Ashley Rachel Villa Blazed Her Own Career Path
“I trust Ashley Rachel Villa with my life,” says Jenn Im. The Internet style star has been working with LA’s digital media mogul for half a decade, creating a career that goes beyond clickbait to include beauty collaborations, branded TV episodes, and even a clothing line. Now Villa runs RARE Global, a branding and management firm that’s female-owned and female-run. (It stands for RISE AND RULE EVERYDAY.) Villa’s also the creator of the Be Rare Foundation, a global network that aims to nurture the next generation of women in business leadership.
But Villa didn’t start out as an Instagram maven. Her first gigs happened through law school, where she clerked for Judge Margaret M. Morrow. (She’s still a member of the California State Bar Association.) As she explored entertainment and trademark law, she realized successful digital style stars were lacking legal and financial direction-and she resolved to do something about it.
Here’s how Villa went from following in Elle Woods’ footsteps to speaking with ELLE.com…
When you were in law school, did you know you wanted to run a company? Or did you want to be like Olivia Benson in 'Law & Order'?
First of all, Law & Order is one of my favorite shows of all time! But all through law school, I literally thought I wanted to be a trademark attorney. I thought I was the type of person who wanted to get in the office and get out. I had the mentality of, “Vacations are when you have fun. The office is not going to be enjoyable. Just accept it and hope to make enough money to help my family and get by.” It’s kind of a strange mentality, but my parents are very Asian-first generation Chinese! In that culture, you’re told to be an accountant, an attorney, or a doctor. It’s like, “Get your work done and call it a day.”
When did that mentality change?
One of my mentors in law school was like, “Ash you’re a go getter. You’re a hustler. You’re going to be a CEO and an entrepreneur.” I thought, “No way! I don’t want that on my shoulders! Let me go into work and come home.” I thought I’d report to The Man and that’s it. Only after I started getting the ball rolling and realizing I needed to run my own business did I have this vision for a female-run, female-led lifestyle. It was only then-and only after I’d worked at Lionsgate, and I’d worked at Stylehaul, and seen how fashion and entertainment media worked-that I decided, “I can do this on my own.”
Did working for a female judge influence your mission of a female-led workplace?
When you put it like that, absolutely. I’ve never thought about it that way, but it’s so true. Judge Morrow is a freaking boss. I remember her just hammering through all these cases, getting briefs, working crazy hours. Her diligence, attention to detail, and going above and beyond was so inspirational to me. Also, my direct supervisor was an amazing clerk and so smart. I saw her getting things done, and not leaving any details unturned. That was the first time I saw a female group; the judge, the clerks, and I, we were all women. And I think that might have been one of the first times I saw a boss lady in action. It was such hard work, and amazing. It was challenging but motivating. It was great.
What made you know you were ready for your own business?
You know, I think you gain enough confidence to realize you can do it on your own. As long as you work hard, something will become of that work. That’s the truth. Put work into your goals and something has to happen. When that lucky moment strikes where there’s an opportunity for you to rise, if you’ve put in enough work and you’ve had enough experience and confidence, only good things can happen from that. For example, when I started managing Jenn Im and getting into the nitty-gritty of digital contracts for style bloggers-at the time, there were very few digital media attorneys! I had to write a lot of these deals from scratch. “What’s an Instagram story? What’s a branded story? How do we represent that in a contract?” And I was ready for that work. I’d prepared for it.
As a CEO, what do you look for when you hire new talent?
Honestly, good help is hard to find. It’s hard to know someone’s work ethic, loyalty, and overall ability from one meeting. It would be amazing to work with someone a couple weeks and decide if they’re good enough! And I’m very honest in that I’m very demanding. I start work very early in the day, and I don’t end until quite late. We work at night; we work on the weekends. It’s a full-time job. You need to be available 24/7. And because I demand that level of commitment, I also realize that women who work here? They kind of need to want my job, some day in the future. As a CEO, I need to be someone’s mentor. I don’t want someone coming to work for me; I want them to work with me. I want to build people up. I want to hire and train other women to take top jobs. Come work, come learn, and come earn a place very high up in this company. I look for a desire to want to move up, and to do big things here.
How do you decide someone’s ready for a promotion?
Of course you need talent. You need great relationships. You need respect for yourself. You need to be confident. But I also look for loyalty. Someone who wants to stay and build with me. And because my work ethic is so intense, of course I look for someone very hardworking… We’re a small, female-owned, female-run company. I promote women committed to being part of that.
What about asking for a raise?
I definitely believe you need to be compensated for what you’re worth. But that means you have to ask, “What am I worth right now?” Look into yourself first. Get the confidence to know that if someone else-say a man-is making more money than you, and you do the same job, and you’ve been there for the same amount of time, you deserve to make that money. Sit down with your boss and say, “This is what I see in the company, and this is what I need to stay motivated.” Unfortunately, in a lot of work circumstances, women are stereotyped to be more emotional than men. Asking for a raise is not the time to be emotional. Be super-rational. Make firm comparisons about your work, your accomplishments, your position. Then say, “This is what I deserve.” Be direct and come in with the facts and the logic of why you deserve a raise, and how it benefits the company to give you more money.
What’s your take on a modern power outfit?
I wear pants. When I show up to a meeting, I’m in my suit. I usually wear some kind of long trench, a pretty blouse, and then these amazing pants. Usually they’re from Aritzia-I love Aritzia pants! I pretty much build my style off the various pants they have there. I couple it with studded Louboutins or my simple YSL slip-on heels. I have them in nude and black. If I’m really feeling bossy, I’ll wear pointed-toe black boots. That’s a little more scary, but sometimes I like to be scary-but in a fun, fashion way! I just want to look the part sometimes. I pair it with a simple bag that’s not too big-no clunking around! I like a super-simple black shoulder bag. It goes with everything, and it’s not about a trend-it’s about being the boss.
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