Ashley Marie has become a household name in the fashion world, with her jewelry company, A. MARIE JEWELRY, literally putting her in different parts of the world. While Ashley and her brand have become world famous in recent times, many of her fans do not know what the passionate jewelry designer went through as a young adult and even an entrepreneur. The jewelry designer and business woman with over 15 years of business experience has multiple 7 figure earning companies.
Ashley’s creativity is seemingly unprecedented in the industry. Her works and even more interesting, considering her challenging childhood. Young, Ashley was never a fan of medications. However, the graduate of California Lutheran University had no choice after she was diagnosed with disorders that necessitated seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist.
“I am so thankful for my university. I will never forget what California Lutheran University did for me. They gave me the most incredible resources, many of which I STILL use today. They found me a psychiatrist and psychologist. One to deal with medicine (which of course I was against but now an advocate of doing what you need to do to get healthy) and one to deal with the issues causing my need for medicine,” said Ashley Marie.
Ashley Marie was diagnosed with ADHD and learning “disabilities,” which meant that her brain found it relatively difficult to process and accomplish tasks that most people would ordinarily breeze through. “Having unresolved ADHD literally sent me into a spiral of thinking so many things were wrong with my brain. Everyone thought that because I could sit still and design jewelry- that this was not even an option. Turns out that ADHD uses a completely different part of the brain AND THAT IS WHY I CAN SIT AND DESIGN JEWELRY!!!” said Ashley Marie.
Prior to the diagnosis of ADHD, Ashley was diagnosed with PTSD at 13. However, jewelry designing was the therapy that kept her going, unknowing to her. At age 22, Ashley decided to pursue a college degree, however, found it very difficult to focus, and achieve good grades despite hours of studying. She practically stopped from working or designing jewelry, cramming her brain and energy into what she did not enjoy. “Now in college at 22, I stopped working, stopped making jewelry, crammed my brain and energy into something that made me feel bad about myself because I just couldn’t succeed,” Ashley said.
Ashley faced many challenges during her scholastic career. The combination of her drive to succeed along with the help and support from her school did however, allow her to succeed. As hard as it was, she graduated with honors and a double major in Psychology and political science with an emphasis in law. In the end, Ashley nurtured her calling to pursue her love of jewelry designing which eventually led to her empire A. MARIE INC.