Ashley Bremner

Heeman's

Receiving and inventory control specialist

What 3-4 professional and/or personal accomplishments are you most proud of? 

• Taking our POS and data systems at Heeman’s from good to great; developing a great inventory management system and creating useful reports for data-back sales analysis
• Creating customized reports for each department depending on their needs to track not only sales but also trends, best sellers, slow-moving products and budgeting
• Being able to adapt to different situations professionally and personally, whether it’s putting an entire store online during lockdown or relocating my daughter and I back to my hometown
• Purchasing a house and doing my own home renovations with my father’s assistance

What led you to work in the horticulture industry? 

• My mother runs a local urban plant store.
• Growing up, my father had a huge vegetable garden where he grew an abundance of vegetables. He would use them to make large batches of soups, spaghetti sauce, chili and salsa and freeze them.

What’s the best thing about your job? 

• I get to do what I love, every day.

Describe to a 6-year-old what you do in life?

• I work on a computer and run a giant system that helps everyone at my work do their job a little better. If I do my job well, everyone else’s life is a bit easier and I get to make lots of people happy. I also help people when something technology related doesn’t work for them.

What are your favorite hobbies? 

• Card making
• Crocheting
• Stained glass
• Baking; I love to bake, and you will always find baked goods in my freezer

When you’re not working, what are 2-3 things we could find you doing?

• I love to be outside, either gardening with my daughter or reading a book on the patio.
• Baking, whether with my daughter or by myself — you can never have too many treats.
• And, video games. Even on the computer all day, I can still spend hours gaming at home.

Do you have any unusual talents, or can you tell us something interesting about yourself that other people may be surprised to find out? 

• Even though I work on the computer all day, I would love to live off the grid and have my own homestead — grow every fruit and vegetable, can, freeze, preserve — and have chickens.

One thing you can’t live without? 

• My daughter and family — they are a great support system and have stood by me through all my life changes.
• And, of course, chocolate.

What are you (un)secretly good at?

• Home renovations
• I like to do DIY projects around the house — ripping carpet out and putting in new flooring, replacing bathroom sinks, painting walls and building furniture from IKEA.

What are your top three bucket list items? 

• Ziplining
• Visiting the Seven Wonders of the World
• Getting a tattoo of my daughter’s birth flower (Lily of the Valley)

Tell us about your favorite plant variety.

• Aquilegia. Its flowers are vibrant and uniquely shaped, similar to paper origami flowers.
• They are easy to grow, and the blooms are long lasting, longer than some other perennials. I’ve planted them in multiple gardens I’ve had.

You’re buying a vacation package to anywhere in the world without a budget, where are you going? 

• Tokyo, Japan. I want to experience the culture and all the different foods they have to offer.
• Visit the digital museum.