Ashley Loveless did it on her own.
The finance industry veteran already found her way to seven figures before she decided to launch her latest idea in a new lane. About four years ago, Loveless decided to enter the tech lane with her app ChewTyme, an app similar to Doordash or Uber Eats, but with Black restaurants instead. The app is in its beta stage now and is available in Houston and Atlanta. She plans to launch the app in five more states in June.
Loveless discussed it all during a recent interview with rolling out.
How is ChewTyme different from similar apps?
I’ve been in the financial industry for 18 years in the personal credit and business credit space. So, with the app, I have a business credit software called New Credit Inc. Business University. So this app allows business owners and restaurant owners [to] sign up for the app [and] I charge monthly to access the app…. They’ll be able to build their business credit profiles out, access funding, and connect with lenders who may be able to help them get funding working capital equipment.
The reason I wanted to create this app is because I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners — the rest of [my clients] are almost in every industry — and I noticed a lot of the things they battled with is having capital. They use their funds to run these businesses, using their savings. So what happens is, once they deplete those savings, they’re “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” because they don’t know what resources are out there for them. So I wanted to integrate what I was already doing, which is the financial aspect, into the app to be able to help individuals scale their brands and be able to eventually branch out and create other businesses, or just take their brand to the next level.
What is your advice to every aspiring Black woman entrepreneur?
Most importantly, I would say, stay consistent. Make sure you surround yourself with individuals who are where you want to be.
One of the things that has been very successful for me was getting into rooms with other individuals who have already reached the level of success I wanted to obtain. No matter how hard the journey got, they’ve done it. And if I have to repeat it, I have to keep going, I have to keep pushing, I have to keep striving and I have to stick to the vision.
I knew a long time ago, years ago, I used to always say I was a millionaire before I even became a millionaire. I saw it moving in that way mentally like I had already made it there. I just continued to get into the room. Most importantly, create a vision, create a plan of action, stick with it, do the research, and invest in yourself. Never stop investing in yourself.
