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"I'm an entrepreneurial spirit with a love for all facets of business."
Audrey, Creator behind Audrey the Label
I started my first business when I was 7. Maybe younger. I always had one employee: my little brother. It was an all-encompassing "one-stop-shop" that sold VHS tapes (majority of inventory were all Disney movies and "Armagedon"), a restaurant that exclusively sold hot dogs, and an executive assistant for some imaginary (and highly demanding) boss. It was the Mary Poppins bag of all businesses.
I started my first real business at 17. "Immaculate Spaces Organization, LLC". My mom, a truly brilliant woman and gifted entrepreneur herself, helped me register my business in Colorado. I loved organizing everything obsessively. So, I made a business out of it! That's what everyone does with their hobbies, right? I worked for a handful of families that needed a helping hand and enjoyed every minute of it.
My organization skills made me an impeccably detailed planner. So, I made a business out of it. "Audrey Fay Productions". I planned fundraisers and events for my college, Metropolitan State University; I was the president of the "Event Elements" organization, and I dipped my toe in weddings. Still relentlessly starting businesses and making an income out of every hobby I had.
I started my first corporate job at 19. I am a child of an absolute powerhouse of a businessman. A corporate finance mastermind who sparked a fire in me from the beginning to climb up the ranks and sit at the big kids table. I was enchanted by hotels and hospitality, derived from my many wonderful memories on family Disneyworld trips growing up. I loved the feeling you got when you walked into the Grand Floridian hotel, the esteemed manner of the valet and greeter staff, the guest services professionals in their tailored uniforms welcoming you to the happiest place on earth. The smell of a Disney resort is unlike any other. It is said that scents can be the strongest form of memory and emotion.
Approaching my 30s, I can tell you that the moment I smell the inside of a Disney resort I am immediately transported to that memory as a child and a very strong dream.
Disney was always the goal, so hospitality was the industry to begin the journey. I drove around my home of Downtown Denver and wrote down all of the hotels I wanted to work in. I made a spreadsheet of the buildings I longed to represent and I made my checklist columns labeled: called, applied, interviewed, followed up, results. One of them gave me a chance as a Front Desk Agent, and I am forever grateful to my mentors at the Embassy Suites Denver Downtown Convention Center. I climbed the ranks quickly as I excelled through operations and ultimately landed in Sales and Marketing. I worked for two wonderful properties within Hilton and Hyatt, and I landed a position as National Sales Manager for the iconic Broadmoor Hotel.
I exceeded every goal that was given to me. I worked tirelessly to outperform myself time and time again and impress my superiors. I represented the hotel with the dignity and respect it deserved, but it came at a cost. I wasn't curing cancer. In fact, I wasn't doing much of anything I reflect on to be remotely commendable. I think that's what was missing the most. I was excelling, but it was hard on my mind, body, and soul. At the time, I felt admitting it was difficult would be admitting defeat or weakness. And it was hard for what greater purpose?
Fast forward to 2019. A time I remember to be chaotic and a desperate longing for some sort of work life balance. Every day I left my house at 6:30 AM with one bag for my laptop, one bag for my personal items and change of clothes with the laughable intention of making it to the gym after work, a pair of flats to save my feet after a full work day in heels, and a lunch bag.
I trudged like the bag lady through a 5 star hotel to my office, every day. I searched the internet for a women’s work bag that consolidated all of my necessities into one seamless, organized tote that was completely functional without compromising sophistication. Try as I might, I couldn't find exactly what I needed. I found bags that married a purse with a lunch compartment, but still needed to carry a separate laptop case. I found bags that checked all of the boxes but looked like gym bags. No matter which combination I found, none solved the issue that as a woman in business I am taking documents and files home every day, and despite my best efforts to protect the paper, it always comes out a crumpled disaster.
What is that saying, "if you want something done you gotta do it yourself”? So, what'd I do? Make a business out of it.
In 2020, I left the corporate world knowing I loved innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship too much to return. I drew the idea on a sheet of paper on the floor of my kitchen during quarantine. After trial and error, learning as I go, utilizing my college education in business management, my years of experience in the corporate world, and the little pieces of passion I remember from my childhood startups, I brought the business bag of my literal dreams to life, and I am so excited to share it with others.
I wholeheartedly believe it will solve the same problems I had being a working woman, whether that be in Corporate America or Entrepreneurship. But to be completely honest, it's not about the bag. The bag is a vessel to what I found is my greater purpose. I loved the JOURNEY of creating something. From every detail of starting a business, the planning, the project management, the legalities, the marketing, the development, the sourcing, and everything in between. It is what I realize I have always loved. I have always truly loved business. I loved the challenge of having an idea and proving to myself that I can put the work in to realize it. I never wanted to be a wedding planner, or a personal organizer, a corporate sales manager, or a hot-dog-VHS-Selling-receptionist. I wanted to learn, eat, sleep, and breathe business.
I want to be a support and an advocate for the brilliance of innovative and gifted women, of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all upbringings, in all facets of business. The economic goal of AUDREY the label is to create business fashion that caters to the complex lifestyles of working women. But the ultimate goal of AUDREY the label is to have a special ever-evolving component that celebrates and supports the promotion of professional women in any stage of their career, through fundraising, campaigns, and other creative initiatives that will aid in product development and the kick-off of new businesses.
My deepest hope is to create a community of powerful minds and be a pillar of support for the entrepreneurial industry. If you made it this far, I am happy you are here.
P.S. Tommy, my little brother, if you are reading this I hope you credit me in your professional success as I do believe I groomed you for every possible avenue of work you could imagine. You are welcome.
Fast forward to 2019. A time I remember to be chaotic and a desperate longing for some sort of work life balance. Every day I left my house at 6:30 AM with one bag for my laptop, one bag for my personal items and change of clothes with the laughable intention of making it to the gym after work, a pair of flats to save my feet after a full work day in heels, and a lunch bag.
I trudged like the bag lady through a 5 star hotel to my office, every day. I searched the internet for a women’s work bag that consolidated all of my necessities into one seamless, organized tote that was completely functional without compromising sophistication. Try as I might, I couldn't find exactly what I needed. I found bags that married a purse with a lunch compartment, but still needed to carry a separate laptop case. I found bags that checked all of the boxes but looked like gym bags. No matter which combination I found, none solved the issue that as a woman in business I am taking documents and files home every day, and despite my best efforts to protect the paper, it always comes out a crumpled disaster.
What is that saying, "if you want something done you gotta do it yourself”? So, what'd I do? Make a business out of it.
In 2020, I left the corporate world knowing I loved innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship too much to return. I drew the idea on a sheet of paper on the floor of my kitchen during quarantine. After trial and error, learning as I go, utilizing my college education in business management, my years of experience in the corporate world, and the little pieces of passion I remember from my childhood startups, I brought the business bag of my literal dreams to life, and I am so excited to share it with others.
I wholeheartedly believe it will solve the same problems I had being a working woman, whether that be in Corporate America or Entrepreneurship. But to be completely honest, it's not about the bag. The bag is a vessel to what I found is my greater purpose. I loved the JOURNEY of creating something. From every detail of starting a business, the planning, the project management, the legalities, the marketing, the development, the sourcing, and everything in between. It is what I realize I have always loved. I have always truly loved business. I loved the challenge of having an idea and proving to myself that I can put the work in to realize it. I never wanted to be a wedding planner, or a personal organizer, a corporate sales manager, or a hot-dog-VHS-Selling-receptionist. I wanted to learn, eat, sleep, and breathe business.
I want to be a support and an advocate for the brilliance of innovative and gifted women, of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all upbringings, in all facets of business. The economic goal of AUDREY the label is to create business fashion that caters to the complex lifestyles of working women. But the ultimate goal of AUDREY the label is to have a special ever-evolving component that celebrates and supports the promotion of professional women in any stage of their career, through fundraising, campaigns, and other creative initiatives that will aid in product development and the kick-off of new businesses.
My deepest hope is to create a community of powerful minds and be a pillar of support for the entrepreneurial industry. If you made it this far, I am happy you are here.
P.S. Tommy, my little brother, if you are reading this I hope you credit me in your professional success as I do believe I groomed you for every possible avenue of work you could imagine. You are welcome.
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