We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Carrizo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I believe I got my work ethic from my father at a very young age. I grew up with him working all the time, day shifts, night shifts, and overtime. Especially during the Holiday season he would work extra hours in the city. At one point he worked his full-time job in the city and opened a spots bar just to make extra cash for the things my siblings and I needed or wanted to do; whatever we needed he worked extra to make it happen. This idea of work ethic stuck with me to present day. I worked during college to pay for rent and my living expenses. I learned how to balance both work and school which taught me a lot as a young adult. Now working in the entertainment industry its’ all about having great work ethic. I work multiple jobs to have the flexibility of still pursuing my dreams as an artist and still make enough to pay bills. When I’m “off” I’m still working just in a different way; taking class, auditioning, filming self tapes, updating my website. Working in the entertainment industry is a full time job in itself, and as many know it’s also a very cut throat industry to work in. You don’t know when the next job will come and that scares most people. Not everyone can handle that uncertainty. Having a great work ethic to me means you prioritize what is important to you and giving it your all. You do everything you can to help further your goals even when it may feel impossible. Work ethic isn’t just about “working hard” it’s about sacrifice, discipline, and balance. I believe I learned this at a young age watching my father hustle and do everything he could to give my siblings and I a great life. I also, believe learning how to balance work, life, and school was extremely important to my growth when I was a college student.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a professional dancer, actor, choreographer, and creative director. I strive to immerse myself in all mediums of the arts. Even though I went to school for dance I love acting and writing sketches as well as choreographing for stage and film. I am grateful to have had opportunities performing both on stage and Film/TV. I am still working towards a full time acting career as well as choreographing for brands and music videos. Choreographing has always been a passion of mine since I was in high school. Now as an adult, while I work on my professional career as an artist I also teach at a performing arts dance studio. In addition to teaching I work in a restaurant, and I am a hair and makeup artist. Like I had said earlier the work ethic is all about sacrifice, discipline, and balance. Performing and taking class is priority for me to stay on top of my game…but the rent is also due. Having side hustles helps me financially support myself while still pursuing my career. The experiences I have at my “normal jobs” inspire sketch ideas, characters, dances, and films. It’s all relevant and equally important which has taken time for me to fully understand and appreciate. This lifestyle is one of a kind and at times it can be very hectic but, I love being an artist; I cannot see myself doing anything else. Artists are one of a kind, and if you truly love it, it’s’ your passion, then make that dream a reality.
Most recently I directed, performed, and choreographed two short dance films that can be found on my YouTube page. The first film “Out of the Dark” was a very dramatic piece and was selected into multiple film festivals one being the Experimental, Dance Music & Film Festival where it won “Best Performance” and “Best Individual Performance.” It was extremely gratifying to not only be selected but then be awarded such titles. This past summer my colleague and I branched out and created a contrasting dance film that showcased twenty dancers. This film is still in consideration for a few festivals. Most recently, I am working on a new Halloween themed video with children and teens. This project will not only be dancing but include a script as well to tell the story. This is the first time I will be directing, choreographing, performing, and writing for a short film. I will definitely be wearing all of the hats for this one! It will be streaming on all platforms such as, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Facebook, etc. on October 31st!
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?
Three qualities I believe that are most impactful in my journey today is sacrifice, discipline, and balance. Sacrifice things you may want for what you may need at the time. Discipline is another quality I think is important to have, it’s the practice of doing what’s best for you whether that be mentally, physically, and so on. Lastly, balance is a big one for me I understood this better as a I got older. I was able to balance work and school in college, then it became work, and life as an adult. I learned especially for performers we get so hung up on class and performing, and being in the social circles making connections that we forget to live outside of that. Our art does not define us and it should not become our identity in my opinion. We’re all human and we need normal everyday interactions, and experiences. The break ups, the vacations, weddings, funerals, birthdays, graduations. These are life’s moments that we as humans need to experience, these things are what make us who we are. As artists we experience these life events, feel them, learn from them, and then use it to create more art.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I am currently reading “101 Essays to change the way you think” by, Brianna West. This book really has benefitted me in a lot of ways. I try to read 1-2 essays a day and highlight things that speak to me. I learned a lot about the way humans react to things and as a society what is seen as acceptable or not acceptable nowadays. It’s really wild when I read something that speaks to me and then witness it first hand in in my day to day. It makes me questions why our actions are so common, and why do we react in such ways. The most valuable nugget of wisdom I’ve taken from the book so far is what an emotionally intelligent person is and what makes them intelligent. Feelings are meant to be felt, whether they are good or bad it is necessary for the body to acknowledge and understand them. What we do with our emotions affects how we think, speak, and act in our day to day, but Emotional Intelligent people know this already. If we suppress feelings they continue to affect how we think and live our lives even subconsciously. So with that being said, I have taken that nugget and really accepted it into my daily practices. I’ll leave you with a quote I really liked so far. “Real emotional maturity is how thoroughly you let yourself feel anything. Everything. Whatever comes. It is simply the knowing that the worst thing could ever happen.. is just a feeling at the end of the day…So it’s not about changing how you feel. Its about listening..The feelings you most suppress are the most important ways to guide yourself.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ashleycarrizo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashcarrizo/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashleycarrizo626
Image Credits
Alexa Brooke Photography, Howard Schatz Photography
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