See Her Story: Interviews, Podcasts and Articles

I finally got my hands on a physical copy of the Campbell magazine with the article about me and I just cried.  This ginormous photo of me?  I took that self portrait last summer (July 2017) on my beloved back deck of the house I was about to sell because it was no longer the dream to live there.  Becca had taken a previous picture of me, but you know me and how much I love the psychology of photography.  I had this sense that I wanted to take my own portrait, by myself, for something so big and important and vulnerable.  I took that picture to finally share with you all that my life had taken an unexpected turn and I was going to be sailing the ship of this business (and my life) no longer partnered.  I took TONS of self portraits that day, but this one stood out to me.  A long time friend told me that the smile I have in this picture is my “quintessential Ashley smile”, according to him.  He said "that smile has the power to ease people’s minds, and to help people feel welcome and loved".  I was in awe as he described this thing about me.  My self confidence was still warped from my recent rejection and I was just trying to survive.  What I could see at that time is that this is a picture that is very ME.  I look at it and think wow, I do seem strong and confident and unafraid of the days to come — this looks like a confident Ashley.  Honestly at that time I was TERRIFIED of letting you in on my story.  I was so scared you were going to reject me, judge me, stop hiring me… that you would see me as a failure.  I hit publish on this picture and post on a hot evening last July and sat there petrified. I couldn’t move, I felt so scared and vulnerable.  Then you all showed up.  You sent me hundreds of messages and texts and emails.  You commented and told me over and over that I could do this, you loved me, and that I was strong.  I had already been “doing it” for a year at that point, and I knew then more than EVER that I am strong.  But to have you all pour your love on me that way, and to accept me in my truth?  What a priceless gift.  It is always a risk letting people into your story, because yeah people might reject you or judge you.  But so many of you showed me so much love and have let me into your stories - I would not trade that for anything.

 

So I look at this picture that I took for a moment in my life that scared me, and I read these words that have been pulled from various interviews and speaking engagements (some linked below), all of which scared me, and I am humbled.  As I have been talking in these interviews about looking back and seeing the ways that God called me to love all kinds of people (to be clear, that means all people - different religions, races, sexual orientations than me) as a photographer, I am now processing the new ways that God is expanding that call for me.  I straight up can’t even believe my life right now.  I really can’t.  So much has changed and while so much of it was out of my control, it has ended up being BEYOND what I could have planned or imagined.  While it hasn’t been easy at all, at this point I can say that it has been that GOOD.  It’s been all "beauty for ashes" around here and my cup overflows.If you want to know more about me, Ashley, and my heart in the past year check out these links:Check out the Campbell University podcast Rhymes with Orange where they interviewed me about being a small business owner.Sweet Joanne Maye chose to interview me in her "Women Who Inspire" series, where I share about my life as a photographer.Give this podcast episode a listen if you want to hear me chat about theology of vocation on CBF Conversations.And you follow this link to read the story about me featured in Campbell University's magazine that I mention above.