Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Shepherd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
There have been many seasons of my life where I have taken lots of risks. By risks I mean I have made a decision or pursued something that involved uncertainty. One of the biggest risks I have taken is to pursue women’s ministry. In 2015 I went online and asked anyone if they wanted to do a Bible study with me. I made a group and thought I would have a few hundred join. In four weeks there were over 9,000 women in the group. There were over 1,000 women that join the group each day for weeks. I was working from home full time, raising my boys, and managing the house with a husband who traveled for a living. I was overwhelmed and felt unqualified. I was scared to show up on a screen with THOUSANDS of eye balls watching me teach the Bible. I met Jesus at a young age and have loved Him my whole life. My dad is a preacher so I sat in a million sermons throughout my lifetime but there was no way I could teach and lead that many women. If I am completely honest, there were times the Bible confused me. I prayed for a long time and I asked God what He wanted me to do. He quickly reminded me that HE brought these women in this group for HIM. I began to take myself out of the equation and start looking at the women in the group. I had college kids, single moms, grandmothers, women with incredible careers, women who were lost, and women who didn’t even know who Jesus was. I realized that it wasn’t about me at all. The fears I had were created by thinking of the high risk this could be with my time, my private life, and knowing I could be criticized. It wasn’t about me!
I finally said YES to what God began. I showed up in my group online called Beautifully Designed and I began teaching Bible studies, praying for the women, and reminding them that I am not perfect. I told them often that God had brought us all together to grow closer to Him and to encourage each other. As women we are so many thing to so many people, but in this group they could show up messy, tired, and real knowing they were going to met with love and support. For the last seven years I have had the honor to lock arms with these women. I started a podcast and travel and speak at Women’s conferences. I have had the honor to write 3 books which has always been my dream! I share about how saying YES to this group and taking the risk helped me realize that my identity wasn’t in my job or what I was doing at my house- my identity was in Jesus. I realized that women of all ages and backgrounds needed to be reminded WHO they really are. We are not our career or how well we keep our house clean. We are created in God’s image for His purpose and He loves us because He loves us.
The last year and a half I am walking through a cancer journey with my mom. It has been very difficult but the women in our Beautifully Designed community has come alongside of me during this time. The risk of starting this group started to help women but in turn they have helped me more. I am so thankful! It’s important to seek God when it comes to doing something that has a lot of uncertainty. You don’t have to have all the answers or be perfect. Just seek the Lord and use the gifts He has given you. You were created for a huge purpose!!!!
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 back background and context?
Hi! My name is Ashley B Shepherd and I am a multi-passionate free spirit, wife, boy mom, and creator.
I love running, writing, speaking, and sharing my heart with the world. My beautiful life consists of raising my boys, working from home, and serving in my Church. But more than anything, my heart’s desire is to connect with other women and help them find their beautifully designed life that was intentionally created by God. In the fall of 2015, I asked if any other women wanted to seek God’s Word through an online Bible study. God must have known I needed accountability because He brought over 9,000 women in four weeks to our community, Beautifully Designed. For the last seven years, I have led Bible studies, started a podcast, wrote 3 books, and started a business. I love being passionate about multiple things and pursuing what sets my heart on fire. I believe my mission now is to encourage, equip, and empower women to discover their passion(s) and pursue them relentlessly. I do this by helping women write and self-publish books, launch a podcast, or start their own business or ministry. I also love reminding women that God created them with amazing talents and gifts that they can use in their business or passions.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The definition of resilience is to recover quickly from difficulties. There have been many things in my life the last seven years as I have pursued my creative passion that I have had to get back up from. I started writing as a little girl and I dreamed of writing a book one day. I will never forget winning a poetry contest in 4th grade and thinking that it was the start of pursuing my dream. Until I was sitting in English class in 6th grade when my teacher told me I wasn’t a good writer. I was devastated. I stopped journaling at home and kind of forgot about the true passion I had. In college I got a degree in Journalism but focused on Broadcasting more than writing. But every class I took on writing made me excited to pursue it. I graduated, got married, and traveled the world with my husband. It wasn’t until 2017 that I finally stopped listening to the negative voices and I wrote my first book. My own negative self talk almost stopped me from pursuing my dream I had since I was a little girl. Insecurity came alongside that negativity and it only made me feel like I never could do it. I am so thankful that God kept nudging me to pick up my pen and journal which sparked the idea for my first book. There have been many more things that have tried to stand in my way of my purpose but I never let it stop me. Maybe it is my stubbornness or desire to focus on the gift God gave me. All of those years of listening to the wrong voices taught me to stay focused on my creativity and never stop writing. I am currently going through a difficult time with my mom’s health journey and the Lord has helped heal my heart through writing. I will never stop living out my creative passion again! And you shouldn’t either.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I am a huge believer in purpose. I believe God designed us each specifically and we have talents and goals that we were destined to accomplish. If you are a writer, It doesn’t matter if there are 5 million writers out there, they aren’t you. They don’t have the same heart, experience, and mission. It’s important for me to always remember that my success as a writer is never how many books I sell or how many people follow me on social media. If my book, podcast, or post helps one person then it’s worth it. I think culture makes us feel like we have to popular or famous to be successful. I believe that if a person is pursuing their passion and changing lives then there is no better success! Life is too short and I believe the only thing that can drive my creative journey is to focus on helping as many people with it and never stopping. The only way I would not be successful is if I quit writing. I have had some success in the world’s eyes but it doesn’t compare getting a message from a woman who found confidence and encouragement through my writing. It could change the whole trajectory of her life! That is the impact one person can make by pursuing and never quitting their creative journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ashleybshepherd.com
- Instagram: @ashleybshepherd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautifullydesignedlife
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hhb34sFKSltZFhX_XxtXw
- Other: Join our Facebook Beautifully Designed Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beautifullydesigned Subscribe to my Podcast: Beautifully Designed
Image Credits
Photographer: Emily Webb https://emilywebb.smugmug.com