What is your name?
Ashley Dufresne
What is your title?
Founder & CEO
What is your business name?
Ashley Irene Boutique
What is your website URL?
👉 www.ashleyireneboutique.com
What is your Instagram handle?
@ashleyireneboutique
What is your LinkedIn URL?
👉 linkedin.com/in/ashley-dufresne
How long have you been a Boston Business Women member?
2 years
Where are you based? How did you end up there?
Cape Cod! Ashley and her husband moved there 3 years ago, instantly fell in love, and never wanted to leave.
Tell us more about your company! What do you do and what pushed you to start?
Ashley Irene Boutique is a size-inclusive women’s clothing boutique, launched just over a year ago online. After struggling to find clothes that fit her plus-size, apple-shaped body, Ashley wanted to create a space for women of all body shapes and sizes. The boutique focuses on personal shopping appointments to help women find styles that fit, flatter, and make them feel comfortable.
What is your definition of success? How do you know when you’ve reached it?
Success, for now, is creating a brand that empowers women of all shapes and sizes to feel accepted, loved, and beautiful. Ashley expects her definition of success to evolve as the business grows, while keeping her core values intact.
Tell us about your most transformational moment as an entrepreneur.
Opening her first Brick & Mortar in Mashpee Commons and realizing how many women connected with the brand, mission, and business. She realized she could turn her dream into a living.
What was one of your biggest challenges in business?
Learning to adapt to not knowing everything. Ashley embraced asking for help and leveraging the knowledge of brilliant people around her, which allowed her to grow faster.
How do you handle the harder days? The struggles? Those moments when you feel like giving up?
By connecting with customers and understanding their needs. Seeing a customer leave feeling confident and happy is empowering and fuels her to continue growing.
How has being a Boston Business Women Inner Circle member positively influenced your life + business?
N/A
Tell us about your most proud moment in your career.
When a young customer visiting her store remarked:
“I’ve never seen someone who looks like me modeling before.”
This moment reinforced Ashley’s mission and the importance of staying true to her core values.
Who is the woman behind your business? What does she like? How does she spend her free time? What does she value?
Ashley is a lover of people and shopping. She’s an extrovert who draws energy from meeting new people and building relationships. She values her friends, family, husband, and the people who bring joy and purpose to her life.
What makes you stand out from others in your field? What do you do differently?
While media often defines beauty by waist size, Ashley Irene Boutique emphasizes that beauty is within. The brand focuses on trust, love, acceptance, and support.
Where can we keep up with you? What social media platforms do you use the most?
Instagram