Our Tale…
It all began with this snow globe Christmas card from 2006.  Ever since my husband and I had children, I (Sonja Ashe, owner of AsheDesign.com) had always designed a unique family card each year. This year was extra special because our dog “Magic”, a rescue and our first love, had died unexpectedly after the card had been printed. The idea was for the kids to believe as they gazed into the snow globe and saw Santa petting him while delivering their presents. It clearly took on a different meaning once the card was sent.

We got quite a response from our family and friends who loved the card. The following year, my husband told me I should sell my Christmas card designs so I opened an eBay account and posted this snow globe design. My thought was to insert customer photos into the Photoshop template then send back a digital file which they could print on their own. To my surprise, more photographers purchased the item and requested the Photoshop template so they could insert their own customer photos. This was quite a revelation for me as it was far from my original intent. While I received quite a good response, it all ended on December 24^th. No one was purchasing Christmas cards after that.

Now what? It was 2008, the worst recession since World War II had just begun and I had a secure full-time job I loved as long-time art director at a local television station. However, I had gotten a taste of something that would change the course of my life just 1 year later.  In 2009 at the protest of my parents and in-laws and unwavering support of my husband, I quit my job to focus my efforts on designing Photoshop templates. In addition to my eBay store, I opened an Etsy shop and AsheDesign.com was born. For the first time in my life, I was designing things that only needed approval by one person…ME! And guess what? People loved them! I cannot tell you how liberating that feeling was and it has fueled me ever since.

Life events dictated my need for help and who better to turn to for help than your sister, who just happens to be my life-long best friend. So, I gave her a crash course in Photoshop one afternoon and set out on the campaign trail for the next 3 months to help my husband keep his job. Who knew Becky McQuade, a full-time registered nurse for 20 years, had a knack for designing on top of being a quick study!? This proved not only to be a sink or swim exercise for us both, but a complete game changer for Ashe Design now that we realized the power we had in Becky’s design talent.

Fast forward 2 years as Becky quit her job at the hospital to come on board as my right hand. We were now able to double our designing efforts and fast track the business. I left eBay and focused my efforts on my Etsy shop and AsheDesign.com.  All of our designs were and still are representative of the stages of our lives through the years.  They centered around the 5 kids we have between the both of us who ranged in ages from 7 to 13 at that time and played 6 different sports all together. This would explain the heavy emphasis on sports designs!

As the business continued to grow, it created the need for someone to focus solely on customer service.  Enter Mom. I don’t know any harder worker or better role model than my mother, Sandy Prive. As a single mom raising 4 children, she worked many long hours for little pay to take care of us all. There simply is no better feeling than to be able to give back to my mom now. I really thought I was pretty good at customer service until she took over and showed me up instantly. My mother not only learned the ropes including overcoming a fear of computers, but set a new standard for customer care which we all follow today. Most emails are answered within minutes and around the clock thanks to Mom… Sandy… Grammy. Her biggest fault is not knowing when to stop working, a trait she passed directly on to me and Becky!

It is and always will be a labor of love for this family business as we enter the next phase of our lives, and you better believe we are keenly aware of fostering any signs of interest from our kids!  Our theme is still “believe” to this day. We know if you believe in yourself, anything is possible.