Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashlee Marie Preston.
Hi Ashlee Marie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started out as a storyteller before I even realized that’s what I was doing. Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, I learned early on how narratives could heal, empower, or completely reshape the way people see themselves and one another. I didn’t have much cultural exposure outside of the books I could access, and that hunger for information became the spark that led me to Los Angeles at nineteen. There, I discovered a kaleidoscope of cultural identities and ultimately, my own, as a trans woman.
That awakening wasn’t without consequence. After coming out, I was discriminated against at work, fired, and evicted, which led me to experience homelessness on the streets of Hollywood. I fell through the cracks of systemic inequity, yet unlike many of my peers, I made it through without a record or the health disparities often associated with the survival economy. Those years gave me a profound understanding of resilience, humanity, and the power of storytelling as a tool for change.
My journey has never been linear; I’ve worn a lot of hats as an activist, media advocate, journalist, producer, strategist, and cultural curator. Along the way, I became the first openly trans editor-in-chief of an American publication (possibly globally) and later, the first openly trans person to run for California state office. But the throughline has always been about impact, representation, and what it means to thrive under absolute autonomy. To support that personal mission, I’ve been a member of the Nexus Impact Society and currently serve as VP of Partnerships for the Impact Guild. My love of nature, the environment, and history also led me to become a patron of The Huntington Botanical Gardens, Museum, and Library; my favorite place to relax, unwind, and vision board over tea in the rose garden.
No matter how my curiosity takes shape in any given moment, I tend to find myself at the intersection of storytelling, media, the arts, and healing sciences. Those interests are my way of “sneaking in the vegetables” —using creative and cultural conversations to invite deeper discourse around equity, identity, and inclusion within mainstream spaces. That approach led to opportunities to write for outlets including Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Vice, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, and more. I’ve primarily covered entertainment, media, and the arts, but more recently, I’ve become immersed in travel and sustainability—exploring them through the lens of consciousness and the relationship between people and the planet.
Over time, my work evolved beyond commentary and into content creation. I co-founded Kaleido Collective, a network of LGBTQ creatives and executives in entertainment, to help reimagine how our stories are told. We exist to expand the market share of queer and trans content that gets professionally produced and distributed; and to ensure that members of our community are creatively propelling those works and being fairly compensated for their contributions. In other words, we work to get more queer and trans content made, and more of our people paid.
In 2024, I was invited to serve as a United Nations Spotlight Initiative Fellow, advocating for women and girls, and later that year, I was honored with a UN Trailblazer Award for my work in media and social change. Those milestones opened new creative pathways. I began developing projects like a global docuseries exploring how we metabolize grief across cultures while reimagining new-paradigm possibilities for human connection beyond fear, separation, competition, control, and dominance. Alongside that, I founded Canopy Collection and Canopy Crown, an eco-luxury certification and rating system that bridges sustainability, cultural heritage, and high-end travel— reframing how we experience luxury through a regenerative lens.
It’s been a full-circle moment; from fighting for representation to building ecosystems that embody it. My mission now is to help shape a more equitable, sustainable future across media, hospitality, and culture. One that celebrates the artistry of being human, in all its complexity.
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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but the biggest obstacle wasn’t external, but in my mind. For years, I equated activism with self-sacrifice. I thought martyrdom was a framework for liberation, that throwing myself over every proverbial grenade was the only way to prove my solidarity. That belief cost me my health, my peace, and my sense of joy— the very things I was fighting to protect in others.
Over time, I realized that constantly living in survival mode or outrage culture isn’t sustainable. I’d unknowingly allowed myself to be recruited as a conflict entrepreneur; someone who spends more time preaching the gospel of contention than one of co-creation, compassion, and care. That awakening forced me to redefine what tangible impact actually looks like. For me, liberation isn’t about being consumed by the fight; it’s about learning to create from a place of wholeness, abundance, and alignment.
As an artivist, I’m painting a portrait of a new paradigm in colors that don’t yet exist. And sometimes it feels like I’m speaking butterfly language to caterpillar people; or trying to describe flight to those still learning to trust their wings. Collaborators who fully align with that vision can be hard to come by, but I’ve learned to surrender to divine timing. I trust that the universe is using me as a conduit through which new worlds are birthed, and for now that’s more than enough.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
If I had to name one quality that’s been essential to my success, it would be curiosity, and the willingness to stay receptive to the reality that none of us ever truly know everything. In school, the teacher gave us the lesson before the test; in life, we take the test first, and only then do we learn the lesson.
That perspective has shaped the way I move through the world. I’ve come to believe that the root of much of our collective suffering is fear; the fear that we’ll never have enough, or that we’ll never be enough. At 41, my goal is to master fear, especially when it disguises itself as perfectionism or the fear of making mistakes.
Mistakes, to me, are part of the refinement process of human evolution. Each one is a sacred checkpoint and an invitation to learn, unlearn, and recalibrate. The terror of being judged or discarded for past versions of myself has lost its grip. The older I get, the more I recognize that freedom comes from embracing my own becoming. That courage, not certainty, is what sustains true success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youareessential.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleemariepreston?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashlee.m.preston?mibextid=LQQJ4d&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleemariepreston?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Other: https://www.kaleido.org/
