Ashley Cantu

AUSTIN, Texas — How far would you drive to see amazing live music? An hour? Maybe two hours? Well – our next Society guest used to travel four hours each direction every other weekend from Laredo Texas to Austin to dance the night away with her friends.

That’s right – you heard it, Ashley would drive just about four hours each way a few weekends a month to come to Austin for EDM shows. What devotion, right? Well – there’s more to the story – let’s dive in.

“So, I’m from Laredo, which is a very, very small border town in Southern Texas. My friends and I would come up to Austin because the music scene is so great here” She explained. “There isn’t really a lot to do in Laredo – I decided, why not come up to Austin for the weekend to see these great artist – then I thought, why not just move to Austin!” She said with a big smile.

I asked her more on why music here in the capital city was so important to her.

“The vibe here is just different – I would stay up into the early hours of the morning dancing – I could be free. The club was dark, and I felt comfortable being myself, dancing, listening to the music” She explained. “Also, Austin is really the best place for me to be myself and express my fullest creativity. I don’t really drink at these events and that’s how I am able to keep my life balance and work flow going.”

In addition, the music being a driving force for her migration north to Austin, there are other factors that helped nudge her to Austin.

“Laredo is one of those places where there isn’t much room for personal or professional expansion – it’s sort of a small town with not many people so if you want do bigger things, you sort of need to move” she said.

Like many of us, Austin provides a wealth of creativity and culture. Ashley recognized that if she wanted to expand her passions and inspirations – she had to move here.

What are these passions you ask? Well – we talked about that too.

“I’m a very creative person – I started doing a lot of modeling and  photo shoots for brands and helping them coordinate their events. I really enjoy dressing up and wearing crazy outfits – my mind just works to allow me to think of things that are different but fun.” She says with a smile.

But her love for creativity runs deeper.

“I love inspiring people and bring light into this world through art or advice” she explains. “It can really help someone chair their life and that’s such a great thing. A lot of people have messaged me to find out how I come up with these crazy outfit ideas and I love helping people explore their own creative possibilities”

One thing that is constant with our society members – they truly, deep within their fabric of who they are – love helping others.

I asked Ashley what she would tell others who are creative but might be finding some resistance in reaching their goals.

“It’s never too late to reach your goals” she says firmly. “You must overcome fear – it’s scary to jump but once you do, it will feel great and from there you just keep going and things will work out – if you don’t start, you’ll never know your potential” Ashley says with uplifting energy in her voice.

But this advice comes with a word of warning.

“However, you need to listen to your body – You can’t say yes to everything that comes your way. If you’re tired and drained, so will your creativity and inspiration ideas – sometimes you just need to say no to reset.”

It’s true – when we feel fresh, that’s when we are at our most creative. Ashley makes such a great point. All of us are constantly running around chasing our goals, running a million miles per hour but the burn-out effect is real – and we need to listen to what our body is telling us to keep the creative juices replenished and revitalized.

As we close, Ashley leaves us with a massive cliffhanger – she’s working on a secret project that as hard as I tried, she wouldn’t divulge any details – but it involves all that she has done so far so be sure to stay tuned. Hopefully, the drive to see her new project won’t be four hours – but if it is, I’ll be the first one to say, “Hop in, I’m driving!”