We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashlin Price. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashlin below.

Ashlin, 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.

The defining moment that really changed the trajectory of my career happened in my personal life but impacted my professional career. It was the moment when my brother passed away in February 2021 leaving my family to inherit some of his debt and learn how to navigate life without him. When that situation happened, I struggled with meeting deadlines at work, completing assessments and completing notes at work. I felt myself going into a depression struggling with my work, struggling to process my emotions, and struggling to share my personal thoughts. Losing my brother was a defining moment because it forced me to re-evaluate my finances, it forced me to consider myself and it forced me to look at my past. As a social worker I work with families from lower income communities with minimal resources so to ensure that I was able to give my all to the communities I serve I had to take a step back and evaluate myself.

This moment changed the trajectory of my career because it made me consider how my past perspectives, traumas and beliefs influences my spending habits, it made me think about how we handle money and the conversations we have or did not have with our families in reference to legacy planning.  As a social worker, I help families ensure stability in their life and cope with challenges. Social workers assist with various challenges such as, substance use, child welfare, terminal illness, and therapy (just to name a few). We promote holistic care focusing on mental health, emotional wellbeing, meeting basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and medical needs but not so much on discussing financial wellbeing or sharing how past beliefs influences and affect our family. It was at that moment when my brother passed away that was the defining moment that made me reconsider my finances and really assist others in considering themselves to learn how their past beliefs influences their current habits. It made me consider how people cope with the transition of life when they don’t have the necessary resources to support it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a sought-after motivational speaker, author and financial literacy consultant who specializes in providing financial literacy, addressing behaviors related to finances, and professional development. I am the owner of Financial Freedom Enterprises, LLC, a financial consultant company that provides services to communities and organizations in need of financial education and strategic planning to improve their personal and professional finances.

I am a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in Maryland, a Certified Associate Counselor-Alcohol and Drug, with experience in working with juvenile justice, family investment, addictions, child welfare and mental health/ behavioral health. I am Board Approved Supervisor Certified Associate Counselor-Alcohol and Drug. I am also a Certified Prepare and Enrich Marriage Facilitator where I work with couples to foster healthy relationships, understand family dynamics of communication, conflict resolution, financial literacy, and encourage open communication. I’ve been a guest and featured on various media platforms to discuss personal and financial health and wellness.

I possess a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland Baltimore and a bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Services from University of Maryland Eastern Shore.  I am an active board member for Cheer Up Wellness and TaylorsMOM, two non-profit organizations in Maryland. I reside in Maryland and serve her community proudly.

I solve problems assisting people to learn about financial literacy of credit restoration, budgeting, savings goals, debt pay off etc. and get people closer to accomplishing their personal goals with their finances. I also offer webinars, workshops, seminars and speaking engagements to learn about financial social work and how past traumas affect their current spending habits with money and how to build a relationship with their finances. I wrote a book of affirmations to assist people with transitioning their mind frame about finances, “31 Days of Financial Affirmations and Elevations: Making Room for Abundance and Prosperity”. It’s meant to challenge self-sabotaging negative thoughts and give others the opportunity to rewrite their story.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If I could go back, I would most definitely choose the same profession as a certified alcohol and drug counselor and a licensed social worker. I am a human service worker by nature, I’m always supporting, encouraging, and loving people. I honestly didn’t choose this profession, it chose me. Initially, I wanted to be a Physician Assistant working in the medical field as a pediatric physician assistant. I had no desire to listen to people’s concerns and help them navigate their challenges. I really didn’t feel like I was qualified to handle that type of important information or believe that people would listen to my feedback and support. Since, I didn’t do well in all my science classes I had to choose another field to go into which was rehabilitation services. It was there when I found the passion and drive to really learn about counseling and how we assist clients in navigating their own way.

If I was not a counselor or social worker, I don’t know what more I would be doing. Social work promotes social change, development, cohesion, the empowerment of people and communities. I absolutely love the fact that I can create “ah ha moments” in people’s lives, advocate for the silent and enable change. I am in a position that gives me the opportunity to create change, to instill hope and position families to have 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 99 chances to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A time when I had to pivot in my life was when I experienced the death of my brother. The death of my brother made me consider myself, change my relationship with my finances and with those I love. The death of my brother really broke me, tore down my self-esteem, made me think twice about my worth. I transitioned to a place of depression, anger, and frustration. Losing a loved one in the middle of a pandemic changed my perspective on relationships, life, and time. It made me consider my interaction with the people I love and how I can make the best out of the interactions when we spend time together. COVID19 put me in a posture to reevaluate my wants vs needs, my purpose in life and my motivation for why I’m doing the work I am doing. To build myself back up I wrote a book “31 Days of Financial Affirmations and Elevations: Making Room for Abundance and Prosperity”. I wrote this book to challenge my self-sabotaging negative thoughts since going through a depression. I needed to speak life, liberty, and joy into my personal finances and to help other people build their self esteem and speak positively to themselves.

It was at that time when I had to pivot my thoughts, pivot my concerns, pivot my beliefs, pivot my finances and my perception of time because I knew my wellbeing was at stake. I knew I had to transition my finances to never be in the position again where I had to choose between preparing for a homegoing service for a family member due to not having specific conversations or reconsidering myself and my finances to be in a better position to become financially free. One thing I’ve learned within this entire process is that time is the most consistent thing in our lives, and it doesn’t stop for anyone. Cherish the time you have with your friends, family, relationships, children, spouse, siblings, and most importantly the time you spend with yourself because you are worth the investment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themoneysocialworker.com
• Instagram: The_money_socialworker
• Facebook: Ashlin Price
• Linkedin: Ashlin Price