Recite positive affirmations every day — Say them 100 times a day. Phrases like “You are powerful and capable of achieving greatness” is one helpful affirmation to recite.
Resilience has been described as the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events. Times are not easy now. How do we develop greater resilience to withstand the challenges that keep being thrown at us? In this interview series, we are talking to mental health experts, authors, resilience experts, coaches, and business leaders who can talk about how we can develop greater resilience to improve our lives.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashlee Richardson.
Ashlee Richardson is a spiritual entrepreneur, astrologer, tarot card reader and clairvoyance who has had a sixth sense of reading people from a very young age. As early as five years old, she can recall getting premonitions at school that often got her in trouble with teachers and staff. As a young child, this ability to understand people, read people and even connect with others who have passed on from this life was alarming to her, her family and friends. In fact, Ashlee was sent to the hospital and analyzed by child therapists multiple times, every time coming to the same conclusion — Ashlee is psychologically fine and there is no modern science explanation to her sixth sense.
Understanding her god-given gift was initially confusing and terrifying, but as she began to mature, she realized it was a gift that can help others. Now, Ashlee is what she considers a millennial spiritual entrepreneur with a full-thriving e-commerce business providing psychic services to others that helps them become and thrive as their best selves.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
One of the most interesting stories from my career that I been fortunate enough to experience is helping hundreds of women in the U.S. find their passion, purpose and find their inner confidence and strength through my spiritual positivity coaching. One of the biggest learning takeaways from helping so many people is that even though some people get lost in their life journey, they can get re-focused and its never too late to create a fulfilling life. Millions of women in the U.S. second guess themselves and may steer off their life path, but they do have it within them to get back on track and find the inner confidence, strength and power.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
It’s unique that I can provide people clarity and insight about their lives without knowing them — I feel blessed that god gifted me with this ability and it has always been my goal to use it for good to help others. Being able to do tarot card readings and talk to people about their zodiac sign and how it impacts their life is something unique in itself. It’s rare for people to have this sixth sense ability and that is why I think it is so important to use it properly to help people understand themselves, their passions and their ultimate life purpose.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I am extremely grateful for my mom — She has helped me grow my spiritual coaching and tarot card business over the last year and without her, my business growth and success may not be possible.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?
Resilience means you are tough and always keep pushing through trials and tribulations. No matter how many naysayers or rejections you face on your path, you have to learn to not take it personal. Take it with a grain of salt and learn to manage your feelings, emotions and thoughts so that you can swiftly move forward to the next thing. Remember- do not dwell on the past and keep your thoughts positive.
Courage is often likened to resilience. In your opinion how is courage both similar and different to resilience?
You absolutely need courage to be a consistently resilient person. They aren’t exactly the same, but you need one to have the other. Be courageous and dare to believe in and love yourself so that you can achieve your personal and professional goals. If you take this approach in your everyday life, I believe you will be successful.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
My mom and myself come to mind. I have overcome a lot of obstacle and am so proud that I now have a spiritual and positive coaching business that I run full-time. I think it’s important that as female business owners, we give ourselves the credit we deserve. And again, I appreciate my mom and her resilience — she is a strong and wonderful woman whom I am very grateful for.
Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?
My entire life people have questioned my spirituality and clairvoyance abilities, even my family. I’ve been evaluated by several psychologists and psychiatrists and they all have said I am completely mentally sane. Since modern day science cannot explain my sixth sense of being able to read people and help them with their personal and professional lives, I have been written off by so many people since I was a young little girl. No one believed me for years and told me what I was saying was wrong or impossible. Now I am so proud to use my gift to help others and make a living for myself. Now I offer spirituality advice, tarot card readings and positivity coaching to hundreds of clients and it’s quite satisfying.
Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?
During the beginning of the pandemic, I was transitioning from my old job to starting a new business, which is currently the business that I am running full-time now. It was extremely challenging and scary, but I pushed through that discomfort and continued reminding myself to keep a positive mindset. Meditation and daily positive mantras were necessary to keep myself focused and positive about such an unsure time in the world. When I need resilience, I make sure to go back to the basics and remember why I started this business in the first place. For me, I know it’s my mission and purpose while on earth. I also think it is important to look at the bigger picture and know that sad, worrying or negative thoughts you may be having in the moment are temporary. It won’t always be easy, but in the long-term, it will be worth it. Having faith plays a big part in any person’s personal or professional success and is one of the biggest parts of becoming a stronger and successful individual.
How have you cultivated resilience throughout your life? Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
Like many adults, I experienced childhood trauma that had a serious impact on me. It’s not anyone’s fault what they are subjected to as a child, but it is my firm belief that it’s up to adults to manage and overcome trauma so they can live their best, happiest and most fulfilled life.
Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Have faith in yourself and your ability
- Push out and ignore negativity and outside opinions — even if you don’t have support from others.
- Trust yourself and your gut/instincts.
- Meditate daily alone with zero distractions. This will help declutter the mind.
- Recite positive affirmations every day — Say them 100 times a day. Phrases like “You are powerful and capable of achieving greatness” is one helpful affirmation to recite.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
It’s my ultimate life goal to help people tap into their best selves. Self awareness, self love and positivity are things that society has devolved people to lack. And I believe it’s my job to help them better understand themselves and tap into their true passion and meaning in life. I always want to use my abilities to help people and make this complicated world a better, happier place.
We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂
Steve Harvey is someone who has always inspired me and who I think has done great things in the business and entertainment arenas. His business acumen has always been something I have admired.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Yes, I offer a variety of spiritual and positivity coaching services on my website: www.NoSoPr3tty.com and I encourage everyone to follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AshRichardson__ ) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/thereal_ashrichhhh)
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!