And at the time, since we both obviously worked, we couldn't be at these job sites, you know, Monday through Friday during normal business hours. So what I would do instead of saying, Yeah, we we do this on the side, like nobody wants to hire someone that's just doing it on the side, right? So I'm like, you know what? We're booked for like the next two months. But if you want, we can come in like evening or weekend time to get you in ahead of time. And people would be like, Oh my God, that's amazing. Yes, let's do that. And so that's kind of how I got around doing that. That's amazing. Kind of started getting a little bit busier, and then my husband's brother came to work with us. So we'd have like one guy there during the day, and then my husband would go after work. But before then, my husband had gotten this like kind of little contract kind of deal where he would paint apartments down in Wilsonville, and we would paint those big apartments for like $200. Like it was nothing. It was nothing. And so for him to he would go to work, he'd be there 6 a.m. to I don't know, 2:30, 3 p.m., drive down to Wilsonville, start those apartments. Well, he wasn't able to produce them all by himself. So I'm like, okay, I'll come help you. So I would get the kids from school, grab like a 7-Eleven pizza, drive down to Wilsonville, meet him and the kids, like, and they were all elementary school at this time. We'd be down there painting these apartments. Like, we'd give the kids a roll and be like, all right, start helping, do what you can. Blah, blah. You know, and they'd play on their tablets. Other than that, so I'd help him paint them, and we'd be there late. It'd be six days a week, seven days a week, sometimes that we were working. And then eventually that one brother came on, and then we kind of stopped doing those apartments because there's really no point. We weren't making any money on them. It was just, you know, trying to get stuff under our belt. And then eventually we got a little more work, and another brother came with us, and then COVID happened. Um, and commercial, there was like no work there's because you couldn't get windows, you couldn't get doors. If you can't get windows and doors, you can't install T Rock because you can't do the mud because there's no heat, like you can't keep the heat in there. So there was just no work for commercial work. So, since my dad was one of his bosses, I would like, I would call him and say, Hey dad, I've got work this week. Can I have Bleeze? Which is my husband. And he's like, Yeah, I've got nothing this week. Go ahead and have him. And then next week, same thing, next week, same thing. And eventually the weeks kept going by, and eventually he just never went back to the union. There was no formal, like, hey, I'm leaving my job or anything like that. He just never went back. And it was great for us because the real estate market, which whatever the real estate market is kind of what our market is doing, also for residential. And so residential took off because interest rates, you know, went way, way down. People are at home, staring out their ugly houses. Like, let's refi and get this great rate. And now I have money to fix up my house. So we just took off from there. And then from uh about a year later, after my husband left, then I was like drowning. I was drowning in work. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do both. The guys are calling me for paint. I need this, I need that. And I'm like, I'm at work, like I can't help you. I can't do anything right now. Like, that's I'm not supposed to be doing this. Well, and my boss knew they knew that we had this company because we have we painted their shops and offices for them. Um, but I still tried to be, you know, as respectful as I could. They're paying me hourly. So for me to go take these personal business calls was kind of, you know, not really okay. So I had a coach at the time and we were talking about it. And she goes, Well, do you need that work for income? And I said, actually, no. I said, I I I don't at all. Like our business is actually paying the bills. Like my husband's always been the main breadwinner, and that's supporting him. Plus, and she said, So you don't want to leave your job because you don't want to have a five-minute uncomfortable conversation with your boss. And I said, Holy crap, you're right. You're absolutely right. I loved my boss, I loved my job, I didn't need the income, but I just loved the company I worked for. And I knew my boss was gonna retire in a few years, and I think they were trying to set me up to take her position, which I never wanted to begin with, because I never wanted to be the controller of this multi-million dollar automotive shop. No, thank you. And uh, so I had to do it. And I didn't tell my coach that I was gonna quit. I just one day walked in and decided, you know what? Today's the day. I don't know why, how, or why, you know, why that day was the day. I just walked in and was like, all right, I grew some balls, today's the day, I'm gonna do it. And so I I she wasn't there yet. I usually got there before her because she'd make rounds to all the different stores, and then she comes in and she's you know, we chat for a second. I'm like, I have to talk to you. And she's like, Oh god, what happened? And I'm like, I have to cry. And I like started crying. And she came and gave me a big hug. She's like, What? Are you okay? Like, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I was like, I just can't do both anymore. I was like, I'm freaking drowning. Like, I can't, we're business is doing really good. Like, I just I can't keep doing both. And it ended up actually later on, months later, after I had already been gone, um, we were talking and she said, you know, it was actually the best thing that you could have done was to leave at the time that you did because the company was gearing up to sell and it was like a whole like do not close disclose thing. She goes, So I was having your replacement pull a bunch of boxes from previous years for records that I needed to gather for the sale. She goes, You would have known 100% something was up and would have been questioning me, like, what are we doing here? Whereas the newbie, she wouldn't have known anything. Like she goes, so it actually ended up working out perfect that you left when you did. And I'm like, that makes me feel so much even better. Like, thank you. So here, and I was 2021 that I left. And um from then, when did I get another? I got eventually got a different business coach in 2022, I think it was end of 22. I had a consultation with a coach, which I knew I was gonna hire her before we even finished our conversation.
SPEAKER_01Can I just quickly say cheers to that, by the way, as a business coach? I'm like, cheers to you, mama, for getting yourself the help that you needed. Yeah, continue.
SPEAKER_00I hire a coach, hire a coach. I still have her. Our contract was nine months, and here I am 2026, four years later, we still work too much. And so she was the business coach for a real estate agent, a super popular real estate agent in this area that I work with on a regular basis. And so I knew I was like, if she's great for her, like she's great for me, I know I'm gonna love her. And so um during that conversation, she's like, by the time we're done working together, you're gonna hire an estimator, you're gonna hire someone. And I'm like, Yeah. But in my mind, I'm like, no, I'm not. It's not happening. There's no way it's happening. And sure enough, probably six months-ish later, I did. I hired someone. I did not tell my husband. Did not tell him. So I don't know. She'd been working here a few months by then. And finally, who is this woman that because I at the time I I was still I have a home office, but at the time it was inside the house. Now it's a detached building at my at my house. And uh he goes, Who's this lady that keeps coming to the house? Because we have cameras everywhere. And so finally I'm like, Oh crap, I'm busted. Like, I have to tell him, right? So I asked, I called my coach, I'm like, how do I approach this? Like, what do I do? And well, my husband, my husband's from Honduras. And so we have this goal, like once my now 14-year-old, who will be a freshman this year, graduates from high school, that uh we will live like 50% here and 50% in Honduras and have the business still running. And so that was three years ago now. So that gave us seven years to get everything in place up and running to where this business could run without us being here all the time. And so she said, This is how you approach it. Like, do you remember this goal that you have? And I'm like, Oh my God, you're so genius. Because he was mad. Oh God, he was so pissed that I hired somebody. He's like, No, and then now what are you gonna do all day? And it's like, I don't know, work on the business, like instead of in it and breathe, like not work at 11 p.m. on the Saturday night just to get stuff out. Like, and uh, so I did. I told him, I said, Do you remember this goal we have? And I said, It takes a long time to get someone up and running and training, and still to this day, three years later, I don't let her send an estimate without me reviewing it first. Like, we're still at that point three years later. I've got four years to get it to where I don't need to do this anymore and have it kind of be self-sufficient. So having based on that conversation I had with him from what my coach told me to approach it by, then he was like, Oh, okay. Like, and it also helps that she was a relationship coach before. This this helps a lot because being in the business with your spouse, man, is not is not easy. It's not freaking easy. Um, and so then we decided, okay, we have this employee. Him and I are getting older. This is now 20, 23, and we're like, we're in this beautiful position to have another baby or not. Like either we do or we don't. Like it's now. Like I'm you know, per I'm 34 pushing, no, how old was I? 33. 33 pushing 34. And I said, either we do this or we don't. My daughter's been begging me, who's a teenager, has been begging me for years, my sister's been begging me for years, and all the kids at that point then were 12, 15, and 16. And so the boys, of course, had two boys, one girl, and the boys they didn't say anything, they didn't know anything, but my daughter had been begging me. So finally we talked about it. We decided, okay, we'll have a baby. Well, me and the three kids are all March babies. My husband's an October baby, and I'm like, let's have another March baby. And he's like, No, like I want a baby in October with me. And I'm like, Oh, you're actually right, because October's the beginning of our slow season. And I was like, March is the beginning of our busy season. So I'm like, gosh, you know you're an entrepreneur when you plan your pregnancy around your busy slow season. Like, that's so true. March, I would not like this, would not be okay. I want to be able to like be with my baby and like focus on my baby. Yeah, and so we did. I'm like, okay, based on this, it has to be this, it has to be that. And here's my ambulation calculator. Like, here we go. And so we did in like January, we were pregnant, like I knew, and he was due in October, and so we had him in October. And what a blessing that it all worked out. Like, now we're four kids, now we're our personal mortgage, plus we've got um two rentals on top of that. Like, it's a lot going on, and we do uh flip houses every once in a while as well.
SPEAKER_01Fun, just to add a little something else to the mix.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I just like to be drowning in work all the time, apparently, but I also have a lot more freedom. I have a lot more freedom now. So now, before my husband would always go to Honduras by himself for about a month at a time. Um, and I had told my coach, I'm like, I could never do that. So I kind of have this like resentment a little bit. She's like, Why can't you do that? And I said, How am I gonna do that? How would I leave? And then that was part of our conversation of hiring someone. And so now every year we go as a family, like four to five weeks out of the year, all together, all of us. And my employees here all hold the fort down. We have six crew members, six to seven, depending on the time of year. And then I have Kellen, which we just call her operations manager because she literally just does everything Ashley doesn't want to do. And so she's here kind of holding down the fort. She goes, sees the jobs. Like, I still review the stuff from from down there. Like while I'm there, I still look at the photos, look at the information of the job, still review the bids, and we still get them out and it works. So it's like every year we got to push it another week, another week to where we start building up to where we're gone longer and longer. And the struggle there though is where he's from. It's like up in the remote mountains. Like, so you have rolling blackouts, or you have these power outages constantly, or you have no power, and it's like, sorry, guys, figure it out. Like you'll be okay. Like it happens all the time. So and they figure it out, and they do, they do, they figure it out, and it's just like, sorry, doing my best, but you got it. Yeah, that's just the way that I'm it forces me to delegate and allow the employees to do things and just not have as much control. Yeah, one of the hardest things as a business owner is not holding on to all that control.
SPEAKER_01Well, you're not alone when you say that, not at all. I think every single mom preneur I talk to says that. It's so true. I feel you on that too. But kudos to you for putting the right people in place that you can trust to delegate everything to and to hold the fort down while you're lost in the mountains somewhere.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And I love it. My biggest, biggest thing was so when I was pregnant, we were down there to bring this like surprise to my mother-in-law because she had just lost a son in that March. He had passed away from cancer. So I'm like, okay, this is gonna be the first Mother's Day that she's not gonna get a call from him. And I didn't, we didn't tell any of his family that I was pregnant yet. Like a couple of my family members knew. And I didn't want to tell them because I wanted my mother-in-law to be the first to know. And so we brought this surprise down that here I am, five months pregnant. And um, so we're down there and we're just like chilling in the friggin' mountains in Honduras, in this river. And I'm like texting my employee about a deposit, and my oldest, who was 16 at the time. He goes, Wait, so you're still getting money in your account right now? And I'm like, Yeah. He goes, but how you're down here, you're not up there working. I said, I mean, I'm kind of working, like I'm texting about a deposit. He goes, Yeah, but you're here, like you're not there actually at work. And I'm like, Yeah. He goes, So how are you still getting money then? I'm like, Daniel, do you remember those days when you're in elementary school and we'd go work until 10, 11 o'clock at night, and we all hated it and we're exhausted? He goes, Yeah. And I said, That's exactly that that was what we were working up to to get to this point right now where we're all sitting here in this beautiful river. We're still making money up in the States, and money is actively going into our bank account right now. I said, That is the purpose of owning a business, is so you can do what you want when you want and still have an income, and you don't have to be tied to a desk or the wall or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's just you could literally see this light bulb just go off in his head. And I'm like, oh, proud mama movie. Yeah, long nights. Like, we made it, we got it here. Like it was so exciting to see the just the light bulb go off in his head.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, such a proud mama moment. Oh my gosh. And you're right, that is what it's all for. I think at the end of the day, all of us go into this for more freedom and so that we can be present in our lives to do the things that we really want to do, but to also be present with our children. And what an amazing model and example you're being for your kids. I'm sure his wheels are already spinning on what kind of business he's gonna own one day or if he's gonna take over yours.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So he just graduated. He's 18 now. He just graduated. He's working for us, and he did say he'd like to take over the business. I'm like, boy, you can buy it. I'm not handing it to you. Like, I've built this from the ground up for nothing. Like, he goes, Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would, of course, I would buy it. Yeah, I'm not handing over my business that I built from the ground up. Like, no way, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's so good. I heard you say so, so many good things that I just want to go back and recap, Ashley, because it was just, you were just dropping these little golden nuggets along the way in your story. And I really think it's important to highlight them. The first is that humble beginnings, we all start somewhere. And so I just really want to spotlight that for a minute because I think that, especially for so many of the entrepreneurs that I work with that are just starting out, it can be really discouraging to be like performing to the small room, so to speak, um, and just to feel like you're such a a small player in the game when you're getting started. But that is how you get started, and that is how all of us get started. We all start small. I think, you know, maybe there's some exceptions to that rule, but those are people that are just lucky and blessed by some other, some other thing.
SPEAKER_00When they had a stepping stool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they had a stepping stool. So, yes, we all start somewhere, and I loved hearing that you started out just doing these apartment buildings for like $200 a job, but you were doing that with your family. You were working hard together for a dream, including everyone. And it's just a beautiful thing. And now you'll have that to look back on and say, yeah, like that's what got us here. Like you just said, with you know, sharing that with your son. So, just what an awesome example of how like we just have to be okay with starting small if we want to reach the really big vision that we're trying to get to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Like my first big month, I was so excited for a text in my friend group chat. It was $4,500 for the month. And now my average job is over $4,500. Isn't that beautiful? I was so excited for $4,500 for a whole month. Like that's insane. Like, just thinking back. And now we do over a million dollars a year. Like, cheers to that. Cheers to that. Yeah, and it's like we feed how many families? Like, my it's my husband's family. Like, we're pretty much all family. I think we have like one employee that could just kill in our operations manager who's not a family member. And I so it's like, oh my God, how many families do we feed based on the fruits of our labor because of what we did, because of our vision, because of what we started. Now we feed all these people because my husband said, Let's start a business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What a beautiful thing that is. Gosh, it is such good stuff. One of the other things that you touched on, Ashley, was just how your coach brought up how a five-minute, a tough five-minute conversation was holding you back from leaving your job and really going all in on your business. And I cannot make this up. I had almost this exact coaching conversation with a client of mine, like in the past few months. And it was the exact same situation. She wanted to, you know, get some clarity around whether staying or leaving was the right move for her. And at the end of one single conversation, she was like, oh, I know what I want to do. It's just that this really hard conversation is what's holding me back. I'm avoiding this.
SPEAKER_00So exactly what I was doing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So if anyone out there resonates with that, please know you're not alone. Tough conversations are just that. They are tough, but you can do things to prepare yourself for them, like hire a coach, like talk to a mentor, or like just sit down and role play and just think about what your intention is going into that conversation, how you want to represent yourself in that conversation, how you want the other person to feel after they walk away from that conversation, but grounding yourself to why you are having the conversation and letting that fuel you. And if the person on the other side of that conversation cares one ounce about you, and hopefully they do, then likely you're making it out to be bigger and scarier than it actually is. And you're gonna walk away going, wow, that was actually not so bad. And they actually took that really well, and they're really supportive of me going and chasing after my dream. So isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_00Um, it's so hard as us moms. We're always about putting everyone else first, exactly. Everyone else is taking care of first. Well, what about us? Like my chiropractor slash acupuncture. She told me you have to take care of mom first because mom takes care of everybody else. So if mom's not well, nobody else is gonna be well. You can't take some take care of somebody else if you're not well yourself. So you have to put yourself first. And it's like you have to. And it's everything against what we're like taught since growing up. Amen to that. Yes. It's time for us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you're exactly right. She was like, but I don't want to hurt their feelings. I don't want them to be upset with me. What are they gonna do without me? How will they survive? All of those types of things come up, and it's like, but how will you survive? How will you go on in your life like this? How is it okay for you to be the one in this position, not happy? Um, so yeah, you're you're exactly right.
SPEAKER_00That's real. It is so real.
SPEAKER_01Yes, ma'am, it is. Okay, now the third thing that you brought up that I really think is important to touch on is that, and and one of my beliefs that I talk about a lot, I believe in the and life. I believe we can have both this and that. We don't have to sacrifice one or the other here. So one of the things that I heard you kind of speak to that was when you gave the example of wanting to stay for a month or longer with your husband in Honduras versus just being able to stay for only a short period of time. So you showed up in that conversation with your coach and you were like, This is what I want to do, but I can't do it. It's not possible. And she asks you the question, well, what if it is possible though? How could it be possible? And then all of a sudden, it opens up all of these new thoughts and all of this new possibility and opportunity simply because of posing the question, how do we make it happen? So if you want this and this, don't just stop there and tell yourself that you can't have both or that both aren't possible. Your job is to pause and ask yourself how, because then you can shift into problem solving instead of feeling stuck because your your brain believes what you tell it. So if you're telling yourself, that's not possible for me to have both, then no, it's not going to be possible because you're not going to take that step further to problem solve and figure out how. And so I just really thought that that was magical. Um, a great example that you gave of how, as mamas and entrepreneurs with really big dreams, there are a lot of things that we want that are in a lot of different areas of our life. And so our job is just to stop and ask ourselves, how can I make it happen? How can I make that possible for me? And then just take the first step. But if you need a coach to help have that conversation with, hire one. And I'm not even trying to promote myself as a coach right now. I'm just speaking to the power of having a coach in your pocket, as Ashley has so clearly, you know, demonstrated, communicated in this conversation, how valuable one has been for her in her business. So conversations of how can I make something possible within my business are conversations that you should be having more often so that you can make sure that every step you're taking along the way as you build your business is aligned with the vision that you have for your life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Coaches, support systems, systems, and uh delegation. Yes. Creating systems, delegating work. That's that's how you get from A to B.
SPEAKER_01Like it's yes, systems equal success. Systems equal success. Say that all the time. Yep. Amazing. Okay. So what I would like to get into now is we're gonna shift gears just a little bit, but one of the things that I think is really interesting and just really cool of you is that you are really leading in a traditionally male-dominated industry. So I'd love to hear from you what are some of the challenges with that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, someone said recently to me, it's not male-dominated, it's male populated. And I'm like, I like that. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. Um nowadays, not so much. I'm not as intimidated. It's not scary. I'm kind of like, let me show you my balls are bigger than yours because I can do this better than you can. And I've been told that actually by many males. Oh my gosh, yeah. Before though, it was intimidating. It was scary. Like, I feel like I'm this like, you know, this little thing, and these big scary people know what they're talking about. And I'm just this young, dumb girl that doesn't know what she's talking about. It's like, how not? How am I not? Like, my dad was eating drywall with drywaller for 40 years. I played with drywall mud pies as a kid. Like, I grew up around this. Like, I'm not just this some dumb young girl getting into this. Like, I was raised around this. I used to go to job sites with him. My dad took us to a job site one time, and my sister, when she was like 10, crashed the forklift, not the forklift, the um scissor lift into the wall, and then they had to repair the wall. Like, oh my god. I literally grew up around. I didn't do it myself, but I was around it. I was in, you know, it's embedded in me. So nowadays I'm not scared and intimidated. Like, I just actually had a meeting with a huge, huge paint company around here to because I was talking about my paint reps, and I'm like, hey, like we're really trying to break into commercial. Like, we got a taste of it, we loved it. We really want to do like a 50-50 split of residential commercials. He's like, Well, let me uh set up a meeting with this, this owner of this company who's second second generation, he's been doing it with his family forever. Um, and he's a he's a huge company. I'm like, great. I walked in there, it was a three and a half hour meeting. I absolutely loved it. I wasn't intimidated, I wasn't shy. I asked every question I wanted to ask, and at the end of it, I said, Can I shadow one of your people? Like for a day. And normally before, I'd be like, heck no, I'm not asking that question. Heck no, that's uncomfortable. I'm not doing that. I didn't care. I loved it. I knew what I was talking about. He used many of the systems that I use. So you just fake it till you make it. I mean, that's kind of what I did. And like when I was first doing it, there'd be questions clients would ask me, and I'm like, you know, I'm not sure, but I will get you an answer because I don't like, you know, I'm not gonna say, you know, bullshit my way and say, hey, no, this is what it is when it's really not. Like I don't like lying to people. So if I'm not sure, I'm honest with them. Where I feel like men, a lot of times, they'll kind of manslaim you into things and make you feel dumb that he knows what he's talking about when really he doesn't. So there's there is that very much so. And I've gotten lots of feedback too, because a lot of our clients that we actually are face to face with are other women and they're a lot more comfortable because we're women. Um, and so they they're a lot more comfortable when you tell them, you know, I'm not really sure. Let me get you an answer, as opposed to just saying, yeah, I know what I'm talking about. And so it's it's a big difference I've noticed, and I've gotten lots of feedback where they're like, you're so organized when you order your paint. I'm like, are you kidding me? I feel like a mess. I feel like a disaster. Like, oh no, oh no, your company's like the easiest one for us to work with. And I'm like, okay, great, because I don't feel like that. I feel like I'm a giant mess. And they're like, nope, your orders are so easy, it's easy to deal with. We did a project, we finished it probably two years ago now. It's like five minutes from us. Um, and we were on it for over a year, it's like a year and a half. Just our scope alone was half a million dollars. Um, and so there's many, many, many subcontractors going through that job. And of all of them, us and the locksmith are the only ones they didn't have a complaint with. And the companies that did the best on that job are the ones that had the females leading the pack.
SPEAKER_01I love that.
SPEAKER_00That was the feedback that I got from it because we were there at every Tuesday morning meeting. We were there every time we said we were gonna be there. We were on top of our timelines or ahead of our top timelines. So getting feedback like that like makes me very excited. Like, oh, okay, I can run with the big dogs. I am one of the big dogs. Like, I don't have to be this little, you know, measly girl on the sideline. Like, I am one of the big dogs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's awesome. Good for you. I love hearing that. And I think, you know, to that point, I think it's important for us to ask for that feedback and to get that feedback from our people, whether that be in the form of a Google review or just you asking a client that you worked with, hey, how's your experience been working with me? Because I think we can get all in our heads sometimes. I definitely know what happens with me. I'll be working with a client for sometimes months, and I start to get these little feelings like, am I really doing like the best job for them? Am I really, you know, creating the results that they're hoping for out of this experience? And I'll doubt myself. And then I'll go, you know what? Why don't I just find out the answer to that question from the actual person instead of making it up? And I'll ask, how's it going for you? How are you liking working with me? And it's always a positive response. And it always, you know, gives me that validation and that little ego boost that I need to just like, okay, it's good. We're good. Just keep going, keep doing what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00Um negative voices things and you're okay. You just need that little reassurance.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. But that's awesome. Well, what do you think is is so important about having thick skin as an entrepreneur and not just one in your industry, in a male populated industry. But why is having thick skin in general important as an entrepreneur, you think?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I haven't grown it yet. I still, I still take a lot of stuff very personal. And actually, I should back up, and it's not very true. Before, I was I still do take it personally, but not as bad. Now that I have my operations manager as a buffer where people aren't going directly to me, and then I it's like, oh my God, and I feel this like thing in the pit of my stomach. Now I have kind of this buffer. She, you know, receives the call, she receives everything, and it's you know, obviously it's not her decision making when it comes to you know any tough thing. She contacts me. But having that buffer, oh god, whether it's a VA that answers for you or you know, an operational, whatever it is, having a buffer really helps because it's our per it's our business, it's our baby. We grew this from the ground up. So of course we're gonna take everything personal. Like, you don't like how it came out? Oh my god, like that makes me feel bad. Like, even if it's not our fault, like maybe it's the substrate, it's this, it's the color you chose, the sheen you chose, like, but we still take things personally because we it's literally like someone attacking your kid. That's how it feels like you created this baby from nothing, and then you know, someone doesn't like it, like you take it personally. Yeah, it's it's tough. Like having that buffer, I do feel like has helped me a lot, where I'm not like, oh my god, so much anxiety. Like, I feel this anxiety, it's not as bad enough. Now I now I have that person in between that can field some of the calls and it it does help a lot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, for those of us that maybe can't afford to hire someone to be that buffer for us to save our emotions, I would suggest just really practicing, um, practicing some mindfulness around your thoughts. Because if you are someone who is constantly comparing yourself to others or beating yourself up over the littlest, maybe critiques or criticisms from just the world, um, the people that you work with, then you can end up pretty bit miserable in your business if you let all of that start to consume you and you let that get to you. And so I think that you really have to sort of create an emotional shield around you. And for me, I I like to actually visualize that. And for me, it's a very like iridescent bubble where everything that's maybe negative just bounces off of me. And I just kind of take a moment to understand that whatever that person might be saying or thinking about me or about my business, I can choose whether or not I absorb that in that moment. And I can choose how I want to respond to that in that moment. So I think it's just at least for me, it's about practicing mindfulness and just being like really present uh around my feelings when I find myself in those places of like taking heat, criticism, um, or getting stuck in comparison, those kinds of things. So I don't know if that's helpful for any moms out there, but I hope that it is. So create your emotional shield, ladies.
SPEAKER_00Well, especially if you know you're doing your best, maybe it's not the best for that person. And not every client is for me, and I'm not for every client, and I'm fine with that. Like that was something I learned a long time ago. And like, yeah, we actually just turned down a job. Like a guy had been, we had wrote the estimate back in March, and um, he kind of ghosted us, so we followed up because he seemed like he was really eager to get going. We followed up and he's like, Yeah, I'm not quite ready yet, whatever. So we followed up again. He's like, then he acted like he was gonna approve it, and we're like, Cool, but then he ghosted us. So beginning of July, he had ghosted us again, and we're like, okay, like whatever at this point, we chalked it up as a loss. Then he contacts us and says, like, hey, like, what are you guys scheduling for? Like, um, we had another painter do the start the exterior, but then there were some issues with the neighbor because of lead paint safe, um, you know, worries about practice about the practices they were doing. You go, so they walked off the job plus the interior, we just had this one tiny little thing that needs to be done versus everything else you wrote for. And I'm like, no, no, we're not going to clean up someone else's mess. Whereas before when we first started, let me jump on that because I need work. No, I'm not gonna go clean up someone's mess. You ghosted me for months, you hired somebody else. They were either not lead certified or didn't do the proper certification, you know, practices or whatever the case was. Now you have an angry neighbor that's gonna be eyeballing us 24-7 because the other guys did a bad job. Like, no, thank you. I nope, no, absolutely not. Yeah. Before my people pleaser would be like, let me jump all over it and not anymore. No, thank you. Yeah. You go through this for months and now you want us to clean up someone else's mess. Absolutely not. Not happening.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's also one of the, I guess, perks to reaching a point of success in your business. You can actually say no, you can have those boundaries and you can confidently be like, nah, that's that's not for me. I don't need to take that. Um, whereas in the past, like you said, even for me, I can relate to that in my business. I started out working with clients, men. I don't work with men now in my business, but I was working with people that maybe I wouldn't say yes to today to work with because I knew that I just needed to get started. I needed to start out, I needed experience. Um, and so yeah, I think in the beginning, we have to kind of those lines are a little bit more blurried. And as we progress and grow in our businesses, those boundaries become much, much clearer when it comes to what we're willing to say yes and no to. And that's a great example of that.
SPEAKER_00And it's just something I think every business owner has to go through. You have to go through the get through the mud to get to the clear waters to know that. Like, how are you gonna know what type of client's good for you and what's not until you start getting them? Like you're not, you're not really gonna know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You just made me think you just made me think of one of my favorite uh quotes. You have to dig through a lot of dirt to find the gold.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. You do. You really do. Once you find your community, your team, your people, your clients, you don't put up with the crap as much. You know, the the quicker you can figure that out, the better. The less crap you'll deal with if you can figure that out quicker.
SPEAKER_01Well, Ashley, what has been just the hardest part for you about balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship? Because I mean, I've learned today that you not only have Bella Vista as a business, but you also have all this other stuff going on too. So you've got a lot on your plate. What's the hardest part for you?
SPEAKER_00Not booking the flights. Telling my now it's the opposite, right? Like I could never do anything because I had to work, I had to work, I had to grind, I had to grind, I had to grind. Now it's like, I don't want to grind. I want to I want to book another flight. And it's like, no, we can't spend all that money. Like, I have the opposite problem now, but before it was trying to find the work-life balance, right? Like we were working once we had bought our first um rental, it needed a lot of work, a repipe, a rewire, all this, all this work. Excuse me. And so we're working seven days a week. And my husband, our entire relationship, has always said, I don't work Sundays. Like, that's my soccer day, that's my relaxed day. Like, I don't work Sundays, but at this point we were. And one day he goes, Oh, I can't do this anymore. Sundays, give me Sundays that it like that's all I'm asking for. And I'm like, Okay, we're back to it. Six days, we're not doing seven, like it's fine. So before it was, and it's like I would have to call my mom or my sister or somebody else. Hey, can you take so-and-so to their game? Can you take so-and-so to their practice? And I would have to miss out on this stuff to build a life to where we are now. And now I'm like, sorry, I can't come look at that job at that time. I've got something else going on. Meanwhile, that's something else is we're on a camping trip or we're on this or we're on that. Like now I prioritize my family because my family's the one that's going to be there the rest of my life. These clients aren't.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I love my clients, don't get me wrong, but I have to prioritize my children, my family, my my health, my life. Like, you know, that's it's it's what I have to do. And now I, like I said, I have the opposite problem. Like, no, we can't book another flight. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Gosh, what an amazing story. And I, it's so encouraging, you know, because I think, you know, there are so many entrepreneurs that are just in the trenches. They are just in the building phase of their business that feels like they're just burning the candle at both ends. Their kids are always like you, like on the job site with them, wherever that is. And it's just exhausting. It can be a lot in the beginning. But the hope is that you turn a corner eventually and get to this other land where where more of what your vision for entrepreneurship was. So it's about being willing to put in the hard work, willing to make those sacrifices in the beginning for the long-term reward. And Ashley, you've done that beautifully. So congratulations to you.
SPEAKER_00It's like finding Nemo, right? Just keep swimming. Yeah. Just keep swimming. And then she's got the what was the dad's name? I don't remember the dad's name. Nemo's dad is like, Dory, like focus. Like that's where your coach comes in, right? Like, Dory, just keep swimming. Like, there's a purpose. I don't know what it is. And that's why you have the coach that comes in and helps you. And look, they eventually made it and found Nemo. So you know, that's that's kind of how it is. Just keep swimming and you'll get there.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Literally watched Finding Nemo in this household yesterday with my two-year-old, and it is absolutely killing me that I cannot think of his name. Marlon. You got it.
SPEAKER_00Just keep swimming. You'll have Marlon help guide you along. Hire a coach, especially.
SPEAKER_01So Ashley, are those your are those your last inspiring, encouraging words for our moms today? Just keep swimming. Or is there anything else you just anything else you'd like to leave our audience with today? I mean, just in thinking about, you know, the fact that maybe there's an entrepreneur listening or multiple that are listening that are maybe still in that position where they're kind of working the side hustle and have their full-time job and they're, you know, on the cusp. Maybe they're, you know, in that that tough place of like, gosh, I don't know if I can do this, or I don't know how to do this, or I don't know if I can have this tough conversation. Just what maybe words of encouragement would you have for that mama?
SPEAKER_00I would sit down, look at your finances first. If you can financially afford to leave your nine to five, then look at what else is holding you back. If it's the uncomfortable conversation, just do it. Just walk in one day and just do it. Just, you know what? I'm gonna do it. Just don't psych yourself out. Don't freak out. Don't think about it before just walk in and just that's what I did. One day I'm just like, all right, today I'm gonna do it. Why, how, that day, why I decided. I have no idea. That was just the day. I don't, I don't know why. Just don't don't overthink that portion of it. Definitely look into your finances. You don't want to, you know, drown yourself and then you're homeless and whatever else. Make sure your finances are okay first. And then whatever else is holding you back, I'm sure you can fix and you can do something. If it's like me, a five-minute uncomfortable conversation, you'll literally be fine after five minutes and everything will be great. And then then the very next day after your last day of work, you'll be in the park at 12 o'clock having lunch with your kids. Like that's that's what happened. That's what happened with me. And it's it was the best five-minute uncomfortable conversation I ever had because here I am now.
SPEAKER_01Cheers to that. Ashley, thank you so much for this conversation today. Where can people go to find out about you and your business?
SPEAKER_00They can find us on our website, which is uh www.bellavistanw.com, or our Instagram and Facebook handle is also Bellavista NW, and you can find us on there.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Thank you so much. Hey mama, if you enjoyed today's episode, share it with another mompreneur who needs to hear it. Your support sharing this show means the world to me. And if this conversation inspired you to quit your day job and start a business of your own, do like Ashley did. And like I did too. Build a foundation for your business first. Don't just jump in blind. And if you need help pursuing your dreams, and this conversation inspired you to seek out a coach of your own, you can book a complimentary discovery call with me using the link in the show notes. And be sure to check out all of Ashley's links as well to connect with, follow, and support her business, Bella Vista. Thanks so much for listening today. Cheers to raising humans and building something meaningful. Until next time, y'all.