Ashley George

Transcript:

Full transcription provided by our sponsor for this episode, Mark Scarrow – Mortgages Made Simple (NMLS# 178678). Connect with Mark: https://www.newrez.com/find-loan-officer/mark-scarrow/

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the best of LKN, a podcast featuring the best small businesses and the most influential professionals around Lake Norman, North Carolina. Each week, we spotlight those businesses and individuals that are making a positive impact here in the Lake Norman area. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the show.

Jeff:

Welcome back to the Best of LKN podcast. It’s just a few days after Christmas 2020, and I hope you had a great holiday. Before I roll this episode, I want to ask a favor. If you go to our website, www.thebestoflkn.com, there’s a form toward the bottom of the homepage where you can sign up for our weekly email newsletter. It’s free, quick, and easy and a great way to support this podcast.

Jeff:

I’m also looking for sponsors occasionally to cover the cost of professional transcriptions for each episode. Transcriptions make it possible for individuals with hearing disabilities to enjoy the podcast and also improve searchability for the podcast and our guests. If you’d like information on the costs and benefits of sponsoring this podcast, I’d love to hear from you. Please send an email to jeff@thebestoflkn.com. Thanks for that.

Jeff:

Now, let’s dive into episode 38 of the Best of LKN podcast, featuring a conversation with Mrs. North Carolina 2020 and Lake Norman area resident Ashley George. The reigning Mrs. North Carolina, Ashley George, is joining the podcast. Ashley, welcome.

Ashley George:

Yeah, thank you so much for having me, Jeff. Thank you.

Jeff:

Yeah, really appreciate your time, and I’ve been looking forward to having this conversation and sharing a little bit of your journey with the Best of LKN audience. Before we get into your process of preparing for the Mrs. North Carolina pageant and all of the work that goes into that and accompanies the crown, share with the listeners a little bit about your background, a little bio on you, and we’ll go from there.

Ashley George:

Sounds great. I am a mom and a wife. I have three little kids, two, five, and six, so we are in constant chaos in this household. We live in the Lake Norman area. We’ve been here for about five years now, and we originally had, we moved from downtown Chicago. That’s where I grew up, out in the northern Illinois. My husband’s from Pittsburgh, but both lived in downtown Chicago for about 10 years before moving to Lake Norman, or the Charlotte area, originally. And we love Lake Norman, by the way. Absolutely love it. Before we moved here, before I was full … I’m full-time mommy now and kind of have a side business of running my blog, podcasts, all that kind of stuff. But yeah, definitely full-time mom to all three of them and kind of do all of that on the side to make that work.

Ashley George:

Before that, before moving to North Carolina, I was a hairstylist in downtown Chicago for about 10 years, so that’s kind of where my whole blog started. Once we moved to North Carolina, I was home full-time, and that was new to me, and I just needed a creative outlet and really, really just kind of missed connecting with community. And that’s kind of where my blog was born, and it has just been such a perfect little fit into an outside piece of motherhood and being able to have connections with other women and kind of letting my passions and creativity come alive through that, so it’s been really fun.

Jeff:

Yeah, blogging and podcasting is a great way to connect with the community and connect with other professionals. Your blog is called Wonder and Wear. We’ll talk more about that and the podcast, as well. I’m looking forward to talking to you about your podcast and what inspired that. Share with the listeners a little bit about the process. When did you decide to compete for Mrs. North Carolina? And tell us a little bit about the process of preparing for that.

Ashley George:

Oh my goodness. It’s kind of all crazy. I did not grow up doing pageants or anything like that, and I actually had competed in one pageant before. When I was early 20s, I competed in Miss Illinois USA, and that was my only ever experience in pageantry. Just totally threw myself out there, had no idea what I was doing, and it was really fun. It was a great experience, super fun, and it was something that I never thought I would do again in my entire life. Actually, a former Mrs. North Carolina talked me into trying to do the Mrs. North Carolina pageant, and I was like, “I’m not sure.” I didn’t even know that there was a Mrs. pageant. I didn’t know what that all entailed. I was like, “I don’t even know if I have time.”

Ashley George:

Long story short, she really had a great talk with me that really inspired me to go for it and try it, and she gave me all the reasons. She was like, “This is what it did for me. This is what I think it could do for you, and I think you should try it.” And so after a long thought process on that, and actually, it was probably about a year ago exactly, last year. You know how we’re all feeling after the holidays?

Jeff:

Sure.

Ashley George:

And I just thought, you know what? It would be a great goal. Something new. I definitely am the person that likes to try things kind of outside of my comfort zone. I like to have goals. I like to just have new experiences. And so I thought, you know what? Let’s try it. So I signed up right after the holidays, which was January last year and thinking we were going to compete in middle of March. I was like, oh, there’s not that long of preparation time. Couple of months. I can do this. And then in comes the pandemic.

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

And what I thought was going to be a two-month preparation turned into eight months, so it’s crazy. But I, with all my heart, I know this sounds kind of crazy, but I genuinely believe that I was supposed to enter that pageant because I am so glad that was hanging over my head while we were quarantined and homeschooling children and working from home and everything just got turned upside-down in everyone’s life. There’s so much preparation that goes around a pageantry. There’s mental work, there’s physical work, your nutrition, all of that kind of stuff. And so I looked back on it, and I’m so grateful that I had that hanging over my head. And who knew, right? Like I always believe that everything happens for a reason. And I’m like, I genuinely believe that I was like, I was supposed to enter it, have that hanging over my head, and really, really work towards it while being in quarantine.

Jeff:

Yeah, so it sounds like having that project and having to stay on task with preparation through most of 2020 really provided a great outlet for you and-

Ashley George:

Absolutely.

Jeff:

And perhaps a distraction from everything that we had to go through this year.

Ashley George:

Yeah, and especially because I was used to having a schedule and a routine and like, just like everybody else. And I have always been really passionate about nutrition, working out, physical fitness, and it was all kind of taken away. I was definitely, I was a burn girl for so long. I worked up at Burn Lake Norman for years, even before, at the Huntersville location, and they turned to Burn Lake Norman. And I still remember like walking out that last day, like who knew that was going to be my last day-

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

Working out there for the time being. But just simple things like that. It got taken away. We made our garage into a gym. We turned it into a gym. We haven’t parked in there literally since last March. And all of those steps in the process that it really takes to enter pageantry, I worked on it every single day, even though it was so hard. It got pushed back, moved back, different dates, many different times. We had no idea if it was even going to happen.

Ashley George:

At one point, I was like, is this going to happen? Who knows? And it kind of sounds silly. I know. Like a pageant in a pandemic? I totally get it. It sounds silly. But for me, it was a great thing. I actually remember waking up the morning of the actual pageant, Mrs. North Carolina, thinking, you know? I feel so grateful that I took this risk and really went for it because I woke up that day knowing I had hit all of the goals. Like all of my hard work, no matter what happened, if I was going to win, if I wasn’t going to win, it didn’t matter at that point because all of the hard work I’d put in, I could feel it. Just mentally, emotionally, physically, everything, so I was grateful.

Jeff:

That’s a great mindset. I love that. And it sounds like you really poured your heart into the preparation, and it just, it meant a lot to you. And having that mindset probably helped you quite a lot during the process and during the competition.

Ashley George:

It did because it relaxed me. I was like, I kind of know why I’m here. No matter what, I was just ready to move on to the next … I had put my work into the situation, and I was ready to move on either way.

Jeff:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Ashley George:

Just had fun with it. It was just fun. Like when else are you going to be a mom of three little kids and be able to be so sparkly, glamorous for a couple hours and just have fun with other like-minded women. People who enter pageants, I know there’s so many different mindsets around pageantry itself. I totally get it. But people who tend to enter pageants are women who really are like-minded, go-getters, people who like to be out in the community and help and get involved with things and maybe have businesses they’re running. A lot of different things, so it was fun to even spend the day with a lot of great women from all over North Carolina.

Jeff:

And you won. That must’ve been a wonderful feeling.

Ashley George:

Yeah, man. I won. Yes. I’m not going to lie. That was a very wonderful feeling.

Jeff:

All that hard work paid off, and the stars kind of aligned, didn’t they?

Ashley George:

Yes. Absolutely. It was very fun.

Jeff:

Let’s talk about some of the work following the pageant and some of your responsibilities as Mrs. North Carolina. I’m sure you’ve put in some work with quite a few non-profits so far this year and still have some yet to, a lot of work yet to go. And I kind of get the feeling you were involved off and on in the past, even, with nonprofits as well, so I’m guessing this was, kind of fit right in your wheelhouse, this sort of outreach with nonprofits. But can you talk a little bit about some of your experiences with nonprofits this year?

Ashley George:

Yeah, absolutely. It’s something that I have always felt called to do, and my heart has always been in helping just other people, kids, especially. But I think it’s so important, especially now, more than ever, even if it’s like one non-profit in your community, that you could really help in small ways. Just imagine what we could all accomplish if just everybody just did one thing. But for me, personally, I, this year, have really been able … Well, so one, first, it is COVID, so it’s kind of crazy because all of the things that I want to do, like let’s say, even going to help the kids at Levine, I can’t do it because I’m not allowed in the hospital. You know?

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

And there’s so many different rules and regulations right now, that they need help. These nonprofits really, really need our help, now more than ever. But there’s so many restrictions around it that they’re even trying to figure out like how can we get these people to come in here and volunteer, but not have issues because of the pandemic? I just was able to go down to Charlotte, actually, and work with Samaritan’s Purse with the Operation Christmas Child, and that was absolutely amazing. They were so organized and so set up, definitely were pandemic ready. It was absolutely amazing to see. I’ve never volunteered with them, and I know they’re an incredible organization doing so many different things, but that was really cool to see.

Ashley George:

There’s another organization that really is near and dear to my heart, and that’s Present Age Ministries, and that is here in Charlotte, and they empower women and children that have been human trafficked. My whole entire platform this year for Mrs. North Carolina is empowering women through wellness because that means so much to me, and that’s mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, which I think we all need now more than ever. And what I love about Present Age Ministries is they kind of do the exact same thing for women who are either maybe going to fall victim to human trafficking, have been through human trafficking, or they’re going to actually get out there in the streets and save the women who are being trafficked, or children, which is like, it’s so hard to even stomach this conversation.

Jeff:

Yeah. That’s-

Ashley George:

It’s heavy. [crosstalk 00:14:27]

Jeff:

It’s hard to fathom. Right. [crosstalk 00:14:27]

Ashley George:

But there are amazing organizations out there, especially here in the Charlotte area, that are doing amazing things.

Jeff:

Yeah. I can tell, just as you brought up, especially the subject of the ministries and their work with human trafficking, that it’s really, it brings up a lot of emotions, doesn’t it?

Ashley George:

Especially as a mom of three kids. It’s just hard to even understand. But I think it’s just knowledge and just informing people and just kind of getting the … I just, like I said, like because of COVID, there’s so many limited things I can do, but I do have platforms now. I have the Mrs. North Carolina platform, and I also have my own, so it’s like, even if I can shed some light and bring knowledge to people and just be like, look at what this organization is doing and just talk about them, I feel like that, in itself, is powerful.

Jeff:

Absolutely. Yeah. Totally agree there. Samaritan’s Purse, I’ve heard a lot about. I have friends and acquaintances who have done some work with Samaritan’s Purse. They are an amazing organization. I have not personally. I will definitely make it a point to reach out to them in the near future and see how I can get involved as well because they are doing some really amazing things in the community.

Ashley George:

Absolutely amazing. Yeah.

Jeff:

You have been involved in blogging for several years. You run a very successful blog, really popular, called Wonder and Wear. And let’s talk a little bit about how blogging has impacted your life and also how that led to podcasting.

Ashley George:

Yeah. The blog is … Honestly, it just started out to be just fun, right? It’s something for me personally, as a creative person, somebody who’s passionate about many different things, it’s been fun to kind of have a place that I can just kind of get all of that out. Like my creativity really has a place to go, if that makes sense.

Jeff:

Yeah, absolutely.

Ashley George:

It’s been a lot of fun. Actually, to be honest, I feel like since winning Mrs. North Carolina, my blog has … I haven’t done too much blogging. So busy. But it’s just been fun to build a community of women who are also inspired by different things. And things that I put out there, I’m like, I don’t know if anyone will read this, but they do. And it’s rewarding when they feel like they’ve gotten something from … Even if it’s just me. It sounds silly, but even if I just do like a style post or something. It’s, to them, like that could be another woman who’s also a mom who was like, thanks for doing that because it makes me feel good to see that I know that I can still feel great about myself, even though I’m a mother or maybe don’t feel like it. But it can be something that I’m striving to work towards, and it just gives them inspiration. And to be honest, sometimes it’s just lighthearted and fun.

Jeff:

Sure.

Ashley George:

Which we kind of want to escape from a lot of other things sometimes as well. It’s just meant to be lighthearted and fun.

Jeff:

Yeah, and it’s great to have an outlet that you can pour some creativity and pour your heart into. That’s kind of how I feel about my podcasting, and even though I don’t reach hundreds of thousands of listeners, it’s just being able to bring some value to the small businesses that I feature on the podcast and hearing the owners’ stories, and it’s been a wonderful experience and really a lot of fun. Yeah, I can totally relate.

Ashley George:

Yeah, so my podcast, just like you said, podcasting is so much fun, too, because you really get to let other people’s voices be heard, that mean … Maybe you want to hear more about or you know other people are passionate about it or their stories. And I think it’s such a great way to bring so much information and what a great platform podcasting is.

Jeff:

Yeah, it’s a great platform for not only sharing your story, but connecting with, when you are able to connect with guests, which I do in every episode. And it’s just, I highly recommend it. I’m not sure how else to describe it, except- [crosstalk 00:19:10]

Ashley George:

No, no. It’s so fun. I agree. Our podcasts actually launched probably about a year ago, a little over a year ago, I guess, as well, and we were blown away, actually, by the response to that. And it was definitely, had been such a long process in preparation. I had no idea how to start a podcast. I was like, who do I go to? I was like reaching out to anyone I knew with a podcast like, how do I do this? I was YouTubing videos. I’m like, what kind of gear do I need? I thought I could do it like overnight. Like I want to do it now. And then I thought I could just have a podcast overnight. I learned that was not the case. There is a lot, a lot, that goes into podcasting, and I just learned a lot along the way.

Ashley George:

We also kind of were pointed … People pointed us in the right direction and people asked for help, but that was so fun. And that really, really brings light to what I’m really passionate about. This is exactly what I was saying, is empowering women through wellness. Just motherhood, physical, emotional, spiritual, the whole thing, so we love having people on talking about their stories, maybe health journeys that they have gone through, just lots of great things. We actually, Lindsay Kingdon, who was hosting the podcast with me, she just had baby number three, so she is kind of like, I do not have time. It takes a lot of time to do this right now, so I’m in the process of recording season two right now, actually. And hopefully, it will be out early January, which I’m super excited about.

Jeff:

Excellent. Yeah. I’m looking forward to checking those out. I’ve listened to a few of your previous episodes, as well, and you’ve had some great guests on your podcast. You guys have done a really, really good job with it.

Ashley George:

Thank you.

Jeff:

I think that podcasting really complements blogging very, very well too. I think it’s a great complement, so for successful bloggers to also have a podcast.

Ashley George:

It’s been a lot of fun. It’s something I’ve honestly wanted to do for a long time, so I’m glad that I finally put both feet in and just went for it. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been really rewarding, too. Like I love, it’s probably the same as you, but like just listening to people’s stories. Like it’s an amazing way to connect with other people.

Jeff:

Yeah, super rewarding. And also getting back to something you mentioned earlier about kind of doing things outside of our normal comfort zone, right? So starting the podcast for me was certainly outside of my comfort zone. I love listening to podcasts, and that’s what inspired me to create my own in the first place, but I’m not exactly a Toastmaster. Carrying on conversations and being recorded doesn’t come naturally to me, so it’s taken some work, but it’s been a lot of fun. Tell me about the Empower Through Wellness Project. We’ve touched on that a bit. Tell me more about that.

Ashley George:

Yeah, so I am seriously so excited for this project. I think this is one of the coolest, most fun, most rewarding things I have ever done, and I have wanted to do it for a long time. But to be honest, I feel like winning Mrs. North Carolina and realizing that really is my platform and what I’m so passionate about is empowering women through wellness, and then how am I going to bring everything that I want to say to everybody that is watching? Like, how can I do that? I was like running through ideas in my head. In a pandemic, so it’s not like I can host events and have retreats and go and speak to all these places like I kind of maybe thought I would be able to do if I won.

Ashley George:

But I thought this past year, I feel like moms and women really have had a lot on their shoulders, and I feel like most women I know have probably had a mental breakdown at some point this past year or wanted to scream or rip their hair out. It doesn’t matter if you are a working mom full-time, a stay at home mom, a mom at home, a side hustle. If you have kids, this past year has been really tough. There are still kids that haven’t even been back to school since last March, and there’s women who have full-time jobs and trying to do that at home, and I knew that I wanted to shed light on this, and I knew I wanted to help women. This project has been so cool. It’s actually turning into a full documentary that will be out hopefully in January, and it’s going to be going straight to Amazon Prime and Hulu, which is so fun. And we’ll have it on YouTube, too, just so people can watch it anywhere.

Ashley George:

But we’ve taken four women here in the Lake Norman area. I actually had just posted in my neighborhood. I just wrote, “Is anyone needing help in these areas?” Do you feel like you’re at a breaking point? Physically, mentally, all the things. And I can’t even tell you how many replies I got on this, just private messages, stories, all the things. And I really just kind of took these four women on. We have a full-time working mom, a full-time stay-at-home mom, a single mom, and a mom who does both, has a business and she’s at home with her kids. And we have coaches, so we have a physical expert, a mental management expert. They’ve gone to see therapists, and then we also, I’ve set up like a journal spiritual project for them.

Ashley George:

And it’s been the past eight weeks. This is actually week eight. We’re on week eight right now, so they’re just finishing up their program. And we kind of taped our last day yesterday, and I cannot even tell you the difference of these women from point A to this, now eight weeks later. It is life-changing, and I can not wait for people to see this. It’s like if these women made the commitment, they’re like, “I am so tired of feeling this way, depression, anxiety.”

Ashley George:

Before COVID, one in seven women suffered from anxiety or depression. I can’t even imagine what that number is right now. Honestly, it’s like, it’s got to be one in one, one in two women. They have been amazing and have really opened up, shared a lot personally what they were struggling with. Drinking too much wine, which is really kind of a normal thing that our society has kind of taken on, especially this past year. I get it, totally get it. Feeling depressed, just all of the things. I can’t tell you, we have four different women from the starting of this project to today. It’s unbelievable.

Jeff:

That’s amazing. That sounds like an amazing project. I’ve been looking forward to learning more about it because I had noticed on your social media that you promoted it and talk about it quite a bit, and we’re recording this, I believe it’s December 14th. I’m not sure.

Ashley George:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jeff:

Okay, so Monday, December 14th, so you just taped the last session, and that should be hitting Amazon in January sometime. And so did you, you had a crew, a film crew that documented this?

Ashley George:

This is actually kind of a funny story. I had this idea for a while, but I was like, how do I have this idea, and then how do I just pitch it to somebody who’s not going … I don’t have a big investment around this. It’s just me having this idea. How do I bring it to life? I don’t know a videographer. I don’t know a crew. Like I can’t reach out to Netflix. Like, “Hey guys, I have this idea.”

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

This was back in the summer, and I’d actually reached out to a Charlotte production company, and it was kind of like, “Great idea. Good luck.”

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

That was a couple of different responses I got, like amazing idea, great, good luck. And I was like, you know what? I know that I need to find a female videographer. I just, I know I need to because she’ll get it. Her heart will be there, too. And let me tell you, if anyone’s listening, there are not a lot of female videographers. There just aren’t. So long story short, I found one, and I told her the idea, and she was like, “I absolutely want to take this project on. This is going to be my first-ever documentary style kind of thing.” And she was really excited by that. And she has taken my vision and brought it to life in a more than, so much more than I could have ever expected. It was like, I was meant to wait all this time for the right person, and I found her. And her heart’s all the way in it, and she is bringing it to life. So I could never like, thank her enough.

Jeff:

I’ll have links to her, as well, and her company and yeah, really looking forward to seeing the results and checking that out when it comes out in January or February.

Ashley George:

Yes, because I have like moms stopping me in the parking lot places like, “Hey, are you going to do this again? Like, that’s how I feel, and I would love help.” And I really hope that this can inspire people, that no matter where you are, no matter where your life circumstances are, everybody has different dynamics going on right now, that every single day we have the power to either feel better or keep doing the same thing we’re doing or make changes. Even if they’re small little changes. It’s completely up to us. I hope this inspires everybody that it’s up to us. We are capable of doing it. We are capable of committing to ourselves because when we commit to ourselves, we commit to our whole family. That’s what I really want to bring light to.

Jeff:

You made a really good point that it’s so important that we do something, even if it’s something small, to raise spirits and to build people up. We don’t have to make giant, transformative accomplishments. We can just start with really small things, and those small things add up.

Ashley George:

Absolutely. And then they become habits, too. And it builds on top of each other and then it can turn into a lifestyle.

Jeff:

Yeah. I love that. Congratulations on that. I can’t wait to see the results of your efforts there.

Ashley George:

Yeah, so excited for everybody to see it. I feel like we need it. It’s like this, the whole entire pandemic and everything, I’m like, everything is out of our control. We can not control what’s happening around us, but we can control our own health. We can be advocates for ourselves. We can make little changes in just our daily routine, habits to make us feel better.

Jeff:

Yeah, and just start small.

Ashley George:

Yeah.

Jeff:

Just, but start small, but just start.

Ashley George:

Absolutely. Got to start. Got to do a little something different.

Jeff:

What about sponsors? I know you have some really great partnerships. And do you want to give any shout-outs while we’re on that subject?

Ashley George:

It’s been really fun for me. If you would’ve asked me, five, six years ago if I would’ve been doing something like this, I’d have been like what? But it’s been really fun. I’ve gotten to work with some amazing companies. I think one that really stands out that I still partner with a lot is CALIA, which is Carrie Underwood’s athletic line. Her entire business is awesome. It’s kind of the same motto. It’s empowering women and moms through wellness. But she actually invited me to come work out with her last year, and when she was here in North Carolina on tour, it was like her first stop. Remember when people went to concerts back in 2019?

Jeff:

Yeah. I think I remember. Yeah. It’s been a while.

Ashley George:

2019.

Jeff:

Good old 2019.

Ashley George:

That was amazing. That was so much fun. I never thought I would be working out next to Carrie Underwood with only like eight other people in the room.

Jeff:

Oh, that is amazing. Wow. What an experience.

Ashley George:

Yeah. That was really fun, and she had her personal trainer there, and the CALIA events themselves are, it was really fun and well done. That is just a little example of something I probably wouldn’t have ever done if I didn’t start my blog or all that kind of stuff, my platform.

Jeff:

Yeah, absolutely. It’s really amazing how the doors that starting something like a blog or a podcast, it’s really amazing, the doors that it can open. And I didn’t get into podcasting to open doors, but it has opened doors, so it’s really, it’s great. You just, you won’t get to experience that unless you get out there and take that first step toward connecting with an audience and connecting with peers and people that you want to connect with, right?

Ashley George:

Absolutely. So much fun.

Jeff:

I listened to a podcast called Entrepreneurs on Fire. It’s hosted by John Lee Dumas, John Lee Dumas. And he goes by JLD. I just call him JLD. But he closes a lot of his podcasts with the quote, and I actually think it’s a Tim Ferriss quote, but he says to his audience, “Friends, you are the sum of the five people you’re around the most. Who are you going to spend your time with?” And that’s one thing about blogging and podcasting that’s been a really, really great experience is connecting with people who I really admire and respect and have really kind of achieved similar goals that I would like to achieve, so it’s-

Ashley George:

It’s fun.

Jeff:

Yeah.

Ashley George:

It’s, like you said, it’s being creative and being able to do and speak on what you’re passionate about. And then like you’re also saying is bringing like-minded people that also enjoy those things and being able to connect with them. And it might look different for everybody.

Jeff:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Ashley George:

And that’s so cool.

Jeff:

And you can totally make it your own.

Ashley George:

Yeah, absolutely.

Jeff:

And that’s really one of the beautiful things about it. You can take it in any direction you want to go.

Ashley George:

And there’s room for everybody.

Jeff:

Absolutely. For sure.

Ashley George:

Because everybody’s so different and has different ideas and wants to speak on different things. Like it’s okay.

Jeff:

Absolutely. All are welcome.

Ashley George:

Yes.

Jeff:

I love it. Ashley, I don’t want to take up your whole day. As usual, I always ask for about 30 or 40 minutes, and this has been a great conversation. We’ve gone a little bit past. Before we close the episode, is there a message, anything you’d like to share with the audience, the Lake Norman community, before we call it a day?

Ashley George:

Jeff, thank you so much for having me on. It’s been really fun. I really, kind of like everything I have already kind of spoken on, but I really would just want to encourage people to really make the commitment to themselves this upcoming year and just know that you are absolutely worth it. It doesn’t need to be hours and hours upon your day. Nobody has that time. But even small little steps, 15, 20 minutes committing to yourself, whether it’s quiet time, journaling, a workout, a good meal. You are absolutely worth it, and it will change your life, so that is definitely my message I want to get out to the Lake Norman community.

Jeff:

Well, that’s really well said. I agree 100%. Mrs. North Carolina, Ashley George. Ashley, thank you so much for joining the podcast. This has been a great conversation.

Ashley George:

Thank you, Jeff. Thanks for having me.

Jeff:

So nice of Ashley to take some time out of her busy schedule to join the podcast. Really appreciate it, Ashley. Thanks so much. I’ll have links in the show notes to Ashley’s blog, Wonder and Wear, her podcast, which is called Well-Nourished, and some Instagram links as well. I’ll also share links to the charitable organizations Ashley worked with recently. The show notes for all of our episodes are at www.thebestoflkn.com.

Jeff:

While you’re there, be sure to sign up for our weekly email newsletter. Your support is greatly appreciated. Many thanks to the sponsor for this episode, Mortgage Genius, Mark Scarrow. Mark’s sponsorship will enable us to provide a full transcript of this episode. The transcript will be located in the show notes, and Mark’s contact information will also be in the show notes. And my friends, if you have mortgage questions, I would highly recommend contacting him. Mark is a consummate professional, and you will be well taken care of.

Jeff:

Listeners, I want to thank you for listening to this podcast and sharing with a friend. I guess that’ll do it for 2020. I’ll be back in 2021 with another episode, so until then, here’s wishing you a happy new year, Lake Norman. Cheers.

Speaker 1:

We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of the Best of LKN. For more information about this podcast, show notes, video episodes, and links to our featured businesses, please visit www.thebestoflkn.com. We publish episodes weekly, so be sure to subscribe and stay up to date. Until next time, cheers, Lake Norman!