On this episode of Profile, Michael and I visit with Ashley Schroeder, owner and wellness guide for the Garden, a wellness club that just opened in Plover. Ashley accrued years of experience working in sales, marketing, hospitality, fitness and event planning. She has wrapped all of this together to now venture out to start a new business here in central Wisconsin. We’ll learn from Ashley how the Garden is more than just a place to work out. It’s a place for community to grow and be well together. This podcast is a little different, because typically we talk to well established companies. We recorded this episode just four days after they opened. It’s a rare opportunity to see into the first stage of a business that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. To hear the story of how the Garden came to be and where it’s going, here’s Ashley.
www.mstc.edu
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.thegarden.life
www.mstc.edu/apply
www.mstc.edu/programs/Health-Wellness-Promotion
www.mstc.edu/programs/Entrepreneurship
www.mstc.edu/podcast
On this episode of Profile, Michael and I visit with Ashley Schroeder, owner and wellness guide for the Garden, a wellness club that just opened in Plover. Ashley accrued years of experience working in sales, marketing, hospitality, fitness and event planning. She has wrapped all of this together to now venture out to start a new business here in central Wisconsin. We’ll learn from Ashley how the Garden is more than just a place to work out. It’s a place for community to grow and be well together. This podcast is a little different, because typically we talk to well established companies. We recorded this episode just four days after they opened. It’s a rare opportunity to see into the first stage of a business that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. To hear the story of how the Garden came to be and where it’s going, here’s Ashley.
www.mstc.edu
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.thegarden.life
www.mstc.edu/apply
www.mstc.edu/programs/Health-Wellness-Promotion
www.mstc.edu/programs/Entrepreneurship
www.mstc.edu/podcast
00:00:00 Ashley Schroeder
I started to see in all my positions at like maybe I could be the boss.
00:00:06 Ashley Schroeder
Maybe I could run the show and it was all my experiences that finally led me up to the point where like I just don't want to work for anyone else like I feel that I have enough skills and experience and knowledge, expertise, whatever.
00:00:21 Ashley Schroeder
To do my own thing at the end of the day, like I mentioned before, I think I was born an entrepreneur.
00:00:26 Ashley Schroeder
It just took me a.
00:00:27 Ashley Schroeder
Couple years to figure it out.
00:00:33 Benjamin Nusz
Welcome to Profile Central Wisconsin.
00:00:35 Benjamin Nusz
A podcast about the origins of the organizations that make our community thrive.
00:00:40 Benjamin Nusz
I am Benjamin Nusz your host in the campus Dean of mid state technical Colleges, Stevens Point campus.
00:00:46 Benjamin Nusz
I'll be joined by my co-host, Michael Witty executive.
00:00:49 Benjamin Nusz
Director of the Portage County business council.
00:00:52 Benjamin Nusz
On this episode of Profile, Michael and I visit with Ashley Schroeder, owner and Wellness Guide for the Garden, a Wellness club that just opened up in Plover.
00:01:02 Benjamin Nusz
Ashley accrued years of.
00:01:03 Benjamin Nusz
Experience working in sales, marketing, hospitality, fitness and event planning.
00:01:09 Benjamin Nusz
She has wrapped.
00:01:10 Benjamin Nusz
All of this together to now venture out to start a new business here in central Wisconsin.
00:01:14 Benjamin Nusz
We learn from Ashley how the garden is more than just a place to workout.
00:01:19 Benjamin Nusz
It's a place for community to grow.
00:01:21 Benjamin Nusz
And be well together.
00:01:23 Benjamin Nusz
This podcast is a little different because typically we talk to well established companies.
00:01:28 Benjamin Nusz
We recorded this episode.
00:01:30 Benjamin Nusz
Just four days after they opened, it's a rare opportunity to see into the first stage of a business that I'm sure you'll enjoy; to hear the story of how the garden came to be and where it's going.
00:01:43 Benjamin Nusz
Here's Ashley.
00:01:51 Benjamin Nusz
So ultimately, one of our themes here is transformation, so you know becoming something else ending up someplace else.
00:02:00 Benjamin Nusz
So maybe let's start with your own journey.
00:02:02 Benjamin Nusz
Did you grow up in Wisconsin?
00:02:03 Ashley Schroeder
Yes I did.
00:02:04 Ashley Schroeder
I was born and raised in the Milwaukee area in a suburb called New Berlin, so I spent.
00:02:10 Ashley Schroeder
Pretty much my entire.
00:02:13 Ashley Schroeder
Life there until I went to college from college, I moved back to Milwaukee.
00:02:19 Michael Witte
You know, right after college you know you get that first job right out of school.
00:02:24 Michael Witte
What was that like for you?
00:02:26 Ashley Schroeder
So great question.
00:02:27 Ashley Schroeder
Before I officially moved back to Milwaukee, I did stay in Oshkosh for about a year and a half and I was.
00:02:33 Ashley Schroeder
A beer sales Rep for Miller and I beat out 126 applicants and it was a big deal at that time. 'cause I was the only female sales Rep and the only female within.
00:02:46 Ashley Schroeder
The company that was selling within my territory, so I did that for a year and a half and then decided.
00:02:52
00:02:53 Benjamin Nusz
Did you did?
You study sales, so you're saying, OK, so you got a degree in business marketing.
00:02:54 Ashley Schroeder
Business marketing with my degree Yep.
00:02:58 Benjamin Nusz
And I mean, do you feel that that prepared you for this kind of sales position?
00:03:02 Benjamin Nusz
Your first sales position and you beat out the the entire field.
00:03:06 Ashley Schroeder
Yes, because that sales position revolved around events and promoting different brands.
00:03:12 Ashley Schroeder
And that's a lot of what we studied.
00:03:14 Ashley Schroeder
So I thought I was very prepared for that position.
00:03:17 Benjamin Nusz
Well, what what day?
00:03:19 Benjamin Nusz
Today, like what were you doing there for Miller?
00:03:21 Ashley Schroeder
So I would have a certain territory.
00:03:23 Ashley Schroeder
Oshkosh Nina and Fond du Lac and I would travel to 56 different accounts selling Miller.
00:03:30 Ashley Schroeder
Products to them.
00:03:31 Ashley Schroeder
So I would meet with the bar owners or managers and sell them in products and the more events.
00:03:38 Ashley Schroeder
We did the bigger number of sales, so that was something I really enjoyed doing because I got to meet with the business owners face to face.
00:03:46 Ashley Schroeder
I got to spend time getting to know them and their brand.
00:03:50 Benjamin Nusz
How did it feel to be the first female sales Rep?
00:03:53 Ashley Schroeder
It was really empowering, especially at such a young age.
00:03:57 Ashley Schroeder
I was what 22, 23 and it beat out 126 people and I think a lot of that came off of my personality. Obviously not my experience 'cause it's my first job out of college but.
00:04:09 Ashley Schroeder
I believe it was my personality and the jobs that I had throughout college that gained me the rights to have that position.
00:04:19 Benjamin Nusz
How did you do it?
00:04:19 Benjamin Nusz
Did you feel you were succesful?
00:04:21 Ashley Schroeder
I do feel like I was very successful.
00:04:23 Ashley Schroeder
I actually crushed it.
00:04:24 Ashley Schroeder
I had some of the highest sales numbers in the industry and it's because I'm my personality.
00:04:29 Ashley Schroeder
I'm so personal with people and I really wanted that business owner to succeed and I actually won a couple trips one trip.
00:04:39 Ashley Schroeder
In particular, we took on Abida, which is a craft brewery and I won the trip because I had the highest number of sales in the company.
00:04:48 Ashley Schroeder
And I was like six months into the job, so I think I was pretty successful.
00:04:53 Ashley Schroeder
So and let's face it, male dominated industry.
00:04:56 Ashley Schroeder
A young female comes in.
00:04:58 Ashley Schroeder
They have a little something different to say than some of the other people they would be.
00:05:02 Ashley Schroeder
Talking with.
00:05:03 Michael Witte
Now those that have met you are not shocked by that.
00:05:07 Ashley Schroeder
That's true, I can pretty much talk to anyone so.
00:05:11 Benjamin Nusz
So you end up back in Milwaukee and then and then you end up in Fort Lauderdale.
00:05:16 Benjamin Nusz
How do you end up in Florida?
00:05:17 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, so when I left Miller; and the reason why I started with Miller's because my.
00:05:23 Ashley Schroeder
Neighbor that was my parent's neighbor when I was growing up worked for Miller in Milwaukee, so that's where I had this whole idea to even work for the company off the get-go.
00:05:33 Ashley Schroeder
So moved back to Milwaukee and then was like.
00:05:37 Ashley Schroeder
Not sure really what my next step is going to be.
00:05:40 Ashley Schroeder
So I started waitressing at.
00:05:43 Ashley Schroeder
Some restaurants in downtown Milwaukee, some new hotels, and started working for the Milwaukee Brewers actually.
00:05:52 Ashley Schroeder
And I was a food and beverage assistant for the suite level for the Milwaukee Brewers, and that company was called Delaware North in Delaware North and Levy restaurants pretty much.
00:06:02 Ashley Schroeder
Are the dominators for providing the food and beverage inside of all Major League stadiums and NFL.
00:06:11 Ashley Schroeder
So because I had that opportunity with Milwaukee Brewers, I was then presented with an opportunity to work in Miami for the Miami Heat and the Miami Dolphins through levy beverages.
00:06:23 Benjamin Nusz
OK, so so you're working for the.
00:06:25 Benjamin Nusz
Heat and when is this?
00:06:27 Benjamin Nusz
Is this in D Wade le Bron, James era?
00:06:29 Ashley Schroeder
It actually was,
00:06:30 Ben Nusz
*laughs* good.
00:06:36 Ashley Schroeder
So they just they just lost LeBron James who went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And they needed a strong manager to come in and build up sales again after losing LeBron.
00:06:43 Ashley Schroeder
So they remodeled the entire restaurant which was called Flagship.
00:06:47 Ashley Schroeder
It was for premium level season ticket holders, courtside seat ticket holders, and I managed that restaurant.
00:06:55 Ashley Schroeder
And so because.
00:06:56 Ashley Schroeder
I had such great success working at the Brewers and my success with Miller.
00:07:01 Ashley Schroeder
I was pretty much a sure-win for that position.
00:07:03 Benjamin Nusz
You gotta give.
00:07:03 Benjamin Nusz
give us some stories.
00:07:05 Benjamin Nusz
Give us some stories about...
00:07:05 Ashley Schroeder
I have so many stories
00:07:07 Benjamin Nusz
*laughs*
Ashley Schroeder
not even not only just meeting different celebrities.
00:07:11 Ashley Schroeder
Trying to have a straight face and like meeting these celebrities right girl from Wisconsin is.
00:07:17 Ashley Schroeder
Just the generosity.
00:07:19 Ashley Schroeder
I mean the Christmas presents I got from the players' wives, I mean watches and bottles of perfume and didn't even probably remember my name, much less anything else but.
00:07:32 Benjamin Nusz
Just... you must have left an impact.
00:07:33 Ashley Schroeder
I did.
00:07:35 Ashley Schroeder
I mean we were very hospitable, right?
00:07:37 Ashley Schroeder
That was one thing we did very well is all of our guests that would come in.
00:07:41 Ashley Schroeder
Would have a top of the line experience, but uhm.
00:07:46 Ashley Schroeder
Just being able to see celebrities every single day going to work was a really cool experience, but still, having that, my wits about me, right, in realizing their celebrities.
00:07:59 Ashley Schroeder
We don't ask for pictures.
00:08:00 Ashley Schroeder
Things like that at a young age.
00:08:02 Ashley Schroeder
That really helped me mature pretty quickly, but.
00:08:06 Ashley Schroeder
Lots of good stories for sure
00:08:08 Benjamin Nusz
So so day to day.
00:08:10 Benjamin Nusz
Tell us how it's different to provide a premier experience to somebody.
00:08:15 Benjamin Nusz
I'm not somebody who lives a life of premier experiences.
00:08:18 Benjamin Nusz
Tell us about how that's different.
00:08:19 Ashley Schroeder
#1 customer service. You know, knowing every single person that was on the guest list who would have a reservation, every single person that walked through our doors and they're paying a premium cost.
00:08:30 Ashley Schroeder
It was $75 for their buffet.
00:08:33 Ashley Schroeder
Plated dinner and they would eat before the game go to the game and that's what it was, right?
00:08:38 Ashley Schroeder
You're eating in like 20 to 30 minutes, so they'll be able to wow someone in that short time table.
00:08:44 Ashley Schroeder
And they're paying a high-ticket item.
00:08:46 Ashley Schroeder
You're going to have to provide a premium product. So, what was really cool with working at the Heat Stadium in particular?
00:08:54 Ashley Schroeder
Is we would team up with local businesses and bring their food and beverage into the stadium.
00:09:00 Ashley Schroeder
So every single game they got a different experience and was able to taste.
00:09:05 Ashley Schroeder
A local um offering.
00:09:08 Ashley Schroeder
You know, and that's very similar to what I do in my business now.
00:09:11 Ashley Schroeder
Is collaborate with other businesses and bring their offerings in, so...
00:09:15 Michael Witte
Well you you talk about working for the heat and and the Dolphins so you know you've got.
00:09:22 Michael Witte
Maybe you know with the heat you've got, you know three home games and then they're off on the road.
00:09:28 Michael Witte
What did you do in your in your off time?
00:09:31 Ashley Schroeder
So great question.
00:09:32 Ashley Schroeder
That's why I work for both.
00:09:34 Ashley Schroeder
Sports teams, because when I wasn't doing heat games, I'd be doing things for the Dolphins and vice versa, and it was a really great time when I worked there because they were just about to start the remodel for the Miami Dolphins stadium.
00:09:47 Ashley Schroeder
So there's so much excitement about that build out.
00:09:50 Ashley Schroeder
So I was.
00:09:51 Ashley Schroeder
Involved in that on our off days.
00:09:54 Ashley Schroeder
But pretty much throughout that week you're preparing all week for that big game and then just setting yourself up for the offseason.
00:10:02 Ashley Schroeder
And then there will be special events that would come in to either stadium outside of the sporting events.
00:10:09 Ashley Schroeder
So I would spend my time doing banquet operations.
00:10:13 Ashley Schroeder
For that as well inside the stadium.
00:10:15 Ashley Schroeder
So there was always something to do between the build out the special event and then the actual games and what we're doing in off season.
00:10:23 Michael Witte
So how long were you down there in Portland?
00:10:26 Ashley Schroeder
I was there for a year.
00:10:27 Ashley Schroeder
It was a year contract and then I had the opportunity.
00:10:30 Ashley Schroeder
If I wanted to stay or if I wanted to come back and after a year experience I felt that was a good amount of time and I was ready to come back to Wisconsin.
00:10:42 Michael Witte
You know it's warmer in Florida.
00:10:44 Ashley Schroeder
It is warmer in Florida, but I also then remembered that my family, you know kinda lives here.
00:10:50 Ashley Schroeder
My sister just had a baby and it was.
00:10:52 Ashley Schroeder
Time to come back, so yeah.
00:10:55 Benjamin Nusz
So you come back to Wisconsin, where in Wisconsin, and what did you come back to?
00:10:59 Ashley Schroeder
So I moved back home.
00:11:01 Ashley Schroeder
It was the last year that my parents were, before they were going to sell their house, that all of his kids were raised in.
00:11:07 Ashley Schroeder
So we actually all three of us moved back home.
00:11:10 Ashley Schroeder
For that summer.
00:11:11 Ashley Schroeder
And it was like the best summer ever.
00:11:14 Ashley Schroeder
And that transitioned me back into working in the restaurant industry and deciding again what was my next move at that stage of my life.
00:11:23 Ashley Schroeder
I'm like in my late 20s and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do next.
00:11:28 Ashley Schroeder
I knew I didn't want to continue working in sports because.
00:11:31 Ashley Schroeder
That required long days.
00:11:33 Ashley Schroeder
Lots of hours.
00:11:34 Ashley Schroeder
You're constantly on your feet and I knew I didn't want to go into that lifestyle again so I didn't want to go back to the Brewers or the box or what have you.
00:11:43 Ashley Schroeder
So I decided just to kind of figure it out, dived back into working with some fitness brands and...
00:11:51 Benjamin Nusz
Back into working with some fitness brands you.
00:11:53 Benjamin Nusz
You had, so it looks like most of your experiences is in food sales and things like that.
00:11:58 Benjamin Nusz
Where does wellness and fitness get into...?
00:12:00 Ashley Schroeder
So great question.
00:12:01 Ashley Schroeder
I always dabbled in working part time at some sort of gym or wellness facility, so that was always my love, but I never thought I could make money in wellness.
00:12:11 Ashley Schroeder
I never thought I could make money working at a gym or being a trainer, so that's why I went to school and got my business marketing degree.
00:12:19 Benjamin Nusz
What gave you that impression?
00:12:22 Ashley Schroeder
Honestly, looking on the Internet and seeing like $12.00 an hour to be a trainer. What have you, at you know some of these big stream gyms.
00:12:31 Ashley Schroeder
Initially it is a lower paying field to get into you kind of have to find that diamond in the rough to really make a career.
00:12:40 Ashley Schroeder
Out of it or put in a ton of hours.
00:12:42 Ashley Schroeder
To make it work so it was always fearful to be honest, to get into the Wellness industry full time.
00:12:47 Benjamin Nusz
So, but you wanted to to do that, what what?
00:12:51 Benjamin Nusz
Gave you that passion for fitness?
00:12:53 Benjamin Nusz
Were you involved in athletics?
00:12:54 Ashley Schroeder
Yes, throughout my entire childhood into my college years and beyond, I was always in some sort.
00:13:00 Ashley Schroeder
Of club or, you know, spending my time in the gym or the weight room at school or.
00:13:06 Ashley Schroeder
What have you?
00:13:07 Ashley Schroeder
Fitness was always my first love. Always.
00:13:10 Ashley Schroeder
Gymnastics at a young age and like wanting to have all my birthday parties at the gymnastics and like show off to my friends.
00:13:17 Ashley Schroeder
All the things I can do, right? But fitness.
00:13:20 Ashley Schroeder
Was always my love.
00:13:23 Ashley Schroeder
My sister brought me to our hometown gym when I was 16 years old and I got the group fitness schedule and like rearranged my whole life so I could come to these step aerobics classes.
00:13:34 Ashley Schroeder
Right? So wellness was always the first thing on my mind and I would actually like leave these full time jobs and like instantly go to the gym right after so.
00:13:45 Michael Witte
So what was it about?
00:13:47 Michael Witte
I mean, you said starting at a young age.
00:13:50 Michael Witte
What was it that really made your?
00:13:54 Michael Witte
Your focus so much on health and wellness?
00:13:58 Ashley Schroeder
A lot of different things.
00:13:59 Ashley Schroeder
The first thing that comes to my mind is community.
00:14:02 Ashley Schroeder
The people I would mean the classes right the.
00:14:05 Ashley Schroeder
The friends I would now have coming every Tuesday to whatever class it was because it was the same faces.
00:14:12 Ashley Schroeder
So I loved meeting new friends.
00:14:14 Ashley Schroeder
I love being involved in the community.
00:14:16 Ashley Schroeder
I love physically moving my body.
00:14:18 Ashley Schroeder
I loved learning, right? From the instructor, seeing what to do.
00:14:23 Ashley Schroeder
I enjoyed seeing my body.
00:14:26 Ashley Schroeder
Physically change, I was getting stronger.
00:14:28 Ashley Schroeder
I was feeling healthier.
00:14:30 Ashley Schroeder
I was sleeping.
00:14:31 Ashley Schroeder
better, all those type of things that go naturally along with wellness and at a young age.
00:14:36 Ashley Schroeder
I was starting to see that I was getting better at on my own cheerleading team.
00:14:40 Ashley Schroeder
I was getting better at gymnastics, track and field, all the things from all the different active wellness opportunities I was adding into my life.
00:14:50 Benjamin Nusz
Yeah I can.
00:14:51 Benjamin Nusz
I can totally relate being involved in athletics, my.
00:14:54 Benjamin Nusz
entire life and how hard it is for.
00:14:56 Benjamin Nusz
Me to workout at home alone.
00:14:58 Ashley Schroeder
Yes, I cannot.
00:14:59 Ashley Schroeder
No, that is not for me.
00:15:00
00:15:01 Benjamin Nusz
I'm part of a gym now and and it's about the people, and it's about the experience that there.
00:15:06 Benjamin Nusz
You know there's something different about a bunch of people with common goal and common exercises that brings a different level of motivation, and I think enjoyment to it.
00:15:16 Ashley Schroeder
Absolutely, it's it's the aura.
00:15:18 Ashley Schroeder
It's the energy.
00:15:19 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, I completely agree with you.
00:15:21 Ashley Schroeder
Especially with the pandemic.
00:15:22 Ashley Schroeder
I'm not the gal that's going to be working out in her basement.
00:15:25 Benjamin Nusz
It’s hard enough as it is.
00:15:26 Ashley Schroeder
It is hard and to be consistent with that is even harder so.
*BREAK*
00:15:36 Benjamin Nusz
More from Ashley.
00:15:37 Benjamin Nusz
In a moment.
00:15:38 Benjamin Nusz
Just a quick break to share some brief announcements.
00:15:40 Benjamin Nusz
The spring term at Midstate is now underway, but we always have a great slate of continuing education courses available that are refreshed every week from learning conversational French to updating your CPR certification, our continuing Education Department.
00:15:57 Benjamin Nusz
Has a lot to offer.
00:15:58 Benjamin Nusz
The courses are designed for both personal enrichment and professional development.
00:16:03 Benjamin Nusz
You could even.
00:16:03 Benjamin Nusz
Take a course from past host Todd Koukan on customer service skills.
00:16:08 Benjamin Nusz
Check out upcoming classes at.
00:16:10 Benjamin Nusz
mstc.edu/continuing-education.
00:16:14 Benjamin Nusz
Now let's hear more of the story of the.
00:16:16 Benjamin Nusz
Garden with Ashley.
*resumes*
00:16:23 Benjamin Nusz
So, you're making a choice into fitness.
00:16:25 Benjamin Nusz
You're back in Milwaukee.
00:16:26 Benjamin Nusz
What sort of choice did you make?
00:16:28 Benjamin Nusz
What did you get into?
00:16:28 Ashley Schroeder
So I did pull the trigger and I worked for the local gym, our hometown gym.
00:16:35 Ashley Schroeder
It's called the Princeton club.
00:16:37 Ashley Schroeder
There's one in New Berlin.
00:16:38 Ashley Schroeder
There's one in Madison, WI.
00:16:38 Benjamin Nusz
It's a big box, right?
00:16:40 Ashley Schroeder
Yep, and it was a fancier gym so it's more expensive to attend this particular gym, but there was racquetball and all these other things.
00:16:47 Ashley Schroeder
So I started teaching for them and every other fitness center in town.
00:16:52
'cause like I.
00:16:53 Ashley Schroeder
Can just work for one I gotta.
00:16:54 Ashley Schroeder
Work from all!
00:16:55 Ashley Schroeder
So I did that and I literally filled my entire schedule.
00:17:00 Ashley Schroeder
And made the same exact amount of money that I would have made working with the Brewers.
00:17:04 Ashley Schroeder
Just doing fitness.
00:17:05 Benjamin Nusz
What were you teaching?
00:17:06 Ashley Schroeder
I was teaching.
00:17:07 Ashley Schroeder
Zumba classes I did strength based classes
00:17:10 Benjamin Nusz
And so for for our listeners what is Zumba?
00:17:12 Ashley Schroeder
Zumba is a fitness style dance based off a variety of different genres, generally in the Latin.
00:17:19 Benjamin Nusz
A lot of aerobic.
00:17:20 Ashley Schroeder
Lot of aerobic high energy.
00:17:22 Ashley Schroeder
I taught 10 Zumba classes a week, which now in my mid 30s sounds impossible because that's a lot.
00:17:31 Ashley Schroeder
That's a lot of energy.
00:17:32 Ashley Schroeder
Michael OK, and so I did it though.
00:17:36 Ashley Schroeder
And you know it's.
00:17:38 Ashley Schroeder
And I started to have a following of women and men of all different ages that were constantly coming to my classes.
00:17:45 Ashley Schroeder
They were now doing what I did back when I was 16.
00:17:49 Ashley Schroeder
I was now their instructor that they wanted.
00:17:52 Ashley Schroeder
To follow
00:17:54 Ashley Schroeder
So I started work as I mentioned and then I started diving into.
00:17:57 Ashley Schroeder
Personal training and I got my NASM certified personal training certificate and fitness was my full time gig living in Milwaukee.
00:18:07 Benjamin Nusz
So I think that's fitness, right?
00:18:10 Benjamin Nusz
I I don't know that we're necessarily to wellness yet, because I think that there's more to wellness than than just.
00:18:16 Benjamin Nusz
Fitness. Is is wellness on your mind?
00:18:21 Benjamin Nusz
While this is going on.
00:18:22 Benjamin Nusz
Are you starting to differentiate these two things or are you just out there?
00:18:26 Benjamin Nusz
You know doing classes?
00:18:27 Ashley Schroeder
That's a really great question.
00:18:29 Ashley Schroeder
At the time I thought yes, but in reality no.
00:18:34 Ashley Schroeder
Was I eating relatively healthy?
00:18:37 Ashley Schroeder
Yes, but like.
00:18:39 Ashley Schroeder
I would attend, you know, wellness retreats and things such as that nature and go on.
00:18:45 Ashley Schroeder
You know, community runs and that type of thing, but it didn't really embody, like, the self care and the soul care at that time.
00:18:52 Ashley Schroeder
It was more of the physicality.
00:18:54 Ashley Schroeder
If we're looking at all six dimensions of wellness, I was more mostly in the social.
00:19:00 Ashley Schroeder
On the physical side of things, I left out the other four.
00:19:03 Ashley Schroeder
Uhm, but it wasn't until I moved to Chicago, which was shortly after this.
00:19:10 Ashley Schroeder
Milwaukee was in Milwaukee for about two years of doing this personal training, teaching classes.
00:19:16 Ashley Schroeder
And then I got another itch to move, and I moved to Chicago.
00:19:21 Ashley Schroeder
And that's where my wellness.
00:19:26 Ashley Schroeder
Journey started to blossom because Chicago is just so well versed, and I mean there's a smoothie place on every other corner, right?
00:19:36 Ashley Schroeder
There's healthy, there's just a lot more opportunities for wellness there in Boutique fitness studios and my eyes really started to open a whole different.
00:19:47 Ashley Schroeder
In a whole different way so.
00:19:49 Benjamin Nusz
I think now is probably a good time on your website you define six different dimensions of wellness.
00:19:56 Benjamin Nusz
Can you tell us all six and tell us what what you mean so that we can start to kind of fill in the gaps of of your version of Wellness?
00:20:03 Ashley Schroeder
The National Board of Wellness Institute has 6 dimensions of Wellness.
00:20:09 Ashley Schroeder
So, these aren't things that Ashley Schroeder just thought of.
00:20:12 Ashley Schroeder
So out of my brain these are like real things kind.
00:20:12 Benjamin Nusz
OK *laughs*
00:20:15 Ashley Schroeder
And those six dimensions are the physicality.
00:20:18 Ashley Schroeder
So physical.
00:20: 20 Benjamin Nusz
That's fitness.
00:20:21 Ashley Schroeder
Yes. Emotional Wellness.
00:20:22 Ashley Schroeder
Your social, spiritual, occupational and intellectual wellness.
00:20:28 Ashley Schroeder
So according to the National Board of Wellness, to be considered well into liver wellbeing lifestyle.
00:20:34 Ashley Schroeder
A holistic sense is.
00:20:36 Ashley Schroeder
Being in those six dimensions and focusing your life around those six dimensions.
00:20:41 Ashley Schroeder
So a lot of people, when they naturally think of wellness or fitness, they go right to the physicality.
00:20:47 Ashley Schroeder
Well, it's not just the physicality.
00:20:49 Ashley Schroeder
There's this five other dimensions.
00:20:50 Benjamin Nusz
You could pump iron every day and feel miserable.
00:20:52 Ashley Schroeder
Exactly, Yep, and you could also journal all day and never move your body like to be truly well, you should be well versed in all six, yeah?
00:21:04 Benjamin Nusz
So that kind of sets the stage you you end up.
00:21:07 Benjamin Nusz
In Chicago, well, what?
00:21:08 Benjamin Nusz
Are you going towards in Chicago?
00:21:10 Ashley Schroeder
So when I first started out in Chicago, we all know what Chicago is known.
00:21:13 Ashley Schroeder
For right? Deep dish pizza!
00:21:16 Ashley Schroeder
So of course, it just be natural for the trainer to work for a pizza brand.
00:21:21 Ashley Schroeder
I had a girlfriend who I used to do Miller promos with, who worked for Gino's Pizza and she was a sales representative.
00:21:29 Ashley Schroeder
And she got me a job in marketing with Gino's. That lasted for about a month.
00:21:34 Ashley Schroeder
I hated every moment of it 'cause I sat down at a desk and I was bored to tears.
00:21:38 Ashley Schroeder
So, I left that in work for a company called Equinox.
00:21:42 Ashley Schroeder
If you're not familiar with the equinox, they are the number one fitness gym in the nation.
00:21:49 Ashley Schroeder
They started in New York and they have several fran…
00:21:52 Ashley Schroeder
They're more of a luxury fitness brand.
00:21:55 Ashley Schroeder
And there's probably, I think, like over 50 different locations in New York alone, but it's a high-ticket gym, so I think their memberships start at like $160.00 a month, right?
00:22:05 Ashley Schroeder
So, I worked for Equinox and loved it ended sales for them, but at the same time I was still working in a desk.
00:22:15 Ashley Schroeder
I was still not.
00:22:16 Ashley Schroeder
I felt like a dog in a cage and so I wanted to start leading group fitness classes for equinox because that's more of my jam is again the physicality.
00:22:28 Ashley Schroeder
So, I did sales and started teaching group fitness classes for Equinox going back to kind of my background and then a company called Lifestart approached me on LinkedIn and Lifestart is corporate Wellness company and they are in Amazon.
00:22:48 Ashley Schroeder
Google, LinkedIn and they provide physical fitness centers for those large brands.
00:22:55 Ashley Schroeder
So, then I left Equinox and started working with lifestart and so they put me into the Hyatt Hotel Corporation office in Chicago and I was a fitness director for Hyatt.
00:23:08 Ashley Schroeder
For three years.
00:23:10 Ashley Schroeder
If you know anything about Hyatt, you can go right onto their website and pull them up.
00:23:14 Ashley Schroeder
They're all about Wellness.
00:23:17 Ashley Schroeder
Hyatt Hotels they actually have changed a lot with their hotels and their food and meal programming to become more of a well-being hotel.
00:23:25 Ashley Schroeder
And so it's very important for them to ensure that there was a fitness center on site at their corporate office.
00:23:31 Ashley Schroeder
So, if you worked for Hyatt, you would come into the gym just like you would come into any.
00:23:35 Ashley Schroeder
Other gym and.
00:23:37 Ashley Schroeder
I would personally train you or teach group fitness classes for you.
00:23:41 Ashley Schroeder
We would do nutrition, one on ones and.
00:23:45 Ashley Schroeder
Provide that experience for the employees of Hyatt.
00:23:49 Michael Witte
So where was where's the Hyatt corporate office?
00:23:52 Ashley Schroeder
It's located at 150 N Riverside. It's on the corner of Wacker and Randolph in downtown Chicago. It's pretty much the most popular St.
00:24:02 Ashley Schroeder
in downtown Chicago.
00:24:04 Michael Witte
I know it well.
00:24:05 Ashley Schroeder
And it's the building that kind of v’s up from the bottom.
00:24:09 Ashley Schroeder
So, it was built brand new the year that I was fitness director there.
00:24:12 Ashley Schroeder
So, I got to build that gym from the ground up.
00:24:16 Ashley Schroeder
I picked out where every equipment what kind of mats what kind of flooring all that kind of stuff was decided upon me and the team that was.
00:24:26 Ashley Schroeder
Working there.
00:24:26 Michael Witte
So now you're working at Hyatt, but you're working for Life Cycle?
00:24:29 Ashley Schroeder
Life start so Life start
00:24:30 Ashely Schroeder
as I mentioned, is pretty much the middleman right?
00:24:36 Ashley Schroeder
So they provide all the employees for these big corporations, so I didn't work.
00:24:41 Ashley Schroeder
My paychecks came from life start, not from Hyatt.
00:24:45 Ashley Schroeder
Right?
00:24:46 Ashley Schroeder
So it's really great, and that's going back to Ben's question initially. That's really where the whole wellness and well-being concept came into play, primarily from what I've learned from Hyatt and what they were looking to put into their structures and their programming and their offerings for their hotel guests.
00:25:06 Ashley Schroeder
A lot of my education and knowledge came from their practices, so if I was put out to Amazon, I probably would have had a different approach to wellness because I wouldn't have had the lessons and the tools and the learning that I got from Hyatt.
*break* 00:25:24
00:25:24 Benjamin Nusz
Hello listener, we'll get back to Michael and my interview with Ashley in a moment.
00:25:29 Benjamin Nusz
I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge and recognize the entrepreneurial spirit of our guest Ashley.
00:25:36 Benjamin Nusz
She gained a lot from her varied work experience, but she also set the stage with a quality education.
00:25:42 Benjamin Nusz
She was prepared to make the most.
00:25:44 Benjamin Nusz
Out of her daily.
00:25:45 Benjamin Nusz
Work and has now been able to leverage this skill to found and own the garden.
00:25:51 Benjamin Nusz
We recognize that oftentimes work experience alone is not sufficient to be able to launch that next step.
00:25:57 Benjamin Nusz
Midstate is here to help. Our one year technical diploma in entrepreneurship is full of great learning experience.
00:26:05 Benjamin Nusz
Take a moment to check it out on our website.
00:26:07 Benjamin Nusz
It might be just the thing you need to help you help yourself.
00:26:12 Benjamin Nusz
Once again, thanks for listening.
00:26:14 Benjamin Nusz
We can now get back to the story of the garden with Ashley Schroeder.
00:26:19 Ashley Schroeder
It was the winter I think we all can remember. It was January 2019 and it was negative 40 degrees out.
00:26:27 Ashley Schroeder
I was like, Oh yes, I remember what Midwest winters are.
00:26:30 Ashley Schroeder
I'm ready for a warm state again, so that's exactly what I did.
00:26:34 Ashley Schroeder
I was on Instagram and one of my old friends from Milwaukee moved to Austin.
00:26:40 Ashley Schroeder
And he's posting all these pictures of boating and doing all these like fun outings with friends and going all these cool restaurants and Austin, TX is the number one city right now and was then, 2019, to move to in.
00:26:53 Ashley Schroeder
The nation so.
00:26:54 Ashley Schroeder
I'm like awesome Austin, TX.
00:26:56 Ashley Schroeder
That's where I'm going to next.
00:26:58 Ashley Schroeder
So after three years of being with Hyatt and there was really no more room for growth for me, I had hit my catapult.
00:27:06 Ashley Schroeder
I had all my clients.
00:27:07 Ashley Schroeder
I'm tapped out on Commission, so really the next best move was to to do something different and that's what I wanted.
00:27:15 Ashley Schroeder
To do so.
00:27:15 Benjamin Nusz
How did you end up in central Wisconsin?
00:27:18 Ashley Schroeder
Well I did my year in Austin.
00:27:21 Ashley Schroeder
And then I… this thing called the pandemic.
00:27:24 Ashley Schroeder
I'm not sure if you're familiar with it that happens.
00:27:27 Benjamin Nusz
Have you heard of it?
00:27:28 Michael Witte
brand news to me.
00:27:28 Ashley Schroeder
Nice, OK, so that happened while I was living in Austin, and I thought I was going to build my business.
00:27:35 Ashley Schroeder
The garden in Austin, TX.
00:27:37 Ashley Schroeder
Because Austin, similar to Chicago, is really well versed with well-being and wellness, it is everywhere, and it is a very healthy city to live in.
00:27:47 Ashley Schroeder
So, it made most sense.
00:27:48 Ashley Schroeder
For me to open up my business in Austin.
00:27:50 Ashley Schroeder
But because of this thing called the pandemic I was like.
00:27:53 Ashley Schroeder
You gotta shift.
00:27:55 Ashley Schroeder
So I started looking for jobs back in Wisconsin and central Wisconsin was on my radar because my parents are high school sweethearts of Waupaca and lived there for 40 plus years.
00:28:08 Ashley Schroeder
Of their life.
00:28:09 Ashley Schroeder
And I always knew I wanted to raise a family and come back to central Wisconsin and I thought it was a great place to live.
00:28:16 Ashley Schroeder
And I enjoyed growing up here as.
00:28:18 Ashley Schroeder
A child in spending my summers even when I would come back after all these travels, I would always spend weeks at a time at my family lake house.
00:28:25 Benjamin Nusz
You’d vacation at the chain of lakes nearby?
00:28:28 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, my family still has a place on the chain,
00:28:28 Benjamin Nusz
Oh, yeah *laughs*
00:28:31 Ashley Schroeder
So, I knew when I was ready to settle down that it was central Wisconsin. That was a plan forever.
00:28:38 Ashley Schroeder
But then this thing called the pandemic, you know, kind of sped that up.
00:28:42 Ashley Schroeder
I was thinking.
00:28:43 Ashley Schroeder
in my.
00:28:43 Ashley Schroeder
50s I'd make it back here.
00:28:45 Ashley Schroeder
Uhm, but it dawned on me that, hey, you know, central Wisconsin.
00:28:51 Ashley Schroeder
Would be a great place for me to bring my business to.
00:28:55 Ashley Schroeder
Austin there would be a lot of competition for what I was doing in my space.
00:28:59 Ashley Schroeder
There is a lot of other boutique wellness spaces.
00:29:01 Ashley Schroeder
I think it would have went very well, but I wanted to open up my wellness studio in my home state, and, yeah.
00:29:09 Benjamin Nusz
Yeah, so we first met.
00:29:12 Benjamin Nusz
At celebrate plover
00:29:13 Ashley Schroeder
that we did
00:29:15 Benjamin Nusz
And what was interesting.
So here we have this.
00:29:17 Benjamin Nusz
This outdoor event celebrating, you know, lover in our community and you were selling merch that had celebrate Plover on it.
00:29:25 Benjamin Nusz
You're basically, you know, leveraging your own merch to support the community.
00:29:31 Benjamin Nusz
Where does your love for plover come from?
00:29:34 Ashley Schroeder
Well, as I mentioned, uh, central Wisconsin, I'd spent numerous years here. Back when there was Rainbow Falls.
00:29:40 Ashley Schroeder
If anyone can remember, I'm going to throw that one out there.
00:29:43 Ashley Schroeder
I would experience that as a child.
00:29:45 Ashley Schroeder
Right? So, my childhood, again, would consist of coming up to central Wisconsin and even coming as far north as Minocqua on family vacations, right?
00:29:54 Ashley Schroeder
So, I always love central Wisconsin.
00:29:56 Ashley Schroeder
What it embodied: the outdoors, the sense of adventure, all those type of things.
00:30:00 Ashley Schroeder
So, I think that.
00:30:04 Ashley Schroeder
Celebrate Plover? I mean, that's exactly.
00:30:05 Ashley Schroeder
What it is.
00:30:06 Ashley Schroeder
Celebrating community.
00:30:08 Ashley Schroeder
Celebrating small towns, celebrating the city.
00:30:12 Ashley Schroeder
The village, whatever you want to call that we live in.
00:30:14 Ashley Schroeder
And I was very proud to move back to central Wisconsin and be a part.
00:30:19 Ashley Schroeder
Of that, so that's why the shirts would celebrate Plover. And that was the name of the event.
00:30:24 Benjamin Nusz
We're fortunate to have you here, so let's let's carry on with this kind of topic of transformation.
00:30:32 Benjamin Nusz
So, let's start with this space.
00:30:33 Benjamin Nusz
Let's now kind of get to the origin story of of the garden and transformation we're sitting in.
00:30:40 Benjamin Nusz
What was Plover Shopko and is now a totally different space in here.
00:30:45 Benjamin Nusz
So, tell us how you got to.
00:30:48 Benjamin Nusz
Kind of your idea of the garden.
00:30:53 Ashley Schroeder
Absolutely. So pretty much every single thing I've done in my.
00:30:57 Ashley Schroeder
Life career wise.
00:30:59 Ashley Schroeder
And personally, is embodied in the garden.
00:31:04 Ashley Schroeder
And my own personal transformation journey as well, and looking back at what my experiences were in college and having.
00:31:14 Ashley Schroeder
Very little mentorship.
00:31:16 Ashley Schroeder
The opportunity to really understand what wellness was, right?
00:31:21 Ashley Schroeder
As I mentioned before.
00:31:22 Ashley Schroeder
I didn't really.
00:31:22 Ashley Schroeder
Know what that was until I went to Chicago, and I think that's a really big miss, not only for central Wisconsin but for Wisconsin as a whole.
00:31:30 Ashley Schroeder
Actually, Central Wisconsin is known as a mental health desert.
00:31:34 Ashley Schroeder
And there's not a lot of opportunities for wellness here, so I knew that we needed to bring that here first and foremost, right?
00:31:42 Ashley Schroeder
That's why I decided to bring that this here and not in Milwaukee. Milwaukee's already got boutique wellness going and things similar to what the garden is there.
00:31:50 Ashley Schroeder
We needed to start bringing that to where we're at, so that was the first thing and based off of my own personal experiences of transformation and going to college, and it's kind of like, whoa, right?
00:32:04 Ashley Schroeder
Like no more parents.
00:32:06 Ashley Schroeder
No more high school cheerleading and gymnastics.
00:32:09 Ashley Schroeder
And like parents making me dinner.
00:32:11 Ashley Schroeder
And have healthy food options readily available.
00:32:14 Ashley Schroeder
I'm on my own right? And again, living in Oshkosh.
00:32:19 Ashley Schroeder
There's not a healthy food market there, there's not boutique wellness studios.
00:32:24 Ashley Schroeder
You know? It just I wasn't brought up in a really great um.
00:32:29 Ashley Schroeder
Wellness space and I really wanted to create that for central Wisconsin.
00:32:34 Ashley Schroeder
I wanted an opportunity for.
00:32:38 Ashley Schroeder
Adults in the college stage all the way up to right before your last date to have a space to go to for whatever wellness looked like for them.
00:32:48 Ashley Schroeder
And so I created it.
00:32:50 Benjamin Nusz
So ultimately, I think that wellness has to be experienced.
00:32:54 Benjamin Nusz
So talk us through some of the experiences.
00:32:57 Benjamin Nusz
That someone might have here.
00:32:59 Ashley Schroeder
I completely agree with you that it needs to be something you experience firsthand.
00:33:05 Ashley Schroeder
You can read about a description all day long.
00:33:07 Ashley Schroeder
But until you're in this space and.
00:33:09 Ashley Schroeder
You feel touch.
00:33:09 Ashley Schroeder
Smell it, I feel like that's very important, so some of the opportunities that we have here at the garden.
00:33:15 Ashley Schroeder
As I mentioned, we focus on the six dimensions, so the physicality.
00:33:19 Ashley Schroeder
So I lead five different signature fitness classes here which are completely different than any group fitness schedule.
00:33:28 Ashley Schroeder
That you'll see at any of our local gyms here, right? We believe in collaboration over competition, so some of those classes are bar we do a 715 fitness class. That's a blend of cardio and core. We do a mobility and stretching class called rebuilt.
00:33:45 Ashley Schroeder
We do fitness dance class and then we also do a class called Stronger and that's all without all of our classes are with.
00:33:54 Ashley Schroeder
Your own body.
00:33:54 Ashley Schroeder
Weight and no equipment.
00:33:56 Ashley Schroeder
So, we take out that intimidation factor for all of our members and guests.
00:34:01 Ashley Schroeder
So, on top of the physicality we also have emotional base classes, which is led by Brianna Sackseer.
00:34:08 Ashley Schroeder
She comes to us from the Chicago suburbs, and she leads emotional wellness classes, whether that's emotional, experiencing whether that's rooted in relating, whether that transformation of the soul, her classes.
00:34:21 Ashley Schroeder
Are based off.
00:34:22 Ashley Schroeder
Of those emotional wellness concepts and it's not group therapy, so she'll lead and facilitate the class and allow people to think and process and leave time for reflection afterwards.
00:34:33 Ashley Schroeder
But it's not a back-and-forth situation.
00:34:34 Benjamin Nusz
Yeah, so because we don't have, you know, we don't have those classes elsewhere.
00:34:39 Benjamin Nusz
Just tell me a little bit more about what I what I would experience.
00:34:42 Benjamin Nusz
In that class. You.
00:34:43 Benjamin Nusz
Say it's it's not a back-and-forth.
00:34:44 Benjamin Nusz
Give me a sample title of a class and what's going to happen?
00:34:48 Ashley Schroeder
So, emotional experiencing we'll take that one.
00:34:51 Ashley Schroeder
It's experiencing your emotions and not any emotion is good or bad. But it's taking for that…
00:34:57 Ashley Schroeder
For example, for a day, if you feel sad, OK, why do you feel sad?
00:35:01 Ashley Schroeder
What made you feel sad?
00:35:02 Ashley Schroeder
How can you overcome your sadness?
00:35:04 Ashley Schroeder
Things such as that nature and asking you questions and prompts to really think through those emotions because.
00:35:11 Benjamin Nusz
Every process.
00:35:13 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, 'cause oftentimes people are like oh, I'm sad like I need to not be sad.
00:35:17 Ashley Schroeder
No, it's actually OK to be sad, but why are you sad?
00:35:21 Ashley Schroeder
What are ways to help you not continue to feel this sadness?
00:35:25 Ashley Schroeder
Things such as that nature so, so that's an example.
00:35:28 Ashley Schroeder
Also, today's class was rooted in relating and it's.
00:35:33 Ashley Schroeder
Taking a look at how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others and how you relate on a spiritual aspect in just some questions and prompts.
00:35:44 Ashley Schroeder
Centering your mind on that so that those are just two examples on what the emotional wellness looks like. That's more Bran's vibe, so she could sit here and probably.
00:35:53 Ashley Schroeder
Have an hour and a half conversation just on one of her classes, but I let her pretty much take on that realm, but that's just kind of it in a nutshell.
00:36:01 Ashley Schroeder
And then on top of that we bring in other practitioners to provide sound healing classes, artistic workshops.
00:36:11 Ashley Schroeder
Classes on occupational wellness that Tara Parks does on a Friday, so teaching people different modalities to be better in their own business or sales positions.
00:36:22 Ashley Schroeder
So, we pretty much have some sort of workshop event or class for a variety of different interests.
00:36:30 Benjamin Nusz
So, aside from the classes, what other things do you offer in this space?
00:36:35 Ashley Schroeder
So, we have we're sitting in it right now is our life loft, which is a space for solitude and meditation.
00:36:41 Ashley Schroeder
So, our members or guests can come up here and experience silence.
00:36:46 Ashley Schroeder
They can come up here and just reflect on the day.
00:36:48 Ashley Schroeder
Maybe they're journaling.
00:36:50 Ashley Schroeder
Maybe they're just literally closing their eyes and thinking about their day.
00:36:55 Ashley Schroeder
Their week, their month, and offering that opportunity.
00:37:00 Ashley Schroeder
Which we don't get too often.
00:37:02 Ashley Schroeder
Our lives are so busy, and the life loft really creates a safe space to reflect.
00:37:09 Ashley Schroeder
We also have our wellness studio where outside businesses can have their own events as well and lead their own workshops or private events in our space.
00:37:19 Ashley Schroeder
So we offer.
00:37:20 Ashley Schroeder
That opportunity to the community, and we also provide our own events.
00:37:24 Ashley Schroeder
As I mentioned before, that's also where we have the physicality classes.
00:37:29 Ashley Schroeder
On top of that, we have our kitchen which is.
00:37:35 Ashley Schroeder
Wellness food that is uh grab and go option for our community.
00:37:41 Ashley Schroeder
So if they wanna come meet a friend at Mission Coffee, grab a healthy salad, grab a healthy drink.
00:37:49 Ashley Schroeder
They can do that and take it on their way or enjoy it in our space, so that's another.
00:37:54 Ashley Schroeder
Element that was missing in central Wisconsin is where can I go for healthy food that's quick.
00:37:59 Ashley Schroeder
That's affordable and efficient so we're providing that here as well.
00:38:03 Ashley Schroeder
And we also found got some feedback from the community that meals; meal planning is hard.
00:38:10 Ashley Schroeder
Cooking at home is hard.
00:38:12 Ashley Schroeder
What do I cook?
00:38:13 Ashley Schroeder
What ingredients et cetera, et cetera?
00:38:15 Ashley Schroeder
So we actually teamed up with a local entrepreneur out of Waupaca to provide meals for people to have throughout the week as well.
00:38:24 Benjamin Nusz
And then there's a retail space.
00:38:25 Ashley Schroeder
There's retail space, yes, yes. More! There's more!
00:38:27 Benjamin Nusz
I feel like you know I.
00:38:29 Benjamin Nusz
I feel like all these these 6 dimensions.
00:38:32 Benjamin Nusz
It's almost like a checklist *laughs* and we want to make sure that each one of them is addressed in.
00:38:36 Benjamin Nusz
One way or another.
00:38:37 Ashley Schroeder
Yes, we wanted to make sure that we had, again, what is wellness?
00:38:41 Ashley Schroeder
It's nutrition, it's physicality.
00:38:43 Ashley Schroeder
It's events, it's community.
00:38:45 Ashley Schroeder
It's all these things.
00:38:46 Ashley Schroeder
So we had to make sure that we also were a niche, right?
00:38:50 Ashley Schroeder
That we're staying true to the brand, but we also have the opportunity to dial in on all six dimensions.
00:38:58 Ashley Schroeder
So with the wellness retail we teamed up with eight local entrepreneurs who do not have a storefront and they sell their products inside of our walls.
00:39:10 Ashley Schroeder
And that gives them an opportunity to be seen and heard in the community and provide amazing merchandise to our members and our guests.
00:39:20 Michael Witte
Getting back to you know.
00:39:22 Michael Witte
Coming back to central Wisconsin, you know you're a, an entrepreneur.
00:39:29 Michael Witte
What made you want to be an entrepreneur and not work for someone else?
00:39:35 Ashley Schroeder
I was the one that always had all the ideas for every employer that I worked for. So my brain was constantly thinking above and beyond what the owners, the directors and managers, whatever.
00:39:50 Ashley Schroeder
Any position I ever had.
00:39:52 Ashley Schroeder
I would come to them with ideas.
00:39:56 Ashley Schroeder
So, I started to see in all of my positions at length.
00:39:59 Ashley Schroeder
Hmmm, maybe I could be the boss.
00:40:01 Ashley Schroeder
Maybe I could run the show and it was all my experiences that finally led me up to the point where like I just don't want to work for anyone else like I feel that I have enough skills and experience and knowledge, expertise, whatever.
00:40:17 Ashley Schroeder
To do my own thing and so.
00:40:20 Ashley Schroeder
And I would always hear feedback from other people, like, Ashley, you should really open up your own business and it was the inspiration from other people to be like you should go off and do your own thing that finally got me to do it.
00:40:31 Ashley Schroeder
It's actually one of my clients at Hyatt.
00:40:34 Ashley Schroeder
He had this whole idea of what.
00:40:36 Ashley Schroeder
The garden was and encouraged me to do that, but.
00:40:40 Ashley Schroeder
At the end of the day, like I mentioned before, I think I was born an entrepreneur.
00:40:44 Ashley Schroeder
It just took me a couple years to figure it out.
00:40:47 Benjamin Nusz
Mike and I were were here recently for the ribbon cutting right the the grand opening and one of the things that that stood out to me was just how you've empowered the women in our community.
00:40:59 Benjamin Nusz
And maybe this goes back to your experience at Miller, but talk a little bit about how important it is to support the women and female entrepreneurs in our community.
00:41:06 Ashley Schroeder
Absolutely.
00:41:10 Ashley Schroeder
I don't even know where to start.
00:41:11 Ashley Schroeder
I've like 19 million topics to talk about on that.
00:41:16 Benjamin Nusz
First, they'll tell us what it means to you.
00:41:19 Ashley Schroeder
Women empowerment is very near and dear to my heart and that's actually how I've met each and every single woman that is inside.
00:41:29 Ashley Schroeder
This space, is just by organic connections. By meeting them at some event or.
00:41:35 Ashley Schroeder
Or, um, Jesse Fritz, one of our artistic guide.
00:41:40 Ashley Schroeder
I met her doing the trailblazer mural, which is of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in downtown Stevens Point.
00:41:45 Benjamin Nusz
Right across from Mid-State *laughs*.
00:41:46 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, right across from Mid-State.
00:41:48 Benjamin Nusz
We see it every day, yeah.
00:41:49 Ashley Schroeder
Exactly beautiful mural and it's gotten so much attraction and attention because it's absolutely beautiful.
00:41:58 Ashley Schroeder
From my own experiences, I worked really hard as a woman and going back to my experiences with Miller, I didn't get that job because.
00:42:10 Ashley Schroeder
I didn't beat out 126 people because of my.
00:42:12 Ashley Schroeder
Name. Like, I.
00:42:13 Ashley Schroeder
Had to show them all my experiences on my resume.
00:42:17 Ashley Schroeder
Killed in the interview and probably had to climb a lot more barriers for that position than a lot of the men did.
00:42:24 Ashley Schroeder
And breakdown that barrier.
00:42:26 Ashley Schroeder
Finally hiring a woman, right?
00:42:27 Ashley Schroeder
So, just from my own experiences there and living in Austin, there is so much woman empowerment there.
00:42:35 Ashley Schroeder
It's like on fire, there are so many different female entrepreneurs doing amazing things and that really inspired me to bring back that concept here to central Wisconsin.
00:42:45 Ashley Schroeder
So I knew opening up The Garden.
00:42:47 Ashley Schroeder
Whether it was.
00:42:48 Ashley Schroeder
In Austin, whether it was here that having it be a female dominated industry or business rather was very important to me because oftentimes women don't always.
00:43:02 Ashley Schroeder
Step out of their comfort zone and shine.
00:43:05 Ashley Schroeder
They need, from my personal experience, they need other people to kind of lift them up without them stepping out of their own comfort.
00:43:15 Ashley Schroeder
Zone. So, I wanted to have a space that would empower and uplift and inspire other women.
00:43:22 Ashley Schroeder
To have a voice.
00:43:23 Benjamin Nusz
Well, well it was.
00:43:24 Benjamin Nusz
It was inspiring.
00:43:25 Benjamin Nusz
It was inspiring ribbon cutting.
00:43:27 Benjamin Nusz
And it's an inspiring space.
00:43:28 Ashley Schroeder
I think there was ten women standing up there which was, and one of those women was my mother, who again, going back to being central Wisconsin and her being one of the owners here at The Garden and again categorizing in that age group right?
00:43:46 Ashley Schroeder
A 70.
00:43:47 Ashley Schroeder
Plus year old woman who believes in.
00:43:49 Ashley Schroeder
And wellness and transformation in growth and empowering other women she eats, breathes and sleeps at concept.
00:43:59 Ashley Schroeder
So it's really awesome to see her standing up there, along with other women in the community.
00:44:05 Benjamin Nusz
So we have a.
00:44:06 Benjamin Nusz
Unique opportunity here.
00:44:07 Benjamin Nusz
Many of our guests in the past.
00:44:10 Benjamin Nusz
Have been in business for 40 years, for 20 years.
00:44:13 Benjamin Nusz
We are interviewing you in.
00:44:17 Benjamin Nusz
We could count days.
00:44:18 Ashley Schroeder
Yeah, we can count days! We’re at day five of.
00:44:22 Ashley Schroeder
Since grand opening this.
00:44:23 Benjamin Nusz
It’s day five.
00:44:24 Benjamin Nusz
When we do this interview we we always post them later, but so you are just in the in the first days.
00:44:30 Benjamin Nusz
Tell us a little bit about.
00:44:32 Benjamin Nusz
You're just experience in starting this up because one of the things that I've just observed is a lot of people knew about your business long before it opened.
00:44:42 Benjamin Nusz
You were able to generate this buzz and this awareness.
00:44:46 Benjamin Nusz
To it. So, just tell us a little bit about your your entrepreneurship and you're starting of this space.
00:44:52 Ashley Schroeder
I think I was born an entrepreneur.
00:44:54 Ashley Schroeder
I just have that natural like, can talk to anyone type personality.
00:44:58 Ashley Schroeder
I just love that! If I could travel the world and just go to different events and talk to people like I would be a happy camper!
00:45:07 Ashley Schroeder
But because of my outgoing personality in my experiences and working in so many different.
00:45:15 Ashley Schroeder
Facilities and just having Miller experience Equinox.
00:45:19 Ashley Schroeder
All these different things and get to see so many different personalities.
00:45:23 Ashley Schroeder
I feel like I had a really great.
00:45:27 Ashley Schroeder
That in itself is like 10 years of education to me because I got to, you know, even in my experience with Hyatt, I built that gym.
00:45:35 Ashley Schroeder
I didn’t pay for it like I paid for The Garden, but I, y’know, built that gym from the ground up. So all of my past experiences from post college to now help shape my entrepreneur journey and it's kind of funny 'cause I didn't really realize that at the time.
00:45:53 Ashley Schroeder
But I was an entrepreneur back when I was teaching fitness classes, right?
00:45:58 Ashley Schroeder
I was selling myself as an instructor.
00:46:01 Ashley Schroeder
Granted, I worked for a gym, right?
00:46:03 Ashley Schroeder
I didn’t own the gym, but I was still an entrepreneur and then doing these extra events that people then come follow me to is a whole different other stream of revenue, but I've been an entrepreneur really since.
00:46:14 Ashley Schroeder
I was 16, so.
00:46:17 Benjamin Nusz
You've been working on on this project specifically, at least a year, so pretend that you're sitting across from Ashley one year ago today.
00:46:27 Benjamin Nusz
Give her some advice.
00:46:29 Ashley Schroeder
So in my experience, it's literally, Ben, and I don't think a lot of people could say this.
00:46:36 Ashley Schroeder
This is why I think it's so special.
00:46:38 Ashley Schroeder
It's literally been divine connections.
00:46:41 Ashley Schroeder
Every single person that works here.
00:46:43 Ashley Schroeder
I've met organically.
00:46:44 Ashley Schroeder
I haven't hired anyone from a job ad I've literally met them out.
00:46:48 Ashley Schroeder
And figured out what their experience was.
00:46:51 Ashley Schroeder
So talking to Ashley a year ago, it's just.
00:46:56 Ashley Schroeder
Enjoy the journey.
00:46:59 Ashley Schroeder
Try things out and see what works.
00:47:01 Ashley Schroeder
See what doesn't take the advice of the community.
00:47:03 Ashley Schroeder
Figure out what they want.
00:47:05 Ashley Schroeder
What are they looking for?
00:47:06 Ashley Schroeder
And then develop your programming based off of the.
00:47:10 Ashley Schroeder
Needs of your community.
00:47:12 Ashley Schroeder
It’s as simple as that, and that's exactly what we did.
00:47:14 Ashley Schroeder
Everything we do here, we keep evolving and I'm sure we'll change our class schedule every month and that's.
00:47:21 Ashley Schroeder
Fine. But, really understanding what central Wisconsin needs 1st and of course our goal is to grow and hopefully be in multiple locations on the line.
00:47:32 Ashley Schroeder
But what does central Wisconsin want?
00:47:34 Ashley Schroeder
What are they looking for?
00:47:35 Ashley Schroeder
And then be able to provide that and do it well?
00:47:38 Benjamin Nusz
You know, I I see a lot of parallels actually between this.
00:47:41 Benjamin Nusz
And what we do at Mid-State Technical College.
00:47:44 Benjamin Nusz
Our mission, as a quote, is to transform lives through the power of teaching.
00:47:50 Benjamin Nusz
And learning and we.
00:47:51 Benjamin Nusz
Both have this kind of desire to help people help themselves to help them to transform and to know that there has to be an exchange of information and there has to be some teaching and learning.
00:48:03 Ashley Schroeder
Because we don't grow in our comfort zones.
00:48:05 Ashley Schroeder
Right going from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is extremely challenging.
00:48:11 Ashley Schroeder
And one thing that I've noticed in central Wisconsin and maybe both of you can agree with me: the reluctancy to change is a lot different than in some other cities because people are used to this same old.
00:48:23 Ashley Schroeder
You know, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
00:48:25 Ashley Schroeder
But here at The Garden, our mission is do not transform to the pattern of this.
00:48:31 Ashley Schroeder
World, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
00:48:36 Ashley Schroeder
That is boldly.
00:48:39 Ashley Schroeder
Implanted in our wellness studio downstairs, which is where we've stand in front of in the ribbon cutting.
00:48:44 Ashley Schroeder
But we believe that! We believe if you are going to have that fixed mindset, you're never gonna change.
00:48:51 Ashley Schroeder
You're never going to transform.
00:48:52 Ashley Schroeder
You're never going to evolve, and you will not be the best version of yourself.
00:48:56 Ashley Schroeder
It's when you grow, that's when you transform.
00:48:59 Benjamin Nusz
You starting with that mindset you're sure to have success, so always ask what's next for Ashley?
00:49:05 Benjamin Nusz
What's next for The Garden?
00:49:06 Ashley Schroeder
What's next is just finally being able to enjoy our space, do my role of teaching classes and being business owner versus hammering nails and getting this place ready?
00:49:20 Ashley Schroeder
That's all done.
00:49:21 Ashley Schroeder
The business is built.
00:49:22 Ashley Schroeder
It's now working in the business, working alongside other businesses.
00:49:27 Ashley Schroeder
Which we've already done since open.
00:49:28 Ashley Schroeder
We've collaborated with other businesses and done a lot of events, but supporting our community in whatever that is, whatever their needs are, in being able to facilitate that.
00:49:39 Ashley Schroeder
That's what's next for us and.
00:49:42 Ashley Schroeder
Being in a place where people feel safe and feel that.
00:49:47 Ashley Schroeder
They can grow.
*break*
00:49:53 Benjamin Nusz
Thank you for listening to Profile Central Wisconsin.
00:49:56 Benjamin Nusz
Special thanks to Ashley Schroeder from The Garden and to Michael Whitty for joining me in this conversation.
00:50:02 Benjamin Nusz
Profile is a production of Mid-State Technical College out of the Stevens Point Campus.
00:50:06 Benjamin Nusz
You heard Ashley talk a lot about all of the dimensions of wellness.
00:50:10 Benjamin Nusz
If you want to learn a great deal more about.
00:50:12 Benjamin Nusz
Wellness Mid-State offers an associate degree in health and wellness promotion.
00:50:17 Benjamin Nusz
This is a fully online program that you can take from anywhere.
00:50:21 Benjamin Nusz
You'll have classes on nutrition, aging, mental health and stress management, in addition to classes that relate to the business side of wellness, such as wellness marketing and entrepreneurship.
00:50:32 Benjamin Nusz
Find out more at mstc.edu/programs
00:50:34 Benjamin Nusz
To learn more about the Portage County Business Council and everything they're doing to connect and grow our business community, visit portagecountybiz.com that's “biz” with a “z.”
00:50:46 Benjamin Nusz
Be sure to.
00:50:47 Benjamin Nusz
Subscribe to this podcast on Stitcher, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you consume your audio media.
00:50:54 Benjamin Nusz
It's the mission of Mid-State Technical College to transform lives through the power of teaching and learning.
00:50:59 Benjamin Nusz
Help us work toward that goal by sharing this story.
00:51:03 Benjamin Nusz
Thanks for listening.
*interview concludes*
00:51:15 Michael Witte
I noticed at the ribbon cutting and then after the ribbon cutting you breathe belief into people.
00:51:24 Michael Witte
And that's what I think is huge for The Garden.
00:51:28 Michael Witte
It's not just belief in yourself, you believe in the organization, you believe in them.
00:51:36 Michael Witte
And I think that's where.
00:51:38 Michael Witte
The… you breathe belief into everything you touch.
00:51:43 Ashley Schroeder
Well, thank you.
00:51:44 Ashley Schroeder
That's a very nice comment to say I appreciate that.
00:51:48 Ashley Schroeder
I feel that I had other people believe in me, uhm, we have founding members here at The Garden that.
00:51:56 Ashley Schroeder
Never saw, they saw concrete, and they decided to spend their, you know, write out a check for the whole year in advance to help us Propel Inc to getting some additional funding for The Garden because they believed in me; without seeing anything, any walls, any furniture, any anything they're like, I think that.
00:52:16 Ashley Schroeder
Ashley Schroeder has got what it takes to open up a business and I see that same thing in these women.
00:52:22 Ashley Schroeder
These entrepreneurs, business partners, whatever you want to.
00:52:24 Ashley Schroeder
Call them, that.
00:52:25 Ashley Schroeder
I'm just catapulting them into their own storefront and sky’s the limit!