Angela Pan is the Founder and CEO of Ashley Chloe, Inc., the parent company of brands Ashley Chloe and Rowkin. Established in 2014 Ashley Chloe is a fashion-focused technology company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Its goal is to break the notion that technology and fashion must be separate. Its values translate into its concepts. Angela strongly believes in a creative workplace that values every opinion equally, honing its focus on innovating powerful elegance into modern engineering.
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
Looking at the market I saw that there was no brand with a focus on designing consumer devices specifically for women. Many brands in consumer electronics target male users but offer no solutions for women. Usually, companies would simply take the same product they made for men and make it pink “for women”.
I created Ashley Chloe to bridge the gap between fashion and technology, bringing finer materials and different sizes to the electronics world to better suit womens’ use. Today, design is the DNA of the Ashley Chloe brand, and it continues to be at the forefront of each product we design.
Tell us about your business.
Our vision is to deliver innovative lifestyle solutions globally; our mission is to bring the latest in wireless technology to our lifestyle-driven customers with performance, ease of use, and affordable price.
In 2014 my husband and I saw a huge lack of visually appealing tech products in the market. With tech gear becoming a daily necessity, Anson and I envisioned a world where function and fashion was developed hand-in-hand. From this vision Ashley Chloe, Inc., was born.
Ashley Chloe, Inc., is a brand that focuses on bridging the gap between fashion and tech by creating sleek products to solve universal problems for women. The company aims to create products that embody simplicity, innovation, and multi-functionality.
We began with wireless headphones, innovating the form factor to make something entirely new, unique, and beautiful: namely, the Helix Cuff, a chic bracelet that stows a pair of wireless headphones. The Helix Cuff was received extremely well by the media, and practically overnight we were overwhelmed by consumer demand.
Fueled by our past successes, I am delighted to say we are expanding our product line to include wireless charging accessories and, soon, the wireless entertainment category. At CES 2018, Ashley Chloe, Inc., introduced Fuse, true wireless earbuds designed for the professional workplace, and introduced itself to the Smart Home category with the Ashley Chloe Ensembl, a smart, modular entertainment system complete with 360-degree camera, speaker, projector, smart light, and more.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
Our spring cleaning sale is currently happening on AshleyChloe.com and on Amazon that offers 20% off your entire purchase! Additionally, keep your eyes peeled for an awesome April Fool’s Day promotion!
List awards/certifications/accomplishments.
- Red Dot Design Awards
- iF Design Awards
- Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Awards
- CES Innovation Awards
Where is your business based?
We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area – specifically, San Mateo, CA.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
At an early stage it is very important not to give away the control of the company. It is not just venture capital, it is ad-venture capital. As a founder only you fully understand the vision and know how to execute it.
I feel strongly that you should only get money when you need it or use that money to grow. Our first step was to bootstrap the funds our company needed from the very beginning and neither take financing nor accrue any debt. As such, we were able to drive our mission and our model based on our vision of the company.
We have always been very cautious with managing our working capital and making sure that we carefully monitored our budget and spending. Naturally, our next step was to hire an expert to keep us on track. It can be hard to figure out budgeting on your own, especially when each team has different needs, and those needs are always changing. Product development, growth, marketing… What can we afford?
In the beginning we took it upon ourselves to making sure everything had an ROI, but when the company reached $3.5 M revenue, we realized we needed to hire a CFO. Our CFO has extensive experience working for hardware companies with constant inventory fluctuations and understood that working capital was important – someone we could trust to know more than us. It is so important to hire experts, people smarter than you with experience you can trust in their field.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Ashley Chloe has built its own space in fashion and tech and, our flagship product, the Helix Cuff, is quite different from what most customers are familiar with in wearables, fitness trackers, and standard Bluetooth headphones. While this makes us unique, it can be difficult to understand via online channels.
When we are able to showcase our products by attending key events and tradeshows, this is where they really shine. It has been very effective for us, in turn, to highlight these events with press articles and news outlets.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
The biggest challenge I encountered, beginning my journey as a woman in the hardware industry, was understanding the terminology of the tech world. Speaking to engineers and designers required learning a different language to describe what I wanted in each domain. However, coming from a background in investment, I knew the technology platform well enough to start conversations that would lead to launching our first products.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
Growing a startup company is like a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it’s terrifying. Sometimes
it’s surprising. But it’s also exciting and incredibly fun – especially when you’re experiencing it
with people who share the same vision.
As a company’s founder you have the opportunity to visualize the direction of the company. You can bring your ideas into the real world and see how people react to them. That is what is so rewarding about building a company, and remembering that is how I keep myself motivated during difficult times.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
Our products are very unique in our market, particularly the form factor. No one else designs products with the customer – specifically women – in mind, so it is easy for us to stand out.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
There is no overnight success. Behind every successful entrepreneur or business, there are many years of hard work, building relationships, connecting the dots, and learning difficult lessons along the way.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
As an entrepreneur don’t be afraid to start something you don’t know everything about. I failed twice in previous experiences as an entrepreneurowever, I look at those as really valuable experiences and knowledge I can apply to the next adventure.
You will always run into decisions you’ve never had to make before. Even still, I am always facing new issues and decisions on a regular basis. My advice is to apply the best knowledge you have, seek advice from mentors, hire experts, and make your own judgements in the end.
Get yourself ready to learn day by day. Hire people who are smarter than you, and empower them with creativity and freedom.
What are your favorite business tools/resources and why?
My go-to business tools are Asana and Slack. We have a very cross-functional team, and Asana helps the team stay organized in their many tasks. Slack has been instrumental in helping improve team communication.
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
Principles by Ray Dalio. He is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is also the founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates. Due to an unfortunate turn of events, he faced a challenging time where his company had to downsize from 50 to 10, and then eventually he was on his own. He stuck to his principles, and with his incredible his determination, he was able to turn the company around and it has become one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
Building the company from 0 to 10 employees, and then to take it from 10 and 20 is a totally different ball game. I feel lucky that I have found some of the most successful people who have experience going through this journey before and are able to provide me mentorship and assistance.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
Continue to stay true to our mission of delivering innovative lifestyle solutions globally and giving our customers the latest in wireless technology with the best performance and usability at an accessible price.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @ashleychloeinc
Twitter @ashleychloeinc
Facebook www.facebook.com/ashleychloeinc
Website www.ashleychloe.com
Email hello@ashleychloe.com
Hashtags #ISeeACStyle #HelixCuff
James Adam says
Its great to know the creativity of the woman in the filed of fashion. Learn the SF Fashion from http://www.sfstyleandleisure.com/style/
Elaine Rau says
Thanks for sharing James!