Meet Ashley McDonough | Founder of Melanin On The Map

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley McDonough and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I officially became an entrepreneur July 1st 2019, but the journey to it, has been years in the making. An avid traveler my whole life, I always knew that one day I wanted to create a brand and business that connected passionate travel lovers just like me and strategized just what that would look like years before the official launch of Melanin On The Map. I knew I didn’t want to be another beautiful picture-filled Instagram page, with no real substance but I wanted more for the community I envisioned. I wanted to create real life experiences, income opportunities and other beautiful brands in affiliation to ours. I wanted to show people that their travel dreams and dream life could happen, because it happened for me.

Fast forward a couple years before the birth of Melanin On The Map, I moved to Granda, Spain for a short time to study aboard. While aboard I really got to connect with the locals, documented my entire journey and there it hit me, the business I’ve been dreaming of for years. I began to really hone in on the overall business plan, moved back to the United States, and before you knew it, Melanin On the Map was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to work for myself. The idea of creating something from nothing, following God’s purpose he placed on my heart and consequently being able to financially sustain a lifestyle for myself has always been the dream.

My passion for travel was just that extra push I needed, because now it wasn’t just my dream I would be able to fulfill, but so many other travel lovers dreams worldwide. I knew pursuing my dream as a business owner, would create so many opportunities for others just like me, and that in itself drove me to take the leap.

Now don’t get me wrong, that leap was years in the making and filled with many challenges to get to it where it is now. If you want to talk about challenges, let’s talk about building a travel business in the midst of a global pandemic directly targeting the travel industry. Remember, Melanin On The Map was born mid-late 2019, just a few short months before Coronavirus changed the world as we knew it. While the world was crumbling right before our very eyes, so was the business, I worked so hard to build, less than a year into inception. The timing, couldn’t have been any worse for me, but somehow even in the midst, I knew this was just apart of the testimony.

I remember it like it was yesterday, young, fresh entrepreneur, excited for all the new doors my business was going to open for me. I recently moved to Los Angeles, and quit my job to give entrepreneurship my very all. At the time, I was only 24, single, college educated, I figured….now or never. Much to my surprise, God wanted to see how bad I really wanted the success I was dreaming of, because Covid-19 changed everything.

Through it all, I would say I learned resilience, I learned about staying the course, and most importantly remaining true to the vision no matter what comes your way. Entrepreneurship is the hardest thing, I’ve ever had to do, and anyone else in my position at the time, could’ve surely given up, but God didn’t place the vision on my heart for me to not do anything with it, so I just kept on moving forward.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being a Black Owned Business, I’m always going to support our fellow Black owned business and Atlanta has some of the best spots in the country! I love a nice chill vibe, good food, drinks and music so it doesn’t take much to make me happy! Some of my favorites would be:

Negril ATL

Pasha

Roc South Cuisine

Ms Icey’s Dinner & Bar

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my grandmother, Maria Hilton. I’m not sure if people know this, but professionally, when it comes to my entrepreneurial journey in building Melanin On The Map, I didn’t see any other platforms do what I wanted to create. I saw beautiful brands, with pretty pictures but the impact and overall vision I knew Melanin On The Map could become, that didn’t exist elsewhere. The income opportunity, real life connections, nothing that was apart of our initial foundation. With that, it made it even more difficult to build something with no mentors, blueprint, nothing, but while unrelated professionally, my grandmother was the epitome of beat the odds, no matter what and I took that same strength I witnessed into creating something from the ground up.

Growing up, watching her always inspired me. Not just to travel, but to live. She inspired me to go after my dreams, travel the world and create a life I would be proud of. She always told me to pray and let God give you the answers. I owe all my success to her. She passed this year, and life hasn’t been the same since, but I know she’s proud.

Website: www.melaninonthemap.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/melaninonthemap