On Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Ashley Iaconetti has shared her mixed feelings about the coffee shop she owns with her husband, Jared Haibon. During Season 1, Episode 8, Ashley — who is an influencer, as well — revealed that the money they’re earning (or lack thereof) from Audrey’s Coffee House & Lounge is part of the issue.
“We have multiple [influencer] deals a year that are worth more than what Jared nets at Audrey’s in a year. And that’s an understatement,” she bluntly revealed during the May 17 episode.
As Ashley’s sister helped her to film a reel with an ad for a fragrance company, Ashley shared, “Obviously, it’s more lucrative than Audrey’s will ever be—and [Jared] knows this.”
She revealed her frustrations that Jared wasn’t putting as much time and effort into his own influencing as he could be.
“I’m always on Jared for engagement. Wouldn’t you just rather put more effort into something you can just make more money with? That’s kinda my bug-a-boo with him spending so much time at Audrey’s,” she confessed to producers, before jokingly adding, “However, I don’t need the money of Jared using his very attractive looks to make more on Instagram. It’s okay.”
Ashley Iaconetti says influencing is a source of conflict in her marriage with Jared Haibon
Ashley and Jared first gained notoriety for dating on reality TV. Ashley was on the cast of The Bachelor Season 19, and then appeared on Bachelor in Paradise Seasons 2 and 3, where she met Jared. Jared was initially on The Bachelorette Season 11.
“I actually went to broadcasting school. I got my master’s in broadcasting at Syracuse,” Ashley said in an exclusive interview about her career with BravoTV.com. “I wanted to be an entertainment reporter.”
It was during that job search that she ended up signing up for The Bachelor, which then led to her influencing career. “[I] kind of found my place in influencing and podcasting, so that’s what I do now,” she added of her podcast, The Ben And Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast, with The Bachelor alum Ben Higgins. “I speak to my 1.2M followers on Instagram about mom stuff, beauty stuff, life stuff.”
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During the May 17 episode, Ashley complained that Jared has little time for influencing due to running their coffee shop. “He puts them off. This is like one of our things where we’re so different,” Ashley explained to her sister.
She continued, “And I’m always trying to encourage him to do more organic content. I really would like him to just try and find a niche that he’s passionate about on Instagram, just because he has such a big following already. I want him to use it.”
Ashley Iaconetti opens up about her struggling coffee shop with Jared Haibon
Ashley shared during the April 2 episode that the coffee house she co-owns with Jared is struggling financially.
“It’s been almost four years since we opened up Audrey’s Coffee House & Lounge,” Ashley told producers. “It is the second-rated celebrity-owned restaurant in the United States — Bon Jovi being number one.”
“Now, is it a huge money maker? No,” she revealed. “We thought it would make more money than it is.”
Ashley praised her husband on her Instagram when Audrey’s opened in December 2021, and wrote that the business had long been Jared’s dream.
“He’s been putting in 16-hour days, but the hard work is reflected in what he’s created with [Audrey’s],” she wrote. “I’m so proud of him!”
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Jared explained to South County Life magazine in December 2024 about why it was so important to him to have his business in his home state of Rhode Island.
“I love the community that Rhode Island has. Being able to own a business that has built a little sense of community, in terms of students wanting to come and study there, [to] lawyers [bringing] clients because they need places to meet up,” he told the outlet. “I have a lot of strangers that I did not know prior to opening, that now come in daily, which means the world to me.”
He later added, “Our phrase is ‘Coffee til cocktails.’ We have a lot of regulars that come in and we know everybody, like Cheers, where everybody knows your name. That’s what we strive toward.”
Get a sneak peek at the drama still to come in the RHORI midseason trailer.
