302: From Survival Mode to Systems: How Ashley Ortiz Built a Million-Dollar Family Business Without Burning

What does it really look like to build a business while raising a family?

In this episode of Call Me CEO, I’m joined by Ashley Ortiz, founder and CEO of Bella Vista Painting, a woman- and minority-owned, family-run painting company she built alongside her husband in the Pacific Northwest.

But this isn’t a highlight reel conversation.

Ashley shares the behind-the-scenes reality of building her business from the ground up—working full-time jobs, bringing her kids to job sites, and navigating the overwhelming season of doing everything herself.

We talk about the turning point that shifted her out of survival mode, how hiring the right support changed everything, and what it actually takes to build a business that creates both income and presence.

If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, stuck doing it all, or unsure how to grow without burning out… this episode will give you both perspective and practical next steps.

Connect with Ashley:

• Instagram:  @bellavistanw
• Website:  Bella Vista Painting
• Free Guide:  How I Left My 9–5 & Built My Business Full-Time
  
  

Connect with Camille:

• Instagram: @CamilleWalker.co
• Podcast: @CallMeCEOPodcast

Transcript

A Security Blanket That Stalls Growth

Ashley 0:00

Wow. I've been holding my business back for years because I refuse to let go of this security blanket. I refuse to be uncomfortable for five minutes to let this job go so I could let my business grow.

Camille 0:20

So you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it? That handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams. Listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

Meet Ashley And Bella Vista Painting

Camille 0:40

Welcome back, everyone, to Call Me CEO. This is the podcast for women who are building businesses, raising families, and redefining what success looks like. Today's episode is such a powerful real life look at what it takes to actually build something sustainable from the ground up. I am sitting down with Ashley Ortiz. She is the founder and CEO of Bella Vista Painting, a woman and minority-owned family-run painting company that she built alongside her husband while raising four kids. And when I say built, I mean built. We're talking about late nights, bringing kids to job sites, working full-time jobs, while growing a business on the side, all of it. This is not a highlight real conversation. We're going to dig deep into how she went from survival mode to systems that worked and how to turn a side hustle into a million-dollar business without jumping in blind. The moment hiring helped her to change everything and how to be more present while building a business. It sounds like it's impossible sometimes. I know we've all felt that way, but building the right support has given Ashley something that we are all chasing, which is our presence, that we can be with our families and grow something that really means a lot to us. So let's dive into this. And Ashley, thank you so much for being a guest on our show today.

Ashley 1:57

Thank you for having me.

Camille 1:59

Yeah. So tell our audience a little bit more about yourself, where you live, how you decided to jump into this business.

Daycare Costs And Job Security

Ashley 2:08

Um, so I live in the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver, Washington, specifically. Um we not we, my husband, one day came to me and said, Let's start a painting company. He was a painter for many years and I had like office experience. He's like, Let's start a paint company. And I'm like, let's freaking not. No, thank you. Like, no, I like my job security. Like, we're fine. Like, no, no, no, no.

Camille 2:34

And what what were you currently doing? Were you in corporate? Like, what was your deal?

Ashley 2:39

I was working at an automotive shop in the back office um 30 hours a week. Like before that, I'll back up a little bit. He had um started working at the union, and I was working for Peace Health and that counts payable um and just daycare was ridiculous. Like it was insane. At one point, we had daycare assistants where we were paying like $300 a month. And then all of a sudden, he went and started working at the union. I went and got this other job, working 30 hours a week to where I could work while the kids were in school. So I just drop them off, go to work, get off work, pick them up, and I didn't have to worry about daycare. Because before then, they're like, you make too much now by like $100 a month. So I went from $300 a month to, I don't know, $1,200 that we'd have to pay. I can't remember what it was now, but it was crazy. So that's when I found this job that fit perfect with my kids' um schooling. So we were doing that for a while, and then we had a couple friends who had done their paint business, and then we knew some other people that had their paint business as well. And so he's like, let's do that. And I'm like, no, I don't want to do that. I have to talk to people and file taxes and do these things. And I don't want to do all that. And I'm like, and all you're gonna do is go use a paintbrush, and that's it. You don't have to deal with the rest of it. Like, I'm gonna have to deal with it. And he went leave me alone. He just kept

Licensing Up And Finding Clients

Ashley 3:56

on and kept on. And I'm like, okay, fine. So I did it. I got licensed, I did other things, spent a couple thousand on the license, the insurance, the bond, all the things that our states require to do it. And I'm like, all right, we're licensed. Now what? And he's like, wait, uh, I don't know if I want to do this. I'm like, oh, that's that's too freaking bad because I just spent thousands of dollars to do this, so we're doing it. And so we did. And I was we I asked the friends that we had at the time, like, where did you find clients? And they're like, they just call me. And I'm like, they don't just call you, you don't just open a license and have people just start calling you because all of a sudden you have a license. So I'm like, all right, now I can see these people are like not our friends, they're not, they're not kind of great people. So I asked the mom's group on Facebook. I said, Hey, I just started this business, like, where do I find clients? And I had a couple people say, join the mob. And I'm like, what is that? They're like mom-owned business. And I'm like, okay, cool. So I found that on

Networking As The Growth Engine

Ashley 4:50

Facebook. And from there I learned about like BI. So all these networking things. This was in 2018. I networked my butt off. I went to every networking event I could find. I joined a BI chapter. I grew from there. I joined all the mob events, the mom-owned business events, went to every single one of those, and we slowly started building connections. I still have almost all of those connections that we built since 2018 real estate agents that I've worked with since then. Um, I work on all their projects. They help me with real estate, all the things. So I just networked and networked and networked and just started growing and growing. And my husband's still working 40 hours a week at the

Nights On Job Sites With Kids

Ashley 5:30

union. I'm still working 30 hours a week at the automotive shop. So we're working evenings and weekends. We're, you know, we're not gonna tell clients, oh, we've got a day job, can't come do that. So we're like, you know, we're booked for weeks, but if you want, we can come in the evening or on the weekend. Like I was a day job. Like they're gonna think we're not a real company. And so it worked. Like, people allowed it. We had gotten this contract down in Wilsonville, which without traffic is like 40 minutes from us. Um, and so it was like painting apartments for $200 a unit. And these were not small apartments, like it was it was a rip-off, it was a total rip-off. But we're new in business and we're just trying to grow. So we did it. So my husband would get off work, he'd go get the unit started. I'd get off work, get the kids, grab like a 7-Eleven pizza, drive down there with the kids. At the time, it was only three, and they were all elementary school kids. So they were probably eight, seven, and four, I think. So even my the youngest at the time wasn't even in school yet. Um, so we drive down there, they'd eat on site, they'd help paint the apartment. We're all working, and we did this six nights a week, and then eventually we got enough money we could buy a rental. We did that. So then we're working seven days a week because that rental needed work. And at some point, my husband's like, I need a day. Like, I need a break. I need one day off. Like my job was easy. I sat in an office all day long and it was easy. I loved my job, so I wasn't quite as exhausted as him. He's doing physical labor this week. And he's like, I need a day. And I said, Okay, you can have Sundays. Like, we can no more work on Sundays. It was really hard. It was really hard to not work Sundays because so much needed to be done. But let me see, like probably night 2019, maybe 2018, I think his brother came to work for us.

Learning To Stop Working Sundays

Ashley 7:12

So we had him kind of work in part-time for us, and he worked part-time for their cousin as well. Um, and then we just started growing more and more. So then we had another brother come and help us sometimes. Um, and then COVID happened and the commercial world stopped. Like, just stopped. Like there was like no work. And thank God my dad was one of my husband's bosses. So I said, hey, dad, and residential skyrocketed, as we know, like the interest rates like went way down, everyone's remodeling their home. So we just started getting calls left and right, especially because we had a ton of connections with real estate agents who it's like, we're prepping this house to sell, or my client just bought and they want to paint. So it's getting crazy busy, like crazy. So I'm like, Dad, I need Luis. Can I have him this week? He goes, Yeah, there's no work. Have him the next week. Dad, I need him again. You can have

COVID Shift And Sudden Demand

Ashley 7:58

him. There's still no work. The commercial world got so slow to where they laid off all their guys. And my dad, who's been doing it for like 40 years, had to physically work on the wall because they no longer had any of their employees because it there was just no work. There was like a tiny amount of TI work here and there. And so he just there was never like, hey, I'm quitting to go do my business. It just kind of fizzled out because there was no work there and we had work and it just it was great. So a year later, so that was 2020. So two years, my husband worked both. 2021, I had been working with a coach, and she knew I was miserable because yes, I loved my job, but I also had my business and I was drowning.

Coaching Push To Quit The Job

Ashley 8:40

Like I couldn't do it. We had a mortgage, we had three kids. So when we started, we couldn't just dive in deep, right? Like you can't, you can't just leave your paying job and hope for this dream to happen when you have all these things relying on you. So I've been working with a coach and she goes, the reality is you don't want to have a five-minute uncomfortable conversation with your boss to put in your notice so you're no longer miserable 24-7. And I'm like, Holy cow, she's right. Holy cow, she's right. I don't want to be uncomfortable for five minutes. So I'm making myself miserable day in and day out. And so finally, one day, like I didn't even tell my coach, just one day, I'm like, today's the day. I walked into work that morning. I'm like, I'm gonna do it. Like, I'm just gonna do it. Like, I just, all right, here we go. Like, not no thought about it. Just I'm gonna do it. Like, I don't know, just screw the cojones that day or what happened, but I'm like, here it is. So my boss was doing her round, she wasn't in the office quite yet. And I'm like hyping myself up for the first couple hours of the morning because she wasn't there. And she gets in and we're, you know, morning chatter, and finally I'm like, I gotta talk to you. And she goes, Oh God, what? And we're really close. She sat right across from me. She walked me through a lot of stuff. She was like that big aunt that you cried on her shoulder all the time. And I just started crying, and I'm like, I have to get my notice. And she's like, Oh, it's fine, it's fine. Like she knew our business was growing, like she knew, and I loved my job. And I I it wasn't even that I needed it for the financials. My business was supporting me at that point more than my my 30-hour a week job was, but I loved it there. I loved the culture. I like try to mimic my business because it was a husband and wife that started this automotive shop. They treated their employees amazing, and I loved it. They grew it to this multi-million dollar business. And I'm like, okay, that's what I'm gonna do with mine. And so it was fine. Everything was fine. I was uncomfortable for the five minutes. She hugged me and it was fine. I gave her four weeks' notice. Like, I gave her plenty of notice. And my last day of work was my kids' last day of school for the summer. So the very next day, like 12 o'clock in the day on the Thursday, I'm in the park having lunch with my kids. Like, when have I done this since they were like, No, I haven't since they were babies. I went back to work when they were like

Five Minutes Of Uncomfortable Freedom

Ashley 10:48

nine months old or so. And I've never been able to do this with my kids. Like, holy cow, I'm sitting in a park, 12 o'clock on a Thursday, and I'm not at work, and I get to just be. And I just, holy cow, this is happening right now. And I was scared and I was nervous, but it had already, my husband's always been the main breadwinner. He's always made more than I did. And he was the one that left his job first. And I'm like, okay, we're supporting him, and we're supporting one brother full time, and at that time, another brother halftime. So I'm like, okay, we're already supporting all these. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be okay. Like, I didn't even need my job for the financials, but it was just like the security of it. And then I'm like, what do I, what do I do now? I quickly realized I did not have enough time in the day to be doing both. Like I was so I was drowning because I filled my day all day, every day with my business. And I'm like, how did I do this before? How did I how did I do both before? I don't have enough time in the day to do my business and that. How did I do this? I held my business back, is what I did.

Speaker 1 11:49

Wow.

Ashley 11:49

I was holding my business back for years because I refuse to let go of this security blanket. I refuse to be uncomfortable for five minutes to let this job go so I could let my business grow.

Camille 12:02

Yeah, let's talk about that for a second because I think there's a lesson there for all of us, because I think there are examples of five minutes of uncomfortable for all of us, you know, whether it's like making that phone call or sending that email or putting ourselves out on social media, whatever that thing is that was holding you back, you finally released it. And what's interesting, and I'd be curious to hear the reaction from your friend, especially where she's seen you grow. What was her reaction in terms of her support? Was she excited for you? Was she surprised? I I'm guessing she probably saw it coming. I don't know. What do you think?

Friends Who Cheer And Frenemies

Ashley 12:45

Once she started her business, it became kind of a frenemy thing. Like, you know, women's intuition, we feel that stuff a mile away. Yeah. My husband's like, no, you're being jealous, you're being jealous. And I'm like, absolutely not. Like, I partied with this girl when she couldn't even afford furniture, her house was naked. Like, absolutely not. I'm proud of them, but there's something weird happening here. And of course, not to him. The guys don't feel it, right? Yeah, yeah. Girls get catty, and I'm like, I feel this is happening. Later on, I found out she did it to another friend, mutual husband and wife friends of ours who also wanted to start their paint company. Um, and I by then I'm already successful.

Camille 13:20

You're talking about a different friend. I'm talking about your automotive friend when you told her before you were done.

Ashley 13:25

Yes, yes. Oh no, I every once in a while she'll still check in with me. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. She was very proud.

Camille 13:31

And that's a real friend. I mean, right there, you can already see the difference. The one that's like, oh, girl, like I'm cheering you on. Of course, I'm so happy for you. Where this other friend was the first one you mentioned in the beginning that it things were kind of weird.

Ashley 13:46

Yeah, things got weird when she started making money. And I'm like, what is happening right now? But it wasn't just me. She did it to somebody else. Yeah. That we were mutual friends with. And when I found out that girl had been licensed, but refused to like start or try her business because she was intimidated and scared based on what this other girl said. I'm like, no, girlfriend, we are growing your business. And I said, You're gonna do this and this and that. And here she's successful. Her and her husband are still going years later. I'm successful, still going. And that friend of me, however, is not no longer has a business. No, I believe she's separated from the partner that she her husband or whatever they were. No longer. And that's that I'm not surprised.

Camille 14:28

Yeah, tell me what you've learned from that with women that you've had around you that have either buoyed you up or others who immediately it felt like weird tension competition.

Ashley 14:39

It's

Drowning In The Messy Middle

Ashley 14:41

amazing who will support you. People you don't know will support you, but people who are supposed to be your friends do not like to see you doing better than them. Like it is, it's my family's amazing. My family has always supported me and always been really great. Work tried to get me connections. They're always my mom was the first one to put a Google review for me. She did it for all my friends who started their businesses. Like, so my family's been amazing. But when it comes to friends and people we knew before, it's almost like they don't want to see you doing better. Some, some, not all, not all my friends were like that. Um, and then these random women that I've never even met in my life, they were very the mob, the mom-owned business, they are very supportive. And they're like, You're do this and do that, and here's this connection and here's this advice. And they're they want to see you grow. It's like these complete strangers on the internet want to see me grow. That is amazing.

Camille 15:33

Isn't that interesting? It's kind of I've always loved the mentality of being around women or people in general who it's rising tides bring up all ships where there's enough success for all of us. And people who have a limiting belief of success or growth are the ones who will hold themselves and others back because they it's like they put that all that wall there themselves. It's really interesting to observe that.

Ashley 16:02

Absolutely. You have to, what is the word? Um, manifest. You have to manifest you literally manifest your future. Like you literally do. If you're saying the all these blocks, you're gonna run into every single one of those blocks, you're not gonna get through them. But if you're manifesting every single thing that you're looking for in your future, it's gonna happen.

Camille 16:21

Yeah, it is. Take me back a little bit with being in the messy middle where you were doing both jobs. You have these little children at the time, it was three, and that they're young, they're busy, like they have things that they want from you. What was the hardest part about building the business during that time?

Ashley 16:39

It was trying to find the point. We it was oh god, we were drowning. We were so drowning at the time. It's like we jumped into the deep end and didn't know how to swim. And it's like, I need a life vest. Please, somebody

The Value Of Coaching And Hiring

Ashley 16:50

throw me something. Because it's like you have three kids, you have a mortgage, you can't leave your safety net, but then you're drowning, you're missing out on kids' sports. I'm having to call my mom or this person or that person. Please take them to their game. And it's like, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep doing both. I it just got to a point where I was drowning. It's like, hey, we're fine. Luis has not been working for the union for a year, and he's been our main breadwinner. I think we're gonna be okay. And it just, after I had that conversation, it was so liberating to leave my job, even though I loved it. It I wasn't miserable. My my fit, a lot of people they're miserable at their corporate job. I wasn't, I loved it. I didn't need the income, but I I actually loved my job. But I just I was miserable because I had too much on my plate and I was missing sporting events and missing things with my kids. And it's like it affects them. They see that. I I know what it was like to be the kid that didn't have a parent showed up, and I'm looking the whole game. I'm looking for my, you know, my mom. I was looking for my whole game, and she told me she was gonna be there and she wasn't there. Like, I know that feeling, I don't want to do that to my kids. So after my husband's like, I need one day, I was like, Yeah, we gotta, we gotta back off. We were financially fine. We can do this, we're gonna be okay. So there's you gotta find that fine point. You can't just, you know, dive in deep and not have any financial backing. You're gonna really screw yourself financially, but then you can't do both forever. So you just you have to find that right point for yourself of when it's financially okay and when you can't do both anymore and you need to focus on one or the other.

Camille 18:24

I think it's really cool to note that you had a mentor at the time going through this and that it was her that kind of gave you the outside perspective and the push. Was that hard for you to invest in a coach? Like financially and like because that is, it's an investment.

Ashley 18:40

Yeah, it was. At the time I didn't 100% understand the value of it, but I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do this. Um, and I had that coach for uh six months, a year or so. Now I have another one that I've been working with since 2022, and it's been four years, and I we just keep going. We keep going and keep going. I went to Oaxaca, Mexico with her for one of her um immersion programs that she does. Like, I just keep going and going with her because it's it's good to have.

Camille 19:07

It's we've solved what is yeah, what is it about it that having a coach that makes a difference for you as a business owner?

Ashley 19:14

It's the outside's perspective that you can so when I first had a consultation with my current business coach, she, you know, I'm telling we're talking about all my pain points and this and that, and blah blah blah. And this was 2022 by then. Um, and she says, by the time we're done working together, it was a nine-month contract. She said, by the time we're done working together, you're gonna hire an estimator, you're gonna hire an like an office employee. And I'm like, and I'm like, okay, but in my mind, I'm like, bullshit, it's not happening. It's not gonna happen, but okay, I'm gonna listen to you, but it's not gonna happen. Like I had this total negative, like it's not happening. But my husband and I have this goal that when the now current 14-year-old graduates, so in 2022, he was 10. So once he graduates,

Systems That Create Real Time Back

Ashley 19:58

then we're gonna live half here and half in Honduras, where he's my husband is from. Who we love going down there, we want to live half and half. She said, Okay, you're what seven school years away from that happening, you're gonna have to implement some things, right? And I'm like, okay. I hired an employee within four months, within four months, I think, probably of working together. And she's still with me now. It's 2026. I hired her in 2023. Three years later, she's still here. And now we go as a family for a month at a time, two Honduras, and things work, things happen. It's great. And so it's my husband. I didn't tell him I was gonna hire her. I didn't talk to him about this because he's a very no, no, no person. No, you can't pay $2,000 to have a website, no, you can't pay this for a VA. No, you can't. And I'm like, okay. I'm one of those um ask for forgiveness, do and ask later. With that's how it, that's how our relationship works. Because if I I ask him first, he says no, but he doesn't understand why we need this. And so he kept seeing this woman coming to our because it's a home office, kept seeing this woman coming to our house three days a week uh on the cameras. And he's like, Who is this person that keeps coming to the house? And so I'm like, crap, I'm busted. I'm busted. Okay, I gotta tell him now. He was not happy. He's not he's like, You're spending money and blah, blah, blah. And so I'm talking to my coach, I'm like, okay, how do I approach this with him? Because previously, before being a business strategist, she was a relationship coach. So this is amazing for me because I'm in business with my husband. And she said, This is how you're gonna approach it. This is what you're gonna do. Remind him of that goal you guys have. Seven years comes and goes real fast. She goes, 'You guys have already been in business for how many years?' Like you started in 18, it's four and a half years in. Does it feel like that? No, it doesn't. Remind him seven years comes and goes real fast. And remind him of that goal he has of wanting to live half here, half there. You've got to have a lot of systems and people in place for that goal to work. You can't just pick up and leave. One day, and I'm like, okay. And so I did. And I approached it that way with him. And he was like, okay. Okay.

Camille 22:08

Yeah. Oh, work of combo. That's to to put lay it out in a way that it's takes out the emotion of it. And it's like, no, we need to put some systems in place.

Ashley 22:17

And it's he has really on how to talk to my husband. Like, it's amazing. She had me read this book, and I can't remember the name of it now. It was Allison was the name of the author. Um, it's not keys to the kingdom. It's I can't remember, but it's it's one of those books, and it like really because us

Family Crew And A Tight Operation

Ashley 22:35

women, we kind of come off as nagging to get men to do what we need them to do around the house. And it kind of just teaches you how to speak to your husband or your partner on how to get them to do the things you need them to do around the house without being a quote unquote nagging wife. And it's just he just starts doing it. I'm like, oh, this actually helped me a lot.

Camille 22:54

Like, okay, we need this title because I already know. I'm like, I need to know maybe if it comes to you that I'm by the time.

Ashley 23:02

Let me text her and ask her and see if you're perfect.

Camille 23:04

Yeah, yeah, help.

Speaker 1 23:05

What was this book called? Because I recommended it to so many people. Oh my gosh. It was let me ask her.

Camille 23:12

No, that's great. And as you're texting her, I would love to know what some of those initial systems were that you put in place that took you from survival mode to systems. And it sounds like a big piece of that is the support, like the virtual assistant, your estimator, another, you know, more physical labor people to step in for you so that you physically don't have to be there. But what were some, what were those steps? What did they look like?

Ashley 23:38

So the very, very first one, we were in right before things got crazy with COVID. It was February 2020. We had a week-long uh vacation plan with my dad and my other sister um to go to Disneyland. And I'm like, I don't want to answer my work, my phone when I'm in Disneyland. I'm not, but I wasn't even answering the phone to begin with 30 hours a week because I was at work. And so I couldn't, anyways. And so I saw Ruby receptionist had like a free month or something trial. And I'm like, I'm gonna try that because I talked to my husband, can I get this? And he said no. And I'm like, well, they've got a free trial, so I'm gonna try it anyway. So I did. And I was like, oh, I'm keeping this. I'm keeping this, I'm freaking keeping this. Like I had voice messages because there was a few times people would call me, like real estate agents, while I was at work and I couldn't answer the phone. They'd leave me a voicemail, I'd call them back at 2:30 when I got off work. So, like maybe three hours later, like I already found someone. So, how many times did I lose a job because I couldn't answer the phone or take a message or whatever the case was? So I hired Ruby receptionists. I had them for a few months, and then I went to like a more small business woman who had her own VA. I had them for a few years. And then eventually I hired my sister. So she works at AAA. Um, and then when COVID happened, they have them working from home and she works in like I think nine to one. So she's part-time and she does outbound calls. So she's not sitting there, you know, the her phone's not ringing all day. She's doing outbound calls. So I'm like, Nicole, you can do this for me. You can totally do this for me. And she does. So years later, she's the first, my sister's the first person that you talk to when you call. Um, and then so I've having her do that. And then I hired the estimator who came on. By now, we already had a crew of five, I think. All my husband's family. Everyone except for my one estimator is family.

Speaker 1 25:23

Wow.

Ashley 25:23

Every single person in my business is a family member. Only my sister is my family. Other than that, I won't hire anyone else from my family. Everyone else is from my husband's family. Um, and it it just works amazing. Like our Christmas parties that I do for the crew, like we're all family. So, and we live on the same street at that. So it I'm like, hey, you guys aren't at work yet. I still see the van.

Camille 25:46

You can see them on your camera when they go by.

Ashley 25:49

Oh, I see when they come for sure. For sure I do. Because our our one of our garages, we have it set up

Honduras Trips And Delegation Under Pressure

Ashley 25:55

the front half of it as like our shop where our supplies are. So there's just they just put in the code and they grab their supplies, and I can I see them when they come. I see, you know, when they come and go. It's and then here in my office at the house, it's detached office. Like, this is where we do our crew meetings. Like we're really very close. So they get off work and then they all go play soccer together. I'm like, aren't you guys tired of each other yet?

Camille 26:13

Like so cool. It's like we think of like raising, like running a farm together because you're all a family, like running the show, but then you're playing together too. That is really special, actually. I think that that's something that is unfortunate that our families don't work and grow together the way they used to, you know, that's really special.

Ashley 26:33

I would love to have a family compound with my kids because now they're eight, my older ones, they're 18, 17, and 14, and then of course, babies one and a half. And I've already been drilling for the last few years into my kids' head. Like, when you're 18, you're buying a duplex, you're buying a duplex, whether you live in it or not, I don't care. But we're telling the bank you're living in that thing and renting half of it. Like I've been drilling it into their heads and and they get it, especially the older ones because they're they're old enough to understand now. Like they realize we have rentals, we own our business, like they've seen us. Like they we had my favorite, favorite, favorite moment. My now 18-year-old, two years ago, we were in Honduras, sitting in the middle of the river, up in the mountains. Like, where my husband's from is way up in the mountains, like no, almost no cell reception. Like it's it's way up there. Um, and we're just sitting in the river, and I'm like texting my employee who was I had hired um about a deposit that she, you know, yes, please deposit, blah, blah, blah, blah. We're talking about money. And um, so Daniel, the oldest, he's like, Wait, so you're here, but you're still getting money back home? And I'm like, Yes. He goes, Wait, but how? Like, you're here, you're not there working, you're not, and I'm like, Yes, I have money actively being deposited into our bank account right now as I'm sitting in this river. And he's like, You can just kind of see the wheel spinning. And I'm like, Do you remember those days when you were like eight years old, painting apartments till 10 o'clock at night and we were miserable and we worked 24-7? Do you remember those days? And he goes, Yeah. And I said, That is what this right now is what we were working towards. I said, We're here in the middle of a mountain. All five of us are sitting in the middle of this mountain right now, and we have money going into our bank account, and we have people doing things for our business while we're sitting here on vacation. This was the end goal. This is what we were going for. And you could literally just see this whole light bulb go off in his head, like, oh my God, like, holy cow! And I'm so glad they're like the age they were when we started. Like at the time it was really rough. Like, you know, it's not, it wasn't, it wasn't easy. And it's like I cried multiple times, and I'm like, why are we doing this? And now I can finally say, This is why. This is why. And to see my son realize that, like, oh, proud mom moment. Like, I love this. And now he wants to come work for us with us, and maybe one day, he's like, Maybe one day I'll take over this. I said, Maybe one day you can buy the business. Like, there it is. I built this thing from the ground of blood, sweat, and tears. Like, I ain't handing this thing off to nobody. Like, you want it, you better fork it. He goes, Oh no, no, of course, of course, I would pay for it.

Camille 28:58

Oh, that's so cool. And I my question for you next was going to be was it scary to trust someone else with your business? But where you're building it with family, it sounds like you have a very trusting relationship.

Ashley 29:10

We do. It was so the first time we went to Unders when having my employee, she got thrust into it. So, what happened is my brother-in-law a few years ago, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Um, and it was it was terminal. There was nothing, nothing we could do. Um, so the all the family members here drove to North Carolina to get him and bring him here so he could spend his last few dying days here with us. So they did that. I was pregnant, nobody knew. We didn't tell any of their family. Um, and so we're at the hospital for he got here and immediately we took him to the hospital. So he survived a week being here in the hospital. So she kind of got thrown in to going, like, I wasn't able to go to these estimate appointments with her. She, it's like, okay, have at it. Sorry, like I have to be at the hospital right now. And so she got thrust into it. Well, that was in March of 2024, and we planned this baby specifically around our work. So me and my other kids, sorry, a little backstory here. Me and my other kids are all March babies. My old daughter is actually born on my birthday, and then my husband's in October by himself. So when we're planning it, I'm like, okay, well, let's have him in March with me and the other kids. And my husband's like, no, I'm by myself in October. Let's have an October baby. And I'm like, actually, that makes more sense because October is the beginning of our slow season. So I can have a baby, have the time off. March is the beginning of our busy season. That makes sense. So you know you're an entrepreneur when you plan having your baby. You strategically plan when to have your baby. But anyway, so you know, he had passed away that March. And so we're like, okay, this is gonna be the first Mother's Day that my mother-in-law is not gonna receive a phone call from this son that just passed away. I said, let's go to Honduras, we'll bring her the surprise that I'm pregnant, and let's go there. So, my my poor employee, like, she was like thrown into this. She had been with us for almost a almost a year, but she hadn't done any of the estimating or anything like that on her own. I had, we had been slowly doing things, going together, like estimating's not easy. Like it, it's just almost like trial and error over years that that you learn to do this. So, how do I take the knowledge that's here, that's not just formulas written down? How do I take this and put it into her brain? Like, I don't, it's just experience. And so she got forced into it. She got, and that was the time when when we were here, or I'm sorry, she was here depositing money and we were up in the mountains and we're having this epiphany. My son's having this epiphany about it. So she got thrust into it. And the first time things were a little rocky, but we made it through. It was it was worse because it was like the hottest time in Honduras ever. So we had rolling blackouts, we had constant blackouts of we're where we had no electricity, so then we had no way to communicate up here. Her and the the crew just had to figure it out. Like, sorry,

Lessons Learned And Revenue Milestones

Ashley 31:50

figure it out.

Camille 31:50

I mean, sometimes that's a good thing where it's like, okay, there's no crutch to rely on, you're on your own.

Ashley 31:56

And so we're gonna figure out how to swim the day. Like, yeah, sorry. Yeah, that's kind of what happened. And then from there, we go every single year for about a month and they do fine. They do fun, things happen, they they it it works out, like we make it work.

Camille 32:10

That's awesome.

Ashley 32:11

Maybe next time we'll go for two months.

Camille 32:13

What risks were you managing behind the scenes? Maybe some things that you learned the hard way from something that happened in your experience with growing growing your business. Is there a lesson learned that you could share that wisdom with us? Have the five-minute uncomfortable conversation.

Ashley 32:31

Have it, have it, have it, don't be scared of it. Just rip the band-aid off. Once you're to a financial point that you know you'll be okay. I had been to that point for a while. I just didn't want to have the uncomfortable conversation. Yeah. And after I have a group chat with my girlfriends, one who owns a roofing company who I helped her grow her business because she did three the previous year. And I'm like, oh no, girl, let me show you how we do this. And now she's very, very successful. The other one is also a painter who her and I, we've bid on the same jobs. And I'm like, she's like, What'd you bid? I'm like, you bid it first. Here I'll bid this, and then you can have the job. Like, that's how we are. So we have a group chat, and they're also in business with their husbands. And so now I lost my thought.

Camille 33:12

Like, what what did you ask me again? Sorry. So, lessons that you learned building your business.

Ashley 33:19

Oh, yeah, okay, that's right. So there'd be times afterwards when I finally left, and I'm like, oh my God, I held my business back for so many years. They're like, it's okay, girlfriend, like you're doing it now. Like that's what matters is you're doing it now. Keep going forward. I'm like, because they didn't, they they started their businesses and just started from the ground up and just hoped to flow is kind of what they did. I didn't do that. Um, and I'm like, I held my business back for so long because I didn't want to be uncomfortable for five minutes. And they're like, it's fine, you're doing it now. Here you are. And then I just kept saying, like, how far would I be? How far would I be if I didn't do that? And I'm like, okay, let's not keep dwelling on the past. Like, it is what it is. Here we are, we're successful, we're doing great, things are wonderful.

Camille 34:04

You know, I've heard so many stories shared where people in the beginning, especially that first one to three years where things are slow for whatever reason, but there are big implemental systematical things that are put in place that makes it so that when the growth happens, you're ready for it. So I think looking at it that way of oh, we built this foundation so that once I had that conversation, we were ready to fly. You know, where had it happened before that, maybe you wouldn't have been quite ready yet.

Ashley 34:33

So that's very true. And looking back at my numbers, so like we started in 2018, right? COVID happened and people just called that kind of it I had networks, of course, but I was still working at my business and we did 360,000 that year. That's when my husband left. I 2021 is when I left my work, June of 2021. So halfway through the year, and we went up to 586 for that year. Then the next year, when I was 100% the entire year just in my business, we doubled what we did in 2021. It was 776,000. 2023, we did our first million. Wow. That being 100% present in my business, but also 100% present as a mother, wife, and and just family person in general, I was able to do that by leaving my work. Of doing it strategically and smart, of course, but I had, you know, stopped holding myself back. And I could have done it many years before, but like I said, I didn't want to be uncomfortable for the five minutes.

Camille 35:34

What would you tell that version of you who was sitting on those job sites with your kids, exhausted and unsure?

Ashley 35:41

You're gonna make it. You're gonna it, it's gonna happen. You're gonna reach your goals. Like when we first started, I'm like, okay, this is okay. This is cool. We'll do this, make a little side money. I never thought it would get

Marriage Boundaries Plus Rapid Fire

Ashley 35:55

to where it is now, where it's it feeds our family, it feeds six crew members' families, it feeds my employees. Like my we call her operations manager because what is what is her title? She does estimating, she does project management, she does everything Ashley doesn't want to do. So we just call her operations manager because what other title do you give that person? I don't know. And it's like I sustain a business that feeds how many families. That's so cool. Holy crap, we did it.

Camille 36:22

That's gotta feel feel so good. It does. I would love to know uh what boundaries or systems you put in place to protect your business and your marriage. Because I know you talked about that a little bit, where it's like you kind of push the envelope a little bit because you can see things in a way that your husband doesn't see them as the business as a whole, but you obviously work very well together in your roles. What's some advice that you could give us about that?

Ashley 36:48

Try not to have it in the bedroom. We're at 10 o'clock at night texting each other about the job the next day. We try not to do it, but uh it is what it is. Um, have a day, have a day that's off that you just don't talk about work. If you're on a vacation, just don't talk about work. Try to get everything lined up before. I mean, for us, it's a little different because I have to do the crew tasks daily based at like I don't three days from now, I don't know where I'm gonna send a crew because what happened today versus what happened tomorrow, what was done, how many people do I need there? But try to plan everything out as much as you can. If you're on vacation, delegation, delegation, delegation, delegation, hire people, delegate it out, get a VA, do whatever you can, get stuff off your plate. Um, I was listening actually to your podcast this morning about um what you have to do. Like you're the head, right? You have to do this, but what's shoulder down that somebody else can do, absolutely, absolutely do that. Um, with my husband and I, we do normally date night is not supposed to talk about work, but we do our date nights in two parts. Our first part, get to business. Let's talk about next week, what's happening. And then once that's done, we're business is done. We're we're done with that. Now let's have our date. And you absolutely have to have date nights. You have to have date nights. You got to have those once a week or twice a month, whatever you can do. And then maybe once a quarter, go on a staycation. Like you have to separate the marriage from the business sometimes. Like it's very difficult because you live together, you talk about it. And for us, we yes, we work in people's homes, but the overhead side of things is in our home, like our home office. It's not like where we have a storefront and business is only at the store. It is a little difficult for us for that. But you have to find the time for marriage and find the time for business and know when does separate the two.

Camille 38:39

I like that. I like how you said talking about the business for the first part, because I'm sure at top of mind you both have things like, oh, wait, but I need to ask you a question about this, but also this and this and this. And then once you put those to bed, then you can just relax and enjoy each other's company. I think that's really cool. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna ask you some rapid fire questions. Okay. So just the first thing that comes to mind. One thing you'd never do again in business.

Ashley 39:05

Not collect a deposit.

Camille 39:07

Ooh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Do you uh do that before the job? Do you always collect before? Yeah. Okay. Um, one system you can't live without.

Ashley 39:19

Oh god, just one system? You could pick a couple if you want. We've got multiple. So our job tread is what we use for our actual like estimating client communications, all of those fun things. Um that's our main one.

Camille 39:33

So we'll stick to that one. Okay, awesome. Job tread. Uh what is the best decision you made early on?

Ashley 39:41

Uh learning community over competition. To collaborate with other people in my field.

Camille 39:48

Yeah, I like that a lot. What does being a CEO actually mean to you?

Ashley 39:54

Freedom. Freedom to run my life, my business, not being tied to a desk, being present with my kids.

Camille 40:03

I love it. I love that for you. That just makes me so happy. And the fact that your kids are looking at it now and going, oh, I could have this for myself and I could continue this legacy of close family, but also working hard together, so cool.

Speaker 1 40:17

Yes.

Camille 40:18

This is a question that I prepped you for in advance. And I thought this is kind of a hard one, but immediately you were like, No, I got it. So I'm so excited to hear what you have to say. What's something you believe about business that most people would disagree with?

Ashley 40:32

I've said it a couple of times already is community over competition. You can collaborate with your quote unquote competition. I send jobs to other painters all the time. They send jobs to me all the time. We actually have one today. We just we already bid it and then we went and walked it today. It was another painter who's not licensed in Oregon and we are sent that to me because I've built those relationships. Not every client is for me, and I'm not for every client. Some people have deadlines that I can't make. I know somebody who can. Like, I don't like telling people, no, I'm sorry, we can't help you, without giving them a solution. So if it's not something we can do because of the distance, because of the timeline, because it's out of our scope of work, whatever it is, I will contact a few people in my Rolodex, whatever you want to call it, and say, hey, I have this client asking X, Y, and Z, is this something you can take on? And they'll say yes or no. And then when I have somebody that I can give them, then I say, I'm sorry, this is not something we can help with because blah, blah, blah. Here is somebody I trust that you can contact that can help you. I've already checked with them, or I'll send an intro email. I don't like just saying no without a resolution for a client.

Camille 41:39

Wow. You know what? I was gonna ask you a question of what sets you apart. And I think you just told us. I think that is really special. And especially building those relationships where if you don't have a solution, you find partners that could. And I imagine that's reciprocated as well because it is you have your own niche and what works for you. So that's so cool.

Speaker 1 42:00

Yeah.

Camille 42:00

Well, this has been uh so awesome to talk with you, Ashley. I really appreciate your honest take on everything. It's been really cool just to hear how you built this from the ground up.

Ashley 42:12

Thank you.

Camille 42:13

Yeah,

Where To Find Ashley And How To Connect

Camille 42:14

please tell our audience where they can find you and support you. And maybe if they need a paint job and live nearby, they could ring you up.

Ashley 42:21

Um so our website is www.bellavista nw.com. So it's nw like northwest. And our Instagram and Facebook handles are also BellaVista NW. You can find us on any of those socials.

Camille 42:36

Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. Such a powerful conversation. Thank you so much, Ashley, for sharing everything about your story, building a family, a business, and something that really holds value to everything that you hold dear. I love that we can share stories of mothers building businesses. And if this resonated with you, I want you to take a screenshot, share it on Instagram, and tag me and let other w women and people know that this is where we hear hear real stories of mothers building businesses. And if you're in that space where you're ready to move a side hustle into something more, you want to implement your own systems, you want to hire a virtual assistant, you want to make those big goals and have a coach that holds you accountable, I am here for you. You can find me at callme CEO podcast at gmail.com. I'm opening up one-on-one coaching right now, and I will be starting a mastermind in the fall. So if that is interesting to you, please hit me up. You can reach me through social or through through my email. And thank you so much for tuning in. Or please subscribe, please write a review. It means the world to me. And I hope we'll see you next time. Hey CEOs, thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment in a five star review where you could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. the conversation on Instagram at callme CEO Podcast. And remember, you are the boss.