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

Ashlee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

In my 20s, I stayed on a pretty traditional post-college career path. I graduated undergrad, attended law school, graduated at the top of my class, and went on to work at a top-tier law firm. After practicing law for a few years in Birmingham, Alabama I decided I needed a change and took a job in the publishing world in Washington, D.C. While I thought this change might scratch my itch to do something different with my legal degree, it mostly provided a temporary reprieve and relief from long, strenuous “big firm” hours. Although my career move from a large law firm to the publishing world wasn’t quite what I had hoped it to be, my move from Birmingham to D.C. opened my eyes to a different community, the creative community. D.C. is filled with transplants from all over the world, all doing amazing things!

Before work, during my lunch break, and after hours I spent a lot of time perusing Instagram and blog posts written by my favorite bloggers, who at the time were Brooklyn Blonde by Helena Hodne, Cupcakes & Cashmere by Emily Schuman, and The Stripe by Grace Atwood. I had invested in a DSLR camera and started snapping photos around my new city. With all of my newfound free time in more of a traditional 9-to-5 job, I decided that I wanted to start a blog and associated social media channels myself! I launched my blog, Cobalt Chronicles, in 2015, which seems like a lifetime ago!

After launching cobaltchronicles.com, I spent every waking minute outside of my 9-to-5 responsibilities working on my website and growing my social media following. Through the process, I connected with amazing creatives in D.C. and all over the world, mostly through Instagram. I’ve learned so much and have had so many pinch me moments over the years. I’ve been able to work with amazing brands through Cobalt Chronicles, which still blows my mind. After a few years of juggling my corporate job, Cobalt Chronicles, and several other side hustles, I was able to quite my 9-to-5 job and work for myself full time. I’ve been my own boss for four years now!

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to launch my blog and Instagram right when I started feeling the itch to create something of my own. In looking back, it was around 2013 when I started to really question whether the big law firm life was really all it’s cracked up to be.

If you’re in a similar boat and wanting to make the leap into a creative endeavor, even just as a side hustle or creative outlet, I encourage you to get started! You’ll always wish you would’ve started sooner.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Ashlee Hightower and I’m the content creator behind Cobalt Chronicles (cobaltchronicles.com & @cobaltchronicles on Instagram). I’m a New Orleans based blogger and influencer. When I first launched my website in 2015, I lived in Washington, D.C. After 5 years in D.C., my husband and I moved to Houston, Texas for a brief two-year stint prior to moving to New Orleans, Louisiana! We just bought our first home and have a little boy who turns two this fall.

I’m passionate about connecting with other like-minded women to share snippets of our lives with one another and encourage each other along the way. Specifically, I share lifestyle advice including style tips, clean beauty regimes, clean lifestyle hacks, and travel tips, mainly focused on how to successfully travel with points and miles.

A few of my current favorite brands that I share often on my platforms are Madewell, Everlane, Levi’s, Mango, Follain, Beautycounter, Indie Lee, ILIA, and Branch Basics.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being a part of the creative community both online and in real life. I love connecting with other creatives and like-minded women across the country through my website and social media platforms. It’s THE COOLEST when those connections turn into real life friendships. I’ve been fortunate to connect with and meet some amazing women through my creative journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I always remind myself, quality over quantity. I’d much rather have a smaller, engaged audience than a large audience of bot followers. I’ve built a loyal community on Instagram and other platforms through sharing my everyday life online and connecting with others through comments, DMs, and emails. I recommend always responding to messages, whether it’s a comment on a post, a direct message, a blog comment etc.! I genuinely enjoy sharing and chatting with my Cobalt Chronicles family. Women I’ve never met IRL have become true friends and people that I look forward to connecting with on a weekly, even daily, basis!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.cobaltchronicles.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cobaltchronicles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cobaltchroniclesblog
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CobaltChronicl
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/cobaltchronicle/

Image Credits
Michael McHugh