All About Me…
My name is Ashley. I am a mechanical engineer turned teacher turned stay-at-home mom turned Pilates instructor with a handful of part-time jobs…. which makes me sound like I don’t know what I am doing in life, but I really just spent way too much time in my teens and twenties not listening to my gut and decided it’s time to start following my passions.
In 2011 my oldest son was born. Around 10 months old we discovered he had a severe food allergy to cow’s milk. After allergy testing that grew to include eggs, peanuts, green peas, and tree nuts. This list has since grown instead of shortened. At this time I did what I do anytime I have a problem or get enraged or saddened and started researching about the theories of why he had these life threatening allergies. What did I eat? What was he exposed to? Is it GMOs? Was it the flu shot I got when I was pregnant? Of course, there are a lot of theories and still no answers, but my gut (and most theories) was telling me whatever it was that caused this had to be a certain arrangement of genetics with toxic environmental factors “pulling the trigger” if you will.
Along with my hours spent online trying to learn everything about food allergies, I had a new habit I needed to form… reading every label of everything I brought into my house. Food, lotion, cleaners, toothpaste, shampoo, dog food, this list goes on and I still occasionally find things I forgot to check for my son’s allergens. While searching for allergens on these labels I found a whole lot of questionable ingredients and started questioning the safety of my packaged foods and personal care products. I started cleaning up my pantry and my bathroom drawers. I became the go-to friend for cleaner, safer baby product recommendations. Then for cleaning and personal care products. Most people around me knew that I no longer went to the store and grabbed the cutest, budget friendly facial cleanser off the shelf. I was inspecting labels for the ones with the least junk, no fragrance and transparent company mission.
A few years later I was introduced to Beautycounter and was in love. In love with the mission, with the products that were safe, felt luxurious, and actually worked! The more I used, the more I loved it. Beautycounter stands for everything I believe in. Their mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone and that’s what I was unintentionally doing already in my daily life. After using their products for a couple years, I couldn’t let the opportunity to join Beautycounter’s mission pass me by any longer. It’s not about selling skin care and makeup (hell, I barely knew how to put on makeup at this point)… it’s about driving change, sharing information with loved ones that all of us should have access to and demanding better for our future generations.