Your voice was meant to be heard, but it’s important that you own it and love it too. In today’s episode, Ashley Joy joins us to discuss why you need to own your voice and claim your impact on the world! Listen in as she shares her own journey to finding her voice and using it!
This is Season 2 Episode 5 of Here’s the Tea with Akua
Here’s the Tea with Akua is a safe space to learn about hot topics, gain a new perspective and have a greater understanding of the people around us. You’ll hear amazing stories of everyday people like you and me. They’ll be spilling the tea and giving us an honest look into their lives. As we discuss topics such as race, relationships, mental health, and how to just figure out the thing called life, we’d love to have you subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player!
Important Parts of the Conversation:
Get to Know Ashley (1:30)
Ashley’s Communications Journey (4:31)
Influence & Understanding What You Want (8:32)
The Power In Your Voice (14:33)
Advocating for Yourself (18:35)
Ways to Use Your Voice (23:30)
Encouragement for Listeners (30:28)
Connect with Ashley:
Review the Transcript:
Akua Konadu
Welcome to here’s the tea with a kua. That’s me. And this is a place where we have candid conversations about various hot topics. Each week, you’ll be hearing some amazing stories of everyday people like you and me. There’ll be spilling the tea and giving us an honest look into their lives. I believe that our stories are powerful, and when shared, they can change not only our perspectives, but also our lives. No topic is off limits. So have a seat and get ready because we are going to be making uncomfortable conversations comfortable. Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of here’s the tea with Akua. And I am super, super excited for today’s conversation, because I hope that it leaves you feeling really inspired, and just powerful, because today’s guests like she is truly truly a powerhouse. I heard her speak last year at a conference for a keynote and I was absolutely blown away. So I’m just so excited to have Ashley joy here. talk with us about how we can own our voice and you know, our voices our superpower and how we can use that. So Hello, Ashley, how are you?
Ashley Joy
Oh, Akua Thank you for having me. I’m so excited about our chat today.
Akua Konadu
I know if when you said like yes, you’d come on. I was like, Yes. Your keynote was so so good at Creative At Heart. And so I’m just so thankful that you’re here today. So for our audience, share with us who you are what it is that you do you know how you are making an impact in the world?
Ashley Joy
Oh, awesome. That’s I love that question. How are you making an impact in the world? So my name is Ashley joy. I am first a wife to Michael and a mother to artists joy. We live here in Birmingham, Alabama. And I guess I have to say this. I’m also a dog mom, I guess people introduce themselves as dog parents. I’m a dog mom to Louis, standard poodle, and he is spoiled. But yes, we live here in Birmingham, Alabama. We are transplants. I’m originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, and my husband is from North Carolina. I have been working as a communications professional for the past 12 years now, as well as a life and leadership coach where I work with women and help empower and inspire them to just live a life of purpose in the fullness of their calling. And I’ve been doing that work for the past 10 years. And I love the work that I do. I love my clients and the women that I work with, as well as I do different keynote speaking engagements. But to the second part of your question, how do I make an impact in this world? I always tell people, I first go home and love my family. Well. And, you know, that has been my motivation for the past years now. Because I want to believe that, you know, sometimes we think about how we want to make an impact in the world in a way we want to show up on social media, the way we want to show up at work the way we want to show up for the community at large. But for me, I asked myself How do I want to show up in a power the little girl that I’m raising, right, and in return in the way I show up, impacting her life, she can go out and impact the community and that community and return can impact the nation. So it’s important for me to love my family well to love my husband well to love my daughter, and my friends well to serve, you know, my nieces and my nephews and show up the best way I know how as a sister and a daughter in a friend. Because that impact to me impacting and influencing those, those individuals who are in my sphere of influence is most important to me. So I hope I hope that I’m doing that well. And that’s the way I believe I contribute to the community at large. That
Akua Konadu
is phenomenal. So good. And that is it all starts like at home, like the people that you are surrounded by the people that you love, like that’s who you can most impact so that they can also go and impact others and so we absolutely love that. Yeah. So share with us a little bit more like about your story, you know, especially when it comes to like owning your voice right? Naturally Of course people are gonna think like you’re a public speaker, so of course, the right but I’m sure the journey even for you to get there is wasn’t you know, like I’m sure like what prompted you number one to become a speaker.
Ashley Joy
Oh, good. So that’s a good question. So one I never sought out to be a speaker. I’m just gonna make that clear. I never even like my voice. No, honestly. So when I was growing up, I had a very deep a raspy voice. I still have a raspy voice now but it was very very deep and raspy. And when I remember as a little girl, probably 1314 I used to call my friends homes and their parents used to be like they can’t talk Two boys on the phone. I had a very, very deep raspy voice. And I don’t vividly remember this story. But my voice was so raspy that I used to lose my voice a lot, because I wasn’t speaking from the right out of the right vocal cords. And my mom tells me this story all the time where she brought me to the doctor. And he looked at my vocal cords, you know, he looked at my throat just checked me out. He’s like, nope, she’s fine. She just have a million dollar voice. And my mom always used to tell me that story growing up, like you would have a million dollar voice. You have a million dollar voice. So even hearing that story for someone like me who didn’t really like my voice, it was like, oh, yeah, girl. Sure I have a million dollar voice. But I never sought to be sought out to be a speaker. I was a writer. I am a writer. And I wrote books, I write books. And when I released my first book back in 2012, I got my first speaking engagement in Cape Town, South Africa. In I remember, when the organizer reached out to me, I was like, Well, I’m not a speaker. I’m a writer. And she was like, Yeah, well, we want you to come to speak about what you write about. Right? It was just this demand that came out of me writing that when I wrote books. And when I wrote blogs, and things of that nature, people wanted me to come and speak about what I wrote about. So for me, my path has been very much in demand, meaning that I started writing. And then from the writing, there was a demand for me to come speak. And from the speaking, women used to connect with me and say, Hey, how can I work with you more, and then that’s when I got into coaching. But as I look back in my journey, have always had a love for communications. I’ve already always had a love for the human language that I can see in my journey where I was training and prepping my voice for speaking not in a traditional sense, but whether it was through presentations, whether it was through speeches, at school, whether it was through, you know, we would love for you to just give a five minute speech about who you are. I was always in this training. And there was always clues that I was born to be on a stage, empowering and speaking into the hearts of others.
Akua Konadu
I love that. But also to to your point is the fact that you pointed out that you are a writer, though even just speaking to that of like, there’s so many different ways that we can own our voice. And you know, even with this podcast, like yes, Ashley is a speaker, but I want her to come on this episode to show how you can use your voice everyday in your daily life. Right. And so even just before like you finally Brian Severs, but you were already owning your voice with your words. And so that’s just which I think is already amazing like and wanting to point out that you there’s many different ways to own your voice and how you want to show up. But I think what matters most is that you are using it because your voice is your superpower. And so even just the facts that you sharing of like, you know, you had a raspy voice and then like, you know, your doctor saying you have a million dollar voice like already just speaking that over you, right, like kind of just leading into the journey that you are now. So that is that is phenomenal. And I love that. And so has there been times in your life where you felt like, especially like we as black women, especially to but just you know, even women, like there’s a time your life where you shrunk yourself and maybe haven’t fully advocated your for yourself or separate truly how you felt to make other people feel uncomfortable? Can you share some times like that, where that’s happened to you? Yeah, absolutely.
Ashley Joy
And I so in that question, I can’t like I’m, there’s tons of stories like that. But for me, it was all about the belief in the power of owning what I believe in, right? And I always tell people that in order to own your voice in order to step into your power and into your confidence. One, you have to understand what you believe, right? In the women I work with oftentimes, if you will, when I ask them, okay, what is the vision that you have for your life? They can’t tell me that vision. Why? Because a lot of us are influenced by other people decisions and visions for us, right? Maybe they’re influenced by cultural vision, or they’re influenced by their parents. Right. That’s, that’s that’s a problem in a lot of our communities. We’re, we’re influenced by the visions that our parents may have had for us. So just understanding what do you want? And I had and I think I said this back when I was speaking at Creative At Heart. I didn’t always know what I wanted to do. But I always had a type of I always had a vision for the type of woman I want it to be. Right? I didn’t always know that I wasn’t gonna be a speaker per se or get paid to speak but I always saw myself empowering in speaking into the lives of other people. I had this vision, right. I didn’t always know Oh, you know, I was gonna be a mother. But I envisioned myself, you know, playing with kids like I had this vision of the type of woman that I want it to be. So even having this vision and being able to articulate that in a way where I say, Okay, this is what type this is, what type of life I want to have, this is what type of money I want to earn. This is what how much I want to even be paid for it. Like, I have not become a million dollar speaker yet, but I believe that one day, I will be this million dollar speaker but just owning that, owning it in a way where I can say it comfortably and confidently and be able to articulate that into the beliefs into the minds of others. Because that’s beyond it’s no matter how we say it, or how much we own it. The belief is on other people, not us. We can believe it for ourselves. But there can be doubters everywhere, right? They’re gonna be people like, okay, yeah, girl, sure, you’re gonna be a million dollar speaker, but the belief is, do I believe this for myself? Do I have the vision for myself? So I tried to one not just own my voice, but like my voice, right? Like, the Ashley joy with the rasp Enos, like, except the vision that I have for my life, then I’m able to confidently articulate it to others, whether their beliefs in me is there or not.
Akua Konadu
I love that. And I think again, it just, that’s just the core message is like, how do you view yourself? You love yourself enough, right? Like, like you are worthy to be heard, right? Whatever, like, whatever the topic may be just even in your daily life, like, even in times when people don’t see what you see, whatever your vision is, do you believe it? Do you believe in who you are? Do you believe in the gifts that you have to be able to share it however, that looks like for you. And I think that is I think it’s something that we easily forget that how so many things that we want to do, or however we want to show up in this world truly does begin internally with ourselves. And I think for me even personally, like, there’s been so many times I have shrunk myself to make other people feel more comfortable, whether that be in a work setting, or you know, even in like a relationship setting with like a significant other or just even with friendships, because I’m afraid of being my authentic self of showing up as I truly, truly am. Because I’m afraid will I be accepted as that way. And sometimes I think it’s a really good reminder that we deserve to be in spaces where we’re celebrated and not tolerated. So it’s like removing ourselves from those spaces, and really being intentional about where we want to be. But also to just really being firm in our own foundation, I think is so important. It’s so true.
Ashley Joy
And you know what I realized even in that q&a, like we all are trying to figure it out. Yes. You know, when I was getting my training, in speaking, one of the things that I read was, do not feel shameful. If you’re if you make mistakes, or if you are trying to articulate something, and it does not come out as clearly as you want it to come out. Because the reality is half the people who’s in front of you and looking at you speak can’t do what you’re doing. Right. Yeah, I think that that’s just testament that we all are trying to figure it out. Nobody is as perfect as they appear to be. And most time nobody is that worse off like they think they are right. So we all are sojourning through and we’re all just trying to figure it out, in that understanding that coming and stepping into our own being in beliefs and embracing who we are in owning our voice is a process for everyone. So you don’t have to play small in order for other people to be bigger.
Akua Konadu
Yes, yes, that is so good. And so even for you like your whole throughout your whole journey, like when did you start realizing the power of just in advocating for yourself because I have nieces and nephews who I just love and adore and I always say to them, we do our daily affirmations, which I literally make them do it all the time. When parents get so sick of me my brother and their mom, they’re like oh my gosh, cool. You’re making them do this again. But I always make them say like my voice is my superpower because I feel like you’re you are your biggest advocate nobody’s gonna be able to be able to you know share whatever it is that needs to be shared, but you because you know what you need. So for you when did you just start realizing the power in your voice? The power is really advocating for yourself?
Ashley Joy
Yeah, let me think back because I can’t specifically remember a time listen, for me, to be honest with you to be totally transparent. That is a continuous journey for me. Yes, right. That is not something that I feel that I have arrived at. That is something I’m even learning more of as I’m raising this little girl who is a very strong willed little girl, right? I believe that for me It’s about vulnerability and being able to be transparent and start with my community, even with my husband, right, having those honest conversations with him, even if it’s uncomfortable, but still owning how I feel, even if it doesn’t make him feel good. So I believe that I am getting better at it right that I’m learning the tools. But it has been a continuous journey for me. I don’t specifically remember or can think of a time where I feel like I had I’ve had it all right, or I’ve gotten it right. It is just all about really doing the hard things and the uncomfortable things, even when it doesn’t feel good. Whether it’s with a client or a consultant, I work as a consultant, for instance, and my clients are entrepreneurs or big corporations, and really articulating you know, hey, I understand this is what your needs are, okay? This is what I need in order to make this project work, right. This is what I need in order to feel accomplishing this. But even speaking up in that even negotiating speaking contracts, you’re really saying, This is what I deserved. This is what not only deserved, but this is my worth, okay? Right? This is what I’m worth. This is. And I’m worth this because this is the years that I have, this is what I bring to the table, like check my resume, or is being able to own all of that own all of who I am, in my experiences in my background that has brought me to this place, I That’s how I feel that I fall in love, and I own my voice more and more. But in all honesty, I don’t think that I’m at a rival, I don’t believe that I’m at our rival. I think it’s something that I work on that I think I will continue to work on for the rest of my life.
Akua Konadu
And I love that you shared that because I feel like everything in life you’ve never arrived. Like it’s always this constant, constant journey that you are continuously learning, which is hard. But it’s like it’s so good every single time when you’re able to make it over like this specific Hill, like, Okay, this was what I was facing, I was able to make it and then here’s the next thing. But yeah, even with advocating for yourself, like that’s always been something that has been really hard for me. And even as I’m walking through, like my own journey of just like healing, what I’ve walked through, that’s what I’m noticing is the most important piece is you have to be able to communicate your needs. Because not everyone, there’s sometimes going to be people who just can’t do that for you. Especially as like, as we get older. And you know, I’m 33 I’m still like, I’m an adult, but to like just to like figure it out. But I love that you said that, like you know, even just knowing your worth, like we hear that all the time in the entrepreneurial space, like charge your worth, and then add tax. And yes, you do. Yes, but some people are like, I kind of roll my eyes with that like that all the time, like, but I feel like it’s still like a deeper meaning of like, This is who I am. This is like my personality, my skills, whatever, like, this is what I bring to the table and I know what I bring to the table, I know what value that I can provide. And so even anybody listening, I just want to say this is just call you up to the stage. This is your time, you know, if you have been sitting on the sidelines, if you have been playing small with whatever it is, wherever you are in your life if you have been quiet because you want to because you’re afraid of offending other people or you know making other people feel uncomfortable. This is your time to step forward and step like onto the stage and into the light.
Ashley Joy
And it can listen and it can start in the smallest place. For me advocating for myself, for instance, a month, a month ago, probably a couple of weeks ago, I went to the nail shop. And she was putting nail polish on my feet, a nail polish that I picked out, and she polished two toes and she said Do you like this color? And typically, they’ll actually be like, Oh, yes, fine, whatever. Even though I didn’t like the color. I was like, I don’t want to bring her through the trouble of you know, taking the nail polish off. But in that moment, I was like, Oh, I really don’t like this color. I’m just gonna say I’m gonna say no, can I choose another one? And she was like, Oh, you don’t like this color? And I was like, No, I don’t but can you take that off? I can I choose another one. And that’s she was like, Sure, no problem. But even I felt so empowered at that moment, right? Because as small as that was, I was able to say no, I don’t like that. And I’m sorry if it’s gonna cause just a little problem or cause you to get off track or whatever the case is. But since you offered I’m going to let you know that I don’t like that color. And I would like for you. I would love to pick out a new color. And I’m just saying that something as small as that is exercising your voice is owning your power is being able to say guess what? I changed my mind and I’m sorry if anyone is inconvenience, but this is what I like and this is what I want and I’m promise you little exercises like that you like I came out the nail salon like you couldn’t tell me like, yeah, I wanted a new color. And I was able to advocate for myself in that way. Right? I
Akua Konadu
got it. I gotta y’all like, right but that’s so true though. Like, how many times do people like you go out to restaurant? Oh, my best friend. She’s gonna laugh so hard when she listens to this episode because she is a regular listener of this podcast, but she’s gonna text you, we’ll put this in here. And I’ll be like, Absolutely, this is for you. We were out at a coffee shop. And she had ordered a drink. They had made it wrong. Instead of her telling them that they had made it wrong. She took the drink. So she’s like, I really don’t like this. So she tries to give it to me and my sister were like, well, we don’t we don’t drink that. We’re good. She’s like, Oh, I really want to but I said, I said, you know, just go up and ask for another one. Right? That was already like a leg pole within itself. So she finally goes and ask for another one. It’s not the right like it’s not what she wanted again. So instead of her just saying like, hey, like, I’m really sorry, maybe, you know, obviously just trying to figure out how to communicate properly of like, being able to get your beverage that you paid for. She literally starts freaking out, takes the other one two tries to beg my sister and I had to drink it. Like is mixing all these concoctions to make it it just was a mess at the table. And I was like I’m embarrassed for you. Like goes up to make another drink. But she finally told them after it wasn’t working at the table. And it’s still not the right drink. So like she’s like sitting there as this guy is looking at her saying her drink order at the counter, okay? And she’s like, don’t go get the drink. I was like, This is embarrassing, because we’re also sitting at this table and you’re embarrassing me right now, like I’m done with you.
Ashley Joy
So I know. But listen, my husband does the same thing. Like if we’re out at a restaurant, and they bring him the wrong order. They didn’t cook his steak the way he like, he was like, Oh, it’s fine. I’ll eat it. I’ll eat it. And you know, one is it’s human nature, right? It’s no one wants to feel rejected, right? Even like just telling someone, Hey, you made this wrong. No one wants to critically criticize anyone. And no one wants to feel rejected in a way in a sense, right? Or stir. Like some people say, I don’t want to be a problem, stir, I don’t want to stir up any problems is fine. I can eat, I can eat whatever they gave me. But it’s really not about what they done is really about you advocating for yourself. You owning your power owning your voice you telling like, you know what? No, this is not okay. This is not fine. You know what I did not order this, this is what I actually ordered. And I’m like, it’s a problem for a lot of adults. And I think it goes back to what you said just not having the proper tools to communicate what our needs are.
Akua Konadu
And yeah, yes, that’s so good. So true. So but I won’t put her out there. She’s like, I’m gonna kill you. But ya know, I love that. And I love that you said starting small. So even based on that, what are other ways to that we can really just start owning our voice in our own daily lives. I love that what you said, starting small, even if it’s like, you know, somebody messes up your order or anything like that. And of course, if you are communicating respectfully, like you are worth being able to have what you actually walked right in starting small in that sense. So what are some other ways to that we can start that whether it be asking for a raise, or speaking up about something that makes us uncomfortable, or, you know, just communicating our needs, what are some
Ashley Joy
actually working on a workshop because I believe that this is so vital to our being. And it also is something that I have been able to see a lot of women specifically women do cannot really articulate what they want, because they don’t have a vision for their lives. Right? And when you ask them when they can’t own their voice, or they can’t really say what it is they want, because they don’t have that vision. They don’t really know what they want. So for instance, when we hear a lot of people say I feel stuck, right? I know you hear that a lot, like I feel stuck, I I just don’t know and I’m like okay, well tell me your vision. They can’t tell me their vision. So of course you feel stuck because you don’t even know which way to go. And I always tell people that when you have a vision for your life vision chooses for you. Vision chooses what type of speaking engagements you will take right? Vision chooses your friends vision chooses where you will go and what you would do vision chooses, okay, based on the vision I have for my business this year, I want to do X, Y and Z. So that means I will have to put down one on one coaching for myself, right? If I know by 2023 I want to impact over 100,000 women, that means that I can’t do that by doing one on one coaching. That means that I have to do more podcasts, right because I know that that is more broad. That means I’ll have to Do more group coaching sessions. That means that I will have to get on bigger platforms for speaking engagements. I have a vision. So my vision is what chooses what I do and what I don’t do. So one, what do you want? Is simply asking that, how much money? And I’m not saying like, okay, in a broad sense, like down to the sense how much money do you want to see in your account? It’s what type of style or fashion style do you want for your life like what, you know, it chooses for you. And just being clear on the what do I want for my life, it’s hard for a lot of people. So vision casting is important and is vital to live in the type of life you want to live. But also owning that power and being able to articulate that to other people.
Akua Konadu
I love that that is such a good way to look at it is truly what is your vision, and I think not even just obviously the bigger things, but to your point, like all aspects of your life, even if your relationships, what’s the vision that you have for you and your significant other or you and your best friend or whatever. Because then once you have that vision, then you’re able to build that confidence that you need to know like, it’s like your anchor, it’s always there to anchor you. So then, you know, does this align? And does this not align? And if this doesn’t align, then this is where you can really utilize that to speak up and really share your thoughts and, and whatnot. Because yeah, you just you don’t think about that. But that is actually a really good way to start is really just asking yourself what it is that you want. What conclusion do you hope to see? When, like, you know, you have to step up and advocate for yourself no matter how, like no matter what that looks like, what what conclusion Are you hoping for? That is such a that’s so profound.
Ashley Joy
And no, in in the reason why I say that, because even with women who come to me and say, you know, I’m thinking about I want to make more money, but they don’t even have a vision for what type of position they want. They just know that they want to make more money. So when I say okay, so what what position do you see yourself in, they can’t even think about that. They just know, they want to make more money. But your vision ties into a bigger, bigger vision for yourself. Do you know statistically within the first 60 days of the new year, that people goals, new year goals go out the window, right? Because they only had this small like, Oh, you’re not I know, I want to lose weight. But losing weight, that’s not going to motivate anybody. I mean, everybody want to lose weight, you know what I’m saying? Like, that’s not a big motivator, right? These intrinsic visions, these these things that internally in us have to tie to an extrinsic it has to tie to something that’s bigger than us. So instead of saying, I just want to lose weight, no, tell me how you want to feel. Right? What type of wellness plan like for me, I know that health and wellness is a value of mine. But because it’s a value of mine, it ties into the work that I do. I don’t want to be sluggish. I have to travel on planes to go to speaking engagements, right? I have clients I need so I need to show up. So I keep a wellness plan. Because I know that being in my right health makes me feel good drinking water, eating the right foods nourish my body in order for me to do this work that I do. Now, if losing weight is a byproduct of that, that’s fine. But losing weight is not my goal. Having a dieting plan, it’s not my goal. I want to feel good because X, Y, and Z. My vision for my life is to do this. And I know that my wellness plan is going to support my bigger vision.
Akua Konadu
I love that. Yes, I think that’s Oh, that’s just such a good way. And I’m blown away because I’m learning how to do this right after. Yeah, it’s me casting. Yeah, because we do it every year for once a year once. But like, I think this is something that we should be doing often, especially like, we go back and just look at things, see what’s working, see what’s not working in all aspects of our life of our daily life even, like, even like quarterly, okay, like, these are the things that I want for my life. This is where I want to be are the things that I’m doing day to day reflecting that and if not, what changes can I make? And I think that is just such a great place to start. And also to just having grace for yourself. Because we’re also all human, I think is like, this is not just like a straight shot. Like it’s you truly have to make it fit into your life and like what you want it to actually really look like and there’s no wrong way to do it. There’s no
Unknown Speaker
wrong
Ashley Joy
way to do it in also giving yourself permission to change your mind.
Akua Konadu
Yes, yes, yes. I think to a lot of the times when we actually sit down and try to plan we, we act like this is the end all be all. So it’s really hard for us to make a decision and we get super paralyzed and like this is your life. Like you can do whatever you want however you wanted.
Ashley Joy
Right. Ryan the other day and she may listen to this podcast, but she built this law firm. You know, she’s a high earning women woman and she’s doing so well for herself. But she’s realizing this is not what I want. Right. And as she’s talking and send me about it. And I’m just saying, Okay, so what’s next? Well, you know, because I’ve done this, and I’ve done that. And you know, and I’m like, but that’s okay to change your mind. Even if you thought you wanted this, and you are successful at it. If you don’t want it anymore, it’s okay to change your mind.
Akua Konadu
Yes. Love that, oh, this has been so good and so helpful. And so I wanted to ask Ashley, like, Are there any other words of encouragement that you would just like to share for our listeners? Oh, wow.
Ashley Joy
Um, I think it goes back to what you said just a little while ago, because I understand that we are in a different world than we were two years ago. We are now living in such a time where, you know, everyone is just trying to answer this question. And the question I always say that we all are trying to answer is, why am I here? What am I’m supposed to be doing? whom to whom am I’m supposed to be impacting? And those are beautiful questions to answer. But I also want people to understand is that you have to give yourself time, right? One thing about purpose that I’ve learned is that there is a time in a process in purpose, in the same way on the same day, you so it is not going to be the same day that you reap it, that reaping comes within seasons, but it is a process in order to reap what it is you want to see. And I know that we live in a society and we are on social media that makes everything seem like everybody’s just sprouting. They’re sowing yesterday. So they’re reaping today. But for me, being next week, you know, I’m turning 36. Next week, I don’t consider myself to be old. But I also don’t consider myself to be early 20 year old. So I have a lot of, you know, just processes in time that I’ve put in. But I do understand that the deep roots that I have planted in a foundation that I have planted may not have taken me on the fastest route to my destination. But it’s also the route that is most impactful for my life is the journey that I’m learning. And you learn by building brick by brick and laying the foundation and not expecting to reap in the same season that you sow. So I want people to understand that we are living in some different times. But these are the times that is most needed. And also that you are called to the generation that you were born into.
Akua Konadu
Oh, I love that. That is so good. And so encouraging. Like I’m so
Ashley Joy
happy for you. And I’m so I’m excited about your future. And I also look forward to seeing all of the wonderful things that you’re going to do.
Akua Konadu
Oh my gosh, thank you. Oh, I love that so much. And that just like makes my eyes water. Yes. Speak it speak it. Yes, thank you. Yes. And I hope to if you’re listening that like you take this and run with it, because you deserve to be seen. There’s a reason why you do what you do. And there’s reason why you are who you are. And so you use that lean into that and, and use it to show up in the world and make an impact. I think that’s the biggest thing is like, what’s the legacy that you want to leave behind? You know what I mean? And so, I love that so much. And so thank you so much, Ashley. And so for our listeners, where can they connect with you further?
Ashley Joy
Yes, so I am Ashley Joy speaks on all platforms. So on ww.my website, Ashley Joy speaks.com. Instagram, Ashley Joyce speaks Twitter. Ashley Joy speaks.
Akua Konadu
Oh, yes. Thank you so much, Ashley. And also too, if you are listening. Thank you so much for being here. I hope that you feel just excited and inspired. And until next time. Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning into here’s the T with Akua. If you are loving the podcast, I’d be so honored if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast player and leave a review. This helps grow the podcast so more people can be impacted by the story shared by powerful guests like in today’s episode. Until next time, go make uncomfortable conversations a little more comfortable.
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