Ashlea Road was created back in March 1997 when a close girlfriend of mine, Vicki Wilson and I decided a little dress shop was needed in our country town of Wingham. It was Vicki who had the brilliant idea and I had the easy decision to accept her as a business partner. From there we shared the first 6 years of the Ashlea Road story. During those early years, we made a lot of happy memories and shared great success in our growing business. It was sad to see Vicki and Brian leave the area but the time had come for them to grow their Dairy business in Tamworth. The journey on Ashlea Road has been, at times, not an easy one but I am here after 24 years and am feeling mighty proud of arriving at this point, here, WITH THE DOORS STILL WIDE OPEN FOR TRADE! I can honestly say now, I LOVE WHAT I DO! I am sure it is because I have gone through the good times and the not so good - drought, bushfires, Covid, just to name a few, that I can now feel the satisfaction and gratitude of just what went on leading up to this place of happiness! I didn’t really know my strengths until now. I have found out that I have the ability to genuinely connect with people and understand what my customer is seeking – whether it be that perfect outfit for a special occasion or whether it be a shoulder to cry on or whether it is they simply want to escape from their busy and stressful lives to browse my beautiful shop knowing that there is no pressure of having to purchase anything"I love how a customer once told me they have come to their happy place! How nice is that to hear! It is music to my ears, that this is how the customer sees and feels when in-store at Ashlea Road.

"I love how a customer once told me they have come to their happy place! How nice is that to hear! It is music to my ears, that this is how the customer sees and feels when in-store at Ashlea Road."

 I also found out that I have a good eye for picking, what I think, is beautiful and different pieces for my store. When I am purchasing stock, I nearly always think of which customer will love this piece or who this dress would look beautiful on, but sometimes or maybe more often, I just love it and have to have it for Ashlea Road and hope that someone will love that piece as much as myself!

When people enter my boutique for the first time, they nearly always leave me with saying beautiful comments like “Such a beautiful store” and “I can’t believe this store is in Wingham!” and “This boutique could be leading it alongside with the big ones in Sydney or Melbourne!” These comments are what truly inspire me even more to make my boutique one of the best!