We recently connected with Ashley Asberry and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

Honestly-I made my first job in this space. As long as I can remember, even as a child, I have been very aware of what food is fuel and what is harmful. We didn’t ever have prepackaged food growing up and I was very active from a young age. I was a gymnast, dancer, and runner and I feel like because of all these things, I had an awareness and knowledge of healthy food and movement that maybe others had to learn as an adult. But one thing that I NEVER considered, was the impact the other products I was purchasing for my home had on my health. I assumed that I could be buying better quality products for a higher price, but never did I consider they could be dangerous for my health.

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I obligatorily and begrudgingly attended a safe beauty educational workshop with a friend. That was kind of the beginning of the end of life as I knew it.

When I would go to my prenatal appointments, I was being weighed, told certain foods I should avoid, maybe activities like painting I should avoid, but NEVER. Not once. Was I told that I should be considering and looking into the impact the products I was putting on my skin may have on the development of my daughter.

What I learned in that workshop is that more than 80% of ingredients in beauty products have never been tested for safety before being put on the market.
That the FDA does not require that products be pulled from the shelves automatically, even if they are found to be unsafe.
That in the US, ingredients can be recognized as generally safe for say, paint, and because of that, they are considered generally safe for beauty products unless proven unsafe.
I learned that the way products are proven unsafe, are by our daily use-we are the Guinea pigs. Our children, are the Guinea pigs.
I learned that babies are being pre-polluted with more than 287 chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects and are toxic to the brain and nervous system.
I learned that we have decades of studies, science and research showing that the chemicals in our daily lives are connected to reduction in sperm counts, increase of neurodivergences, childhood cancer rates skyrocketing, cancer for those under 50, breast cancer rates rising at a lower and lower age, increase in autoimmune diseases and more.

And no one was talking to me about this. I was growing a human and no one had good answers. One blog was saying this and a physician was saying that and no one was giving me evidence based data and I didn’t know what to do.

I am a paralegal by education and career so I like to say my super power is researching, trying to find data to prove myself wrong, and then filtering down all that information into digestible conclusions that’s spelled out in plain English.

So my first job as a low toxin educator, I created. Because it was a job I needed someone else to do for me and no one was coming to save me. And I wanted to be that easy button for anyone else looking for this information

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a certified, environmental toxin graduate and my business has really evolved from doing the research and finding safe products for my own family, to sharing what I know with others needing the same information. As I continue on this journey, I find more ways to not only educate, but provide resources to make choosing safer options – simple.

Honestly, the internet is just too large. You could research all week and just find rabbit hole of sensationalized misinformation and scare tactic. You can search and buy what every “health” blog is telling you is a safer options, and then find out later that it was all marketing. There is little to no regulation around this and it’s overwhelming, it’s expensive and it’s confusing.

We have decades of studies, science and research showing that the chemicals in our daily lives are connected to reduction in sperm counts, increase of neurodivergences, childhood cancer rates skyrocketing, cancer for those under 50, breast cancer rates rising at a younger age, increase in autoimmune diseases and more.

BUT, we also have research that shows reducing specific chemicals can significantly reduce our risks of the above, increase the effectiveness of cancer treatments, and a new study shows, even reverse breast cancer. And that is why I do this. Because the changes can be life altering-and I don’t want you to get overwhelmed and quit.

What I do is not rocket science, but it saves time, money and stress while giving you confidence that the products you choose to purchase are evidence based, safer options for your home.

There are 5 ways I serve my community and I think sets me apart.

1-I educate and inform in a digestible and attainable way. I don’t just share dangers and then tell you your only fix is an $1000 air purifier. If I share a health risk, I will always share practical and equitable options to reduce that danger. You can find a lot of that information for free on my Instagram but I’m also always here for more specific to you remedies.

2-I provide home assessments of your health risks and health opportunities and provide a roadmap based on your values, budget and priorities.

3-I have also created the Low Tox Box. These are starter boxes for categories in your home for those who just want the “point and click” option. So many of us, including myself, don’t have the bandwidth to make more decisions so you purchase one box to clean up a specific area of your home. Then, when the products are gone, you’re not doing more research or trying to find new options, you just repurchase those specific items with links I provide to the product’s websites. The switch is made and you can move on to a different area of your home!

4-This piece of health is often so overlooked because it’s confusing, overwhelming and there’s a large practitioner educational gap, where the environmental toxin piece is missed. One of my favorite things to do is collaborate with other health professionals in the area to educate on how reducing daily toxins supports their practice and their patient’s health goals.

5-Lastly, I love helping local businesses create safer environments for those they serve. I do a deep dive into anything their patrons come in contact with within their business-such as cleaning products, air quality and anything else they make available to their patrons.

You can do this. I want to be your low tox easy button. These changes to safer products have a large, direct impact on our own health, our own families and in turn, a large impact on our community. It’s really imp0rtant to me that as many people have easy access to solutions as possible.

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

When I think about books that have impacted my work, they aren’t business related at all. Anything that I have ever consumed by Rebecca Campbell has allowed me to trust myself more and expand more-creating deeper roots and impact in my community. The reminder that I have information that is so needed for a healthy humanity and the reminder of how interconnected we are as humans has been a powerful, driving force in the expansion and spirit of my business.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I often, decide to say yes to events or speaking engagements that immediately upon showing up, I feel like I have no business being there. The biggest thing I have learned from this, is that showing up to places where I feel comfortable and “belong”, I am not as needed. It’s the places where my education and services are foreign and weird and get the eye rolls….where I have the opportunity to make the largest change. And so I continue to do it. To educate and show up and share education because it truly could save someone’s life, and they will remember the girl with the crazy info, when they need it most.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashleyasberry.com
• Instagram: @transparent_simple_wellness
• Linkedin: Ashley Asberry

Image Credits
Family picture-Raelyn Ramey Single black and white photo in white jumper-Whitney Warne