We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Ivester recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

“Just.”

That is a word I’ve uttered often.

“I’m just a Mom.”
“I’m just one writer among countless others.”

“Just” is a word that kills most dreams before they ever truly have a chance to take birth.

From the time I was in elementary school, I loved to write. In the course of my life, many people encouraged me to pursue it. “I don’t know what I’d write about,” I would respond, “I’m just a normal girl.” In many ways, I was average. My dreams were pretty simple – I just wanted to be a wife and mom. When those dreams came true, I was thankful but it was always in the back of my mind that maybe I could write.

So one day, in a season of diapers and sleepless nights, I decided to take a risk. I started a blog and decided to share that journey with friends. I’ve been writing for almost a decade and finally feel like I’ve found my voice.
But “just” still wants tries to haunt me.

“It’s just a small blog.”
“My audience is just a small one.”

But, in this journey, I’ve learned a few things along the way. I’ve learned to find my voice. I’ve discovered that I have courage to try new things like launching a podcast a few years ago even when it was something I once believed I could never do. I’ve learned that my voice is a gift worth giving. I’ve learned that, for the one person who needs to hear my story, all the risks and work are worth it.

I do not want to be restricted by a word, but to live in the risks even when I can’t fully see how it may be impacting others.

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’ve always said that I was born in the wrong era. My dreams may seem pretty simple to most. I am grateful to be a stay-at-home mom to three amazing boys. We have homeschooled them (which is something I never would have imagined doing). One of our boys has a severe learning disability. Being able to be with him in the process of discovering his strengths and to offer one-on-one support has been a huge blessing even on the hard days. He is now thriving and growing in confidence in an online school.

In this midst of staying home to raise and teach children, I realized that I needed to invest in something that would personally challenge, grow, and gratify me as an individual. That was part of the reason that I began a blog and, later, a podcast.

My faith in God is primary in my life. I have a passion for sharing what faith looks like in the real and gritty of the every day. I want my audience to find a safe space to relate and admit that life gets messy. We don’t have to pretend to be perfect.

I’m learning to take the risk to be someone that talks about things that are hard (like my past struggles with suicidal thoughts and ongoing struggle against depression) because it can help others who need to know they are not alone.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being creative through writing and podcasting is extremely rewarding to me because it’s like throwing out a lifeline to others that says, “You’re not alone and there is hope.” Sometimes I feel discouraged because my audience is small, but then there will be a comment or a private message someone sends to express how much they needed to read/hear what I shared. Those contacts from the audience drive me to keep moving forward because my heart is to help others and share with them how Jesus has made all the difference in my life and He can in theirs too.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Keeping my personal priorities in line is important to me. I’m very much an “all or nothing” person at heart. When I’m “in,” I’m ALL in! As much as I might wish that writing and podcasting were my full-time job, it isn’t. It is important to me, but there have been seasons when I’ve needed to step back in my intensity and learn that it’s okay. I will get to the destination at the right time, but I want to be open to what might come along the way and how my goals may evolve in the process. Have dreams and goals, make plans, but always be flexible because that’s the fertilizer for growth.

When we started homeschooling, there was no way I could have known that our son had a severe learning disability. He wasn’t diagnosed until the third grade and those first few years of his education were extremely rough for us both. Having a diagnosis was helpful but hard. I remember realizing how much more time that I would need to devote to our son (while also teaching two others) and that my writing would need to go on the backburner. Some of that was because I was simply too mentality and emotionally exhausted at the end of the day to even want to write. But, looking back, I can see that there were experiences I need to have first before I would more fully find my voice. There really is a season for everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyivester.com/
• Instagram: instagram.com/chatswithashpodcast
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chatswithashpodcast https://www.facebook.com/ashleyivestergoodnewsgirl
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtioyxsWTDVVT2aTGzqv84Q