Rising Stars: Meet Ashley Johnston of East Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Johnston

Hi Ashley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Cheyenne Wyoming my whole childhood until I was a teenager. Tragedy struck my family when I was about 16 and I ended up moving to Phoenix and becoming homeless. I was able to overcome this enormous challenge and finish my high school equivalency exam. At age 18 I met the love of my life Anthony and we later had our beautiful daughter Ava in 2018. I graduated with my associate degree in paralegal studies in 2020 and I will graduate again in the Fall of 2024 with my bachelors degree in English. The past year and a half or so I have been making food and lifestyle content for social media and it has grown into a greatly fulfilling hobby for me. I have found an amazing community of people and a positive, productive way to fill some of my spare time. I have also been doing gel nails for at least 10 years now as a hobby and I will be opening my shop for press on nails and other accessories in the next couple of months.

Alright, 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?
I have experienced a lot of tragedy and loss in my personal life. My mother decided not to be in my life anymore when I was about 12. I started living with my dad after that but he passed away in a tragic and traumatic experience when I was about 16. This left me with nowhere to go and I became homeless. I have a huge degree of determination and persistence within me and reaching my goals is the only option that I see through any struggle that I may go through.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in foodie, lifestyle and beauty content on Instagram and TikTok. I was introduced to this realm by a couple of my friends who make food content and they showed me the ropes on how to film and edit videos. I honestly thought it looked like so much fun and I originally set a goal for myself that I wanted to get my own collaboration with a restaurant. Now it’s been about a year and a half and I have done countless collabs, blowing my original goal out of the water! I’m very proud of how far I have come with my content creation journey. I try to just always be my authentic self and put out my best work for my audience and the brands that I work with.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is going roller skating every weekend with my dad growing up. He taught me how to skate and that was a special thing that we did together. He was truly my best friend and I miss him dearly.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ashleykittyyy

Image Credits
All of my images are taken by me, Ashley Johnston.