“I know online there’s a lot of negativity and darker stuff, and I want to try to bring more light and joy and just silliness to the internet,” she said during an interview with Lifewire. “Content creators…impacted my life a lot. They were always there to make me laugh and make me smile, so I’ve always wanted to pay it forward and bring that light into other people’s lives.” Ashley boasts her own creative platform, with over 100,000 followers strong across all social media categories. A platform dedicated to making the internet a little bit better, even if only for a moment.
A Little Pep Goes A Long Way
Young Ashley had an unconventional introduction to the world of gaming. Her grandfather, who she describes as a tech enthusiast, introduced the budding streamer to video games with some of his favorites. Gaming became the way she could connect with her grandfather. She says it was a gateway to quality time that eventually developed into a true hobby of her own. “He had a ton of video game systems. He was super into video games and tech stuff,” she said. “He taught me how to use a computer, he taught me how to use a camera, and he taught me how to play video games.” While he nourished the gamer side, she cites her mother’s artistry as the inspiration for her more creative inclinations. Ashley would combine these two interests and fuse them into a thriving career as a content creator. With an education in animation, she enjoyed a career in art before eventually deciding to dedicate herself to full-time content creation. She cites popular YouTube personalities like Jacksepticeye and Marikplier as inspirations. However, an unsuccessful stint on YouTube found her vying for a better way to connect with people. Streaming, she said, as opposed to edited video content, was better suited for her stated goals. “I just felt like I was sitting in my room talking to a camera on YouTube,” the content creator remarked. “The connections that I wanted to make with people and the community aspect of talking live to your audience was such an interesting thing to me. It influenced where my career has taken me, and it also just fit my work schedule at the time.” Her Twitch career started with a playthrough of the 1998 classic platformer Spyro the Dragon. In no time, Ashley had begun to carve out her slice of the pie on Twitch. By 2019, she had a dedicated community, a few viral clips, and a much-coveted Twitch Partnership under her belt. It was all looking up for the joyful enthusiast.
Radical Rediscovery
The driving principle behind her decision to get into content creation became more prominent as she grew on Twitch. Her numbers grew exponentially with a helping hand from Twitter and a retweet from streaming superstar Ninja. Those Twitter views and followers converted into Twitch community members rather quickly. So, she did what any content creator would do; she seized the opportunity with her affectionately named “fam jam” community to continue her mission to spark a little joy in the streaming space. However, with that positive affirmation came the inevitable pushback. “If you’re a woman on the internet, a lot of people get mad at you for just seeing you exist. And that’s the same [for] a lot of marginalized groups, in general. People get mad at you for seeing you be successful,” she said. It can be tricky navigating those waters, especially when you’re from vulnerable communities, the streamer added. It’s not an uncommon story, but transparency has allowed her to maintain her sunny disposition and delightful personality. Feeding off the energy of her community helps to never let a crack form on her otherwise immaculate surface. A silly, ridiculous, bubbly positive force on the internet is how she hopes her community would describe her. She believes she’s exactly where she needs to be. And she finally recognizes that the feeling is mutual. “Knowing that [my content and I] are to some people what that content I grew up on was to me, it makes me emotional and confirms that I’m actually doing what I set out to do when I started,” she said. “Knowing I’m making that impact… it hits really hard.”
