We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Thompson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ashley, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My faith has a lot to do with cultivating my optimism. Naturally I’m a bubbly person and love to encourage others so I’m always looking for opportunities to uplift others. Even at times when I’m not feeling the best what keeps me thinking positive is what I choose to focus on and being intentional with who I connect.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a confidence builder, encouraging others to excel in faith and wellness! I graduated from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University with a degree in Biology. My plans initially were to become a Dentist but thanks to God, my path shifted into cosmetics. I enjoyed formulating personal care products and especially loved learning how the products’ ingredients could transform our wellbeing.
Nutrition became my focal point when I discovered I had fibroids in 2019 only to experience an miscarriage. This unfortunate experience inspired me to live a more consistent, healthy lifestyle and to empower others in nutrition and wellness as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Children’s book author of Cultivating Inner Beauty and Ella’s Greatest Adventures.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Never Stop Learning: Just because your education in a building ends does not mean you have to. Even after you reach your dream job, the lessons never stop. Continue to look for ways to increase your knowledge and understanding. For me that’s been through creating new connections through mentorship/networking, podcasts, and reading.
Listen More: We all have great ideas but in order to fill the area in where you lack you have to talk less and listen more. Listening to my clients needs has helped in how I can assist in addressing their issues and overall my business.
Get Out Your Comfort Zone: If you’re forever planning and staying in the routine your day you will stunt your growth. It took me a while to learn this as a reserved introvert. Now I’m learning the only way to tackle my goals is through collaboration and that requires me to get out and get uncomfortable.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My biggest area of growth within the past year has been cultivating my inner beauty. This past year my best friend, my mother, passed and it impacted me tremendously. She’s been my biggest supporter for everything and reminded me to never settle for less. In the pain was how I started to plow out the areas that troubled me for the longest: Rejection, suppressing my voice, procrastinating, and more. As I started to heal , it has helped me to get out of my comfort zone and truly be present for my family and community.
Contact Info:
- Website: cultivatinginnerbeauty.com / Ellasgreatestadventures.com
- Instagram: Cultivating Inner Beauty / Ellas Greatest Adventures
- Facebook: Cultivating Inner Beauty / Ellas Greatest Adventures
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-thompson-9779b076/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cultivatinginnerbeauty
