InkTales Podcast
InkTales Podcast
Ashley from Cookies to Cosmetics and Clairvoyance
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Can one woman's journey from cookies to cosmetics reveal deeper truths about spirituality and self-expression? Meet Ashley Ashley, a dynamic soul from Atlanta, Georgia, whose life story spans from working at Insomnia Cookies to becoming a sales trainer for Lush Cosmetics. Join us on this episode of Inktails as we explore Ashley's pursuit of a safer, more fulfilling career, her clairvoyant abilities, and the deep ancestral connection she feels. Ashley's eclectic interests, including her musical past as a singer in a cover band, enrich our conversation, as she shares her belief in the untapped spiritual gifts within everyone.
Ever wondered how tattoos can transform your self-perception? Discover the exhilarating experience of getting a first tattoo and the stories they tell. I share my own tattoo journey, including my favorite piece—a Basquiat-inspired dinosaur—and the significant meanings behind various tattoos, such as symbols for suicide awareness and spiritual rebirth. We also venture into the mystical realm of angel numbers like 11:11 and 222, discussing their different interpretations and personal impacts. Tune in for an episode rich with spiritual insights and artistic narratives, making each tattoo a unique piece of self-expression.
Hi, you're listening to the Inktails podcast, a show where I go out in the city, meet new people and get the stories behind our tattoos. I'm Tenoch. Come join me on my journey. Today on the show, I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, with my guest, Ashley Ashley. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, with my guest, Ashley Ashley. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be on.
Speaker 1I'm glad to finally be able to connect and have you on the show.
Speaker 2Yes, it's been a long awaited.
Speaker 1Yes, very long awaited episode here. So, really quickly. All I want to know is so for everyone who's going to listen why don't you tell us a little bit more about who you are, what you do, and we'll go from there?
Speaker 2okay, um, so I like to think that I'm a very eclectic person. I'm very into herbs and spirituality and learning new things. I work in sales as a trainer, so I go a lot different places and train people and make them better at their job.
Speaker 1What kind of sales trainings do you do?
Speaker 2So I travel and I train people how to sell our products with lush cosmetics so that they can do better and the metrics can be higher in their locations I love lush.
Speaker 1They have some really good stuff they do, they really do and how long have you been doing that for?
Speaker 2lush for like um four months okay so before lush, I worked for a company. I don't know if you ever heard of it. Lush for like four months, okay. So before Lush I worked for a company I don't know if you ever heard of it, but it's called Insomnia Cookies. Do they have weed? Everyone asks that. No, they actually don't. They're called Insomnia because they're open until 3 am, and they do have some in Boston.
Speaker 1Really, I'll check them out. Insomnia Cookies yes, do have some in boston, so you should check them out. I'll check them out. Insomnia cookies yes and uh. What made you go from insomnia cookies to lush seems like a very different type of market it is well um insomnia.
Speaker 2I loved, I did a lot of great things with that company for five years. Um the only thing I can say, their brand is marketed around um nightclubs and colleges and I just think, getting older safety, it was more so a safety thing.
Speaker 1Okay, that makes sense. You know time to make a change go more for like a grown-up kind of environment.
Speaker 2Definitely.
Speaker 1Maybe one that's a little bit, like you said, a little more safe.
Speaker 2I've seen some wild stuff happen while working there.
Speaker 1I'm sure Nothing good happens after what 2 am, they said. No, it's one of those Okay, so tell me more. What do you like to do? You said you're kind of eclectic and you're into spirituality. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2Well, so I also felt to mention that I sing.
Speaker 1I love to sing um, I used to be in a band. What kind of band?
Speaker 2it was a cover band so we did like bar mitzvahs and proms and weddings and things like that.
Speaker 2So that's pretty awesome yeah, my life, I feel like, is very interesting. It has been very interesting. I've done a lot to only be 32. But yeah, as far as my spiritual life, well, like I said, I grew up in the church really heavy. My stepfather was a pastor, but since I was a little kid I noticed I was different. I'm clairvoyant, so what that means for me, I can connect with ancestors. I don't know if that's weird, but I don't like to tell people, because some people are like you know some things that they can't do or it's so far fetched to them. And, trust me, I didn't wake up and want this gift, but I can connect with the ancestors. They connect me through my dreams sometimes, or sometimes while I'm wide awake.
Speaker 1So that's been a part of my spiritual journey and yeah, I think that's super fascinating, but at the same time I also struggle internally of like how much is that believable? How much isn't it believable Just because? You know, there's always a good and bad, right, there's people that may actually have that gift and people that don't take it.
Speaker 2take advantage of people people that may actually have that gift and people that don't take advantage of people.
Speaker 1So I think for me it's more like the curiosity of it and, like I said, internally I think I struggle that I do believe in that and then also like kind of, they make you not believe in that.
Speaker 2Definitely. I feel like there's a lot of shady people in the spiritual world. There's a lot of people who desire money, and I always tell people if someone's asking you for money, um, that's how you know it's not right because, um, yeah, it's just. There's no integrity in that. To me, it's a gift that I like to share with everybody, and it's not something that I want to be compensated for.
Speaker 1I think that's a very refreshing um way kind of to like hear that most people, like you said, either want something in return it's very few people that actually do something because they have a gift that they can just share with everybody. It's kind of like you know, maybe like you're singing.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1You were a singer, correct? Yes, okay, I just kind of assumed that one.
Speaker 2Yeah, but yeah, I don't know. It's interesting because I never try to convince anyone I, I personally, I like to think that everyone has these gifts, but everyone doesn't tap into them.
Speaker 1um, so yeah, the deeper you are in the matrix, I think, the further you are from the spiritual realm so I'm sure that has, you know, definitely something to do with it when you, uh, when you, when you're kind of self-involved in, kind of like, what's going on nowadays with you, know, social media is the only thing people watch and pay attention to you, you know you, like you said you don't really connect with who you are or, internally, what's what's inside you?
Speaker 1yep, absolutely so how do you like all the traveling that you do for work?
Speaker 2So it's funny, the last I'll say since 2016,. I've been going nonstop. I love it. I feel like it's expensive to travel, so I've kind of manifested travel through work. I said to myself around 2015,. I knew then like hey, I want to see the world, I want to go places, but I also can't afford it. Um, so I wrote those things down and I've been going ever since.
Speaker 1So, since you've gotten the opportunity to travel for work, what is maybe your most favorite place that you've gone to, and also the place that's probably um been the most interesting, that you didn't expect it to be?
Artistic Tattoos and Personal Stories
Speaker 2Oh, okay, most interesting. That's hard, I would say, for me. I would say the West Coast. I can't narrow it down, but I feel like I belong. Being from the South, I've never felt like I belong in the South. From the South, I've never felt like I belonged in the South. But having gone to the West Coast I've been like San Fran, san Jose, la, phoenix, vegas. I feel like I just belong there. I just love the people, I love the culture. It just is very fitting and as far as like a place that really surprised me. I just recently went to Detroit, a couple months ago, had never been and just everything you hear about it as far as like the violence and it just being a bad place. It was so diverse and beautiful. I had the best time.
Speaker 1That's good to know. I think I've also had kind of like that misconception of what Detroit is or maybe what it was right At some point because of what happened with the car industry and all the things they talk about about its downfall, so that it's good to hear that. You hear of a place that probably was not the best and then you go there and you're really surprised on how wonderful it is.
Speaker 2Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1Yeah, I definitely agree with you. There's something special about the West Coast.
Speaker 2Yes, it is, I love it.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm originally from the Midwest, so very different East Coast to West Coast and Midwest, but definitely love the West Coast.
Speaker 2Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1All right, so we're going to start off really easy. What was your first tattoo?
Speaker 2All right, so my first tattoo was the unk on my forearm.
Speaker 1Okay, when did you get that?
Speaker 2I was 26, I believe, or 25. Yeah, 26.
Speaker 1And so how did you get to that, to that specific tattoo, for it being your first.
Speaker 2So before I even tell you about my tattoos, let me tell you something interesting. So every tattoo I have has been done by one person. Okay, I'm very spiritual. So I have this friend. I don't even remember how we met, but he's a guy and we're both Scorpios and we just it's like we telepathically talk to each other. It's so weird, but he's become one of my great friends and he happens to be a tattoo artist. I've never paid for a tattoo. It's always just been a random like come, hang out and I get a tattoo. So the first one, I believe it was like my birthday weekend, I believe I went to like I took my sister to him to get a tattoo, and he's like hey, when are you ever going to get a tattoo?
Speaker 1Because I was always like I'm not going to get a tattoo. And he's like, hey, when are you ever going to get a tattoo? Because I was always like I'm not going to get a tattoo, it's not my thing. And I just randomly got a tattoo that night. And what did it feel like? Since you were kind of uh, you know, you were kind of opposed to it and weren't really looking to get tattoos, what was it like when it was done?
Speaker 2first of all, like it was like a rush, um, um. I was like, oh okay, this doesn't hurt, this actually feels kind of good. And I don't know, it's like the moment you get that first tattoo and it almost like changes how you feel about yourself and then also the way people look at you. You become more. I don't want to say edgy, but I don't know, that's how I felt. You become more. I don't want to say edgy, but I don't know, that's how I felt.
Speaker 1It was like a rush for me. Yeah, no, I can see how. You know how it would make you feel edgy. You know because you see people. I think tattoos do give that allure of being a little bit more edgy and more cool because it allows, I think, for some people to express who they are. Yeah, it allows, I think, for some people to express who they are with some of their art, when they can't with words or their personality. Some people are more introverted and their tattoos kind of speak for them, so I agree with that.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1And did your parents at all have any opinions on your first tattoo? How did?
Speaker 2your. Did your parents at all have any opinions on your first tattoo? Well, my dad's. He's an older white man, born in the 50s, so of course he doesn't like it. My mom, she's just more of like whatever. She doesn't care, she just like, do you?
Speaker 1That's good and you said that was on your forearm right.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Okay, so out of all the tattoos you have, you you've got what about like 12 tattoos uh, one, two three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Speaker 2Now I have 10 okay.
Speaker 1So out of those 10, what is your favorite tattoo that you have on yourself?
Speaker 2so easy. And my bosquiat. Well, I have two bosquiat tattoos, but my um his signature dino.
Speaker 1That's my favorite I do love that. I think that is the tattoo that that uh caught my attention, yeah, and that's why I approached you and I'm like I want to know more about it I love it.
Speaker 2Give me the story behind that. You said what?
Speaker 1I said give me the story behind it. How did that? How did that come about?
Speaker 2because that's a pretty, that's a pretty cool tattoo it's so funny I I can't remember how or when, because people always ask me what is my fascination with basquiat. But everyone knows like I'm super fascinated with basquiat. Um, I'm very. I'm naturally drawn to artists, so I love, like Warhol and Van Gogh, you know. But Basquiat, for some reason I don't know, ever since, like high school, I was just drawn to him. I love his work, I love his mind. So, yeah, I always knew I wanted a Basquiat tattoo. Funny thing is I wanted his face, but somehow, I don't know, that night I went, I just ended up with the dino and it works.
Speaker 1I think the complete dinosaur makes more sense and is definitely more engaging. I think that way People kind of will look at it. So, I think it's well done and I like that. You know, you look at it and it's not what people would think of like, oh, I got a cool dinosaur tattoo, you know. If they don't know, uh, who the artist is, they're getting you know it would almost kind of go on like um childish kind of drawing which makes it kind of cool that's funny.
Speaker 2You said that because people it's it either goes two ways. Someone either either goes like oh my god, that's basquiat, I love basquiat. Or someone's like did your kid draw? That is that like your kids drawing.
Speaker 1So it's funny yeah, no, I I would agree. Like when I saw it I knew it was an uh, a rendition of an artist, but I was like I'm not familiar, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that that was him, but I know that that was an artist who did that yeah so that was uh, that's really cool. The next one I want to know about is you have like what's like a little crown yeah, so that's boskiat as well.
Speaker 1That's his signature crown okay, and that's on my shoulder, my left shoulder did you get that at the same time? Did you get that later?
Speaker 2um no. So the boskiat is like like the dino is like my newest tattoo. I've only had that for like a year or two or something like that. But the crown I got maybe like four or five years ago just random. Again, I always knew I wanted his crown and I didn't think I was going to get the dino that has the crown. So I was like, ah, I'll just give it here, but I love it.
Speaker 1No, it's cool because it's not you can tell. It's not like most people look at a crown that are you know that don't know very much, would be like, oh, that's a gang. It could be gang related, right?
Speaker 1Because there's just lots of them, but because of the way it's drawn out, I could tell it wasn't just that, because you can definitely see the resemblance in the dinosaur Right. So one of the other things I want to find out is for you, do you have a tattoo that's the most meaningful to you, unless it's the same?
Speaker 2Yeah, no. So I have a dreamcatcher and I feel like, well, I have two that are super meaningful to me, but the dream catcher specifically, so my dad and I. I have an older dad. My dad was 41 when I was born, so he's been pretty much older my entire life. But our way of connecting when I was young, like I said, I'm clairvoyant, so I have really bad night terrors sometimes. And back then, I didn't understand what it was.
Speaker 2I mean, I was a kid dreaming about dead people that I never met before. So my dad, he would always buy me dream catchers. That was like our thing. And so I knew at some point just to kind of honor my dad, I wanted a dream catcher and the birds that's connected to it. Our favorite film together is Forrest Gump, and it just makes me think of Jenny asking God to make her a bird. So that's why I kind of wanted the birds on the bottom of it.
Speaker 1Oh, that's really nice. That is a great movie, by the way.
Speaker 2I love that movie.
Speaker 1Is that dream catcher? Is that kind of? Is that kind of drawn after any of the dream catchers that your father gave you? Is that? Does it have any resemblance to that?
Speaker 2Yeah, it actually does. That's funny. I showed him. So I still have a dream catcher that my dad gave me when I was like six. It's super old but it actually resembles. It looks exactly the same.
Speaker 1And did, uh, those dream catchers help with your dreams? Or obviously, when you were younger, you probably didn't know that you were, you know, clairvoyant and what those meant. But yeah did that help at all?
Speaker 2yeah, um, I didn't understand at the time why, I understand now, but yeah, absolutely they did that's very, it's very interesting.
Speaker 1I've never had a dream catcher and I always have really weird dreams, and you know every once in a while I have one that's kind of way out there but, I, wonder if you know, like if I had bad dreams, if that would help.
Speaker 2Yeah, any intention that you said, I think will be helpful.
Speaker 1That I guess that goes with, uh, you know mindset manifestation right Like you start putting yourself towards those goals uh you know you're going to achieve them.
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Speaker 1Okay, so you have one that is letters. It says cold.
Speaker 2I didn't want to talk about this one. Okay, so do tell.
Speaker 2If I had one that I I wouldn't say I regret any, but it's. It's like why did I get this tattoo? So it was just a very bad time in my life, you know, getting cheated on and stuff, with my 10-year high school sweetheart and I. I will say I think I was intoxicated that day and I just I just something to like release my pain. Why he let me get that tattoo, I have no idea, but it's his cold game. You know life's a cold game. So it's terrible. I don't like that one.
Speaker 1Do you have any plans on covering it up, or is that something that you're just going to look at and know that you know it's there?
Speaker 2No, absolutely not. I don't think I'll ever get a cover-up, because I think if that's how I felt at the time you know I've already put it there Covering up it'll still be under it. So no, I think it'll just stay there for life.
Speaker 1Well, at least every time you look at it, you know.
Speaker 2How far I've come Exactly Now it has a different meaning on it.
Speaker 1Yeah, for sure. So you said you were kind of drunk. How did you get to the tattoo parlor?
Speaker 2uh, I think so. My friend again. He works at a shop so I would always just hang out up there and we'd be drinking and stuff like that. It'd be like after hours I know you're okay like his boss would be gone and stuff like that.
Speaker 1So it's always nice to have friends who do tattoos, because you can just get them anytime right, pretty much right. Yeah, it's great okay, so I want to know about you have. It looks like a cat with a moon on it.
Speaker 2So I've had a cat since as far as I can remember. There's been a lot of cats in my life. I'm a cat person. I have a cat now. Her name's Luna Lovegood. So yeah, and I love the moon. I've always associated myself with the moon, so yeah, I got a cat with the moon, or moon with a cat on top.
Speaker 1Is that your cat?
Speaker 2It's not my cat specifically. It's just a cat.
Speaker 1I didn't know if it was maybe like this is you know a cat that I had?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1And how long ago did you get that one?
Speaker 2That one's probably like six years old, seven or not seven, six or five years old. It's pretty old.
Speaker 1Okay and then. So this one's a little bit kind of I would say more on the abstract. It looks like kind of like rays of sunshine coming out with like, maybe little waves.
Speaker 2Oh, the upside down triangle.
Speaker 1I guess it would kind of look like that. It's got like a little dot in the center.
Speaker 2That tattoo was really nice. I went swimming and I ruined it the next day, so it's like no one can ever make out what it is anymore. But when it was nice, it's the sun, clouds and like land, land.
Speaker 2and then there's a box in the middle, a tiny box okay, yeah, I can see that so I guess what I interpreted that night, um, I don't know, I always feel boxed in because like who I am and my gifts, and I feel like I just see the world so differently. Um, but I wanted like elements around it. So, I don't know, I'll just be coming up with shit but that's that's what's great about tattoos.
Speaker 1That's what that's why they're amazing is you just come up with stuff and then you do it yeah, and then you know, if people have the. Uh, if they're, you know, ballsy enough to ask you, they will yeah, definitely okay, here's one that I want to know. If I think it may be something that you already talked about, but I'm still gonna ask you anyways what is the the most complimented tattoo that you have?
Symbolic Tattoos and Personal Meanings
Speaker 2The dino, of course, before that, oddly, I have a dotted cross on my wrist. It's also a suicide awareness tattoo. It has question marks within the cross. People, for some reason, always gravitate toward this tattoo. I don't know why it's so small.
Speaker 1It almost looks like different phases of the moon on that yeah but they're question marks and you said that's for like suicide awareness yeah and what inspired you to get that um, well, obvious reasons.
Speaker 2Um, so I like I said I'm spiritual, but I I grew up in a religious like background. Um, so I wanted like a different form of crosses on my body. I already have the unc and then this one. I just thought it would be really cool to like incorporate the suicide awareness with the cross. Um, because I feel like god is like what kind of led me to not, you know, do that so okay that, uh, it's a very unique way of you know getting across.
Speaker 1So you know it's nice, because then it's unique to you and it has meaning as well, obviously, yeah, so we've got a couple more. One I want to know is tell me about the little alien that you have on your wrist.
Speaker 2That's actually my favorite tattoo. That's funny, and my daughter likes to tell me that it looks like an avocado. I think that's hilarious, but I don't know. I just again, being so different, I've always associated myself with aliens and I don't know. I love the color green, so I just thought it would be cool to get a little alien.
Speaker 1It is really cool. Alien stuff is kind of interesting and just we can go down the rabbit hole of aliens for hours. But it's not that type of podcast. But it would be interesting to talk about that stuff. And then I think this is other than like your dinosaur tattoo. I think this is probably one of my favorite ones you have is the snake.
Speaker 2Okay. So snakes they're constantly shedding. To me it's like a rebirth. I'm also a Scorpio and I don't like scorpions. I wouldn't get one tattoo but I feel like I don't know, I feel like a snake in a way. I feel like I don't know. I feel like a snake in a way. I feel like, um, I don't know if you're into astrology, but a lot of people say that Scorpios are constantly dying and being reborn, reinventing ourselves, basically, okay, but that's how I feel connected to the snake. I feel like the snake sheds its skin and I feel like I'm constantly doing the same thing. My life evolves so much at a rapid pace.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, that completely makes sense of you know how you feel when you're constantly changing. Like you said, the snake always sheds its skin and it gets like a new opportunity. So you know, we want to put it that way.
Speaker 2And I actually got the dino and the snake in the same day.
Speaker 1Two in a day.
Speaker 2Yeah, well, yeah, I got three in a day. I got the angel numbers that are on my wrist. I got that that same day too.
Speaker 1Okay. Um do those uh numbered, the angel numbers, have any significance?
Speaker 2Uh, numbered the angel numbers have any significance? Uh, yeah, so I have 11 11 on my right wrist. Um, I started seeing angel numbers probably like three years ago if I saw them before then I didn't pay attention, but 11, 11 was like the first one, I just. I mean, it became like every day, all day. So, yeah, that's why I wanted to get that one tattooed. Since then it's a different one, like now I'm seeing two, two, two every day. But 11, 11 was definitely the first one do those have any any particular meaning?
Speaker 2so they're interpreted a lot of different ways. Um, if you x, depending on who you ask, a lot of people like to say that 11 11 is like oh, you're on the right path, you know, stay focused. For me personally, um, because I am clairvoyant, I pay attention to what I'm thinking or seeing or feeling when I see the numbers. A lot of times it's ancestors wanting to connect with me, but they're like there's a blockage or they're sending me a sign.
Speaker 1So yeah, and where do you see these numbers? I kind of want to know a little bit more of you know how you see them and you know where you see them.
Speaker 2Yeah. So I mean, I can give you an example. Like I said, I'm out of town right now. I went to see a friend the other night and I've been telling him for a while like hey, you know, I see angel numbers. But he's one of those people. He's like ha ha, and it's funny, I see the same number every time that I see him, every single time. And so we were talking and I turned around and the clock said 1222. And I pointed it to him. He's like no way, or we'll be driving down the street. I think one time, when he came to visit me, there was a billboard and it said two, two, two, or I'll see it on a license plate or I'll pick up my phone. It's just random, so random.
Speaker 1And has? Has any of those numbers ever led to? Anything that you've discovered that maybe if you weren't paying attention to them, you probably wouldn't have gotten to that.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think there are certain situations where I may be having like a rough day or I can't figure something out or I can't quite connect. I'll look at the clock and it'll just be more so like confirmation for me, if that makes sense, like confirmation for me if that makes sense, or it'll be like a, like a signal to try something different or slow down, just depending on which numbers that I see and how different are the 11?
Speaker 211 to the, the twos um, well, so 11, 11 is usually like how I know I don't connect it to people, if that makes sense.
Speaker 111, 11 is specific to me, but 222 is always connected to a person around me okay, it's very interesting that, like I said, another, another topic that I think we can just go down the rabbit hole for a very long time.
Speaker 2So in the near future, do you plan on getting anything else anytime soon? Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, I don't plan them. They just happen. But I know I'm nowhere near done. I know that I'll end up with a lot of more tattoos.
Speaker 1It seems to happen right, Like you'll get some, then some people go on like a hiatus and then all of a sudden something happens and then there's like a floodgate of tattoos coming on or some people just like can't stop.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely. I do have one in my head that I want. I just don't know when it's going to happen, but I know what I want, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1What is it that you want?
Speaker 2So I don't know if you're familiar with the pothos plant. I'm obsessed. I love pothos plants. They are very significant to me from my childhood until now. So I want like a pothos plant. I just don't know if I want like a leaf of a full plant or where I want it. So, but it'll happen.
Speaker 1I'm sure it'll come to you and it'll be, you know, another pretty amazing tattoo that people will be able to ask you about.
Speaker 2Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1Well, actually it's been really great to have you on the show. Uh, it kind of unfortunate that we had to postpone it for so long. I know that you were in Boston for a while and you've been traveling, but maybe next time you come back up to Boston, you know, we can actually get together and just have a conversation in person. Uh, you know, on some other stuff, yes.
Speaker 1All right, well, thank you for being on the show. This is your host to know, and this has been another episode of the Ink Tales Podcast. Thanks for joining me this week for another episode. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at the Ink Tales Podcast and our website at inktalespodcastcom, where you can see photos of all our guests and their tattoos. Please subscribe to the show to hear more fun stories from exciting guests. Who knows, it might be you. You.
