From Spikes to Foundation 101: Ashley Battle
As a Virginia Tech graduate with a degree in Public Relations and a degree in Marketing-Management, Ashely Battle has successfully put her education into achieving her dreams. Ashley, a former member of the Virginia Tech women's volleyball team transitioned out of sport into creating content she loves - blogging and makeup!
She enjoys blogging and creating videos to educate and empower women on beauty as well as inspire them to have the confidence to be as beautiful on the outside, as they are on the inside. Ashley is currently the Project Manager for WilsonGabrielle in which she hones her sills in content strategy, events and brand building.
Listen up to her story below...
I played D1 college volleyball for nearly 4 years and playing was probably one of the best things I ever chose to do in my life, but quitting in my senior year was also one of the best things I chose to do in my life.
My college years were some of the greatest times ever, but also some of the toughest times and I went through many, many life changing experiences. Between many losses in my family to a very difficult divorce of my parents, to an abusive relationship, to working multiple jobs to get by, to suffering through depression which, at the time, I never addressed, things weren’t going so well.
I loved my sport the first couple of years. I had amazing teammates, friends, I worked hard and it was everything I wanted and more! However as time went on into my sophomore and junior years, it became clear to me that my sport was no longer my priority, it was my school and working towards my future job.
I fell in love with the thought of a career that I wanted SO badly to do everything it took to get a great job, that I started to shift towards being an athlete, to being a marketing maven and that of course, did not sit well with athletics. I was very limited at what I could do because of the time demand (sometimes out of ncaa regulation) of volleyball and I started love my sport less and less.
Not only did I want to quit every other day because of the ridiculous demands of our sport, but when I was playing my sport, I felt the pressure to always be perfect, on top of my game and “on” I guess. I was known for being the enthusiastic one on my team, the one always cheering, laughing, dancing, having a great time even if we were losing 0-15! I kept up a mindset of “if I act like I’m happy, maybe I’ll be happy!”
That mindset worked for me, until it didn’t.
Reminder, I was suffering through many of the other struggles in my personal life at this time as well. My depression lasted all throughout sophomore year until senior year and it was something that I always tried to brush off. I became bitter at my sport, my coaches, the entire athletic department and it got to a point where I couldn’t even look at a volleyball without feeling tight in my chest like something wasn’t right.
I ended up being very lucky at this lowest point of my life by having amazing people around me that reminded me I was worth more than just a scholarship. I ended up quitting my sport to focus on myself, mental health and happiness and it was the best thing I ever did.
I was very lucky for my amazing teammates and coaches who supported my decision where they easily could’ve turned against me, taken away my scholarship and blamed me for quitting. They all knew the mental health struggles I was facing and actually applauded me for my bravery in quitting my sport to focus on bettering my life, and that further proved to me how lucky I truly was to have been involved in such an amazing program at my college.
The point of me sharing this story isn’t to say college will break you and you need to be warned! The point of me sharing this is to remind you to always put yourself first, no matter what that means. I spent all my time focusing on building up others and doing things to make other people happy, like playing my sport because I needed a scholarship, that I lost my way and it almost cost me my life.
You are the most important person in your life, so don’t be afraid to put yourself first and if it means asking your coach for a little help or time to focus on yourself, do it. If it means having the scary talk with your coach about taking that summer internship, do it. If it means sucking up your pride and reaching out to someone for help, do it. I was scared to death about quitting because I needed my scholarship to finish my education, but at the end of the day, it was just a sport. My life meant more, and so does yours.
Playing a college sport will challenge you in ways you could have never imagined, but even through all the struggles, I am still extremely grateful for the opportunities I gained, friends I made and the lessons it taught me that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but maybe with a little more help ;)
Enjoy the ride, because it will be amazing!
Transitioning to Makeup & the Art of Business:
I’ve been able to use the hard-working and never give up mentality I’ve learned through sports to start my own “business” as a beauty blogger. I’ve always been in love with makeup, been the girl that always wore a full face of makeup to volleyball matches (yes, including false lashes!) and now I’m working to make it my full time thing!
Makeup is such a powerful tool to use to bring out the inner most confidence in women. Through the connections I’ve made, I’ve been able to meet some amazing, hard working and confident women and it only fuels my fire to try to make my own successful business and encourage women to be their most confident selves day in and day out.
I’m loving being able to express my creative self, love of content and social media marketing background to teach and talk about makeup through my blog and my Youtube channel Battle for Beauty and this is just the beginning!
Read up on Ashley's success and follow her YouTube Channel: