Exploring Life & Business with Ashley Schoenith of Heirloomed

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Schoenith.

Hi Ashley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our business began back in 2006, I founded the company as IceMilk Aprons and I started it with my grandmother. She was a masterful seamstress & wonderful baker who loved to entertain. We began sewing aprons around her kitchen table as a way to spend more time together and slowly, it grew into a business selling just aprons. We started by doing trunk shows at ladies brunches during the weekends.

The heart of our product was always the family heirloom, we wanted folks to spend time together baking splattered family recipes, learning how to make them and making memories in the process. So, in 2011 we rebranded our company to Heirloomed. This allowed the product assortment to expand beyond just the apron and into more of a lifestyle brand. Today, we have an assortment of designer home & kitchen textiles, quilts, keepsake gifts, hand-poured candles and more that make up our collection. I also source a variety of curated vintage goods that we sell on our site.

We have been featured by a variety of media like Oprah, Martha Stewart & Southern Living over the years and our line is sold on our website at www.heirloomedcollection.com as well as hundreds of independent retailers across the country. We have also worked with major retailers such as Belk & Nordstrom.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been a slow and steady road. I’m not in any hurry to get where we are going and have always been a long-term planner. I’ve have three young kids so I’m always wanting to have a good work & family life balance as best I can. And, I do understand that things take time to properly develop. We don’t want to be a one-hit-wonder and we don’t play off of trends. Our brand and assortment of products are timeless, classic and meant to be around for generations. We define our customers & our community members as “old souls” so finding them takes some time and telling our story is important to both them and us. All of these could be seen as challenges but to us it’s just a longer road than a short one. Also, we’ve seen a lot in the 16 years of business – recessions, covid delays & limitations, etc. but I always try to learn from our mistakes and missteps and keep moving forward in a better direction than we started. Having a positive attitude, being willing to take risks and being OK with mistakes is all part of entrepreneurship in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Heirloomed is a collection of goods inspired by the past for generations to enjoy. Our collection includes an array of designer home & kitchen textiles, such as aprons, table linens, tea towels, quilts and more. We hand-pour our own candles and have a variety of keepsake gifts, as well as designer fabric & wallpaper. We also source and sell a curated selection of vintage goods. Many of the design details in our line are inspired by details found on old fabrics, craftsmanship details from vintage pieces and beyond. We are on a mission to keep heirlooms around for another generation so each of our products tells a story and features elements that enable it to be used, loved and passed down for generations.

I believe what sets us apart from others is our ability to tell stories. I love history, vintage goods and storytelling. Telling the story behind things is what keeps us going and what keeps the story behind our products alive. We have a blog and are active on social media for this reason, and we invest a lot of time and money in our photography & video content. We love sharing the history of pieces from our collection, taking our community on educational adventures to learn more about things like Transferware, cast iron & quilts, and taking our customer on the journeys behind what inspire our product design.

I’m most proud of our mission here at Heirloomed. Cultivating and celebrating heirlooms is what we are all about and that is incredibly meaningful to me. I love coming across an old building, a vintage piece in an antique store or an old photo that someone has discovered and hearing more about its past and meaning. Hearing our customers share their stories with us about why they’re buying one of our products, how they’re using it or what it has meant to someone when they gifted it is just so powerful and keeps us going every day.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
We have the most amazing team and we couldn’t do what we do without them! Everyone on our team is incredibly creative and talented and passionate about our mission. They all have a fondness and passion for history, vintage and the heirloom. Every day is different here in the studio and our nimble team keeps all the wheels turning.

I also have to credit my incredibly supportive family who have believed in me and in our brand since the beginning and who continue to support my crazy ideas and schedule. They are all certainly my “why” and what keeps me going every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.heirloomedcollection.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heirloomedcollection/channel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heirloomedcollection
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@heirloomed 

Image Credits
Heidi Harris