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

Terrence, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Taking a risk on being a self sufficient provider is one of the scariest and toughest endeavors I’ve embarked upon. Especially because I’m still so new at it. I am still working in my job as a educator as it helps me prepare for the future self I look to be in helping youth in a different capacity. For me there has always been a drive and passion inside to be more then what I’ve been. The hunger for financial and time freedom became even stronger when the pandemic happened and I started to reevaluate things and what I really wanted. So i decided to invest in myself in many ways, one being I started ashwood apparel LLC. A clothing company that that speaks to my journey through images on apparel. The hardest part is have to say when making such a choice is finding your direction and getting others to believe in your dream. I am also stepping out to use my voice to help young people see and believe that they have everything they need within them to manifest whatever it is they see themselves being. The journey is in its infancy but the steps are bountiful. I look forward to continue to step outside my comfort zone and break the ceiling on my own mindset.

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

My brand is overall Me. With that I branched out into starting ashwood apparel LLC which you can check out at ashwoodapparel.com. I’ve also written a children’s book called “Tay and the heavy boot” which goes through a small but funny journey of two friends walking through their neighborhood and one of them has a incident with cement lol. Lastly I am finding ways to use my voice again to inspire young people to make decisions and not excuses. This being so hard because life gets in the way. For me many of my endeavors are still in its infancy again so there is still much to be done.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

So many good questions. From a young age I wanted to be a musician. Not in the sense of an instrument but I wanted to be an entertainer. As I went on I realized that there were many personal attributes that I either didn’t possess or had to overcome. Over time as I got older and things started to not pan out I always had to see where my talents still lies but noticing that times are changing. So I decided to focus my attention on being a songwriter and that became a very strong part of my identity. I often found myself in situations with people who didn’t share the same sense of direction and that would delay the process. Because I stuck with my passions I found myself in rooms I couldn’t imagine myself being in and to a degree being in those rooms paid off. I always however am looking to see if I am in the best spaces and where I can pivot and be better. I truly think our journey isn’t always about the destination but more so about the journey itself and lessons we learn along the way. The point or purpose is to evolve through experience and gain wisdom.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think when you are faced with setbacks and you realize it’s a part of the journey but you keep going anyway your demonstrating something that not most have. That is that your not ok with complacency. One of the hardest things for me has been to continue when I know I have much to offer but your not finding people who are willing or in belief of your talents enough to see beyond the everyday struggle. I’n that you find your journey being a revolving door for others. There are so many lessons to be learned when growing on a business level and a big part of it is growing on a personal level. Because the person you start out as isn’t the person you will be at different stages of growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.ashwoodapparel.com
• Instagram: Zent_bighead

Image Credits
Images credit goes to Noble Halt