Ashley Yeates is a leader in the sustainability revolution, creating greener, cleaner homes. Originally a lawyer, Ashley found her calling as an interior designer and made the leap into a creative career, founding AYI & Associates. Moving to the California coast deepened her affinity for nature and her commitment to creating intentional spaces that connect the inhabitants to their homes and the broader world.
With the launch of her furniture line, The Ashley Yeates Collection, she furthers her commitment to creating environmentally conscious, healthier houses through her heritage quality pieces made without harmful toxins.
The culmination of all this work is Ashley’s Spyglass Golf Course project, which will be featured in Architectural Digest this spring and allows for a seamless connection between home and habitat. Ashley says, “It’s as if the contemporary home grew out of the ground to complement the surrounding golf course and forest.”
Clearly, this designer and business owner wears many hats. But thanks to family and faith, this multitasking mom is able to stay grounded and continue to focus on her purpose. We spoke with Ashley about going after your dreams, her upcoming projects, and what she hopes her legacy will be. We finished this interview feeling inspired, and we hope you do, too!
You grew up surrounded by creative women. How did that help you develop your creative vision?
With an artist mother, an antique-obsessed stepmother, and four eccentric grandmothers who loved their incredibly unique homes, I learned that anything is possible with creative vision, and architecture allows for equally beautiful homes despite stylistic differences. I have yet to design a home that resembles another, and I am fearless when it comes to trying new things.
How does that impact how you mother your children?
Interior design is an incredibly stressful profession; I miss the logic of law at times…managing one’s home, money, relationship, and underwear drawer is inevitably going to have complications. Testing one’s grace as the mediator between the trades and clients models resiliency. My kids see me in all the roles it takes to build something beautiful; they watch hard work and humor create structures that would otherwise not exist. As my daughter has said, “I love my mom; she is so crazy and classy.” Truth be told, creative crazy works!
Many people feel that they aren’t following their passion when it comes to their careers, but they feel afraid to take the chance on something new, especially if they have a job that they’ve had to get an advanced degree for or work their way up the corporate ladder to obtain. What gave you the confidence to make a significant job chance, and what advice would you give others pondering the same decision?
My father once said, “If you do what you love, you can’t help but end up successful.” Work is more than a job and is more meaningful when driven by passion. I love people and the ability to create. There is an irreplaceable energy that results from following your heart; it’s contagious. If you’re all work and no heart, you are missing the root source of joy. No job can be more meaningful than experiencing life with joy.
What inspires your design collections?
Clients, nature, vintage cars/furniture, versatility…I design pieces that celebrate the sustainable materials used and are versatile enough to move with the client through time. Custom pieces allow for personal connection, a story between client and piece, a story I hope generations tell for years to come, much like the story I tell about my grandmother’s dining, now current studio conference table. I design pieces I pray inspire others to be mindful of consumption-buy right, buy once.
How does being a mother affect the way that you approach interiors?
Functionality, comfort, and durability are key to lasting design. Two kids, three dogs, and beachside living make me all too aware of wear and tear on a home. At one point, my son had his basketball goal in the living room, and why not?
What made you expand your business from interior design to include creating a product line?
Mass-produced furniture is like fast food; it lacks quality and creates intolerable waste. Although the design trade offers beautiful well, well-made pieces, not all clients want to invest in some of my favorite lines, nor are they being made with health in mind. My line is handmade in the US, non-toxic, inside green, and factors in personalization. American-made products create jobs, impacting the employment opportunities in this country. Non-toxic products reduce inflammatory reactions. Natural products can be broken down and recycled. Sustainable products are made to last. Personalized products create a connection, a reason to hold on versus replace…I want to inspire others to see the big picture in consumption and purchase meaningfully.
Clearly, sustainability is a huge part of the ethos of your brand- what makes this topic so important to you?
If a trash truck never came to your home again, how would you handle your waste? Trash is not magically disappearing; at some point, we will all wish we had thought about this sooner. I get it and care enough to provide a step toward the solution.
What’s next for you personally and professionally?
I am incredibly excited to launch my furniture collection to the public and share projects for the first time with publications. I am ready to talk about solutions and create a means to work toward educating on the design process and means to reduce waste while creating jobs and increasing connections. I am building my first personal home, filming the process, and hope to glamorize the trades and products that will make it last as long as my 1927 home. If you build right, you build once. I want to change the way we look at waste in this country and make that viewpoint contagious.
With so much on your plate, what are some of the ways you stay grounded?
My faith, my faith and my faith…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Exercise, nature, dinner with kids, walks with dogs and remembering peace is a choice, happiness is a virtue, forgiveness is a gift and love is all we leave and take with us when it ends.
You talk a lot about your work being part of your legacy. What is the legacy you want to leave behind, both personally and professionally?
I want to empower my kids to think beyond themselves, recognize their ability to create change, and live with grace. I want my clients, tradesmen, and associates to do the same. Legacy is a gift you incite in others, a chance to live beyond yourself and time and make the world a better place along the way. I want to know this world will be left a better place because of my ideas and resilience.
