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

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

Our legacies are made up of a combination of successes, failures, contributions, life lessons, actions, and the many other ways we can leave a lasting impression. It’s a privilege to be alive every day and even though every day doesn’t look or feel the same, I realize no matter what I am the architect of my life’s story.  Every day I try my best to make it a great one, not only for me but to leave an impactful footprint for my children. Passing on financial literacy and a positive and affirming legacy improves world ties throughout generations. I hope my legacy will be remembered through peace & my willingness to allow change to constantly happen.  I want my legacy to aspire others to become more instead of focusing on having more. Healthy boundaries and a healthy state of mind are the footprints I want to leave but the change I want to see in the world must start with me taking the first step. Healthy boundaries are necessary components for self-care. Without boundaries, we feel depleted, taken advantage of, taken for granted, or intruded upon. Whether it’s in work or in our personal relationships, poor boundaries may lead to resentment, hurt, anger, and burnout. The legacy I want to leave is enlightenment and peace unto all that know me or those I engaged with or those who heard my story. I can hope my legacy will be what I wish it to be, but only others will have their own interpretation of what my legacy was. I feel very passionate about leaving a healthy legacy through my family contributions, as well as my generosity, and I don’t mean via money or other treasures to be charitable, but giving myself freely and vulnerably for others to see that I didn’t give up and passing the baton of courage to inspire them not to give up as well.  Making time for others and offering them love and attention is far more valuable than any amount of money. In the long term, what I want people to mostly remember about me is the way I treated them and how I added value to their lives. And lastly, I want my legacy to have touched my community. I’ve always been committed to helping my community through my podcast, it’s an important part of my legacy that affects so many others including myself in positive ways all around the world. While I’m alive and when I’m gone, I want to be remembered for the things I have accomplished to light someone else’s flame so they too can accomplish amazing things.  I am relatable and inspire others just as much as others inspire me. I’m open, I’m honest and I’m always looking to grow in uncomfortable ways.  I want others to remember my legacy of a push of encouragement to always live their authentic lives because life is meant to be lived, loved, and taken advantage of daily.  Life isn’t made to be full of regrets, doubts, and resentment. I want my legacy to give courage to those in need of a friend to remind them that they are not alone in this journey of life and to always be themselves, whether it’s the unpopular or trendy thing at the moment.  Stay true to yourself and always be satisfied with what you’ve done with your life. I want my legacy to be like nature that God created, evolving every day, even when I’m gone, flowing, growing & adapting to the constant changes of life, and never staying stagnant or staying the same.

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a SAHM that wears many hats. I’m a philanthropist, educator, blogger, podcaster, author, and Founder of the Flow Life Podcast. I homeschool during the day & I’m an active mom. I started my podcast after years of mentoring young women in my community. I started getting serious about my community outreach while attending Georgia State University as a junior. I felt passionate about transitioning and changing the course of how I wanted to live my life & raise my family. After receiving my degree and working in the healthcare field for 14 years, God spoke to me and said it was time for me to begin my next chapter of life. I became a homeschooling SAHM and an entrepreneur. I started podcasting in 2019 and have been speaking and connecting with many great podcasters and entrepreneurs all over the world. I branched out and created merchandise for my brand and I have apparel available for everyone such as t-shirts, hoodies, handbags, gratitude journals, and coffee mugs. I also started a blog. This is just the beginning. I’ve been working on other projects I will be releasing in the upcoming year of 2023 and I’m so grateful for this exciting journey God has me on and to continue sharing it with the world.

What sets me apart from others is that I promote self-love & accountability while living a healthy intentional life. I am on a mission to remind the world that we are allowed to grow no matter what season of life we are in and I teach others how to set healthy boundaries. As a plant lover, I discovered that speaking kindly to my plants helped them grow which elevated my faith to reciprocate that power by speaking kindly to humans, and was astonished by the phenomenal impact it had within my podcast community.

I’m most proud of all the hard work and dedication of always believing in myself especially when times were hard, but God reminded me He created me with a divine purpose and I had to experience life to discover my purpose through His lens which has led me to be able to create an amazing brand and connect with people around the world.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

At the beginning of my journey, I didn’t have any social media accounts for my podcast. In 2020 I noticed from my podcasting analytics I was gaining tons of traction on my listenership in over 30 countries and all 50 states, another friend of mine who was also a podcaster told me I needed to create a social media presence.

I literally deleted my personal IG and decided to start fresh with all my social media accounts. CRAZY RIGHT!! Looking back I’m like I could’ve just changed the name of my account to keep the high number of followers and just grown from that but God told me to start fresh because this was a new journey I was about to embark on. I took my time building the foundation of who I was becoming and I solely focussed on what type of audience I was searching to gain traction from.

At the end of 2020, I created my Instagram, Twitter & TikTok accounts. I remember starting off with like 20 followers and then being so excited when I hit 100 followers. What a time of my life! After that, I saw my accounts grow more as the months passed. I then decided I was going to master this algorithm and gain followers so I decided to watch a couple of youtube videos on how to grow my followers, educated myself on the algorithm, and took a bunch of notes in my journals. I also studied my craft and would brainstorm ideas based on my niche and the things I wanted to talk about and post about. I also read A LOT of books on a variety of topics such as stepping out on faith, self-development, leadership, and entrepreneurship. At times I paid attention to what was trendy and going viral, but other times I found myself looking at it like a chore vs. just having fun.

I believe in taking breaks and revamping your style if needed, which I’ve been doing recently.
What I found to help build my audience on social media is taking fasts from social media and truly unplugging. For me whenever I feel passionate about something I always allow my imagination to flow and create and then BOOM! I thrive off of creating & when I get in my zone that’s when my content is the best; followers and traction start to come to my page. I believe some people were literally born to create because it’s a superpower. I do believe in having a strategic plan based on your business model or personal brand. Some days require your unique random creativity and other times require that strategic plan. You must find the balance just as you do in life. Ask yourself questions only you can answer, for example, what do you hope to achieve being on social media? Go down the rabbit hole of different questions to determine your motives and desires. Whatever you choose, you must only focus on your goals, not society’s goal of what it looks like to have a successful social media presence.

My advice is to always be willing to have the patience to learn and adapt to changes in social media all while being true to yourself while keeping your integrity.

I would encourage everyone to do that soul-searching work before embarking on social media. It is very helpful! Figure out your brand and what it stands for and find your niche because there are billions of people on this planet and there is a community for EVERYONE, so don’t EVER feel like you have to fit inside a box and chase the numbers. I recommend you post what you love, and what’s important to you and focus on the route you want to grow as you build your business and audience because all that plays an essential key role. What problem can you help solve or bring awareness to? Remember you don’t have to be like everyone else and be in the same circles, so don’t hesitate to change, always be adventurous, and never be afraid to network and connect with NEW people. Step outside your comfort zone and NEVER limit yourself to what you post or talk about in fear of other people’s opinions. The only opinion that matters is yours and as long as you can wake up and look in the mirror and love yourself that is all that matters. Always put God first and the rest will be a breeze.

Social media shouldn’t feel like a chore. Just be your authentic self and have fun on these apps in a responsible way. There are tons of experts and social media gurus out there to learn from but overall you just have to be you. Overall what helped grow my audience was my posting about what I am passionate about.

REMEMBER:

1. ALWAYS DO YOU!
2. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GROW & CHANGE!
3. Make sure you show up for yourself in real life as much as you do on social media!
4. Find out who you are today and who you aren’t anymore because you will outgrow things!
5. Do not compare yourself with other people on social media. Everything you see isn’t always real. EVERYONE’S JOURNEY IS DIFFERENT!
6. Figure out your target audience!
7. Don’t rely on your family & friends to support or repost you on social media!
8. Ignore the haters! (secret admirers)
9. Step outside your comfort zone & connect with new people on social media, networking is EVERYTHING : )

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I love reading books, watching TED talks, and following those who I admire to help guide me on my entrepreneurial journey. A few books I’d recommend are

1. 48 Laws of Power By Robert Greene
2. The Magic of Thinking Big By David J. Schwartz
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen Covey
4. Leading with Gratitude
5. The Mastery of Self & The Four Agreements By Don Miguel Riaz Jr

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/flowlifepodcast/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowlife_podcast/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-edwards-50a6b4122/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/flowlifepodcas1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtwn37JgPxC9TUiS6shklYw?app=desktop&sub_confirmation=1