Meet The Sól Shade Queen

Hey Sólmates! I am thrilled to be writing this blog to formally introduce you to myself. My name is Ashley Renee Malone and I am the Founder and CEO of Tinted Sól! I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but was raised in Florida since I was a baby. I have lived in Miami, Florida since I was 4 years old, so Miami is truly home to me. I have two loving parents, a twin sister, and two brothers (one older and one younger). I graduated from Florida Atlantic University with my Bachelor's in Management with a double major in Real Estate. I received my Master's in Leadership from Nova Southeastern University's school of Business. Coming up, entrepreneurship was something that was instilled in me by my father. I always knew I would own a business one day, multiple businesses even, I just didn't know where I would start. For years I toyed around with a number of ideas for business that I wanted to start. I would get an idea, come up with a name and partial business plan and then I would just stop. Over time, I began to get frustrated with myself for my inability to commit to one idea. When the pandemic initially hit, I found myself having more time in isolation (due to COVID). That allowed me time to stop and reevaluate my life and what I wanted out of it. I realized that I was selling myself short by not maximizing all the potential that I had. I decided enough was enough and that I needed to put forth the effort to really create the life that I always envisioned for myself. Around February 2021, an idea just hit me out of nowhere. I said to myself, "I should create an eyewear brand". For most of my life, I have LOVED sunglasses. I can remember being in my teenage years and always wearing them. I wore them inside and outside, day or night! I loved them that much. My obsession only grew as I got older. At any given time I would have at least 30 pair in my collection. When the idea for an eyewear business came to me, it just made sense and I thought to myself "why didn't you think of this sooner?". I don't think it took me a full 24 hours to come up with the name. I was riding in my car when Tinted Sól just hit me. Fun fact: Initially it was spelled Soul. When I told my brother about the name he said "you could spell it Sól like the sun" and I was like "That's IT". Sól is the Latin word for sun and it connected with my brand even more. From there, I worked night and day creating my brand. In a matter of a couple of months I had all my business registrations completed, a logo, website, and product samples coming in from my supplier. I hit the ground running and I did not stop! Truth be told, I was afraid to stop because I knew if I did, there was a possibility that I wouldn't start again. I had done that too many times to make the same mistake, so I vowed to keep going and never stop. National Sunglasses Day is June 27th, and that is the day I announced the launch of Tinted Sól. On July 30, 2021 I officially opened my online store for business. I have never been so excited and nervous about anything in my life, but I decided to do it scared! I knew I didn't have everything completely figured out, but I did it anyway and it's been one of the best decisions I ever made. As my business grows and my knowledge and understanding of how to run an e-commerce brand increases, I make adjustments and improvements. I am always striving to be the best version of myself. It is important for me to maintain a brand that gives its customers (aka Sólmates) a quality product and experience every time. Consistency is important and I want people to know they can trust this brand to deliver them quality in every area possible. Tinted Sól is still a baby and I cannot wait to see how the brand evolves over the next couple of years. I have so many exciting visions and ideas and I know that with persistent hard work and dedication, they will become a reality. I hope you continue to stay connected with myself and Tinted Sól, because we are Sólmates and that's what Sólmates do! Until next time...

Stay Sólful,

Ashley aka The Sól Shade Queen