We recently connected with Ashlee Ross and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ashlee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I think I’ve always known I would be an artist in some way as an adult. I’ve always been a great storyteller and been able to capture an audience through my gifts to include music, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content. As early as middle school is when I began to dabble in chorus, band, art, etc. I believe the term “artist” expands beyond just a brush and a canvas. Art consumes my entire life and I will always find the art.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As much as it was an honor and a pleasure to serve in the US ARMY, I knew very early on that I would not be what one would consider a “lifer”. Once my time was served, I immediately signed up for Cosmetology school in an attempt to be more respected in the beauty community. I’d already been teaching myself makeup through books, YouTube tutorials etc. When I would go places people would stop me and ask about my makeup and how to do it, which is not the easiest thing to teach in the middle of Walmart. I started displaying my work more on socials such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and instructed people to follow me. Additionally, to make extra income and practice my craft, I began to do bridal, fashion model, and date night makeup for locals. This helped to build my confidence. Fast forward, in an ever changing community one must learn how to pivot which is how my content morphed into lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and self care. The most challenging part of content creation is the “niches” . I never want to just do one thing but being a jack of all trades isn’t the fastest way to grow in reality. Growth brings in brands, more income, a larger community, etc. So you can only imagine for an artist how challenging it can be to balance your love for the art vs. the bottom line. Comparing my numbers to other creators was the norm for me at different points of my journey because ultimately you do want to grow and be the IT girl, the one everybody knows, and be respected in this game. The truth is, for some it can happen overnight and for others it’s a journey. I think I’ve gotten much more comfortable with the idea that my process just may be a slower one. As I stated earlier, I’m a combat veteran so that part of my life left me with some invisible scars which we refer to as Mental Health Disorders. My anxiety, depression, and PTSD doesn’t always make content creating easy. I have to stay focused and keep my dreams close because I truly believe this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I pace myself and give myself grace when I need a break. What I want people to take away from my story is the beauty of resilience, reinventing yourself over and over again, and being brave. There are people who need people like you and me. Sharing my story and my day to day life , the ups and downs, wins and losses is therapeutic not only for me but for others. I want others to be seen and heard. It is my hope to speak life into the world through my self expression and vulnerability.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
For the average person working a 9-5 it can be very difficult to wrap your mind around the fact that someone can make income as a content creator. The scope of content creation is really limitless. For example: A shoe lover can make income from sharing unboxing videos, re-selling shoes, simply showing their shoe collection, and the list goes on and on. This “shoe lover” could also work a corporate job and do content creation on the side and make more doing the content than the college degree career. Content creating is such a new phenomenon that people just can’t wrap their minds around it. When people ask me what I do, I kind of loathe it because they’ll either laugh, or just look completely confused, or they’ll think it’s cool but mostly they don’t know what it is. I feel like people don’t respect what my job is. It feels intrusive at times because then they ask ” Ok, but how do you make money”? People don’t understand commission links, brand deals, video traffic etc. I can spend anywhere from 4-8 hours editing a 10 minute video, It’s work! I’ve taught myself everything from video editing, communicating with brands, negotiating rates, etc.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The goal of my mission in content creation is to teach others about beauty, fashion, self care and how to incorporate those things into your everyday life. It’s the simple things that can improve a person’s self image and ultimately improve their lives. It’s about owning yourself and being brave enough to show up.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ashbeats_
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@AshleeRoss?si=1M9CZ6zfT521Sxic
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aross68?_t=8huNFYCw1Pi&_r=1