Scroll to Shop: Building a Brand in the Instagram Era with Ashley Stark
Join us for a special session in our founders-in-home series featuring Ashley Stark Kenner—Creative Director of STARK, founder of Ashley Stark Home, and the influential tastemaker behind @ashleytstark’s 1.5M-strong Instagram following.
From her early days immersed in her family’s legendary carpet business to building her own namesake brand and design destination, Ashley has transformed a lifetime of style, heritage, and digital influence into a fast-growing e-commerce venture. She’s charting a new path—one that bridges legacy and innovation, trade and direct-to-consumer, curation and commerce.
This virtual fireside chat, moderated by Female Founder Collective CEO Alison Wyatt, will unpack how Ashley scaled from a curated Instagram feed into a multi-category design brand and what it takes to turn creative instincts into commercial success.
What You’ll Learn:
How Ashley transformed her Instagram following into a thriving e-commerce business
What founders should know about cultivating a loyal audience before launching a product
How she leveraged the STARK legacy while building a distinct brand of her own
The realities of growing a new company inside a multi-generational business
Lessons on pricing, positioning, and appealing to the aspirational consumer
Whether you're a founder in home, design, or lifestyle—or simply looking to understand how personal brand and family legacy can work hand-in-hand—this conversation will be rich with insights, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes learnings from one of the most stylish entrepreneurs in interiors today.
MORE ABOUT ASHLEY:
Ashley Stark Kenner is the Creative Director of STARK, the force behind the influential @ashleytstark Instagram account which has more than 1.5 million followers, and the stylish namesake behind Ashley Stark Home. At an early age, she fell in love with the legendary carpet and textile company founded by her grandparents, which led to a life that immersed her in design, honed her eye, sharpened her sense of quality, and drove her desire to learn every aspect of the business from the bottom up. She has worked directly with artisans in Nepal as they sit on long looms hand-knotting rugs, adjusted color combinations in person at factories in India, and checked for quality as rugs dry on rooftops in the Nepalese sunshine. She understands every step that goes into making an heirloom rug — one with both the looks and quality to last for generations.
In 2022, Ashley co-founded Ashley Stark Home—a new destination for rugs and design collaborations. Every piece captures her signature style and skillfully juxtaposes unexpected touches with classic elements that feel right in any setting, from a chic coastal retreat to an urban apartment to a mountain town escape—and it couldn’t have come from anyone but Ashley.