Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashlea Nichols.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ashlea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I live for a party. Not necessarily attending one, but throwing one. Ever since I was a little girl, I was captivated by all of the little details of any occasion. I have always had a penchant for celebrating everything and everyone. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love affair with paper. All kinds, shapes, colors- I love it all.
As a kid, I collected every magazine, catalog and Sunday morning newspaper ads and cut things out for hours upon hours. I made believe I was putting together houses, parties, outfits- I loved all of the different colors and possibilities. I loved the act of making things beautiful in these fictional worlds, it made me happy to paint pictures of how I thought things should look like, using whatever materials I could get my hands on. As I got older, this love of paper and making things from scratch paired perfectly with my innate need to 1) celebrate the people I love and 2) make things pretty.
I’m always the first one to throw a baby or bridal shower, a birthday party or really, any excuse for a celebration. I love for people to feel special and doted on, and almost as much as I love THAT, I love to pull everything together from beginning to end to tailor an event especially for THEM. Personal touches are everything to me. That’s what makes an event really stand out! I love to start with a theme, a mere idea of what I want it to look like, and then build from there.
The color scheme, the accents, what the vibe will feel like, what the takeaway for the guests should be-all so important… but the little, personalized details are what the guest of honor and the attendees will always remember. After many years of playing my coveted role of a party planner, so many people were telling me I needed to open a business showcasing some of the things I loved to make so I actually MAKE money! As people were encouraging me to do this, an excitement and stirring inside me was also prompting me to believe that I was on to something. I was careful not to act until knowing for sure what this would look like when the right timing was, and so I fervently prayed about every aspect.
In 2014, I was a stay at home mom to our only child at the time, our sweet Eleanor. She was a toddler and truly the joy of my life. I had always dreamed of being able to stay home and be a full-time mother, and it was just as fulfilling as I had hoped it would be. I loved it! At the same time, I was finding time between naps and every chance I could to be creative in some way. I needed the outlet, time and space to make or design or paint or plan a party. Little did my baby girl know that as much fun as she was having with our art projects, Mommy was enjoying it just as much!
During this season, I started to have such peace about it being time to really look into starting a business, and I sensed that the Lord was prompting me to take baby steps, and so I did. I listened and obeyed at every corner, not knowing one thing about what this business would look like or what it would become, or truly even HOW to run a business! To this day, when someone asks me what my secret to success is, I say “I’ve never strayed from what I feel God is leading me to do, I’ve waited for him to show me, and I operate every aspect in obedience to Him.”
Fast forward to 2020, and my amazing husband Jacob and I have two bright, kind and beautiful children, Eleanor is eight now, and our rainbow baby boy Connor, who will be two in the Spring. Sparkle & Sparrow has become something I am so incredibly proud of, and a huge blessing to our family. I am still a stay at home mom, and being with my kids day in and day out is truly my biggest joy, but having this successful and fun business is also something I will always be so thankful for. My shop is an expression of my love for the details, the personal touches, and the “extra” things that I believe make any event that much prettier and unique!
As a little girl, I made believe I was making things pretty with all my paper mess, I dreamed of parties and fancy events that I would throw, and now I’m a full-fledged adult, getting to be part of celebrations all over the world with things I lovingly create with my own hands. I’ll never get over that!
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth road! Hah! Show me a successful business who hasn’t had some bumpy roads or stumbling blocks… and I still won’t believe it. I believe the struggles I’ve encountered have all been very valuable lessons in the end, though. Having an internet-based business means you are dealing entirely with people through a computer screen, and not everyone is nice, to put it mildly. 99% of my clients have been lovely and downright delightful, most are repeat customers, and I’ve enjoyed designing things for their events… but there is always that 1%. That’s been the biggest struggle, and I think that will always be something I am trying to perfect and improve upon.
Starting a business from scratch, with no prior knowledge, can be very difficult- you’re a novice on literally every aspect, so that can be a bumpy road to navigate. I won’t pretend that those bumps weren’t a little jarring at times, like figuring out how to ship things internationally, large custom orders on a rush for a major retail company, going back and forth with a customer for 100 emails trying to get napkins perfect for their wedding, only to have them ghost you when you wouldn’t go down on the price anymore… but I took them as teaching moments for the future and that has proved itself to be priceless experience.
Things that have helped endlessly and made the bumps a little easier to take, and certainly made the whole journey more enjoyable: A supportive and encouraging husband who also happens to know way more about computers and SEO than I ever will, and my faith in God. I am confident of the purpose and plans He has for me, and that is more valuable and peace-giving than anything else, and trumps all stumbling blocks.
Please tell us about Sparkle & Sparrow. What should we know?
I am Sparkle & Sparrow… Sparkle for the pretty and eye-catching details of an event that I love, and Sparrow for Matthew 10:29 “… not one sparrow will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” I specialize in making personalized paper goods to make your event really something special! I offer gift tags, favor and treat bags, escort and place cards, but the thing I am known for is my personalized cocktail napkins! I have honed a technique that I have created to have the ability to put anything on a paper napkin, including pictures, words, designs, pretty much anything you dream up, I can make happen.
I have over a thousand designs currently listed that truly run the gamut of all different themes and event occasions, but my most favorite thing is to create custom designs! I love when a client sends me a picture of their invite or a picture of their vision board for the event, and I create something for scratch that both fit the theme, as well as stands out and truly, makes a personalized statement. I do napkins for any event you can think of, but certainly the most popular are for baby and bridal showers and birthdays.
Sparkle & Sparrow is in the top 1% of all shops on Etsy, the total of which is currently over three million. What started out as a dream has turned in to mega-success that not in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined!
I have done custom napkins for people in countries all over the world, in every single state of the US, major companies like Levi’s and Pinterest, my napkins have been in weddings with 500+ attendees, celebrity parties, they’ve been used to announce pregnancies, business openings, celebrate wedding anniversaries and 90th birthdays, they’ve been used at baby showers of people who have waited a decade to have a child, memorials and baptisms, they have been used to celebrate the most important occasions in people’s lives and I could not be more honored and thankful!
As proud as I am of all of the above, I think the thing I am most proud of is that I am showing my kids, most importantly my daughter, that the delights and desires that God plants in our hearts as small children have absolutely no bounds, and that women can be both loving and devoted mothers but also make a huge impact in the field of interest they choose.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I am my target audience. I am someone who plans over the top parties, who spares no expense for all the personalized details that elevate an event and make it stand out, and I believe that the people buying from me share this same interest. I also believe that this will continue to be a consistent trend, moms will always want to throw over the top first birthday parties, friends will always want to usher in a friends new baby with a beautiful shower, and brides will always want their new initials to be monogrammed on every paper good on the biggest day of their life. Because of all of this, and also the confidence I have in the calling over my business, the sky is the limit for Sparkle & Sparrow, and I have high hopes and huge dreams for where we are going in the future!
Contact Info:
- Website: sparkleandsparrow.com
- Email: sparkleandsparrow@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sparkleandsparrow
- Facebook: facebook.com/sparkleandsparrowshop
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
