Hi! I’m Dr. Ash

I’ll give you what sounds like the most unhelpful advice ever: 

Start where you are. 

I fundamentally believe that you are not broken and nothing is wrong with you. 

That inside of you, right at this moment, lies your highest and best self just itching to get out. Itching to be let loose on the world. 

That the you that runs the successful business, that does all the hard things, that accomplishes whatever you set out to do exists RIGHT NOW inside of you. 

The only thing that’s stopping you from being that is all the crap that’s piled up on top of that part of you. 

All of your old beliefs, stories, experiences, traumas, and societal expectations. 

• Those things that have told you that it’s too hard.
• That now isn’t the right time. 
• That you should hold back. 
• That other people will judge you. 
• That you have to wait for permission. 
• That you’re not enough.

That when you shed all of those layers, you can be exactly who and what you’re meant to be. 

Authentically you. Right at this moment. 

It’s not about earning worthiness. 

It’s not about being more. 

It’s not about being fearless. 

It’s not about faking it till you make it. 

It’s about removing everything that’s NOT you and letting the real you shine through so you can claim success on YOUR TERMS.

I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs, start-up founders, and business owners get out of their way and succeed on their terms. 

I’ve helped them: 

• Leap into leading new lives
• Start new businesses
• Scale their businesses 
• Learn to run a team and manage others with good boundaries
• Create more time freedom and less stress while earning more money
• Build authentic confidence (without arrogance)
• Express themselves authentically
• Become a motivating and inspiring leader
• Own their thought leadership

I’ve helped them overcome: 

• Destructive and limiting money stories
• Beliefs and stories about the possibilities and their capabilities
• The need for permission, approval, or acceptance from others
• Fears about becoming selfish, overwhelmed, or stressed as they create more success
• The inner judge in their head
• The fear of other people’s opinions
• Fear of failing or getting it wrong
• Perfectionism
• Procrastination
• Self-sabotage, excuses, and bad habits
• Holding back their talents and abilities
• Limits on what they thought was possible for them in their business (and life)

I don’t believe in having idols. 

I think gurus are overrated and the ONLY person you need to listen to is yourself. 

However, there are a number of people who I think are pretty rad and I recommend people check them out. 

People like Brene Browne, Gay Hendricks, Victor Frankl, Pema Chodron, and Steven Pressfield. 

They’ve all written fabulous books and I highly recommend you check some of them out such as: 

• The Gifts of Imperfection
• The Big Leap
• Man’s Search for Meaning
• When Things Fall Apart
• The War of Art

This would be my “start here” list for anyone who wants to begin changing their life.

I have over two decades of experience working with clients in group and 1:1 settings. 

I have my Ph.D. and MA in counseling psychology. I have specialized training in sexual assault, trauma, eating disorders, personality disorders, couples counseling, mind/body integration, anxiety, and LGBTQI issues.

As a psychologist, I was the head of trauma and sexual assault for a 50,000-student university. I ran outreach and educational events at the university and throughout Texas. I was also the head of the Mind-Body lab, started the university’s first Dialectical Behavior Therapy groups, trained staff on integrating these groups into the counseling center, and supervised Ph.D. and MA level therapists. 

I’ve also taught college courses for many years including teaching academic writing. 

I was also a forensic psychologist at one of 2 psychiatric prisons in Texas where I worked for four years. 

In my business, I have worked with hundreds of clients over thousands of hours as a coach. I have created many courses that have helped people start their businesses, learn marketing, manifestation, boundaries, and how to live a more full and fulfilling life. 

When I was a psychologist I would feel sick to my stomach every morning. 

I loved helping people and doing the 1:1 work. But I hated having 35 hours of clients each week and working within systems that labeled people unnecessarily. 

My heart broke looking at how broken the system was (the educational system, the prison system, the health care system – don’t get me started!). 

I was personally suffering and was internalizing my stress. 

I had developed a chronic autoimmune disorder and was frequently ill, culminating in an illness that took me out of work for two months. During that time, I realized how much happier I was not going into the office and knew there had to be a better way. 

I left my job as a psychologist and started on a brand new path within a year of recovering from that illness.

When I left my job I didn’t have a plan! 

I just knew that I couldn’t keep waking up each morning pushing down this awful stomach ache telling myself to “get over it” and keep going. 

I knew there had to be a better way. 

This is when I discovered the online world. 

At first, I began freelance writing. It was here that I discovered the world of online coaching as I began writing educational content for 2 multi-million dollar coach training schools. 

Right at this time, I decided to also leave my fiance (a relationship of almost 8 years). He was a good guy, but we just weren’t on the same path in life (he wanted to stay put in a small town in Texas and do the status quo thing. I wanted to roam out into the world and have a life full of adventure). 

Leaving my job allowed me to see the other areas of my life which weren’t making me happy. So we broke up and I moved to Austin Texas and into a new life.

The universe provided for me. Just days after my ex-fiance and I broke up I was hired to become the director of The Divine Living Academy (a multi-million dollar coach training school with events across the world).  I was flown first class to LA to stay in the Four Seasons to help run one of their 3-day events and a high-end mastermind before I even moved out of the house from my ex-fiance.

It was amazing to meet these women in person. To see the impact they were having in their businesses and the freedom and flexibility they had in their lives.

After that I was hired as educational director for The Institute for Transformational Nutrition and met even more amazing coaches who inspired me beyond belief. 

Through these experiences, I realized that I wanted to transition into my own business and begin coaching.

So I took the leap into my own business at the start of 2014 and never looked back.

At first, I made the ultimate mistake of “if you build it, they will come”. 

I thought that all I had to do was slap up a website and people would come running. 

Boy was I wrong! 

I had to learn to be a business owner. How to be the CEO of my own business. How to be a leader, a marketer, and a salesperson. 

Ironically, many skills that I had told myself that I didn’t have were the exact skills I had to sit down and master.

Yet that was just the beginning. 

I not only left behind all of the labels and roles that had kept me stuck, but I also left behind the life I knew completely. 

• I left my role as a psychologist
• I left all of the high-powered jobs
• I broke free of needing to be acknowledged and praised to earn my worth

I then began one of the most exciting journeys of my life. I left the mainland US and began an adventure of a lifetime. 

• I got rid of most of my possessions and became a minimalist (having just 2 suitcases to my name and a few boxes stored at a friend’s house)
• I lived off-grid on an organic farm in Hawaii. Completely solar-powered, vermiculture, living in the middle of a fruit orchard with cows and pigs grazing outside my door. Not a soul in sight. I learned to surf on my 40th birthday, learned traditional Hula, and danced (a lot!). 
• I moved to Ubud in Bali where I lived for more than 2 years. I connected with many like-minded entrepreneurs and beautiful Balinese people and met my life partner. 
• Now I’ve been living in Australia since COVID hit with my partner and soul mate. 

When we dare to be ourselves then our lives and businesses SOAR! 

I’m a super big dork. I love science and science fiction. I will talk to you about physics, woo, and philosophy all day long! 

I also LOVE to travel. I love experiencing new places and new things. I’m adventurous at heart and love new experiences. Meeting new people and getting straight to the meaty heart of who they are and why life matters are my favorite things! 

I like hiking, camping, dancing, and being outdoors. 

Yet I’m also a homebody. I read and meditate every day. I love doing yoga and going on quiet walks on the beach with my partner. I love puzzles, games, and watching Netflix.  I love to write and put new ideas together in unconventional ways. 

I grew up in the city and love the vibrancy of city life such as trying new and exotic foods, going out with friends, visiting museums, and whiling the afternoons away at a nice sidewalk cafe. However, I also adore being in the country surrounded by green trees and the birds chirping.

I also love to laugh and have the most inappropriate sense of humor. Fart jokes are hilarious to me, as are comedians like Jimmy Carr. I love good banter, putting on silly voices, and generally being a goofball.

Although raised Christian I identify as spiritual but not religious.

My personal beliefs are a mix of “the universe has your back” and Buddhism. 

I’m an unrelenting optimist who believes in sitting with the hard stuff. 

I support all religious and spiritual identifications in my work. I believe what’s most important is your authentic connection with your spiritual beliefs, whatever that means to you.

As a former psychologist, I have clinical expertise and specialized training in sexual and emotional trauma, narcissism, codependency, mindfulness, LGBTQ issues, eating disorders, and intimate relationships.

I’ve helped thousands of people live a life truer to themselves both as a former psychologist and a coach.

I have extensive training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Existential Therapy, Meditation, Mindfulness, and Buddhism.

My approach is to help you be fully self-expressed in your business and your life.

To stop trying so hard to make it work and instead realize that success doesn’t have to entail suffering and sacrifice.

It can be fun and feel natural.