Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Farley.
Hi Ashley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a Bay Area native, hailing from San Jose, CA. I have lived all over CA, from the Bay to San Diego and LA, where I landed in 2005 for school. I earned my Master of Social Work degree and am a practicing social work professional by day.
I began my plant-based journey after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives over ten years ago. What stood out to me the most was the intrinsic impact that our dietary choices have on our health as we age. As the child of a mother that suffered breast cancer twice, I also grew up plagued with severe eczema, to which no amount of steroids or topical creams seemed to help. I even struggled with alopecia at age ten, experiencing the tragic loss of all of my hair at a time when I was just developing a sense of identity. In college, I taught myself how to make my own body butters to eradicate my eczema, a skillset I kept largely to myself for my own use or as gifts for loved ones. After watching the documentary, I decided I wanted to make healthy decisions to not only prolong my life but ensure that it is one of quality. I gave up meat and poultry – cold turkey and haven’t looked back since.
In going plant-based, my goal was to completely cut out all types of meat and reduce my intake of animal proteins altogether. This meant I had to completely relearn how to cook. I embraced the challenge by researching various foods, their health benefits, and experimenting with new recipes, sans meat. As I learned and grew, I shared my journey on this ‘new’ platform, Instagram. I wanted to share with others what I was learning about some of the amazing benefits of plant-based foods, as well as some of the concerning things I was learning about many processed and popular parts of our everyday diet – – a true social worker at heart. I joined the platform in 2014 and enjoyed sharing what I learned, various cultural foods from my world travels and experiences related to diet, gardening, and living clean. I realized I can talk for hours about reducing toxins and chemicals in our environment and diet, how to grow indoor plants or start a garden or the correlation between our health and what we consume.
Within a few years, a group of friends and I were launching our own site to share social events in LA, and I was afforded the opportunity to get free headshots and support in building my website from this group. The site launched relatively softly, but I had yet to put my skills to test by hosting any events.
In Fall 2015, I was challenged by a friend to put on my first event, which I fondly dubbed, The Harvest. This was a dinner party and a reflection on the concept of abundance, as well as what nature provides for us when we need it. I hosted over 20 guests, and this has become ashcooks annual flagship event for the past seven years and counting. It’s evolved over the years, as has my business. In addition to other annual events I’ve hosted over the years, I’ve ventured into other avenues, including participation in community events to teach youth and parents healthy recipes for kids, teaching 1:1 cooking lessons/plant-based coaching, and a more recent expansion on wellness/skincare products, which launched during the Fall of 2020. I continue to provide education on the Instagram platform, sharing my experiences and recipes that I come across that I think others will love.
However, in launching the ashcooks product line, I’ve been able to reach a wider audience and my favorite part is sharing knowledge and information about health benefits of some of the ingredients with others. Even if someone doesn’t make a purchase, I strive for an encounter with me to be a great experience and to educate. That said, I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I’ve received over the past few years. I’ve participated in a wide array of community events and pop-ups, where my offerings have expanded from body butter to more recently, beard oils, beeswax candles, lip balms, sage wands, soaps, Chakra-balancing roll-ons, natural sunblock, selenite crystals, and even fresh-made sweet bread and matcha lattes. It’s all about balance, right!? While all of my products smell amazing, I avoid fragrances or other harmful ingredients at all costs, instead leaning into the healing power of plants. I use essential oils as an apothecary of sorts to curate unique blends that smell fabulous but also help provide relief for a variety of skin and mood ailments, including anxiety, overthinking, depression, sleep disturbances, nausea, skin maladies, stretch marks, etc.
One of my (many) favorite things is allowing a customer to smell the body butter or chakra oil product line and witnessing their faces light up when they find ‘THE’ blend that speaks to them. Since each of these blends is curated to embody the elements, there is an ideal blend (or two or three) for everyone, and quite interestingly, choices are typically centered around a person’s astrological sun sign. I love to challenge customers to choose a blend based on what they strive to improve upon or achieve, as each butter (or chakra oil) can support healing in specific areas with regular use.
My business is Black-woman owned and a true passion project, as I’m largely a one-woman show from the website to product photographs, marketing, shipping, managing mailing lists, posting content and recipes online, creating products and slanging them in the community.
I look forward to the continued growth of my business as I continue to manage online orders, community events, 1:1 coaching and teaching, and the launch of the recent ashcooks product line at the My Black Beauty Box (My B.B.B.) at the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Mall. I never could have imagined the places this venture would take me or how it would challenge and better me. I rest in gratitude (and sometimes exhaustion) daily for this beautiful journey and the opportunities that I’ve been afforded.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I feel the journey has been one of faith and that I’ve been led here. The early opportunities that gave me a little nudge in the right direction seemed to be of divinity, and I only credit myself for being ‘woke’ enough to walk through the open doors placed in front of me, putting one foot in front of the other as I’ve grown over the years.
That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges. Each event is a challenge, cooking for large groups, pulling off events for over two dozen people single-handedly. In participating in community events, there have been times I’ve spent money only to not break even or take a loss. I’ve had unpleasant disputes with event organizers about equity that didn’t go the way I’d liked. I’ve shown up to events that I paid to vend at, only to have the event shut down early due to permit issues. I’ve had butter (natural products, remember) melt in the sun or forgotten essential items at home and had to run home to pick them up or ask my hubby to drop things off for me.
Being a one-woman company, sometimes I’m exhausted – sometimes ash don’t feel like cookin’. 🙂 It can be tough after a long day of work to pull together the energy to make products or ship someone’s order out so they get it quickly.
None of that stands out to me more than the overwhelming joy and pride I feel in sharing what I know and love with others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in quality natural skin care and soul care products. My signature product is the Activated Total Body Butter. It was the first product I launched in Fall 2020 at The Harvest – Bread and Butter. I pride myself in being highly adaptable, and rather than cancel my annual flagship event when the pandemic hit, I switched it up to a drive-thru event, where I launched my body butters and offered a variety of baked sweet breads and apple cider. What makes the body butters special is that each one is curated to embody the elements and to activate specific chakras. For example, the Air blend might draw in those with Air Sun or Moon signs or other placements in their astrological charts. With the principal notes of Lavender and Ylang Ylang, it’s the softest aschooks blend, which helps to promote healing (warm and fuzzies) in the heart, third eye, and crown chakras – associated with love, compassion, intuition, and connection to a higher power. Other benefits include a natural anti-stress fix and promoting relaxation and sleep. That’s just one example of how my products go way beyond just nourishing the skin. As for surface level skin support, the butters are handcrafted with four butters/oils, all designed to deeply nourish the skin all day long, providing moisture and relief to many for skin conditions such as dryness, eczema or unidentified skin flare up, burns, etc. I’ve used the butters in a pinch as a natural lip balm and recently learned they work well as an oil-based makeup remover without breaking my skin out. I also use the butter on my hair and scalp. They’re designed to be used from head to toe. Many of my products (butters, chakra oils and candles) can be customized per the customer’s request, to target specific issues or provide a specific scent profile.
I strive to create pricing options that are affordable, despite the great care and quality that goes into each and every product. Prices range as low as $5 and go up to $24. Sometimes, people react when hearing a price with, ‘that’s all?’ We’ve gotten so used to things being exorbitant, but I want quality to be affordable to others. I make my products in small batches. They’re natural, so if they sit on the shelf a year before shipping, it does no one any justice. These natural butters and oils break down over time and lose their amazing smell and texture, so I work hard to make products within a few weeks to a few months of the date of sale. I also will personally email customers tips on how to store or preserve their product (if it melts, etc.). I believe in being accessible and reply to DMs and emails directly.
I prioritize client safety above all else and won’t sacrifice the health of the customer for a cost or for a scent. I enjoy educating those that I work with about the chakras, benefits of the ingredients in my products, and how to make healthier decisions when selecting what they put on (or in their bodies). That is what I believe sets ashcooks apart from many other companies.
I’m most proud of my journey to get to this point. I could laud one specific accomplishment, but I’m still learning and growing, and I can only imagine what may lie in store.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I am not the biggest risk taker when it comes to financial undertakings or breaking the rules. A true Capricorn through and through, we are known for being measured, calculated, sure-footed and ambitious. I embody these principles, making gradual but consistent progress in what I set my mind to. I have a strong faith in God and that is not to say that I’m not above extreme sports (I’ve been sky-diving, swam with sharks, zip-lined, and white water rafted), but it’s my faith that allows me to do these things without fear.
When it comes to financial undertakings on the other hand, I really try to research, learn, compare and consider all angles to make an informed decision. I don’t like passing up opportunities, but I also don’t like to feel the regret that comes from rushing into something ill-advised or unprepared.
With my business, I’ve taken a ‘try-on’ attitude, considering all opportunities that have come up, evaluating if the opp aligns with my brand and mission, and weighing the costs and potential risks associated with moving forward. I use this same ‘formula’ to determine which events/pop-ups I participate in, as well as other opportunities I take (such as the My B.B.B. mall collaboration) or turn down. I also consider my time and energy as a resource. I work a full-time job and maintain a rich social life, so I’ve learned not to burn the candle at both ends by overextending myself with too many events or commitments. I have scaled back on the number of events that I commit to, placing my focus instead on expanding and improving my products, maintaining current clients/customer service excellence, and participating in events that align with my brand. Recent events have included a summer market at Sovern, a local Community Center located in W. Adams focused on empowering women, Sol and Sound healing festival, and the Tree Yoga Co-Op’s grand opening. These events are spaced out to allow myself time to rest/recover so I can give each event my all while keeping something left in my cup.
I look forward to seeing what lies in store for ashcooks in the months and years to come, but one thing I know is that I will continue to challenge myself by learning and sharing information and products that can benefit my community, promoting wellness and mindfulness along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ashcooksla.com
- Instagram: @ashcooks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashcooksla/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ashcooks-los-angeles
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ashcooks
