From childhood, Aisi Ellis knew that just like her family, she had an entrepreneurial spirit. Her story as an entrepreneur began early by selling Jolly Ranchers to her classmates. She remembers the moment she learned her investment could double, she had discovered ROI.
Working with her mother, Aisi learned that the aspect of the job she enjoyed most was getting products and precisely placing items on shelves. She gained more and more knowledge and felt confident that she needed to take a step back from the family business. The next move for her was building something for herself, but she wasn’t sure how that would look. The vision was to be doing what she has a passion for without it feeling like she was showing up to work each day. Her mother told her, “You don’t like things out of place. That’s just who you are. That’s how you were born.” helping her to realize she should be a professional organizer.
She started a business doing just that in 2017. Her company will identify the client’s clutter channels and address the challenges that created the clutter. By organizing, she is allowing others to get more enjoyment out of their life.
Working with the City.
When starting her company Ask Aisi, Aisi found NAPO, National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals. Being a professional member of NAPO, she is part of a larger group consisting of fellow organizing professionals. In discussions with the group, no one was clear whether a business license is needed for the nature of her business.
She lived in Peoria during a difficult point in her life but always thought that Peoria had a charming small-town feel, in a huge state, which she enjoyed. As her client base grew in Peoria, she wanted to make sure everything was absolutely compliant. She wanted to try to get a business license. She first connected with the City of Peoria through the Peoria Chamber. She wasn’t sure what the purpose of the Chamber was initially. She attended a Women4Women networking event and felt greatly supported by the welcoming environment of the group. It was there she met a chamber staff member who offered her support the process of getting her business license.
Getting over the long apprehensiveness she has had about getting a business license was made extremely simple by going in person and submitting the application to the City of Peoria. Aisi speaks highly of her business’s experience with the City of Peoria, noting the process was relatively easy on her and her wallet. She encourages business owners looking to navigate business licenses to reach out to people and ask good questions to learn how to determine how to navigate the business license process.
Building Peoria into a place.
When asked what she would like to see in the Peoria entrepreneurial ecosystem, Aisi wants entrepreneurs to have a bigger voice and share more knowledge better each other. She feels that entrepreneurs and business owners should be supporting each other in their struggles. When asked what that support looks like, she said, “More hands-on help, Let’s get together and actually do stuff.”
Aisi is creating her vision for the Peoria entrepreneurial ecosystem by participating in local mastermind groups and serving as a committee member for 1 Million Cups.
Up Next For Ask Aisi
Aisi says that a goal she has coming up for next quarter is to take social media by storm. Coming up, she also plans to spend some time supporting the launch of a book that she collaborated in writing called The Lemonade Stand. If you are interested in learning more from Aislinn Ellis, come connect with her at an upcoming 1 Million Cups Phoenix West Valley. Aisi is an organizer for the weekly event for entrepreneurs at Office Evolution Peoria.
Background
Peoria Forward is a strategic partnership between the City of Peoria and ASU Entrepreneurship + Innovation Drawing on the combined strengths and expertise of the City of Peoria and Arizona State University Entrepreneurship + Innovation, this strategic partnership places tools, training and resources in the hands of our leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators to build a self-sustaining entrepreneurial ecosystem in the west valley. Peoria Forward is an opportunity for the citizens of Peoria to shape a high-impact (vision) the future of our City through entrepreneurship/ community development.
This article is part of a series of blogs amplifying the wisdom and words of west valley innovators and entrepreneurial leaders building the ecosystem.
