We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashriel Huber a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashriel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Some days you wake up and decide to try a new brand of oatmilk creamer and you feel bold and powerful. Other days you get the calling out of no where to write a book, start a podcast, and take your life in a direction that still leaves you heaving in a paper bag in a corner.
Because the truth is, I found myself at a place in my life where I needed help.
I needed a way forward in my own life that felt and looked better but it felt risky and fear kept me stuck.
Call me your average woman, mama, leader, and entrepreneur that was doing okay…until I wasn’t. Until life fell apart and I looked around at my snotty tissue mountain and wondered what happened to my energy, my body, my thoughts, my life, and most of all, my purpose.
Depression, a lack of meaningful contributions, and circumstances that I let take over my thoughts took me to the place where I was alive but not living. So when I felt a calling to write books and podcast, my eyebrow quirked as I rolled my eyes thinking, “Who was I to do something like that.”
Despite myself, I had that bubble of hope. The whispering thought that I could take a risk, I could start changing my life, and I could grow into my purpose.
The question niggled on my brain, “Could I use my love for learning, leading, strategic goal planning, and all things creative and slightly weird to serve and build a life that meant something and feel better about life in the process?”
Armed with determination, loads of doubt, and tiny coffee gnome who promised daily caffeine, I set out to change my life. To risk everything on the idea that I could change my life and become that future version of me that helped other women to know they mattered and they to have a God-given calling the world needs them to take a risk for.
I spent two years doing “dark work.” I learned everything I could about the writing and publishing business. It was messy, I was a beginner, and my first book would make excellent kindling. But I didn’t give up. So I kept writing.
The next book also needed to be chucked in the flames but I kept going. The 5:00 alarm would go off and I’d sit and write.
Then I decided it was time to learn about podcasting. I mean, I’d learned so much and I wanted to share the ups, downs, and truths with others. As a former kindergarten teacher who talks…a lot, I loved the idea of teaching again but in a new way. Of connecting with other women and coaching them towards their callings. Most of all, I wanted to create a community of powerhous, purpose-focused mamas where we would have a safe place to land and to launch out to change our lives and the world around us.
That led to a deep dive in coaching and podcasting. Then I took a podcast class, I researched, and did everything in my power not to drown my daily fears in slurpees as I started to build and grow a community with faith, trust, and minor twitching. The risk and investment felt overwhelming but I kept going, showing up with a top-notch top-knot and stained pajamas to work towards goals, serving in new ways, and trying things I’d never done.
It all felt messy until I changed the way I saw myself and how I looked at the world. This journey led me to designing a framework that transformed my journey and my life. I created a system based in neuroscience and cognitive behavioral patterns that intertwined faith and science to start raising my own state of mind. I was thinking nicer, prettier thoughts. Suddenly, the mess of what I was trying to do didn’t feel so hard.
I could find my joy even when things felt bleak. And it lit a fire under me. If it worked for me, if I could use my background and passion to create not just a better life for myself, but to actually feel better while going through it, then I had to share it. I had to connect with others to help them go after goals, create impact, wealth, balance, and to make the experience a positive one.
If you’ve stuck with me this far (thank you!) then you’ll look at my journey with the same awe that I did…that all the turns and detours led me to where I am today. To where I’ve been called to be in this season. And if you invest in your own journey of change, if you take the risk, I know your story will be epic and your impact will change the world for the better.
Today I look back at the girl sobbing in the dark and want to hug her and thank her. Thank her for taking the risk. Because now I have my Called and Curious Community and Podcast and I get to connect with amazing women. Now I have my first book coming out in 2025 that I think will radically transform women’s lives, experiences, and thoughts because it did for me, I’m a living testimony. Now I am surrounded and connected to incredible women who are going after things and I have the privilege of teaching, coaching, creating courses, encouraging, and connecting with women who will change the world.
These ambitious mamas are purpose-focused and they want to reclaim their energy, their bodies, their thoughts, and their lives so they can step into their callings and make an impact!
Now, I didn’t know where any of these wild callings would take me back then. I had to be messy, brave, consistent, and most of all, trusting.
And I don’t know where your journey to get curious and grow into your own callings and dreams will take you. What I do know is, that who you become in the process of taking a risk is worth it every time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Ever feel like you’re meant for more but you feel unequipped, confused, and stuck in your own life? Me too!
I lived that story and it left me depressed, anxious, limited, and my only growth and meaningful contributions were collecting how many free slurpees I could get after buying seven. (Small brag…I scored over 5 free drinks!) I got to the place where I was ready to change, I knew I was meant for more, I wanted to serve better and make more of this one life we’re given.
Let me ask you friend, “Are you ready to grow yourself, your business and your life?”
“Are you tired of wondering what you were made to do and just want to live a purpose-filled life and feel good doing it?
“Do you ever stay up after the kids are in bed and wonder how to combine your talents and passion into purpose?”
“Do you have big ambitious goals but feel unsure, unqualified, or overwhelmed by the journey of how to get there?”
Hey, I’m Ashriel, Christian, non-profit ministry leader, coach, teacher, author, and entrepreneur and it wasn’t very long ago that I lacked the confidence and knowledge to grow into my gifts, start a new business, go after big things, and feel at peace and excited about the process of becoming.
My journey led me to creating the Called and Curious community where I teach you how to clarify your goals, and lean into your God-given gifts and talents so you can grow yourself, grow your influence, and grow your life.
Each week we use stories, real talk, and the breaking down of the topics for our lives so we can reclaim our energy, our purpose, our time, our bodies, our businesses, our families, and our mindsets. We are not shy and use real talk and raw conversations to peel back the curtain and get practical, actionable steps to move the needle in your home, business, family, and life.
The Called and Curious community has something for all purpose-focused, ambitious mamas, no matter what stage you’re at today. Maybe you’re ready to get serious about how stepping into your potential with strategic planning can change your perspective, finances, business, family, and life.
If you’re like, “YES, that’s me girl…I want to take a course, get serious about my impact, and shift my life!” Then the Called and Curious community is here for it and you! We offer amazing courses on the Called and Curious website designed just for you to help bring real change, income, mindset shifts, and possibility into your life.
Maybe you’re curious but not ready to dive in quite yet. I hear you…so find a free course and test the waters. Message me for insight or coaching. See how taking a small step can change everything.
Maybe you’re looking for encouragement and new ideas and perspectives. Listen every Tuesday as we drop a new episode get real about creating change and feeling better each week.
Maybe you need to carve some quiet time out just for you to create margin and peace to go after big things. Join us for a podcast devotional to invest in your peace of mind.
Maybe you want a roadmap on how to transform your thoughts so you can transform your life. Then get ready to preorder Love Moves in 2025 as the Called and Curious community is rolling out its first personal development devotional book. Love Moves intertwines faith and science with a simple framework to energetically help you shift your state of mind to start growing more beautiful thoughts and a more beautiful life.
Maybe you’re just looking to connect, to know that you matter and that you have such tremendous worth and value. Then start engaging with a community of Called and Curious women on instagram that care for, support, and encourage each other to dream and build and you’ll have a group of girls (and me!) cheering you on.
Wherever you’re at in your journey, you have a space and place here in the Called and Curious Community and you belong and your journey matters.
Part of my mission has come from leading a large non-profit ministry. My time in the community has opened up such a need, a need that I want to help solve. Because the reality is, too many women, too many mamas, don’t realize the tremendous gifts they have and how much the world needs them to grow into those gifts and make an impact. So let’s build a network of people who are ready to step into their potential and take the world by storm.
Watch as not just your mindset, income, body, energy, and life start to change, but notice how you start to feel better through it all.
But to be honest, we’re a little different around this community and I’m proud of that. I love the sign that says, “You don’t have to be weird to work here, we’ll train you.” I love that we embrace our weirdness as peculiar gifts that make us who we are. I’m proud that we go after big things but take time to laugh. I’m proud that we can show up real and messy and that it doesn’t have to look a certain way. Most of all, I’m proud and honored to be a part of a group of women who CHOOSE to support, empower, and help others to go after big things.
I’m here to give you the mindset, courage, and real tools for dreaming and achieving. You’re invited to come each week on the Called and Curious Podcast to get an extra dose of impact in your life and to leave filled with hope and confidence to try new things, set new goals, and dig deeper to become better for the life God dreamed up for you and to start doing it today. So let’s get curious about who you’re called to be and how to get there, and let’s conquer the day!
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I remember a little yellow book from back in the dark days, when I was just waking up to the idea of real change and a future version of myself that was equipped for joy, impact, success, and aliveness.
This book, Believe IT, by Jaimie Kern Lima was a small crack in the drawn curtains of my life that let light and truth spill into my journey.
“If you want–or need–something, give it and watch what happens.” – Jamie Kern Lima
The quote was fuel for a weary soul and her story opened up the possibilities of life if you have resiliency, courage, consistency, and a toolbox filled to the brim with tools to support your “why.”
I followed the steps and created my little, literal toolbox to remind and inspire me on the journey.
Jamie (we’re on a first name-basis now, I’m sure of it) shifted how I approached my businesses, my entrepreneurship, my family, and myself. Suddenly, I wasn’t boxed in by others expectations but freed to run messy after what I felt passionately called to do.
Any time we can lean on others and learn from them, we build strength, character, and connections. We were never meant to go alone in this life and learning from those who’ve gone before us to better ourselves is equal parts a comfort as it is a launchpad for our own journey of influence and impact.
My hope is that you find your book, your mentor, your podcast, your community where you too can see yourself, your business, your experiences as a part of your beautiful, creative journey that you and you alone are uniquely called to grow into.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
When leading your life, your business, a team, and your purpose, I believe you have to look for the good with gratitude.
Managers manage but it’s not leadership. Leadership development is the secret sauce to a life of impact. You must lead yourself well first before you can lead a team.
To maintain a high morale, a leader must create a culture of collaboration and recognition. Encouraging others to lean into their gifts and then noticing and highlighting the wins.
It starts with rituals and routines that are unique to a team. To get a glass bottle of orange crush and write that ‘amazing achievement or goal conquered’ on it that someone accomplished. Then giving it to them and recognizing, “Hey, you crushed it!”
Looking for the good with gratitude means looking for the positives and then voicing them to people. It’s about connecting, recognizing, and developing the relationships and skills of those you’re leading.
You can do this whether you’re leading a huge global team or whether you’re the CEO of your household and working to lead yourself better.
The final step is honesty and trustworthiness. This looks likes kind, courageous conversations when things are not going well. To care for someone enough to be uncomfortable and have the hard conversation with the goal of forward movement.
Within the duality of life, there will always be positives and negatives that come at you within a day. It’s the power of focus when it comes to managing yourself and a team.
Think of it this way, if I told you to look for all the green cars when you go out driving next…what are you going to start seeing all the time? Green cars! They were always there on the road, but you just didn’t pay them much attention.
Where you put your focus as a leader will be what you experience and notice in return. Look for the good in situations and you will find it. Look for the good in your team and you will find it. Look for the good in your life and you will find it.
The next step is how will give gratitude for the good you’ve found? Whether it’s a high five, a bottle of orange crush, or a rubber chicken, finding ways unique to you to give praise and recognition will make you a leader someone wants to follow. Even if the person you’re leading is yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CalledandCurious.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calledandcurious/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshrielHuber?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
All images were captured with my phone or from the Riverside snapshots when recording podcasts.