I'm Ashley Sutherland
A high vibe woman born and bred in Edinburgh. When I was five, my Mum and Dad sent me to drama classes to build my confidence. Little did they know, I absolutely believed I was a shining star destined for Hollywood so I well and truly stuck to it. My belief in my creative ability was pretty much unshakeable throughout my school years.
Then I went to drama school. That shook me up. I was constantly comparing myself to others, placing my worth on the roles I was or wasn't given and picking myself apart in the mirror all day long. I turned my experiences into beliefs that did not support my goals. I left drama school believing that the industry was a very scary place. I had always wanted to do acting (even though I didn't get into any acting courses) and thought that studying musical theatre would mean that I would struggle to get work on screen. But something in the back of my mind kept reminding me of 7 year old Ashley who was the absolute leading lady in her life.
I dipped in and out of personal development and spirituality during this time. I read 'The Secret' once and thought that was all I had to do to manifest the life of my dreams. Turns out, there's a lot more work involved. I went deeper and deeper into understanding what I wanted in life and who I was. I decided that I was going to make my dreams happen. Funnily enough, since making that decision, I've consistently worked in screen acting and the industry has not been the scary place I always thought it would be.
I took on 0 hour contract after 0 hour contract, trying to always make sure that I had time to pursue my dreams. Being the people pleaser that I was, I said yes to every shift and ended up with a hell of a lot of overwhelm and no time to work on my goals. Cue self-belief slipping once again.
Then came the pandemic. I had to stop everything and had time to reevaluate. I decided that I was going all in for myself no matter what because I couldn't carry on putting my goals on the back burner. I dived deep into personal development and my spirituality and worked on myself every single day. I read books, went to group coaching sessions, watched webinars, and binge-listened to podcasts. I surrounded myself with people who believe in me and that was a game-changer.
I was able to turn my belief system around to one that fully supported my dream life. I could not keep this work to myself. I made it my mission to make sure that no other creative had to feel like they weren't worthy of their desires, no other creative felt like they had to play it small to please people and no other creative would let someone else dictate what was possible for them.
So I started taking massive leaps of faith. I took my coaching and Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner certification with UKCPD in September 2020 and dedicated all of my time to studying how the human mind works and how I can best facilitate transformation. I am now a certified life coach and NLP practitioner with my certification accredited by both the Association for Coaching and the Association for NLP
I am able to confidently say that I am now living as the woman I always knew I was. I no longer let fear get in the way of what I want in life and I am not afraid of challenges. I trust that the Universe has my back and I thrive in lifting other people up around me.
This work has changed my life, and I know it can change yours too.