The Power Move That Changed My Business: Betting on Myself

By Ashley Griffin

The room buzzed with laughter and conversation, women clinking glasses, trying on vintage bags, and swapping stories with strangers who already felt like friends. Everywhere I looked, I saw smiles. Guests posed in front of mirrors, adjusting straps, laughing as they showed each other how the bags looked on. The energy was pure joy, a room full of women feeling seen, celebrated, and stylish.

That is The Nouvou. And it started when I made the hardest power move of my life: betting on myself.

The Nouvou is a luxury resale and personalization brand that pairs designer handbags with custom charms and community-driven experiences. What makes it different is not just the products, it is the purpose. I built The Nouvou to center the women who have always driven culture but are often erased from the fashion conversation: Black and Brown women. My power move was creating a platform where our stories and influence are not just acknowledged but celebrated.

Betting on myself was not glamorous. It was terrifying. Starting a business is not a clean strategy but a daily leap into the unknown. One day you are a marketer, the next you are an accountant, then you are hauling inventory or negotiating contracts you have never seen before. As a solo founder, the questions never stop: Can I really do this? Am I good enough? What if I fail?

I spent nearly a decade supporting CEOs as an Executive Assistant in Silicon Valley. The more senior I became, the bigger and riskier the tasks I was trusted with: investor meetings, global travel, complex board prep, high-stakes decisions. I pulled it off for others every single time. The turning point came when I asked myself: What if I believed I could do that for me?

The leap into The Nouvou happened after a destabilizing period in my career. Like so many Black women in the last few years, I was laid off from a six-figure role in tech. The numbers are staggering: since 2022, more than 300,000 Black women have lost their jobs, despite being the most educated demographic in the country. Those statistics are more than headlines; they are lived experiences.

I could have played it safe, searching for another role where my work stayed behind the scenes. Instead, I decided to bet on myself.

That belief is what got The Nouvou off the ground. When I hosted my first major activation, I had almost no budget. I pulled off an entire event, décor, setup, food, and experiences, for under $300. It was scrappy, but it worked. We sold charms, boosted visibility across social media, and even sold a bag right after the event. That night taught me what I remind myself every day: progress is built one step at a time.

This journey is slow, sometimes brutally slow. It takes discipline, patience, and the courage to keep showing up even when the results are not instant. Some days the wins are big, a new collaboration, a major sale, a feature like this. Other days, the wins are small, finding the right supplier or testing an ad that resonates. Both matter. Both count.

The most powerful move I ever made was deciding that I did not need permission. I just needed faith.

Every skill I developed supporting others, every risk I took on their behalf, prepared me to lead for myself. Today, The Nouvou is still growing, but its purpose is clear: to create space for the women who have always shaped fashion and to prove that adversity, when paired with persistence, can be fuel.

Because betting on yourself is not about knowing everything. It is about trusting that you will learn what you need, when you need it, and believing that step by step, you will get there.

Connect With Ashley

www.instagram.com/the_nouvou

www.thenouvou.co