Ashley Jackson Beauty

😌I’ve gone from feeling bad to feeling grateful.

In this season, I have had to reschedule hundreds of appointments over the last couple of months. My schedule has been all over the place + for the foreseeable future, it probably still will be.

The old me, in reflection, would have felt so bad every single time I had to move someone. I would’ve apologized over + over. Felt guilty. Felt like I was inconveniencing people.

But in this season, I’m learning to just say thank you.

Thank you for being flexible.
Thank you for being open + receptive.
Thank you for being supportive.
Thank you for understanding that right now, my schedule sometimes has to change.

Because it is a gift that my clients have allowed me the space to navigate this season while still doing the work that I love.

Maybe there are seasons where we don’t need to keep saying I’m sorry.

Maybe sometimes we just need to say thank you. 🤍

…I thought I was intentionally planting a watermelon seed.

+ as the vine began to grow, taking over what is now quite literally a third of my backyard, I thought, here it comes.

I watched the flowers begin to open, expecting life to burst from them + eventually produce a glistening watermelon.

Turns out, they’re pumpkins. 🎃

Which I did NOT intentionally plant.

…there’s something about that.

I was expecting life to be produced one way.

✨I thought I knew what was growing.
✨I thought I knew what those flowers would eventually become.
✨I thought I knew what the fruit of what I planted would look like.

…life was produced still.

Just not the way I intended.

+ it’s still amazing.

It just looks different.

Let that sink in.

📸 Nilaya Lourdes

✨We are honored to be in the Best of the Region Community’s Choice Awards 2026!

Ashley Jackson Beauty + Salon would love your vote 🗳️ in 2 categories!!!

Vote for us under:
HAIR SALON 💇🏽‍♀️
NAIL SALON 💅🏼

We appreciate your support + are so thankful for the nomination + your vote🫶🏼


Community's Choice Awards

2026 Best of the Region Community's Choice Awards Voting Ballot Check it out now!

✨We don’t often talk about having to say goodbye to the former version of ourselves.

Over the years, we become so many versions of who we are. We’re supposed to.

When someone says, “You’ve changed,” or, “You’re not the same person you used to be,” maybe the answer is, “Because I wasn’t meant to stay the same.”

This season has asked me to become someone new.

+ if I’m being honest, saying goodbye to the former version of myself has been harder than I expected.

That version of me carried me through the highs, the lows, the growth, the heartbreak, the joy, + the pain. She worked so hard to become who she was. So letting go of her doesn’t feel simple.

It almost reminds me of the sunk cost theory. You invest so much time, energy, and effort into becoming one version of yourself that the thought of starting over feels exhausting. Because becoming someone new isn’t just physical work.

It’s mental.
It’s emotional.
It’s psychological.
It’s the quiet, day-to-day work that no one else sees.

Sometimes it feels less complicated to stay who you’ve always been.

But on the other side of this version… is another one.

+ maybe that’s the point.

Maybe life isn’t about becoming one final version of ourselves. Maybe it’s about being willing to keep evolving, even when it asks us to let go of someone we loved being.

So I’m learning to appreciate the version I’m in today.

Not because she’ll be here forever.

But because she won’t.

Every version of us has something to teach us.

Every version deserves gratitude.

+ every version is preparing us for the next.

📸🫶🏼 Nilaya Lourdes

1. What’s the next right choice?
Instead of trying to solve everything at once, just focus on the next best thing to do.

2. Has the hustle culture we’ve glorified actually been ruining our health?
A conversation about how constant grinding can come at the expense of our well-being.

3. There are more good people than bad in this world.
The bad ones tend to be louder, but the quiet acts of kindness far outnumber them.

4. Can I pray for you?
Sometimes the greatest gift isn’t advice, it’s someone offering to carry part of the weight with you.

5. How are you living?
Not “How are you?” but “How are you living?” Such a thoughtful, intentional question that invites a much deeper answer.

6. Maybe it’s not a motivation problem, more a discipline problem.
Waiting to feel motivated can keep us stuck. Sometimes the discipline to take one small step comes first, + motivation catches up later.

Would genuinely love to hear what conversation changed your thinking🫶🏼

Yesterday { 7/17} I turned 42 🎈

I didn’t post anything, partly because we were busy making the best of a last minute change in plans for the boys’ + my lil summer getaway. Air quality levels from wildfires made me shift + to venture more SW instead our intended beach front weekend on Lake Michigan.

But if I’m being honest, I spent most of my birthday having an internal fit that I didn’t get to do what I had wanted.

Then this morning I realized something.

I have two choices: continue throwing an internal fit… or make the most of the rest of our time here.

Maybe that’s part of getting older + wiser.

The boys asked me yesterday what the best part about turning 42 was, + without even thinking I said, “Having a better understanding and outlook, older + wiser.”

Honestly, I think that’s a pretty incredible gift.

Here’s to 42 🎈not because everything goes according to plan, but because I’m learning to let go of what didn’t + fully embrace what still can.

Same me… with a twist 🔀

😮‍💨🙏🏽

Twenty years ago, I dreamed of owning a salon… …I never imagined one day my team inside would be the strong ones helping me through one of the hardest moments of my life. PS… YOU LOOK GOOD 🤍

If you don’t stand in the storm…
You won’t see the rainbow

Gods promise 🌈

🌈 ☔️⛈️