Meet Ashley Gooden-Stewart

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Gooden-Stewart. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.

Ashley, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Growing up, my grandparents, mother, and older sister all encouraged me to believe in myself and to feel confident with who I am. I was always told to do my best, look my best, and to feel my best. This great influence started when I was younger. Even though developing confidence and self esteem started at home, I was faced with challenges in school from my peers and later on in the corporate world. Being unique and embracing myself made me a target at times or caused people to try to diminish my character. Now that I’m older, I feel comfortable with who I am and no one can tear down my self worth. I instill the same values in my children and recite positive affirmations to them. Fully accepting my quirks, flaws, and differences allows me to step outside the box and become a better leader. I’ve tried conforming but being myself is what makes me stand out and helps me inspire others.

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?
In 2015, I founded a nonprofit organization, The Baby Stewart Foundation. After the loss of my infant son CJ Stewart, I wanted to turn tragedy into triumph. I commemorate my son through strengthening families, ensuring people who express a need have direct and adequate access to hygiene care, baby necessities, and clothing, and I spread awareness on Infant Loss. Serving others is a great joy to me. I’ve experienced many highs and lows in my life but I still persevere. Everyday I find different ways to keep others around me encouraged despite their circumstances. On this journey, I choose to enjoy life, add to my happiness, and appreciate the little things. Grief coaching is another service I offer. I tried running from this calling and I finally pursued grief coaching in 2020. The pandemic caused many of us to sit with our grief and unpack emotions that we never knew we had. In 2022, I published a book called “Growing Through Grief” which shares my personal experience with grief and loss and tips for navigating through grief.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
On this journey, trusting the process is the most important quality to have. Everything will not happen overnight when you’re starting a nonprofit organization. It takes patience, time, and commitment. Tune out the pressures from the outside world or wanting to compare your journey to someone who is more experienced than you. You will be doing yourself a disservice. Sometimes you will have days where you’re alone mapping out plans and working diligently. Other days, you will be working on partnerships, board meetings, and connecting with the community. All of your efforts and hard work is for the greater good. Never give up when things get tough or you don’t receive the support or positive feedback you deserve.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
The person who has helped me overcome challenges and gave me the tools I needed to succeed is my sister Robin Gooden. Everyday, she encourages me to be the best philanthropist, community leader, and entrepreneur I could possibly be. When everyone else didn’t believe in me or took my mission seriously, my sister did and helped me to maximize my craft. Robin knew that if I continued to work hard and be consistent, my dreams would take off. She encouraged me to not shrink myself and play small. To have a sister in my corner to invest in my dreams, coach me, give sound advice and encouragement has been a major blessing.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Krystle Ceasar, Chloe Stewart

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