THE LIFE AND JOURNEY OF ASHLEY MIERS
1. Tell us about your success journey as a mother of two kids?
I waited to have my children until I felt I was at a stable enough point in my life and career to do so. I was able to spend about 10 years focused solely on my career prior to starting my family, and this enabled me to gain experience and build professional relationships and alliances without any distractions.
To be entirely honest, however, I was not functioning at my best during the early years of my career, and I had no business becoming a mother until I was able to address my self-sabotaging behaviors and the unresolved trauma underlying them. I struggled with debilitating depression, self-doubt, self-harm, an eating disorder, suicidal ideation, and drug and alcohol abuse. Facing my demons and committing to healing is the single most courageous thing I have ever done, and it has helped me to be more courageous facing other fears subsequently.
Because of my own experience, mental health has always been an issue close to my heart, and my music has revolved around themes of hope, inspiration, self-reflection and encouragement. I have partnered with Mental Health America, spoken at their annual conference and been a contributing writer to the NAMI blog. I believe in advocacy and activism, and I use my music as a platform to connect with hurting hearts and offer them hope.
Furthermore, committing to my recovery — which involves self-awareness, self-care, sobriety and practicing skills for healthy coping — has made me a far better parent than I would have been without traversing the challenges of such a journey. I am better able to validate my children’s experiences and help them develop resilience and emotion regulation skills of their own. And if you know anything about toddlers, that’s pretty much all of what parenting a toddler is about!
2. What advice would you give to younger people who want to follow your footsteps?
While I feel that waiting to start my family until I was in my 30s was the right choice for me, I will also say that becoming a mother has both streamlined and clarified my priorities and values. When there is only so much time and so much of me to go around, it forces me to be more thoughtful and selective about what I give my time and energy to. I have to ask myself what is really worth it. I also have to double down on my own self-care so that I can be in a position to be able to serve and support in both my family life and my work without burning out.
Additionally, I feel that becoming a mother helped me to raise my standards in a really positive way. When it was just me, I wasn’t as concerned with how profitable my pursuits were in comparison with what experiences I was interested in having. But with two little boys depending on me, and childcare costs to pay anytime I decide to be away from them, it only makes sense to be away from them if doing so will cover the cost of childcare and still leave me with a profit. In some ways, I think this can be a real obstacle for working mothers, because it can make working pointless if you’re not earning a high enough rate to cover more than just the cost of childcare. I chose to use this dilemma as motivation, however, to raise my standards and my worth.
After the birth of my first son in 2018, I figured out how I could 1) be actively involved and present with my children 2) still be available to pursue acting and music 3) earn a consistent and sufficient income and 4) do so in a way that felt fun and fulfilling. What I landed on was launching a coaching business where I now help other women who struggle with depression to believe in themselves and go fully for their dreams. I do this by helping them improve both their health and their mindset, informed by all of the tools and skills that have helped me in my own mental health recovery journey including Kundalini Yoga, Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, exercise, nutrition, meditation, and creating a network of support.
Becoming a mother also forced me to begin to engage more actively with my community, delegate tasks, and build teams. No one succeeds in isolation, and creating my own network of support has been a pivotal part of my ability to grow my family, my business and my impact.
So ultimately, I would say my advice for others is to live your truth, face your fears, own your worth, help others, and ask for help.
3. What is your vision in the next 5 years as the one and only Ashley Miers?
There are so many things I’m excited to do, I often feel that a lifetime will not be time enough!
First and foremost, I want to continue prioritizing my family and spending quality time with them. I want to surround myself with incredible friendships, travel, and embrace as many incredible experiences as possible.
In regards to my work, I want to:
- record and release new music projects that promote mental health awareness (of which I’ve got several in the pipeline)
- continue growing my coaching business, advocating for mental health, and impacting and improving mental health outcomes for as many people as I possibly can
- release a cookbook of my original health-promoting recipes
- launch a podcast as well as continue creating video content to share tips and tools that have helped me in my recovery journey (everything from exercise, to yoga and meditation, to neuroscience and DBT concepts, to spirituality, to cooking and nutrition)
My personal motto is to “make the world a better place by being in it”, and the way I do that is to always ask myself “what is the loving choice here? how can I bring as much love as possible to this situation?”.
It may be cliche, but there’s a saying I like: “live the life you love, and love the life you live”. I think things tend to work out when you do that. There’s a lot of hatred, anger, and fear in the world, and there are plenty of reasons to be upset if you choose to focus on them. But for my part, I do my best to shift my focus from problems to solutions, from grief to gratitude. It’s an active practice, and our power really is in our free will, our ability to make intentional choices. You only get one life, and it goes fast. I want to make the most of it — and have the maximum possible positive impact I can — while I’m here.
BIO
Ashley Miers’ mission is simple and heart-centered: to make the world a better place by being in it. She cultivates this practice through a personal commitment to integrity as well as through her many gifts and interests. Ashley dances between different spheres of influence (coaching, speaking, teaching, performing) and media platforms (tv/film, music, web) to share hope, skills, tools, information and inspiration. Ashley’s primary focus is on mental and emotional health, but she advocates a holistic approach that values and integrates physical health, spirituality and social connection as well.
While Ashley studied neuroscience, philosophy, biology, communication and nutrition at the University of Denver, and has a comprehensive intellectual understanding of these subjects, she also understands what it’s like to struggle with mental health challenges on a deeply personal level. These challenges manifested as severe depression and anxiety, self-harm, multiple suicide attempts, an eating disorder, and drug and alcohol abuse in Ashley’s life prior to her commitment to recovery.
Ashley used (uses) Kundalini yoga, DBT, trauma therapy, EMDR, 12-Step programs and principles, hypnosis, and self-care practices (exercise, meditation, nutrition) to access relief from mental and emotional suffering. Ashley went from being in and out of psych units and being on 4 different medications to being completely sober, medication free, happily married, and a mom of two beautiful boys.
Ashley contributes positivity, encourages possibility, and aspires to lead by example and be of service to others. Ashley’s intention is to be an active part of the process of transcending toxic paradigms both personally internalized and culturally perpetuated, alchemizing breakdown into breakthrough for humanity and our planet, and ultimately contributing to widespread hope and healing. She is grateful to be immersed in a community of like-minded lightworkers ushering in this exciting era through their combined efforts and support of one another.
Ashley’s musical and mental health advocacy credits are extensive. She has released two full-length albums, 4 EPs and her 2018 single “Priestess”. Her music has been featured on ABC Family’s “Make It or Break It”, in Abercrombie and Fitch Stores, and in Gamma Phi Beta Sorority’s “Building Strong Girls” and “One Heart” philanthropic video campaigns. Ashley is a contributor to the NAMI blog, and has partnered with Mental Health America to create a PSA video on meditation and mental health as well as speaking and performing at MHA’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. twice. Ashley is also a Hollywood Music in Media Award nominee.
In 2019, Ashley launched her online group coaching program “Transcend the Turbulence”, and in 2020, she added her “Support and Skills Calls Library” to her menu of offerings. Ashley now works with women in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., helping them access and own their truth and power to transform and improve their lives in a way that is both nurturing and effective. She helps these women claim — or reclaim — their ability to believe in themselves and live a life they love.
Lastly, Ashley values contributing to her local community, and she serves as President of her Los Angeles neighborhood Family Collective. She is responsible for managing all aspects of leadership and organization to provide enriching programming that supports member families as well as benefits local charities. For more information, visit http://www.violetvista.com
