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Meet Ashley Law of Speak Up Buttercup in Chandler

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Law.

Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started public speaking in 2012 after recovering from a life-threatening eating disorder. I had been suffering silently from anorexia, bulimia and a frightening addiction to exercise. In 2009, my eating disorder led me to an inpatient treatment facility in Wickenberg, Arizona, Rosewood Center for Eating Disorders. I spent three months living in this treatment center while taking a medical leave of absence from my studies at Arizona State University. It was a challenge for me to take time away from school, I felt like I was falling behind from my friends and I feared I would never get better or have the strength to go back to school. After leaving inpatient treatment, I spent another 2 1/2 years in outpatient treatment where I saw a Registered Dietitian, Therapist in a 1-1 setting, a Psychiatrist to help me manage my anxiety and depression, and attended a support group four nights a week. It took up so much time- I felt like I lived at the Dr.’s office but I was persistent to recover and never gave up, despite challenging ups and downs through the process.

After recovering in 2012, I was asked by Rosewood Center for Eating Disorders to come back as an alumni speaker and share my journey to recovery with other patients. I was reluctant at first but recognized that I really needed that support when I was in treatment myself, there just wasn’t this kind of resource accessible at that time. Through sharing my story in hospital settings, I learned that I began to heal from the inside out. My past trauma and painful memories of my eating disorder started to seem like a distant memory and I was delighted to hear that the patients I was speaking to were inspired by my story. This is when my passion to become a better speaker really ignited. I sought out resources in my community to groom these skills and heard about Toastmasters International. Through my research, I learned that I had the ability to start my own club and founded an all women’s club based in Phoenix, Junior League of Phoenix Toastmasters Club. Going on two years, the club is one of the newest clubs, yet very successful as our current board members and officers work hard to lead this group to expand their leadership and speaking skills. After starting the club, I started a blog, to share my experiences and began speaking at events outside of the Phoenix area. I particularly enjoy working with female college athletes and professional athletes as well as working to remove the stigma that is tied to eating disorders and mental health matters.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It certainly has not! Struggles along the way have varied throughout the past several years. Since my passion to start speaking was sparked by my recovery from anorexia and bulimia, I was first challenged with triggers such as bingeing, purging and exercising to an unhealthy level when I started speaking in front of groups. Something many people do not understand about mental health issues and eating disorders is that challenges that these people endure are often dealt with unhealthy behaviors- many times for years upon years instead of shaking off the stressful moments and trauma they may have dealt with. Even after I recovered from my eating disorder, I still had urges to engage in these behaviors for a few years. I dealt with anxiety by starving myself, anger and stress by bingeing/purging, and over-exercises when I was happy and or sometimes anxious. Eating disorders are a very complex mental health disease.

After recovering, I was challenged with balancing outpatient treatment and finishing my bachelor’s degree. This was particularly hard to do as I was a perfectionist and wanted to get straight A’s and take a full load of courses. However, I had to learn to step back from filling up my schedule so that I could manage my mental health and physical health to remain in my recovery. It ended up taking me nine years to earn my Bachelor’s degree, but I did it! Starting a Toastmasters club was very complicated as I needed to find women to join the club, worked to poll these interested women as to when they could regularly meet and once the club was established, we had to follow Toastmasters protocol and worked to learn how their curriculum was meant to groom members into award-winning leaders. I am grateful for the club members who have joined and have stepped into leadership roles within JLP Toastmasters! I never imagined we would be as successful as we are just two years in! Traveling to speak has perhaps been one of the most rewarding and surprisingly simple objectives to accomplish as a speaker.

After starting my club and maintaining my blog, I began to be approached by colleges across the U.S. and even traveled to Washington D.C. to speak to representatives from the House and Senate to discuss mental health matters and the importance of passing bills such as the Anna Westin Act, for eating disorder awareness. My current challenges involve juggling a full-time job, building up my business, Speak Up Buttercup, speaking at events, studying to earn my Master’s Degree (I’ll be graduating in January of 2019 from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Educational Leadership! I am also an active member in the Women’s leadership organization, Junior League of Phoenix where I currently serve as the Chair of Member Training. The Junior League of Phoenix boasts approximately 1,000 members and supports me in my leadership and development skills. I also serve as an advocate for eating disorder awareness with a national group called Reel Stories, Real People, a true passion of mine. The newest challenge I am working to juggle is balancing my commitment to host Season 2 of the “Why Arizona” podcast which is going live this November! Be sure to check out my interviews with women I believe are breaking barriers in their line of work and are not afraid to step out of their comfort zone. I always devote time to keep up with my loving husband, Parker, our Teacup Yorkie, Scout, and enjoy quality time for friends and family. Time management can be a challenge while juggling these responsibilities and commitments. However, I truly believe that all of these things are vital to my development and success as I continue to become the person I want to be.

Please tell us about Speak Up Buttercup.
Speak Up Buttercup specializes in supporting women to talk about matters that are important to them. Many of my speaking engagements involve presenting at customized workshops, presenting keynotes at events involving mental health or women’s matters. I also work 1-1 with clients to support them as they prepare to speak at events, themselves which is very rewarding and exciting! That being said, I am most known for speaking about eating disorder recovery and body love. As a company, I am the sole owner and operator and I manage this in my spare time, outside of my full-time job, working toward my Master’s degree, volunteer work, and family life. I feel that getting to this point in my career has been a huge accomplishment on its own after overcoming my personal challenges and managing the little spare time I do have to build the foundation of something I am truly proud of! In my opinion, I feel that my honesty and ability to share my battle with mental health challenges sets me apart from others. I am not afraid to grow my business slowly and authentically as I feel that making connections with people who can relate to me and my experiences is the best way to build a business I am proud of.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh, this is a great question! I am originally from Minnesota in a suburb of Minneapolis called Burnsville. I have a younger sister and two loving parents who supported us and encouraged us to be our own person, unafraid to conform to what everyone else was doing. My favorite memory from childhood will have to be taking road trips with the four of us across the U.S. We would cram ourselves into this little Ford Taurus and my dad would set up a mini T.V. in the back for my sister, Alyssa and I to watch movies and play Nintendo 64 over, and over again. I particularly remember us watching The Sound of Music on repeat. These are times I will cherish forever and look forward to taking road trips with my husband and future children.

Pricing:

  • Custom Workshops range in price and start at $250, depending on the topic
  • Keynote talks start at $500 per session
  • 1-1 sessions start at 30 minute intervals and that investment starts at $45.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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