We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley/Ashley Smith/McDaniel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley/Ashley, what role has risk played in your life or career?
We’ve been best friends since high school, and have always been outgoing people. But, the fear of failure held us back from making our dreams a reality. It wasn’t until we decided to take the risk, during a global pandemic to open a salon. We knew we were done letting fear control our destiny, and knew there could be great loss or great reward. Fortunately, the reward has shown that taking risks are far better than not giving in to your fears. It’s always better to try and fail, then not try at all. We don’t look at failures as a bad thing, but a learning experience! We learned risks are so worth it and stepping out of our comfort zones was the way to grow and succeed! If it doesn’t scare the heck out of you, you’re doing something wrong. We are so thankful we decided to take the risk when we did, and the outcome has been more fulfilling than we could have ever imagined! And work is never work when you absolutely love what you do and get to work with your best friend everyday! We both play a different role in the salon, Ashley Smith is the owner of Envy Salon and Aesthetics and an Aesthetic practitioner. Ashley McDaniel is the salon manager, color specialist and makeup artist. While Ashley Smith made it possible financially to bring our vision to life, we worked as team to create a salon that offers our clients an amazing, relaxing experience while enhancing their beauty. We are so blessed and know we made the right decision taking a risk during uncertain times in the world. Bringing a modern touch to a traditional small town was worth every risk we encountered, and have learned so much from stepping out of our comfort zones and letting go of the fear of “what if!” And we both strive to empower other women and inspire others to take risks! Our love for each other has allowed us to create something amazing and give back and build others up, not tear them down! We can’t imagine not doing what we love together, and our 20+ year friendship helped us face fears and be risk takers together! We hold each other accountable, and make an awesome team!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We pride ourselves in providing excellent customer service! We both have over 10 years experience in customer service in a corporate environment. Having this experience under our belts helped us shape the experience we provide to our guests at the salon. Not only do we want our clients to look beautiful, but feel beautiful and be pampered while experiencing their services! From thorough consultations, to offering champagne, wine, beer and snacks we offer a massage chair to our clients along with two tvs during their appointments. We specialize in transformations from hair, skin, lashes, aesthetics, permanent makeup, botox and fillers. To achieve our success, we worked tirelessly networking on all the social media outlets and constant communication to potential clients. If we were paid for all the time we spent behind the scenes, we would be set, lol. We want everyone to feel like family when they come to Envy! And we want them to leave feeling like a new person! We decided to start a little later in life, which has allowed us to really find ourselves and have enough real experience with people to be able to offer an environment like no other! We live meeting new people and want to pamper everyine who walks through our door! Envy is like no other! And that was our main goal!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well of course, Envy Salon and Aesthetics is a one stop shop for everything beauty! We would plan a day for our friend by booking an all inclusive package of a day of pampering, then have lunch with Margaritas on the Patio at La Cima Mexican restaurant! Then do a little shopping at Buff City Soap and Honeysuckle Rose Boutique! And finish the day off with coffee from Honeybean coffee shop!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We let God lead us in every aspect of our lives. We prayed for this, for strength and answers. It all fell into place so easily and organically. We knew we were exactly where we were supposed to be, doing what we love everyday! And our Amazing husbands and family are our support system and we couldn’t do this without them! And of course our absolutely amazing team of stylists and beauty professionals that work with us everyday! We have the best group of women we could ever ask for! They are extremely hard workers and we are proud to call them family as well!

Facebook: EnvySalonandAesthetics

Other: 903-712-ENVY

Image Credits
Taylor Stafford Photography

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