We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Seal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
There have been so many moments where life has halted my momentum. I would work, hustle, see things happening, and then…BOOM. Covid shutdowns. BOOM. Lyme disease. BOOM. Strike. Everything hit at pivotal moments in my acting career. I’m sure so many can relate to the discouragement when you’ve worked so hard for something, just to see it slip out of your reach once again. Even when you can see the benefit and agree with what’s standing in your way, it still impacts you. BUT! Sometimes, a piece of your heart you didn’t even know existed shows up in moments when the known piece is forced to dim it’s light. I had just finished lyme disease treatments. I was cured of an 11 year health battle, and I had forgotten what it felt like to live! I finally had energy and, with the strikes, I needed to get out there and find another job. I knew I wanted to do something that would hopefully make a difference. I really believe it was Divine intervention that led me to my current job. I randomly reached out to a woman that I had met at a dinner party because God randomly brought her to mind. I didn’t know her well but she made such a lasting impression with her kindness I wondered what she did for a living. I interviewed with Poiema Foundation and started very quickly after, working with sex trafficked survivors as they healed from their trauma and got back up on their feet. I can honestly say my first day, something came alive within me; a passion I didn’t even know existed. I quickly became fiercely protective of the women I met, and surprisingly my trauma from so many years of battling lyme with it’s anxiety, depression, pain, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, lies I was believing about myself, all of it helped me understand even to a small extent trauma victims. That was a defining moment that has changed everything. God took 11 years of painful situations, and gave me the opportunity to sit in the trenches with others. It’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I get the honor of coming alongside the bravest women I’ve ever met, and walking with them through their healing journeys.
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’m an actress. Pretty sure I’ve lived with that identity my entire life. But what I’ve come to realize is it’s my job. Well…now it’s one of my jobs, and I still love it! But it’s not who I am. Living through a disease that not alot of people understand and getting the rare opportunity to overcome it, makes a person re-evaluate what’s really important and the value of time. I used to view interviews solely as self or project promotions. Lots of them are and for great reasons! But my new job has given me a different daily perspective. It helps me live present and for others. I can say for certain it’s also helped take the pressure off and has allowed me to be a better actress when I am performing. But overall peoples’ lives and playing a part in their healing stories, matter the most to me. It’s not about me when I’m working with survivors, but they play a huge part in my journey! They’re the bravest, they’re a force, and they’re amazing! The world has no idea what’s coming their way, when these women heal and get back up on their feet. I’m starting a podcast called “Chasing the Lymelight” which will be viewable on Youtube as well as Spotify this holiday season 2023. It won’t be too lengthy because, let’s face it, who has time for that? We’re all busy! But it will hopefully inspire, encourage and help people feel less alone in whatever they’re facing. Feel free to subscribe but also please get out there and make a difference in someone’s life! It’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I don’t know if I can tell that through one story but I can sum it up by saying don’t give up. I’ve always said there was no Plan B for me. That’s still true. But I’ve also learned there can be more to Plan A than you realize. I didn’t have to give up acting when I decided to also work as an advocate for sex trafficked survivors. It ADDED to my life. It gave purpose in the waiting as well as purpose in general! It provided much needed perspective and allowed me to live full and present with others. Making a difference in the world opens your eyes to so much beauty around you! The privilege and gratefulness I feel when working with trauma victims and helping them get back up on their feet, provides so much more quality to my life than just waiting for the next gig. In your journey I encourage you when you feel hopeless or stuck, to go find someone to serve. It will lighten you in the coolest ways and help you keep going.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That I had control. I thought if I worked the hardest or longest, that success was there for me. But it was in my weakest and surrendered moments that anything ever happened. From acting jobs to finding the other piece of my heart for survivors, rarely anything happened in the moments I was my strongest or most prepared. I think that’s how God works sometimes. He proves His power in some of our hardest seasons. This year I went through extremely hard lyme treatments. In the midst of them I was laying in bed, unable to work, nor move my career forward, and on top of it all I was so depressed. While I laid there healing, I got an email from a random director who had found me on Backstage. At the time, I was not able to afford that website and had not been on it for many years. So I found it odd that anyone was writing me through it. But I really liked the project. I triple checked to see if I actually did have an account, and sure enough I had to pay to even respond to this director. So I took a leap of faith and paid the subscription even though I didn’t have the money, updated a much needed 2012 account to current and replied. Hours later I was on the phone with the director discussing the project and I asked him how he found me. He said he was overwhelmed by the amount of submissions and as a man of faith decided to ask God how to find his lead. He said he saw a button that said invite talent that hadn’t seen the breakdown, and my picture popped up. I then told him how impossible that was because I wasn’t even on the website. Flash forward a few auditions later and I received the role. I was at my weakest, my lowest, and unable to hustle, and God STILL moved me forward. Even when life begins to look different, it doesn’t change the power of God and the miracles coming your way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.poiemafoundation.org/
- Instagram: Ashleyseal
- Linkedin: Ashley Seal
- Youtube: Ashley Seal, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb4wlEWjw2fdIZuE8tkzBJg
- Other: Spotify information coming soon! Updates will be made on my Instagram page and Youtube channel as the holiday season 2023 approaches!
Image Credits
Studio Ambient and Skycraft Studios