Divapreneur Ashley Peldon is one of our newest members. This accomplished actress continued her busy career starring in the popular television shows “The Mommies”, “The Pretender”, and “That 70’s Show”.She also kept her spare time full working on multiple films, like the cult classic “Drop Dead Fred”, alongside Winona Ryder in “The Crucible”, and with Scarlet Johansson in the Oscar nominated “Ghost World”.
Now she starts a career as a perfume designer! Elaine Biss chats with Ashley about her new line, her career and her plans. Her brand new line Starring...! is as brilliant as she is!
Elaine B.-I am so excited to be doing this interview with you! I think you are the prime example of a Diva who learned to redefine herself in order to grow as an entrepreneur. You and your sister are both successful, busy and brilliant actresses! Now you are trying on a "new hat", so to speak! How are you liking your new fragrance designer hat?
Ashley P.-I'm totally loving it! It's an integrated, yet different life path for me to be on right now. While it definitely incorporates the old style glamour of Hollywood, being a nationally sold perfumer is an exciting new chapter in my career. After my sister and I graduated from Skidmore College with psychology degrees, we realized that between film and television projects, we wanted to fill the extra time we now had. That is how Starring...! was first conceptualized. Recently, I have been directing stage productions and I have been working on a series for MTV called 'Connected' and my sister just did a feature film called "InAlienable" so that exposure has been great for our company as well.
Elaine B.-How do you and Courtney coordinate responsibilities?
Ashley P.-I'm the 'chemist' of the two of us. I find, research, and physically concoct each scent from scratch. Courtney is a very internally creative person so she does all of the literary dialogue, like the stories on the backs of the perfume bottles.
Elaine B.-What do you feel has been the biggest challenge in starting your business?
Ashley P.-I made a decision early on to stay true to my vision against all obstacles. There are certain styles and rules to conventional perfumes with regards to fragrance and perfume chemical bases. I chose to change all that, shake things up a bit, and to create scents I love instead of what's considered the 'norm'. My perfumes range from sweet gourmands, bright berries, sultry musks, and a few just downright decedent blends that smell so edible, we had to put a warning on our soy wax melts to remind people not to eat them!
Elaine B.-Starring...! is a great line! From fragrances to hair care items, your items are like a dessert cart for the senses. What inspired the sweet smelling scents?
Ashley P.-I've never been a fan of the overwhelmingly artificial and heady floral scents that immerse your senses upon entering a department store. I'm much more fascinated by niche perfumery which lets me carve out my scents in less obvious blends. I adore sweet gourmand scents myself. Vanilla and light, sweeter based scents have a natural appeal since they stimulate us and remind us of comforting times in our lives. It is also said that men have a much higher ability to smell vanilla than other scents so men tend to be attracted to the gourmand scents - always a good thing!
Elaine B.-I visited your site and it has this wonderful flair, like classic Hollywood. You have given a great deal of thought, not just to the names of the fragrances, but their formulation. Using organic oils and their choice to add alcohol to the perfume or not. Tell us more about that.
Ashley P.-I wanted to leave it up to the consumer, while always leaving the option for a more 'green' base if they so choose. We'll be launching an organic grape base alcohol as well on our new website very soon too. I truly believe that people are becoming more and more aware daily of what chemicals and artificial processes are doing to our bodies at younger ages so this is yet another way to enjoy indulging yourself without compromising your health.
Elaine B.-Starring...! is very socially conscious! You do not test on animals, only on celebrities. What other causes does Starring...! contribute to?
Ashley P.-We have supported 'Reel Dreams For Youths' which helps underfunded schools pay for after school arts programs for students. Courtney and I are also actively involved in a number of animal rights charities including The Amanda Foundation, Actors and Others for Animals, Best Friends Animal Society, and In Defense of Animals. We also purchase many of our ingredients from local farms and distributors that give back and are certified organic.
Elaine B.-You have a lot of celebrities falling in love with your new line. From Alicia Silverstone to Paris Hilton, they love Starring...! Do you have any events coming up?
Ashley P.-Yes and we're so excited! We will be sponsoring the "Green Girls" event which is being put together by Brad Pitt's charity Make it Right in which the proceeds go toward helping rebuild New Orleans. My sister's jewelry line, "Charmed Jewelry," will adorn the models in the couture fashion show and we will be auctioning off various Starring...! products to help the cause. We also will be having a big 'Earth Day' party at Whole Foods where we will launch our mens collection.
Elaine B.-How do you feel connecting yourself to a network, like Divapreneur, could impact the growth of your business?
Ashley P.-I'm always amazed by all of the talented woman out there running their own businesses and to be able to connect with these inspirational and strong woman is such an incredible feeling. I'm excited about being able to exchange news, tips, and tricks with each other!
Elaine B.-Lastly, what sage advice can you give any Divapreneur starting her own business?
Ashley P.-Be confident and know what you love to do even through all the initial struggles of starting your own business. If at the end of the day you truly love what you are doing, then you will always be inspired and always have your passion to push ahead! Also, more tangibly, be sure to have a laptop or phone with mobile email! It really helps when I'm working on sets and need to check orders and reply to customers!
Elaine B.-Ashley, I want to thank you so much for taking time to do this interview with me. I am very happy and honored to have you as a Divapreneur member! I wish you the best!
Ashley P.-Thank you Elaine!
Elaine Biss is a designer and author of the blog Girly Up the Web. She is also the executive administrator for Divapreneur and her site is elaine biss.com.
Receive $10.00 off if you mention DIVAPRENEUR when you order.
2 comments:
Fabulous interview Elaine! And welcome Ashley. Divapreneur has changed my life, that's all I can say! You are a total inspiration to the hundreds of women in the community ;)
Oh my goodness ... Drop Dead Fred was one of my favorite movies as a kid! All because of my big cousin :) YEAH!! Great interview and so fun!
Post a Comment