In seventh grade, while her classmates were focusing on getting through middle school, Ashley Nordinger was opening her own business.
“I have always been into making my own money,” she says. “When I was younger, I would spend my summers coming up with ways to make a little cash. I heard about Etsy when I was in middle school, and I thought the whole concept of being able to have your own online store was really cool.”
So Nordinger opened an Etsy store selling baby bows, which unfortunately didn’t last.
“The baby bow market was already very saturated on Etsy, and I didn’t know the target market well enough,” she says.
However, Nordinger learned from the experience and opened a new store two years later. In addition to entrepreneurship, she is passionate about fashion and was inspired by one of her own projects: turning “mom jeans” from Goodwill into high-waisted shorts.
“I thought they looked really good, so I decided to capitalize on the idea,” she says. “I created an Etsy store, listed the shorts and the rest is history!”
In the beginning, her business, Nostalgic, sold only custom-made, high-waisted shorts. During her junior year, Nordinger purchased a screen printer and had great success selling a T-shirt inspired by the hit show American Horror Story. And this year, she discovered that “ravers” and musical festivalgoers were a huge market for her tie-dyed items. She has adjusted her brand and product line accordingly and now averages fifteen sales a day.
“The key to my business’ success has been my ability to evolve with the trends and always offer something unique,” Nordinger says. “My made-to-order items and excellent customer service offer online shoppers a much more personalized experience than they’re able to find at the mall.”
Nordinger also says she likes that running her own business allows her the freedom and opportunity to be creative.
“I don’t have to take orders from anyone, and it has given me the ability to be financially independent,” she says.
Nordinger is currently a senior at Wellington High School and in the fall will be attending Florida State University to study entrepreneurship.
“I plan on continuing my business in college,” she says. “I think I would be lost without it. I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. My long-term goals are to directly sell my items at the music festivals that many of my customers attend to eventually have a physical store.”
Nordinger encourages other young entrepreneurs to build their business around something they’re passionate about and to not put off pursuing entrepreneurship just because they’re young.
“The challenges I’ve faced mainly have to do with my age,” she says. “Especially when I first started, some people didn’t take me seriously. I think I have been able to prove them wrong with my success.”
