Meet Ashley Hajimirsadeghi

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Hajimirsadeghi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Ashley, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

There was a point early on in my career that I almost gave up writing and being an artist completely. I was in college at the time, studying International Trade and Marketing at a fashion school over in New York City, and I was slowly beginning to realize I wasn’t happy in this field. This really began to drag me down in general–I stopped writing and creating because I was falling deeper into this funk.

I didn’t write for over a year because of that. I felt like I had no inspiration, or that I had nothing important to say. I think strangling this creativity and falling into a block made the situation worse, as I had relied on writing to be one of my forms of self-expression. I felt trapped and it made things so much worse.

So how did I come out of this? It wasn’t a fast process at all. You don’t just jump back into things after being away from it for a long time. I started with the little things, like challenging myself to write a line or go at a blank document for ten minutes. Often, I find the hardest part about writing is just getting started. That blank document is intimidating, and there can be those moments of self-doubt, where you feel like you have nothing important to say. I also kept a journal where I recorded the most mundane things, like how the breeze made the branches of a tree sway in the wind, and it reminded me of how there’s beauty and poetry in the simple things.

I say it took another year for me to finally get back into the swing of things. I recently took six months off of creative writing and my practice as a journalist in order to focus on my master’s thesis, and because I had hashed these strategies out years ago, I didn’t fall into the same level of writer’s block.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

When I was in high school, I attended a local art magnet school for free and majored in writing. I thought nothing would ever come out of it, and, as I mention in this interview, I even gave up on it for a while. But something in me always said I needed to keep writing, and now I’ve become a published poet, writer, and author who’s managed to do this without any writing degrees. For some people a writing program is the best way to learn, but for me I think it’s been going out and living life, experiencing everything the world has to offer.

Outside of my work as a creative writer, I worked as a film and television critic over at MovieWeb for two and a half years. That led me to the international film festival circuits, and I often went to the New York Film Festival every year to interview directors, actors, and people I’ve always admired from the other end of the screen. My time at MovieWeb, which came to a close when I received a Fulbright grant to write poetry in India, then inspired me to take my love for movies and storytelling a step forward.

During the COVID-19 pandemic I began my own blog, which began with book and movie reviews. It’s expanded in the past two years to include travel diaries, theatre reviews, and little essays about my life as a creative person in business. My background in marketing, as I’ve worked with arts organizations and nonprofits in New York City, made me realize the power of telling these stories, especially as someone who largely consumes PoC/BIPOC voices when it comes to restaurants, movies, travel, and books.

That little blog grew to up to 150,000 unique readers a month. Nowadays, I balance my blog with my life as a writer and journalist, which was quite a time when I was a full-time student in graduate school. I’ve also continued doing freelance marketing and website design for creatives and nonprofits. Recently, I’ve dabbled more in photography, and want to pursue that more professionally as well.

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?

I think resilience, not taking “no” as a final answer, and being open minded were most impactful in my career. Something I learned in high school, from my writing teacher, is the concept of collecting your rejections. The more you apply to opportunities and funding, the more you’re going to get rejected. It sucks, and you’re probably going to start feeling like they sting in the beginning. But that “no” eventually turns into one “yes.” Once you get that opportunity, it tends to slowly start snowballing. Sometimes it doesn’t, and you learn something new and adapt from there.

I’ve found being open minded has brought on so many opportunities and networking options. For example, during the pandemic I began applying for mentorships to see what they’re like, and made some incredible friends along the way. Blogging was also something new to me, but I kind of just shrugged and dove straight into it. I learned a lot of SEO and marketing from that on the spot.

So try new things, especially if they’re free. Take that digital marketing class, or show up to a poetry reading circle. Not everything might turn out to be an immediate success, but you’re also building community.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

In the spring of 2024, I was completing a master’s thesis on Korean women’s literature in the early to mid-1900s. On top of this, I was working the equivalent of full-time hours, and had quite a bit of post-graduate preparation to do, especially once I found out I was going to be relocating to South Korea and India from the summer onward.

Time management and finding the right balance seriously improved from all of this. I was clocking in the time I was writing and editing my thesis, stopping whenever I hit the two hour mark. I was also doing this with my jobs, as I was fortunate enough to be a contract and freelance worker during this time with flexible work hours.

I learned that when you’re burnt out, you’re not going to want to do anything. That’s not being productive at all. By budgeting my time and striking the right balance, I felt rested and actually wanted to continue the next day. If I hadn’t picked up this skill, I’m confident I would not be continuing my business and career right now. I would’ve needed a break.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyhajimirsadeghi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nassarine/

Image Credits

Headshot: Andre Chung