Ashley Qualls update

[byzantium]

Some of you may remember Ashley Qualls, the Detroit-area teenager who was featured in Fast Company last September. There was recently a short article on her in a tabloid, and that article claimed that she is now clearing $1 million a MONTH. She's apparently upped her salary to $3,000. She's revamped her site with a more mature and easier to navigate layout, and she's made over herself too-she apparently cut her hair short and dyed it black then bleached highlights into it, and she now wears "smart person" type glasses. The tabloid article didn't say how much she's now spending on servers, but to go from $70k to $1mil a month in revenues is quite significant. Apparently her best friend Bre is now a full time employee. Her site now boasts 3,500 layouts that work with most social networking sites except Facebook. Who says you need to be an insider to make a billion dollar website? Soon she'll be able to command $1 billion for her site, and then will have it made.

[jasaunders]

What's your point?

[stand856]

to get points?

[usakos]

s/he is simply telling a success story to may be inspire people like me. thanks for the info, it's inspirational.

[BusinessAdviser]

What's your point?

to get points?

The exact same two questions have been popping into my head a lot lately, particularly with regard to all the non-entrepreneurship-related news stories posted. If I wanted to read the news, I'd be on another site. I can't think of any reason for such posts other than to try to rack up points. Oh, well. Maybe I'm alone here.

[usakos]

The story of Ashley Qualls posted above has absolutely everything to do with the YE community. Ashley Qualls is a phenomenon entrepreneur, she was featured in either CBS Evening News or one of the CBS 60 Minutes news magazines.

If can recall how Ashley Qualls started out, she simply started out designing MySpace page layouts for her friends and associates, she was just a little girl then, and she turned her hobby of simply creating layouts from her bedroom into a successful business. I may not be correct but that's what I can recall.

So, if you ask me what this thread is for? I'd say that this thread tells the story of a successful entrepreneur in an unlikely industry; page layouts.

We're all entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs wannabee on here, right? So, if we can't discuss entrepreneurs like Ashley Qualls and similar stories here on YE, then what can we talk about? How do we empower ourselves and encourage each other if we can't discuss topics that are related to whatever may inspire us or teach us something new.

I always used to think that I knew a lot, but I have learned a great deal of stuff on here, then on any other site. I used to spend a lot of time on Digg, StumbleUpon.com, WebWare.com, etc., but on here, we discuss real issues that affect us, me personally. When one asks a question and the other person answers, in each answer, I always, almost find and learn something new.

In fact, I like it when users on here post news stories from around the Web, because instead of roaming the Net looking for stories, if one user posts a newsworthy story on here may be from elsewhere on the Net, it saves me time to go around and learn it from elsewhere, since I am already here. So, I enjoy reading what other users post on here. I may not respond to every thread, but I like it. So, again, if we don't post stuff on here, then we simply become inactive.

If we don't discuss stuff like this, then there's really no point for me to even come here on YE any more, I can just bury myself into my work and read news stories elsewhere. What's the point of coming here if lately, everything one posts on here is scrutinized, even stuff that don't particularly point to one specific or the other individual on here? I know that my presence on here means nothing, but if we can't engage in discuss topics like this thread and similar stuff; I'll move on and stop coming to this site. It's changing, it's not the same as it used to be, no wonder most old users are no longer here. And the bad thing is that, lately the current Mods of YE don't even care to try diffuse the tension on this forum.

I remember a few days back, the editor of the YE blog created a thread on here asking us to post names of successful celebrities entrepreneurs, so, Ashley Qualls is one of those names unmentioned on that thread, because she has become a celebrity in her own way too.

Oh, by the way, what do people use the YE points for? I don't get it and I have never tried to find out what they are used for.

I just found this link about Ashley, learn more about her at Wikipedia.org.

[BusinessAdviser]

I, like Usakos, actually do see the relevance of this post.

However, I've seen some regarding the existence of random cities in Japan, what members' parents do, having the flu, science homework, piercings and tattoos, etc. I suppose this IS a forum and we DO have the First Amendment right of free speech, but I just don't see the point of many such posts on a niche site like this, other than to try to rack up points. You know, I guess THAT would at least provide an explanation for the posts.

[Cole Taylor]

<SNIP>other than to try to rack up points. You know, I guess THAT would at least provide a reason for the posts.

LOL...dont worry nobody's catching you anytime soon!

[BusinessAdviser]

LOL...dont worry nobody's catching you anytime soon!

Aw, yes! Cole, my friend, one my three biggest advocates! How could I expect to not here another attempted knock from you. Haha. Thanks for not forgetting about me, kid.

[jasaunders]

This Ashley Qualls thing has been posted before on the forum. No new information is posted here. Moreover, numbers are thrown out at random and to me, don't appear credible. Please show me where her company has been valued at $1 billion or soon will be (I'm not saying it's not, it just doesn't sound likely).

And who cares if she has black hair and glasses and hired her best friend Bre? I have a dog named Snuggles. That's about as relevant as this girl having glasses.

I agree with Jonathon about the random news being posted on this site. I come here for original content on entrepreneurship, not to read the news. I don't even like business news posted on here, I get that from other sources already. That's the whole point of RSS feeds, they aggregate exactly the information you want and deliver it to you. If you come to YE to get all or most of your news in one place, you may want to consider trying RSS, it's a lot better.

[byzantium]

Geeze, I was trying to show how somebody who got a lot of press last fall has progressed as an entrepreneur and as a person as her business has grown. Bre Newby, the best friend, was a significant element of the Fast Company article, if you remember. The article said Ashley was hiring her friends as part time employees, so I think it's significant that she has progressed to hiring them full time. As most entrepreneurs know, best friends do not necessarily make good employees or partners. To hire your best friend as a full time employee, and suffer through the inevitable changes in the relationship as best friend becomes key paid employee, takes a lot of guts.

America is littered with friendships that have been utterly ruined because some dork thought that his/her best friend would make an ideal business partner. Look at Robert Kiyosaki, who roped his friends into his failed first business and lost them forever as a result. With females, friendships are even more important, and when friendship mixes with work it often results in catfights.

In addition, I was attempting to show how she'd grown with her business. The site redesign, and her new personal style, clearly shows how she's matured as her business has grown to reel in $1 million a year (not a month, I misread the article). $1 million a year is a big number when you're 17. How many 17 year old girls make $1 million a year?

As for my "point", it's hard to see how this is not related to entrepreneurship. It's about a successful entrepreneur. I was hoping we could all learn something from Ashley's story. I guess I was wrong. This certainly has nothing to do with towns in Japan named Obama.

[jasaunders]

If you had put this much analysis in your first post, the purpose would have been clear and the conversation is definately applicable to entrepreneurship. But you didn't explain any of this at the beginning, so it seemed like a random post.

[GonnaBthere]

As a new member, I have to say that I liked that story. It was very inspirational. I think it's helpful when you hear/read stories like this. As an entrepreneur, it's difficult to try to find a niche or a business that nobody has done yet. When you see that somebody else has made their business a successful one, and so recently, you get inspired to continue to follow your own dreams. Knowing that people are making it, right before your eyes, gives me a sense of possibility that I too can do it.

By the way, what are those points for? And how do you quote and respond multiple times on one post like I've seen people do?