The 3W Podcast: Ashley Starnes - Part 1

Northwest Arkansas feels like it grows overnight, and sometimes the weirdest part is realizing you still haven’t explored the place you call home. We’re joined by Ashley Starnes of Osage House for a wide-ranging, very real conversation that starts with summer break logistics (two-boy households know) and turns into what it’s like to watch Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista transform from open stretches of green into a packed, opportunity-filled region. 

We also get personal about home design and decision fatigue. Ashley shares how an architect’s minimal instincts can clash with an eclectic, cozy vision, why committing to bold choices can be hard, and how low-commitment spaces like a powder bath can be the perfect place to take a swing. If you love interior design, architecture, and creating a home that actually feels like you, you’ll recognize the constant tug between timeless neutrals and the fun stuff you’re afraid you’ll regret. 

Then we trace the kind of career path that looks random until you see the pattern: fundraising and development, catering and events, and even an energy auditor job that literally involves crawling through attics. Those experiences build the people skills and grit that matter when you’re building something bigger. We end by teasing part two, where we dive deeper into Osage House, the 54-acre vision, and what it takes to turn land into a destination wedding and event venue. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe, share it with a friend in Northwest Arkansas, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What’s one local spot you still haven’t made time for?

Transcript

Welcome And Summer With Boys

Speaker 0:05

Hey everybody, welcome to The 3W Podcast. Thanks for joining us. I have my super cute friend here, Ashley Starnes with Osage House. Ashley, thank you for joining me. Yes, of course. I'm excited. I think this is your first one to do with us. So I'm super excited. I hope you all caught, I have it marked, I hope you all caught this adorable feature on her in the current issue. I'm not opening it very well, but what else is new? And I always fumble over everything in these podcasts. Anyways, isn't she so cute? So here she is live in person. So we're gonna dive into All Things Ashley on part one, then we're gonna do all things Osage House in part two. So Ashley, yay, how are you? I'm great. Good, good. Thank you for joining us. I know kicking off summer. We were just talking about the kids offline. So she you have two boys, two boys, yes, nine and twelve, and I have two boys, 11 and 16. So how is summer? We're like a weekend. Yes. But it does finally feel like summer. It does. It's hot.

Speaker 1 1:04

It's yeah. How's it going? It's going. They're already bored. Of course. So trying to figure out the devices. Things to entertain. And I'm like, uh, let's not be on the iPad and TV. Ah. Um, so yes, they I'm I'm trying to be a little more free with the summer. I didn't over-schedule with camps. We're doing two camps. Um, but yeah, I so now I'm kind of like, oh, yeah, what do I do?

Speaker 1:29

What do I do now? What do we do the rest of the time?

Speaker 1 1:32

So lots of swimming, I'm sure, will be in our future.

Speaker 1:35

Okay, so what grade are they going into for nine and twelve? Or six, yes, sixth grade and fourth grade. Okay. Yes. Okay, we're going into my youngest is going into sixth grade as well. Oh, he's not 11. He just turned 12. Oh, yeah.

unknown 1:49

I don't know.

Speaker 1:49

He just had a birthday. Okay. That's mine just had it May 19th. Yes, yeah. May 30th. So I'm like, I kind of forget he's 12. Okay, he just turned 12. Yeah. So yeah, sixth grade. I don't know why I had to ask you that. I feel a little special as a mom. I'm sick of obviously crushing it. Okay. And then

Growing Up In A Changing NWA

Speaker 2:05

before Ashley was done filling out some paperwork when she got here, I was like, Ashley, where are you from from? Like you're born and raised here, but like from from. And then she's told me she's lived in literally every town over a period. Pretty much every town, yeah. Hilarious. Like born in Fayetteville, yes, graduated from Shiloh, has lived in Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, and Bella Vista, which is in high school. We were in Bella Vista.

Speaker 1 2:28

So gosh, that's a cameo from Bella Vista to Shiloh. It was. I got my hardship license when I was 15 so that I could drive. And the highway was not like it is now. So it was not as scary. Not as scary, right?

Speaker 2:40

It was probably only two lanes on each side. It was, yeah. Yeah. Very different. Yeah, definitely. Okay. Tell us a little about you growing up here because you've seen it all. You've seen all the changes. Yes, a lot of change. And I've I've only been here 20 years, so I've still seen a lot, but nothing like Dick Trammel used to tell me about the one and only stoplight over by the old home office.

Speaker 1 3:02

Yeah, well, and I feel like the highway, in my mind, I don't, it may or may not have ended, but about Lowell is where after that there was really nothing.

Speaker 3:10

You had to like 71B.

Speaker 1 3:12

Yeah, and there was just nothing. It was just all farms and you know, cow pastures. And now it's just, I mean, it's green. It's night and day different. So it's it's fun to see the change. I do I miss more of the green steel and things. But I do love all the things we have to do now. Right. I need to take more time to kind of be a tourist. It's hard. I feel like do you have people that visit here, friends that visit? Almost everyone lives here. Okay. And so I don't really we try to give recommendations to people that are coming in for weddings and things. But I that's one thing I do want to do this summer is try to be a tourist for a few days. Yes. And actually do some of the fun stuff we have. Right.

Speaker 3:55

I take it for granted. Yeah. I just had family in town over the weekend, and we're always like, well, like you, we're like going bouncing between games

Getting Out Of The Five Minute Bubble

Speaker 4:05

all the time. Yeah. And so I'm like, oh my gosh, I need to get you over to Crystal Bridges and we need to rent E Bon. So like we have all these things that we need to do. And I have a list actually at the office on a post-it of like restaurants I want to try that I have yet to cross off my list. And it just keeps getting longer and I keep not getting to those. I know, I know. We always stay within like a five-minute bubble of where we live. Yes, we it's a challenge. We're going to um, so we live in Bentonville and we were going to a movie um in Rogers, but like in the we were going, we could I get tickets anywhere we wanted to, sort of. So we ended up at the promenade, which feels like going forever. It's fine, but it feels like going back in time because they don't have birthday. We don't have birthday. I know. I know. So I feel like a complete brat of going behind, we'll go there. But we ended up trying a newer restaurant over here. I was like, oh my gosh, well, we're we're driving over there. Let's check it out. Yeah, make it birth. I was like, this is so weird. It's not outside of our bubble, but it's outside of our like once we get in the Bettonville bubble.

Speaker 1 5:11

Yeah, we're the same way. We're exactly the same. We go to the same like three or four restaurants. I want to try so many different ones, but then I have to, you know, it's a whole production. It is a production. Getting everybody at the same time and or getting a babysitter and my husband's schedule, and it's just, you know.

unknown 5:28

Yeah.

Speaker 5:28

Now your husband's an architect, right? Yes, yes. Yes. So what has he done around here that we could have seen besides Osage House, which again we'll dive into on part two.

Speaker 1 5:39

He's mostly high-end residential. Okay. So a lot of a lot of homes. Does he do all of y'all's homes? He does not, surprisingly. Like, it's I know, it's so funny. We joke about that because his clients and people that we know will be like, oh, did you design? And he's like, no, I did not. We bought a he hates that we bought a spec house.

Speaker 6:00

But right. As anybody in construction and engineering and architecture is like, that's like the biggest foe fossil.

Speaker 1 6:06

He likes our house, but it's not eventually. We're

Architecture At Home And Style Debates

Speaker 1 6:10

we've been probably in the process of designing a house off and on for the last three years. Um you keep changing it. So we yes, we keep changing it. I we really like the plan now. Uh-huh. But now it's more the outside design and what that's gonna look like. Okay. Um, and so we do have different styles. I'm probably a really tough client. Um he was on, he was like, maybe I should pull in one of my people to actually do the design so it doesn't become an issue. So I was like, okay, whatever. Um what's your style versus his style? I am very eclectic. I like a lot of different styles. Um for my home, I want it to be cozy and homey. Um, but I do like some modern elements.

Speaker 7:02

So because he's in architecture, does he like a lot of the hard lines and modern lines?

Speaker 1 7:08

I can see that. A lot of glass, like hard surfaces, minimal. He's very minimal and I'm very extra. Yes. So isn't that right? Yeah, so somewhere in between is where we will probably land. Okay. Um, I like a lot of different textures and you know, materials and things. Um are you colorful? So I'm not that colorful. Okay. Honestly. And even like in my closet, I'm not very colorful. So I I used to be, but now I gravitate more towards simplicity and in that. So like pillows and things like that, I can swap out easily. Right. I'm I'll add color there. Um, but in the home in general, not very colorful.

Speaker 7:50

Do you I have a hard time? So we have our have had house plans for several years and we've changed them multiple times because we still haven't pulled the trigger. And um I see things online or out and about, and I'm like, oh, I love that. I'm so petrified of pulling the trigger on something bright and but I love colors, yes, but I also love all the neutrals. I know. Because you can always change up. Right. That's what I like. So I have a hard time. Yeah, I'm like, oh, a powder bath. I don't know where what this house is gonna look like, but I will have one outrageous land that will just be a powder bath. Um I do like that because it's low commitment.

Speaker 1 8:28

Yes. Well, and our powder bath now, I had them like they did not texture the wall, and my plan was to do a fun wallpaper in there, and I've not committed still to one and it's been two years.

Speaker 8:41

So it's so hard, but I do think your bathrooms at Osage House are fun. Thank you. Yes, I did try to make those pretty, like very pretty.

Speaker 1 8:48

Yes, because it's the one special space space. Yes, so it's the one space that everyone will go into that I could actually do something with. So I did try to do a little extra there.

Speaker 9:00

And they are extra in the best way. Thank you. Because I mean, you don't want to go extra in the venue. Right. We're gonna dive into that. And so, um, unless you're like our token convention center, yes. Orange and dark red, everything. Three, yes, compatible colors. That your bathrooms are fun. All the bathrooms are fun and unique.

Speaker 1 9:20

Thank you. Which I think is I bet that was. It's like, okay, we'll might as well give it a little more, you know, zhuzh and make it fun. Right, right. Yeah. Oh, that's good. What's um the most exciting room in your house? Oh gosh. Uh, most exciting room is probably my gym. Really? Yes. Um, we actually did that late, like a year after we moved in. Okay. Um, so it's got like the wood, um, I don't know what you would call it, kind of fluted wood on one wall. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then a big mirror wall. Um, and then so I picked out everything. Like the fans are pretty, everything's kind of pretty. A pretty gym. Yeah. That's unique. So that's fun. You don't see that. Yeah. And then our the office is probably the next. It's color. Okay. It's a very, very, very dark green. And then I did um black trim. The ceiling and the walls are all green. Oh, okay. And then um black trim and black doors. And then it's got really dark curtains, like dark, dark velvet floral print curtains. Okay. So wow. It's like a moody.

Speaker 10:28

It is moody. So I love that calming too. Like if you go in there, you're like, I mean, because it's it is very, like, it's pretty simple in there.

Speaker 1 10:38

Like a desk, a computer, a chair. Um, it does have a an accent wall with wood on it, also. So it's it's just a pretty room.

Speaker 10:46

A pretty room. So do you have a design or interior background of any kind to go into

Favorite Rooms And Design Confidence

Speaker 10:55

the event the new business?

Speaker 1 10:57

I mean, so my dad had a construction company when I was, I think when I was in college, early college. Okay. Um, and I worked for that company for a little while. And there was there was a designer, and I worked with her a little bit. Um, she did more like interior design, not really like interior decor. Right. So, um, which is very different.

Speaker 11:20

I probably am so disrespectful to it. I know just because I'm old, but there is it all kind of flows together now. There's a lot of science between that um design part of it with the dimensions.

Speaker 1 11:31

All of that I'm not great at. Um yes. So I've always just really enjoyed it. Okay. Um, and then my husband being, you know, an architect, it kind of goes hand in hand. We've done a few, like we've done some spec houses that we've built and sold. And so I would pick out everything for that. Um, so I've just always enjoyed it. Okay. Well, what's your background? My background is also very eclectic. I like that. Lived everywhere in Arkansas or in Northwest Arkansas, and I've done almost every job there's to do, probably. Um my original, so I have a degree in communication. Went to the UV and graduated during the recession, 2008. Fantastic. So great timing. It was a we that's when we started the magazine. Great time. It's a fun time. So I was a substitute teacher then until I found a job. It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. At one time I thought I wanted to be a teacher, and I was like, no, not at all. During COVID, I was like, I'm not cut out for that. It was middle school, and it was just not for me. Right. Jewel's in their crowns for all the teachers. It was it was tough. Um, and so I did that. I worked for the electric company, was my first like big girl job out of college. Um, I was an energy auditor. So did you even know what that meant?

unknown 12:53

No.

Speaker 1 12:54

Um, so I interviewed for their, they were hiring like a PR person and they had already filled it, and they were like, Well, we like you, and here's this other job. So did that. It was essentially when their bills, like people would call and their bills would be too high. Oh, okay. And they would call and complain. Right. And they'd be like, Oh, here's this person we can send out to like check everything. Um, so I would crawl in attics, crawl spaces. Stop it. Like I had a ladder in the car I had to take with me. And like I was just, I would just go into random people's homes. And now I'm like, what was I thinking? What was I thinking? How am I like, yeah. And then um, I also had to go out. What was that?

Speaker 13:35

That was two years. You made it two years. I don't know if I could. That's kudos to you. Uh yeah, and it's hot in attics.

Speaker 1 13:44

It was hot. I would drive out to Siloem and like all different places. And then if people I've known you for so long and I didn't have this little treasure. It's a hidden treasure. So, yes, I've got I went to all the trainings and there's all these different, you know, things about wrapping your hot water heater. So I would I would go back and do a report and make suggestions on ways that they could conserve energy and reduce their bill. So were they angry with you often? Usually once I got there, they were nice. Okay. Initially, they're usually mad and like blaming the electric company, which would be me. Right. And then um the the people that were angry were people I also had to go out a few times and collect, try to collect on people that had really past due bills.

unknown 14:30

Okay.

Speaker 1 14:31

Again, why send this five foot tall girl? I know if y'all can't tell, actually. I'm very short. I'm not tall. So sending this girl out to again, random places, be like, hey, your your bill's really past due. Like, can you pay us? Oh, gosh. Um so yeah, that was very interesting. So um, so yeah, and then from there, I mean, I've been a dental assistant. I worked my my very first job was a cashier at Walmart.

Speaker 14:58

Did you like that? Uh okay, so I am so old. I'm much older than you. And I can remember going to Walmart with my mom before there were like legit groceries before super centers. And those people just checking, like that was always my one of my dream jobs was to be a checker. And when I was a little girl, I had a grocery store in my playroom. And

The Career Path That Trains You

Speaker 15:20

I would just pay it or like the museum, they have the cash filter. I mean, that I would love that.

Speaker 1 15:25

So the fact that you actually did that is I did it for a while and I didn't love it. It was fun. Like the people I worked with were fun, and I made some friends, and so that was fun. But when you see someone roll up with a cart, just you're like, please don't come to my line, please. And then yeah, you're just like, no.

Speaker 15:45

I hope I hope I don't call it anything.

Speaker 1 15:48

Yeah, you just get instant anxiety, I have to do all of it. Um but yeah, it was. I mean, you learned so much about people for sure and that just you have lots of skills now because of all these random so many random jobs. Professions. Yes. So I've learned a lot about people, a lot about the world. Um, yeah. So I I feel like everything I've done has led me to do what I do now. Really? Which is I kind of I deal with all different kinds of people all the time. And no day is the same. Like, so I feel like all those different things kind of piled together to give me what I need to do.

Speaker 16:25

I mean, I feel like you really know the real world. I used to say I was super knowledgeable just because I waited tables. Like too. I feel like if you can handle the back of the kitchen, yes, you you can do anything. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, that is um is just interesting. It's just the back of the house of a restaurant, which I'm sure in an event venue as well. It's very interesting. Yeah. Especially in the 90s when I was like, oh, this was not for the week.

Speaker 1 16:54

No, it's not yeah, gotta have lots of energy and be tough.

Speaker 16:58

So when did you finally well I met you years ago before Osage House, but I can't really remember how I met you. I don't remember either. Were you David Mommy blogging?

Speaker 1 17:11

No. Well, I did um the blog. Did you dabble in that? Yeah, I didn't. I was a writer for um What was it called?

Speaker 17:20

I don't know.

Speaker 1 17:21

But I feel like that's how I know you. No. It was the mom, Northwest Arkansas mom's blog, I think is what it was called. Like something, yes. Yeah, okay. And so I did, I was friends with Britney, who she was one of the girls that started that. Okay. And so I just I'm not a writer, but I wrote a few different articles for that. So made it through that.

Speaker 17:38

I feel like that's how it was. Yeah. What did you do leading up to that? What'd you do? What was the last job job, paid job, not by yourself jobs uh that you had before Osage House?

Speaker 1 17:48

That was I worked for a nonprofit, okay. That's what it was. Is that what it was? I think that's what it was, actually. I was fundraising and development for them. Yes. And so that kind of got me a little bit into the event world. I had also I had done catering, like I was like, I wasn't actually. Educate a catering background too. I um worked for a catering company when I was in college, and so like running food to tables and things. So kind of waitress, but just for events. It's more structured, a lot more structural. A lot struck structured, yes, didn't have to take orders. Um so yeah, so that kind of got me into the event world a little bit. Yeah. Um, I had to plan a few events for the nonprofit um and host those. So I learned a little bit about it that way. Um, and then I had my first baby. And I was like, so I went back part-time and stayed for a couple years. Uh, well, I guess about a year.

Nonprofit Events And Buying 54 Acres

Speaker 1 18:45

I stayed a year after that. And then um, when I was pregnant with my second one, I worked for another nonprofit um just from home, part-time. And then quit working. Okay. And then about probably a year later is when we started, like we bought the land and started talking about what we were gonna do with it. So you just did you just randomly buy land? You're like, here's some land. We so we knew the guy that owned it. Um and we were like, you know, at the time it seemed it it's not far out, but it's that like present grove didn't go all the way through. Like go around. It'd go down Wallace and wind around. So it seemed like this is really far out there. Like, but we're buying it and we want it to do something. Right.

Speaker 19:31

So was it built for it was not built for resident or built, it was not purchased for residential on the front end right at all.

Speaker 1 19:40

The front end, it's 54 acres. So we bought it just because we were like we like I said, we had done some spec houses and you know, we need to roll one investment profit into another investment. Right. So we were trying to figure out what we were gonna do. And that's yeah, that's where that was about 2017. Okay. Yeah. So oh my gosh, almost 10 years ago.

Speaker 20:01

Almost 10 years ago. That's crazy. That's why that's crazy. Okay,

Part Two Tease And Snack Reminder

Speaker 20:05

we're gonna stop there. Okay, because that's a good place to stop. So I hope you'll join us for part two because we're gonna dive into all things Osage House, all things 54 acres, which is wild. There's three, three space. I'll say just three and a half spaces because there's also an Airbnb. Yes, which is a board space, but yeah, to me, it's just like a half space because it's kind of a hidden treasure. Yeah. Um, so we're gonna dive into all of that. And I hope you all will join us because um and I hope you've been there. Sorry, my uh got me distracted, but it's such a beautiful space. It's serene and calm. And I'll show you the ad when we come back. Also, don't forget to stop by your local Walmart. Ashley won't be checking you out. Oh well, I'm sorry. But please stop by your local Walmart and get Hershey Salty Snacks. Uh, everybody loves Dots Pretzels and Skinny Pop and Pirate 's Booty. I'm sure with two little boys. Oh, yeah. They're not in our snack basket right now. All the neighbors come ransack it. So yeah. Um, join us for part two. We'll see you next time. Keep inspiring a culture of giving. Bye.