Ashley Elizabeth

Mar 27, 2017
3 min read

I shot my friend Ashley for her 27th birthday. It had been 3 years since we last saw each other, and it was a time coming. We attended the University of Oklahoma together, and I met her in the Pride of Oklahoma, OU's marching band. Our vulgarity and lack of discretion when telling stories made us two peas in a pod.

I asked my friend Anjel to come with me. 1. I wanted them to meet, and 2. Anjel is an incredible asset to me when I need help with hair, makeup, or lighting help.

Driving to Dallas was a nightmare. Not only did it decide to rain cats and dogs with thunder and lightning, I was afraid that we were going to have to cancel and reschedule after we had already been driving for a good 40 minutes. I wasn't turning back. Rain or shine, this shoot was happening.

Miraculously, it ended up working out, because the sky cleared up. Though, still drizzly and freezing, I could manage with the cards dealt. The overcast sky set for even lighting, so that worked to my favor.

I asked Ashely what was some advice as a newly 27 year old who is killing the game with her career and life, despite the obstacles she's faced. Here are her words...

"Confidence is born from struggle. At least, it was for me."

"As a kid I shot up like a weed before everyone else, even the boys. (They grew later and eventually surpassed me—thank God.) I slouched to make myself shorter. My fingers were too long and skinny, more like talons on a hawk. I had a pizza face.

I had an acute sense of the world around me but couldn’t apply that same awareness to my clothing (bless my heart). Personality-wise I was a nervous, sensitive kid who loved to read and was debilitatingly shy. Give me a pen and paper and I could express anything. In person, though, it was a different story.

While I improved over the years due to a sheer need for survival, it wasn’t until I decided, “Screw it, I don’t care what anyone thinks anymore” that I truly blossomed. Because let’s face it—that shit’s exhausting. I decided to be my weird self and bare my flaws. Hell, my eccentricities became a badge of honor and a source of humor. It paid off: vulnerability enables connections.

My curveballs in life taught me that you have to rely on yourself. You’re missing out if you think you need someone else in order to be “sufficient.” You don’t need others’ affirmation. People come and go, so at the end of the day, you gotta love the person you see in the mirror.

And it won’t be easy. You’ll go through breakups, you’ll lose your job, you’ll screw up, and sometimes people will flat out think you suck. You’ll question yourself.

But it doesn’t matter. Find ways to love yourself no matter what the world thinks, and you’ll have a bottomless well from which to draw strength. That strength engenders beauty and will light your path.

Confident people weren’t just handed the genetic lottery, nor are they self-assured because life just happened to be adversity-free for them.

Confidence is something to be practiced every day in spite of oncoming negativity. Maybe because of it. You miss out on life’s treasures if you’re too afraid to live it."