Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Owens.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
So, I started back in 2013 as a host for the infamous strip club “Onyx” as an MC. l thought this was going to be my big break and I was going to travel all over the word and host events as the dopest MC! The event last for about 7 months so it was a good run, but I didn’t know what I was going to do next. I kept trying to put myself out there in the LGBT community as an MC, but it was so saturated I got overlooked or was looked as a threat. So, I took some time off and started to focus on my sneaker brand/blog called “Kiss My Kicks” for about another year but it was generating and funds. About 3 years later I got a phone call about a venue that was available to throw a party at. I had never thrown my own event, but I had been building my following up from Onyx & my sneaker brand, but I wasn’t too confident about throwing my own party. But I could not let this opportunity go… So, I reached out to some of the largest names in the LGBT community to do an Elm & Pearl Reunion event to pay homage to the ones before and to show them I was starting something new! For my first event, it was a great event and I got nothing but good feedback. I ran it back a second Sunday and the 3rd Sunday was a holiday (Memorial Day) & I had reached to a BBQ vendor to come out my share on Facebook we’re going crazy, and I knew this was gonna meet the event that broke the knob. I then find out a day before the event from the owner that they were closed and had not scheduled to be open. Because this was not a club it was like an event space and due to their religion, they didn’t see Memorial Day as a holiday. So that broke my spirits and I had to let the world know the event was cancelled. So, about a year later that same owner had a friend with a venue called “Dive On 75” and I took that venue and ran with it for a Saturday day party & then proceeded and created “Lez Dive Sundays”. The rest is history and I have throwing weekly events all over the DFW metroplex for the black LGBT community.
I’ve now worked at such clubs to host or throw events such as
Onyx, KOD, Bitter End, House Of Blue, Nirvana, Culture, Chocolate Lounge, Dallas Southern Pride.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely has been a bumpy road. But I appreciate all the bumps because I now can recognize real from fake. All these bumps have kept me humble and allowed me to be in rooms and situations I couldn’t think of.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
A lot of people don’t know but I am an IT professional for T-Mobile. I’ve actually worked for T-mobile for the last 13 years all while still doing what I love which is providing a vibe for my community.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Yes, that there are tons of loopholes during Covid. Myself and my business partner Orlando Howard had the only LGBT event open and available during Covid thanks to the good people at “Chocolate Lounge”. We created “Tap In Fridays” and we were able to have a sold-out event every Friday during the entire time of Covid. We won because this location was considered a restaurant and was still able to be open during Covid. So, it’s always good to be knowledgeable.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Ao_88
- Facebook: Ashley C Owens
- Twitter: Ao88
