We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Toman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I think I always knew music my destiny, for as long as I can remember. Music was really instilled in my DNA- my dad opened for the Everly Brothers when he was five, my brother is a professional drummer in Austin and my mom has always kind of been the glue that held us all together. I can remember back to kindergarten being so shy and music being the one thing that really took me out of my shell. I didn’t speak all throughout kindergarten and one day I stood up on the desk and started singing “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from the Lion King- and I kind of never shut up from there. I loved the way I made people feel when I would sing- I felt I brought them joy and made them happy the way music made me happy- so I wanted to continue following that path. Fast forward to today, I have credits with Chaka Khan, Disney, Lifetime TV Network and started my own consulting business where I offer co-writing/ vocal arranging/consultations/mentorship’s and vocal lessons. Aside from my business, I am also a recording artist and release music independently. It’s been a crazy journey with many ups and downs but I know with every fiber in me this is my destiny and I believe I am walking in my purpose and doing what God called me to do.

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 background and context?

Songwriting wasn’t something I knew I wanted to do until much later on in my life. I always knew I was a singer, from the time I was 5 years old- it almost became my identity in a sense. I think everyone knew me as a singer, even if they knew nothing else about me. And I was okay with that- because it’s apart of me & who I am. It wasn’t until a few years ago I really fell in love with writing and found out that I was really great at taking the painful/difficult moments and turning them into songs and healing people through my lyrics- the same way music was healing for me. I ended up being on a song that became the international commercial for the 75th edition of Disney’s “Bambi” and then was apart of a song featured by Chaka Khan where we both were in the music video together. That was definitely the highlight of my career thus far. To be honest, I was frustrated with the industry and getting false promises when it came to song placements and I decided to start my own business. I knew there were artists out there that needed my help as far as co-writing and mentoring and I built a business around it. In the span of one year, I’ve worked with several artists on co-writing, mentorship’s, consultations and helping them take their career to the next level. I still pursue my own artistry and independently release music and have an EP coming out very soon. I would say I’m most proud of setting a goal as far as my business and watching it evolve into something beautiful. I’m most proud of this because I did this on my own without the help of someone else, so I really can only be proud of myself for that. However, I know there are still so many new things I want to do, and new avenues to take. This is just the beginning!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I would say the goal/mission behind all of this is to do what God has called me to do. In the end, my only wish is that I’m walking in my purpose and fulfilling my destiny. I believe God gave me this gift and I just want to follow that to its fullest potential. I think our gifts come in many forms as well, and we can discover them throughout the journey. For me, I always knew singing was a gift from a very young age- but songwriting came later on and I found it through my struggles. I took my negative experiences and put it into song- which to me is really finding the beauty in what we feel is “broken.” I actually wrote a song called “beautifully broken” that kind of tells that story. I also think through my own company, I’ve discovered another gift is helping people- especially young artists tap into their gifts as well and find their own beauty. End of the day, the mission/goal will always be to walk in purpose and use the gifts God has given me for a higher purpose bigger than me.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My best advice for social media, is to truly just be authentically yourself- as cliche as that may sound, it’s really the truth. If you’re a singer, show your followers that. If you’re a dancer, show your followers that. It’s really as simple as that. Be authentically you and never be afraid to put yourself out there and be different. Be goofy if you want to be goofy, just be you! I built my social media around my music and sharing my songs, sharing cover videos, and also being interactive with others who are in the same field, and connecting and showing love. I think in the end, we want to feel appreciated and seen and I try my best to do that for others as well. I also think it’s best not to focus on the algorithm and the numbers because that can stress you out and in turn make it a negative experience if you focus only on the numbers. The numbers will come. Just focus on content and creating your best content that shows the message you’re trying to convey through your socials. Just be yourself and constantly post content, use hashtags, tap in with other creatives in your field and be yourself!

Contact Info:

• Website: AshleyTomanMusic.com
• Instagram: AshleyToman
• Facebook: AshleyTomanMusic
• Linkedin: Ashley Toman
• Twitter: @AshleyToman
• Youtube: AshleyToman

Image Credits
@SeanGoody