BCBusiness
In nearly 10 years of running fashion brand Smash + Tess, CEO and co-founder Ashley Freeborn hasn’t had much of a vacation. But martial arts classes have helped her kick back
Ashley Freeborn didn’t like going to karate as a kid.
The Smash + Tess CEO and co-founder grew up going to the dojo with her father, a black belt in Goju Ryu karate, at least once a week for several years. “My memories of karate were not the best,” she says. “It was really hard… It was really gruelling. It was long.”
But while she was living in California for seven years (she moved back to B.C. last summer), Freeborn’s father kept talking to her about learning Krav Maga with his new sensei and it got her thinking. “When we moved home, back to Tsawwassen where I grew up, I figured, you know what? We should give martial arts a try,” she recalls.
So, she enrolled her two young daughters in classes at Tsawwassen Martial Arts. “I wanted my little women to have a sense of confidence and strength and be able to defend themselves,” she says, adding that she too wanted those self-defence skills.
“When they started, I decided I would start too,” she says. “Instantly, I was absolutely in love with the class.”
Freeborn has regularly attended her combination kickboxing-Krav Maga classes twice a week ever since (apart from a brief break in December after aggravating a back injury). For her, martial arts have been both the reprieve and the challenge she didn’t know she needed.
“I realized that the time I would carve out for myself to train became absolutely pivotal in letting my burnt-out, fried-out business brain rest,” she says. “And I realized that’s how I relax.” With previous hobbies like dirt biking and competitive softball, it’s no surprise to hear her say that meditation and deep breathing don’t work for her. “That’s why this to me is a true outlet,” she adds.
In close to a decade of running her business, Freeborn says she’s taken little time for herself. Her hard work has paid off, expanding her previously online-only clothing company into multiple retailers across the country (plus 333,000 and counting Instagram followers) and adding more looks beyond its signature cozy rompers. Smash + Tess has even released iconic celeb collab collections with Jillian Harris and Kaitlyn Bristowe.
It’s in this mental power and stamina that Freeborn sees parallels between her time at the office and the dojo. “If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re putting one foot in front of the other. You’re living in action,” she says, adding that the direct-to-consumer apparel business can be especially hard, with the pandemic, global logistics crisis and now tariffs, to name a few challenges.
But her martial arts training has reminded her of what she is capable of (rather than not) and to focus positive energy there—a key lesson for entrepreneurs, she says. “I’m 42 and I just learned how to roundhouse. And I can kick pretty darn well,” she laughs, noting that the skill-building is her favourite part about this quick-hit pastime.
“It’s about discipline. It’s about physical but [also] mental endurance. And pushing myself in ways that I did not think possible,” she says. “I remember my first class, being on the ground exhausted. But I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe I just did that, and I had so much fun.’”
Martial arts have done more than re-energize Freeborn or teach her to find balance; the practice has also been about setting an example her kids. “My girls, they did a belt test and I’m excited to do that with them,” she says. “I’m excited to show them that mom can do that too, and I’m excited to show that to myself.” At the end of April, Freeborn did her belt test and skipped the first level to receive an orange belt.
Ashley Freeborn co-founded size-inclusive, comfy romper fashion brand Smash + Tess with her mom in 2016. After the introduction of hundreds of new styles, fabrics and accessories over the years, Freeborn says the business has reached a good place. She is less concerned about scaling the company (which already sells in retailers across Canada) and is more focused on sustainability and just enjoying the fruits of her labour.
Much like with her martial arts classes, Freeborn views Smash + Tess as a community. “Yes, we make clothes, but it’s so much more than that,” she says. “We uplift each other. We push each other. We support each other. It’s women who really have each other’s backs. It’s a positive space, it’s inclusive, it’s welcoming—it’s all those things.”