The Slow Burn That Built a Beautiful Business with Melissa Griffiths

The Slow Burn That Built a Beautiful Business with Melissa Griffiths

Some of the most sustainable businesses aren’t built through urgency; they’re built through consistency, creativity, and a life that still feels like your own. In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Melissa Griffiths, founder of Bless This Mess, a food and lifestyle brand that grew from a simple family blog into a business reaching more than a million people each month. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to build a business that supports her household, evolves with her family, and stays deeply rooted in the heart of the work. If you’re a woman who is building in the margins of real life - raising children, navigating transitions, holding a home, or growing something meaningful without wanting to lose yourself in the process, this conversation will help you trust slower growth, build with more sustainability, and honor the life your business is meant to support. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Build a business with consistency so your growth becomes sustainable over time * Stay rooted in your real life so success does not come at the expense of what matters most * Adapt to major industry shifts so you can pivot with clarity instead of fear * Lean into community and human connection so your work stays relevant in an AI-driven world * Think differently about financial freedom so your business can support long-term family stability * Protect your sense of self while growing publicly so visibility does not disconnect you from who you are By the end, you’ll walk away with a more grounded understanding of what lasting growth can look like and why the businesses that endure are often built slowly, intentionally, and in deep alignment with the life behind them. Meet Melissa Melissa Griffiths is the founder of Bless This Mess, a food and lifestyle brand rooted in simple cooking, slow living, and family life. Over the past fifteen years, she has grown her business into a trusted platform reaching more than a million people each month, while raising five children and building a life-centered business through seasons of change, motherhood, and reinvention. Website: https://www.blessthismessplease.comhttps://www.blessthismessplease.com [https://www.blessthismessplease.com] Instagram: @blessthismessblog Continue the Work with Ashley Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquirehttps://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquirehttps://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram. → https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/ [https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/] She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women can find these conversations.

This Will Change a Woman’s Life

The right room won’t just grow your business, they will change the way you think, decide, and lead. In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland goes solo to unpack what happens after you outgrow your environment and what it actually feels like to step into a room that expands you at a deeper level. If you’ve already experienced the shift; where your current circles feel familiar, your thinking is evolving, and your vision is asking for more,  this conversation will help you understand what comes next. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Recognize the difference between rooms that feel comfortable and rooms that actually expand your capacity * Understand how the right environments compress time and accelerate your growth * Identify the kind of conversations, proximity, and thinking that shift how you see your business * Move from building in isolation to making decisions with greater clarity and support * Choose spaces that refine your leadership, not just your strategy * Understand why depth, consistency, and proximity create transformation — not just access By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what it means to be in the right room and why that decision has the power to change everything about how you build your next level. Continue the Work with Ashley Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram. → https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/ [https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/] She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women can find these conversations.

What Real Growth Actually Requires with Steph Biegel

The women who scale well are rarely doing “more” but they're certainly building better. In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Steph Biegel, strategic advisor, co-founder of Vault Co, and self-described business partner for hire. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to build a company with greater clarity, stronger positioning, and sustainable momentum. If you’re a woman who is building with ambition and craving cleaner strategy, deeper alignment, and more honest conversations around growth, this conversation will help you lead with greater confidence, simplify your path forward, and scale from a place of authenticity rather than pressure. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Build with fewer, stronger growth levers so your strategy becomes clearer and more effective * * Create authentic brand trust by leaning into real connection instead of over-curated marketing * * Ask for support more directly so you can accelerate growth without carrying everything alone * * Strengthen your business by strengthening the woman leading it * * Approach visibility, feedback, and audience-building in a way that feels human, strategic, and sustainable By the end, you’ll walk away with a more grounded understanding of what meaningful growth actually looks like and the kind of leadership it requires to hold it well. Meet Steph Steph Biegel is a strategic advisor, growth consultant, and co-founder of Vault Co. Through her work, she helps female-founded wellness and lifestyle brands sharpen their positioning, build revenue-driven marketing strategies, and navigate pivotal stages of growth with more clarity and confidence. Website: Vault Co launching soon Instagram: @sbiegs Business Instagram: @withvaultco Continue the Work with Ashley Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram. → https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/ [https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/] She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women can find these conversations.

Your Next Level Always Requires a New Environment

The next level of your business will always require a new environment. In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley goes solo to unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to expand beyond the rooms, conversations, and environments that once supported her. If you’re a woman who feels like you’ve outgrown your current environment, the conversations feel repetitive, the rooms feel smaller, and your vision feels bigger than what’s around you, then this conversation will help you trust the shift, make the decision to expand, and step into environments that elevate your thinking, standards, and growth. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Recognize when your current environment is no longer expanding your capacity so you can move before you plateau * Shift from familiar rooms into aligned environments that match the scale of your vision * Make the internal decision required to unlock new opportunities, people, and conversations * Understand how proximity to possibility expands your thinking and accelerates growth * Choose environments that elevate your standards so your business can naturally expand By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of when it’s time to expand your environment and the confidence to step into the rooms that will shape your next level. Continue the Work with Ashley Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram. → https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/ [https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/] She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women can find these conversations.

Building Brands With Soul: Strategy, Storytelling & Scaling Companies with Golriz Avery

Building a business that scales is rarely as polished as it looks from the outside. Behind many successful brands are years of reinvention, late nights, hard decisions, and moments where founders are forced to figure things out in real time. In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland sits down with Golriz Avery, founder and director of Shaw Media Group, a strategy-first creative agency helping brands grow through powerful storytelling, clear positioning, and results-driven content. With more than two decades of experience in business strategy and brand building, Gol has launched and scaled companies across multiple industries, from interior design and art dealing to national education platforms, beauty products, and wellness brands. Her ventures have grown from a single idea into multi-location businesses across major U.S. cities, reaching tens of thousands of students and clients. But this conversation goes far deeper than entrepreneurship highlights. Gol shares the real, behind-the-scenes experience of scaling businesses quickly, navigating uncertainty, and learning how to lead through moments when the answers are not yet clear. Ashley and Gol explore the evolution that many founders go through, from solopreneur to CEO and the mindset shifts required to sustain growth while protecting your creativity, relationships, and personal well-being. They also dive into the importance of surrounding yourself with trusted advisors and community, especially in an era where many entrepreneurs are turning to artificial intelligence instead of real mentorship and lived experience. Throughout the conversation, Gol introduces the philosophy she now lives by “pockets of joy.” A mindset rooted in finding small, meaningful moments of positivity even during the most demanding seasons of building a company. Because success, when built without joy, can become incredibly heavy to carry. This episode is for the founder who is building multiple things at once, navigating complexity, and searching for a way to grow a business while still staying connected to the life they want to live. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How Gol Avery scaled an education company from one location to twelve across the United States • What it really feels like to build and lead businesses through uncertainty • The importance of building a personal board of advisors and learning from other founders • Why relying solely on AI for business decisions can limit growth and perspective • The transition from service-based businesses to product-based brands • How “pockets of joy” can help founders stay grounded during intense seasons of growth By the end of this conversation, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what it truly takes to build companies that are not only successful but sustainable. Meet Golriz Avery Golriz Avery is the founder and director of Shaw Media Group, a strategy-first content and creative agency focused on building brands that resonate emotionally and strategically with their audiences. With more than 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, Gol has launched and scaled multiple ventures across industries including design, beauty education, wellness, and media. She previously founded Glam Lab, a nationally recognized makeup education company that expanded to multiple cities across the United States within just 18 months, and later launched product and wellness brands including My Organic Doctor, inspired by ancient Persian medicine and adaptogenic wellness practices. Gol’s work blends strategy, storytelling, and human-centered brand development, helping founders build companies that connect deeply with their audiences while maintaining the soul of the brand. Connect with Gol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golrizdesigngroup/ Shaw Media Group: https://shawmediagroup.co My Organic Doctor: https://myorganicdoctor.com [https://myorganicdoctor.com] Continue the Work with Ashley Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth. → https://ashleydeland.com/inquire [https://ashleydeland.com/inquire] Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram. → https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/ [https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/] She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women can find these conversations.