I’ve recently decided to make some business changes and as a result I have some news to share. There’s a bit of a story here, so stick with me.
When Thriving on Ashes first began in 2018, it was as a blog. That’s it. I have always loved writing. It’s my way of making sense of things and the way I best express myself. Being new-ishly diagnosed and working to get better, I wanted to share my experiences with my autoimmune diseases. I wanted other women to know they weren’t alone.
But more so (the clarity that comes from hindsight), I was really looking for a way to share what I was going through. I didn’t feel like I could open up about what I was dealing with in my real life. Yes, Adam (my husband) and my close family and friends knew I was struggling with my health, but no one knew the full scope. I wouldn’t let them know.
I hid as much of my pain as I could. Even from those closest to me. My illness felt like a dirty little secret. I was ashamed of my condition. I felt massive guilt for “ruining” my family’s life because I had gotten sick. Even though getting sick wasn’t my fault, I fully felt the burden I believed I was placing on everyone because of it. I’ve always prided myself on taking care of myself. Being helpful to others, while never needing to be helped. Being so nonchalant and easy-breezy, that I never made anyone else feel uncomfortable. Sickness makes people uncomfortable. And so I pretend, as much as I could, like everything was okay in my real life.
The Thriving on Ashes blog was anonymous. I only identified myself as Ashley, a 30-something year old married mama of two young boys. There were no pictures of me and definitely no personal information. This was done purposefully because I didn’t want anyone who knew me to be able to tie the blogger’s words, my words, back to me. Thriving on Ashes was where I allowed myself to live in my truth. It was my outlet.
I was trying to hide in plain sight.
Once I earned my coaching certifications, I dropped the anonymity and Thriving on Ashes transitioned to my coaching business, Thriving on Ashes Coaching. Thrive on the Ashes of your old life! Such an empowering sentiment. And it’s exactly what I wanted to be able to help other women do. By this time, I knew there was hope to heal and I knew how to help other women get their health back on track too. But I was still hiding.
Over time, what I came to realize was Thriving on Ashes was me. IS me.
It is so intrinsically tied to me and my personal journey, that it’s kept me from fully embracing myself as a coach. In a way it’s allowed me to continue to hide. Not like before, but once I had this realization, I couldn’t unknow it.
I became a health coach because I knew I could be of service to other women, other moms, who suddenly found themselves in similarly earth shattering chapters of their own lives. Autoimmune is a motherf*cker and it can be such an isolating experience. I wanted my story to inspire hope and allow others to see healing was possible for them too, but it was never meant to be about me.
In clinging to my own story, I started to see it has gotten in the way of me fully showing up for you. For the women I am meant to help.
I still FULLY believe in the power of thriving through the pain that burned your life to the ground. The pain that turned you into someone else. I believe in your ability to create something better for yourself. In flipping the tired out script of a life forevermore measured in survival tactics. I have, and will always, approach coaching with this attitude because I know it is possible to rise from your ashes when you believe you can.
That being said, here’s the news…
Moving forward, Thriving on Ashes is becoming Ashley Daniels Coaching.
I’ll still be sharing autoimmune wellness education and information, as well as working with women to finally heal their conditions, it’s just coming in a slightly different package now.
I preach a lot about understanding how scary change can be. I get it because the unknown has always been something to stop me from fully stepping out of from my own shadows. As excited as I am for this new direction, I’d be lying if I did not acknowledge there is some fear tangled within it too. This is me showing up in a different way than I have been. Showing up differently for you.
Thank you for being along for my journey thus far.
There’s a lot more ahead.
For all of us.
