Happy Half Birthday!

Hip hip hooray! Today is my half birthday! Yes I know what you’re thinking, today is Valentine’s day, and no my husband and I don’t celebrate it. Because, duh, it’s my half birthday!

And today has an extra cause for celebration: the launch of my new website and the new me!

For those of you who have been following my journey for the past several years, you would know that journey has been on a windy road.

My love of fashion started at a young age when I would change my outfit several times a day – because if my mood changed, my outfit had to change with it. My mother hated this phase, because every outfit I changed out of ended up on the floor of my bedroom – oops, sorry mum!

Skip forward a couple of years, and I’m a young retail manager in a women’s fashion store, where on a daily basis I help women discover what makes them look and therefore feel great. I wanted to help more women, and felt I didn’t have all the knowledge… plus, being in my early 20s I wasn’t sure people would take me too seriously. So I found a 3-day intensive course for becoming a personal stylist, called Smitten With Style. After that weekend I thought: ‘right, I’m going to start my own personal styling business and quit my retail job once it takes off’. And I thought, ‘now this is how I’m going to really reach women and help them discover that they ARE beautiful’.

A few months, and years, later: nothing. I worked out the women I really wanted to reach didn’t really want to, or couldn’t, spend the money on a stylist. And I never wanted to be a stylist for women who just needed a new wardrobe, or were starting a new job, or were replacing last year’s fashion with this year’s. I was after women who weren’t sure what suited them, lacked confidence in choosing items that would work together, and in all that, I could teach them that they are beautiful and that it’s OK to acknowledge it.

I also had a huge passion for teaching young girls what is appropriate and why. Why it’s not OK to show off every part of your body, and why that is. And through doing my personal styling course, I made connections and was able to run a few workshops for teenage girls on style, body image, and all things fashion.

After all these things, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. All I knew was I wanted to reach women and wanted them to know what they are worth.

Then one day I thought, ‘what about YouTube?’ My husband showed me how to use his DSLR camera, and when he left for work one day, he said “Just practice”. So I did, but without the intent to post it. When I showed him when he got home from work, he said it was great and to just post it. And I did. From there I went on an almost 3 year journey of talking all things beauty, fashion, and life.

The past year, or just over, has led me to really ask God what is next for me. I love YouTube and the community that it is, but I felt God saying it needs to be more.

So what does “more” look like? “More” looks like identifying as me. As Ash Leung (my married name), not as Ashleigh Green Style. “More” looks like putting my thoughts down on paper, regularly. “More” looks like starting up those workshops again, and reaching out to the younger generation. “More” looks like teaching others it’s OK to love yourself, and no that doesn’t mean you’re “full of yourself”. “More” means helping others to discover their dreams, and live them fearlessly.

I am really excited for this next chapter, and if you have been following the journey for a while, I so appreciate it! Stay tuned for what is to come – you can do that by subscribing to my newsletter, and staying connected by following my socials.

To end this, I’m going to ask you all for a birthday gift for my half birthday. I want you to treat yourself today to something that will bring you joy. Whether it’s buying that top you’ve been eyeing off, picking up a new nail polish, having an ice cream date with your bestie or buying a coffee for the person waiting in line behind you as an act of kindness (I do this every now and then at my drive through coffee cart). Do it because your happiness is worth it, and do it because you are worth it.

Until next time,

Ash