114. Escaping Domestic Violence to Empower Women Financially with Ashley Chamberlain

How do you transform the pain of domestic violence into a legacy of empowerment by creating a 6-figure bookkeeping services business in its first year? In this episode, entrepreneur and financial management consultant Ashley Chamberlain shares her journey from surviving an abusive relationship to founding Chamberlain and Good Company, a business that uplifts women and children affected by trauma. She reveals the invaluable lessons learned from trusted loved ones that fueled her rise from a modest accounting job to spending over 3,000 hours helping single mothers get back on their feet financially. This conversation is more than a story but rather it’s a call to action for you to rise stronger, dream bigger, and create a legacy of hope.

Connect with Ashley:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Episode 114's Affirmation:
I rise above obstacles and thrive beyond adversity.

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Chapters

• 0:06 Episode Intro & Welcome to Ashley Chamberlain
• 12:24 Navigating Career Challenges to Entrepreneurship
• 21:54 Finding Resilience and Ambition
• 31:20 Empowering Women in Business
• 46:30 Overcoming Domestic Violence and Building Legacy
• 55:40 Inspiring Transformation for Success

Transcript

Alethea Felton: 0:06

What if your biggest setback is actually your greatest setup for success? Welcome to the Power Transformation Podcast, where I, your host, alethea Felton, the Resilience Architect, have inspiring stories and real conversations with people just like you, those who are determined to rise above and thrive beyond life's challenges. Here we celebrate the courage and hope that it takes to reclaim your power, rewrite your story and step into the life that you were destined to live For. Now is the time to create your power transformation. I have a good problem, you all, and I need your help. I'll tell you what that problem is in a minute, but first, welcome to the Power Transformation Podcast. I'm your host, alethea Felton, and if you are new to this show, I welcome you with open arms. Thank you for being a part of the Power Transformation Movement and if you haven't done so yet, go ahead and follow this podcast and share this podcast episode with as many people as you know, because Ashley Chamberlain is our guest today. What an incredible, transformative story of how she overcame extreme adversity through a relationship and she ended up creating her own company, escaping from that difficult period of her life. And now she is thriving in so many ways and she has more to share. But I want to dive into her interview very soon so that you can learn more about her, and also thank you to those who have been with me since the beginning or in the earlier days of the inception of this podcast or those who came along along the way. Thank you for being supportive of me.

Alethea Felton: 2:08

And this is the good problem that I'm having. I am considering launching two episodes a week, and the reason why is I have a backlog of interviews that I need to get out, backlog of interviews that I need to get out Now. I've been consistent since this podcast launched December of 2022, of having consistent shows every week, but the good problem is that this show is in high demand for people that want to be guests, so I interview people, but I also have spaces of time when I don't. But in counting the amount of interviews that I have yet to drop, I am just so thankful because I literally have them. That could last me for, just say, several months into 2025. So it's a great problem to have, but I'm considering launching two episodes a week and I want your feedback. If I were to do that, would you truly listen twice a week? If I did it, I don't know if I would do it every single time forever. I'm just not certain yet because, keep in mind, I am still a one person show, a one man show when it comes to the podcast. Now that time will change because, as my business continues to grow and thrive as I do, more speaking engagements, et cetera that is going to shift and change, but I just want your feedback on it. Is going to shift and change, but I just want your feedback on it. So if that is something that you would be interested in me dropping two episodes a week email me, let me know. Coach at aletheafeltoncom. Again, coach at aletheafeltoncom. Please let me know. I'm serious about that. Tell me if that's something that you would be interested in.

Alethea Felton: 4:06

We're going to dive into this interview. I'm going to say the affirmation once. We always start this show with a positive affirmation so that we can speak things into existence, speak those things as if they are, and I am just so grateful for everything that's happening in my life and also for you all as well. Maybe 2025 has already been a challenge for you and if so, I'm telling you hold on, keep going, moving forward, and this affirmation is sure to uplift you. Say it confidently, I'll say it once and you repeat it I rise above obstacles and thrive beyond adversity.

Alethea Felton: 4:54

I am so excited to have Ashley Chamberlain here on the Power Transformation podcast. And, look, we are already giggly. Because the part you all did not see is I rarely have to do any edits to my podcast interviews, and we had just started it and then I looked and I saw that my podcast mic was out, so I had to stop it, and so you're seeing the take two that I'm going to keep, and we have just been laughing it up and giggling. Ashley, welcome to the Power Transformation Podcast.

Ashley Chamberlain: 5:29

Thank you for having me and I am thrilled to be here for take two, take one, take 100, whatever it takes.

Alethea Felton: 5:35

Girl. Thank you, oh my goodness. And y'all. I told her I said that has never happened, but anyway, I'm glad it was really right at that intro. But, ashley, you have such an incredible story. I read a great portion of your bio, or just talked about it, prior to this interview, but now we get to hear about you. You are a phenomenal mother, entrepreneur, survivor of so much and so much more, and so we want to dive into this. But I always like to start with a lighthearted, icebreaker question. And so, ashley, this is the question for you when you were growing up, which celebrity, excuse me, did you either idolize or want to meet?

Ashley Chamberlain: 6:31

I love this question because it changed just with seasons and age. I think as a teenager and it's the one that sticks out the most because it lasted a long time I idolized musicians, and so you have to think, during that time musicians were still mysterious. We didn't really know what they were doing all the time, like we know now the ins and outs of everyone's life because of the internet, because of social media. But as a teenager, especially as a very black and white, what I felt like non-creative person, I idolized just a few. But just to name one, I really wanted to meet Adele. I still do. I still do.

Ashley Chamberlain: 7:25

I just felt she was so poetic, she always seemed graceful, she would go on stage without her shoes on and, as a person that is, I would say, type A, the idea of being in public without shoes on terrified me. But I loved that. I thought, man, if I could meet her and just have a little bit of her confidence and energy, it really drew me in. I could just her and just have a little bit of her confidence and energy. It really drew me in. I could just feel all the you know flowy things she feels. So and I still do, I still want to meet her, but man, she is hard to come by.

Alethea Felton: 7:55

Yeah, and that is such a great choice because I know, for example, my mom really loves her music and I love her voice. It's just to me she sings with so much heart and puts her entire soul into her music. It gives you chills. I love her voice and her music.

Ashley Chamberlain: 8:14

Yeah, me too. Me too, it's beautiful.

Alethea Felton: 8:17

And girl look, you never know what can happen in life. I'm going to believe and hope that you meet her one of these days. I sincerely am. I'm going to believe that for your life.

Alethea Felton: 8:28

I believe in impossibilities, and you never know, because at the end of the day, what I always tell people be because I know certain entertainers, but at the end of the day it's their profession they're still real people, regular people, just like us. It's just that's what they do. So I really really like that, and so not necessarily in terms of what you do, but this next question is more so a question about the entire essence of you as a person. So if you could describe for us Ashley Chamberlain, what would you say?

Ashley Chamberlain: 9:13

I think that by nature and by trade I'm a giver, even when I actually needed to be the receiver desperately for survival. I found myself always feeling just complete and happy when I was giving in business, especially in business now, but in life, when I can give some part, and then not necessarily materialistic type things, but a shoulder to cry on, you know, a hug holding your hand, um, presence. It always made selfishly kind of but it always made me feel like man, I am being exactly who I want to be in this moment.

Alethea Felton: 10:03

Wow, I like that response. I really do. And you said a key part about you were a giver when sometimes you probably should have been more of the receiver. And I find that people that I've encountered, including myself, especially in the past, people who are big givers, do often seem to give so much of ourselves that we run on empty until we learn well, I had to learn that that was not serving me well.

Ashley Chamberlain: 10:36

Right, it's a learning process, and I can't remember exactly who I heard say this. It was probably. It was probably in church, it was probably one of my podcasts I listened to to kind of get my day going. But they had said you know, you were made with two hands, one to receive and one to give. And I just I really resonated with that because the giving to me it came really easily, like I just I want to keep helping and I want to keep giving, but I had to remind myself you have two hands, so you also need to receive sometimes too. So it is, it's a journey, it is a learning process, but I just feel wholesome when I'm giving.

Alethea Felton: 11:18

Yes, and, and that is the truth. It's just that for me it's had to be that kind of balance to make sure that somebody is refilling my cup, because you, ashley, certainly are filling people's cups in the work that you do. And before we talk more about that, let's talk about this road, because you do so much work centered in finance, entrepreneurship, things of that nature. But let's go back to some of your early origins. Can you think back to a time in your early upbringing that almost now, when you look back on it, you say, hmm, that did kind of shape the path of my entrepreneurial journey? Or did all of this come by happenstance or chance? Tell us about that.

Ashley Chamberlain: 12:10

Sure, you know it's whenever I think about. Did I dream of being a business owner, being an entrepreneur? The truthful answer is no. I grew up both my parents were what I would call W2 employees. Very paycheck to paycheck Money was tight and in my mind, growing up, all I knew at that point was I did not want to feel the stress and worry that I could see my parents felt and I didn't really know what that meant.

Ashley Chamberlain: 12:46

But the way that it ended up shaping is, I have to make sure that I'm doing something I can stand every day to support my family. And I didn't really at that time think about what do I love doing? I thought what can I stand doing? What am I good at? And throughout schooling, um, I just I was good at processes. I realized I was good at organizing and I was good at math, and so I thought what am I going to do with this? Um, but I have to make a good paycheck, I have to make money. Money was more of a survival. How am I going to survive?

Ashley Chamberlain: 13:29

And I saw my dad. He worked in a factory growing up. He started up I would say the most entry level you could be. He started on the line and I believe it was Tropicana Minute Maid cartons and they were printing cartons. So he was on that line and I believe it was Tropicana Minute Maid cartons and they were printing cartons. So he was on that line and what I took from that was you don't have to love it, you just have to show up. And I saw him show up every day. He was very, very determined to take care of his family and then he started going through the ranks, so he got a little bit of seniority, moved up to management.

Ashley Chamberlain: 14:08

By the time I was in late middle school he was running the plant. Wow, yes, and it was. I look back now. I had no idea what he was actually doing. When someone would say what is your dad doing? I'm like something in a factory, like I didn't understand it. He makes money and does factory things. But I could see the pride that came with that accomplishment and so I think, okay, I need to be able to stand my job, I need to be able to make money, but also it's not a bad thing to climb ranks. I can see the joy and happiness and pride that comes with that and so when I started my journey, I started going from job to job and learning everything I could about it, because when I would go to the next one?

Ashley Chamberlain: 14:59

I thought well, I can do all of these things. It might be a totally different industry, but here are all of these things. And I know a lot of women struggle and I just I know this personally because I see it all the time, every day. Women, when they go to apply for a job, will not apply unless they feel 100% qualified.

Alethea Felton: 15:21

Girl, you better say that that is so true. That's actually so y'all. She is not stating her opinion. There have been studies done on this. Is that women, regardless of race, actually tend to have this tendency? Keep on talking. Yeah, that's true.

Ashley Chamberlain: 15:43

Yep, I love seeing the light when I said that, because not only have studies been done, I've seen it. I've seen the woman goes to apply for a job regardless of race, regardless of class. If she feels like, oh, there's a few things I'm not qualified for, she won't apply not qualified for.

Alethea Felton: 16:10

And I've seen men when they go to apply for a job if they have like 25% of the qualifications they're like oh, yeah, yeah and yeah and to to quickly piggyback, um you all. So it's so wild. You would say this because one of my prior coaches, whose focus is on career, he brought that to light and that specifically in terms of the male demographics and I'm not trying to make this a race thing, but, like white men's, study shows if they only have one or two of the checkoffs, they will still apply confidently and yup.

Ashley Chamberlain: 16:46

Wow yeah. And I, when I saw that, I started seeing that, as I was finishing my first degree and I was thinking, what am I going to do with this? I had a degree in accounting. I got the degree in um, in business. I went on to get my bachelor's. I went on again. I was thinking, what is it that they have as far as internally? Not qualifications, um, I knew I had the qualifications as far as degrees, but I really started focusing on what do they have internally that I can mimic?

Ashley Chamberlain: 17:24

And I took that and I applied because I saw, okay, it's a confidence thing, it really is. They feel like, well, they'd be lucky to have me and if they don't, I'll go find something else. Versus a woman, it's very personal. It's well, they would be doing me a favor by hiring me if I don't fit all of the qualifications. So I tried to just get out of my head about it. I applied for this job as an accountant for a transportation company. It was my first actual accounting job. It was on my early twenties, I finished school. I kind of felt like I was on cloud nine because I finished school Number one. I was like, well, you were doing something, I can do anything. I'm pretty much Beyonce now and yeah, it's wild thinking back. How you know, even fake confidence can go a long way. And apply for this job got the first accounting job and this man that I was working for greatly shaped the rest of my life. He was side note. He's my father-in-law now.

Alethea Felton: 18:32

Oh, wow, look at that. That's amazing. Wow, at the time.

Ashley Chamberlain: 18:37

I didn't expect that. But at the time I saw the kind of boss he was, the kind of swag he had, the way he walked around, the way he made people feel my people, pleasing, giving self, really admired it and that changed the course of everything. And I remember sitting in that interview scared to death. I mean I'm pretty sure my mustache was probably sweating. I was like dabbing the mustache. I mean I'm pretty sure my mustache was probably sweating. I was like dabbing the mustache. And he said the words I think you're overqualified. And I'll never forget that conversation. We talk about it all the time now. I'd never been told I was overqualified. And here I walked into this room thinking, oh, I'll be lucky if I get this, for you to be told you're overqualified.

Alethea Felton: 19:23

It's a weird mindset thing.

Ashley Chamberlain: 19:25

It's like wait what, I'm too good. It's hard to get through that because you don't really know how to take it. Someone says you're underqualified. You think, oh, I have something to work towards now so I can, I can do that. Overqualified. It's like wait, should I take a step back? He changed everything for me. He taught me how to be a good boss. He taught me really how to manage employees. He was a big part of that. Eventually I met his son and things went that way. But he still, to this day, is one of my biggest mentors. I go to him before I go to anyone else to ask them a question. But when it comes to who shaped you, I would say the men in my life shaped me more than the women, which I would not expect, especially for what I do today with Women Empowerment. It's the men that showed me what I could be, because they were already doing it.

Alethea Felton: 20:21

Exactly, yeah, so so let me pause you here, because that was actually. I'm glad you really gave us all of that background because it shapes some of the context of how, when it comes to just your career life, that would eventually become entrepreneurship. That would eventually become entrepreneurship. You really didn't seek after it, it came to you and I think that's really really powerful and influential. And so let's kind of take this journey to a part of your life that was not ever so pleasant. It was prior to how your life is now, but that aspect of your life shaped you into becoming a successful entrepreneur, and how those challenges helped you stay determined to create a business that not only supports you and your family but also empowers others, especially single moms. So take us on that journey as to a moment that that was not good for you, but yet now it's turned out to be one of the most beautiful, remarkable things ever of the most beautiful, remarkable things ever.

Ashley Chamberlain: 21:47

Sure it's. You know, life's not pretty and anyone that says that I want to drink what they're drinking because it has a lot of bumps. For me, high school was a tough was a tough set of years for me. I never felt like I fit inside a box and I that alone. Today it's cool to be weird and different. Everyone wants to know what makes you different. If you don't have anything, it's weird. But when I was in high school there it was and maybe it still is there were boxes and I didn't fit in that.

Ashley Chamberlain: 22:17

I was the marching band girl, was really good at math but also liked going to football games casually. I was really angsty. My parents had gone through a divorce and you know I was dealing with feelings with that. It was. It was a very emotional time and I happened to meet a person who put we both went through some really hard things and he and he shaped my resilience more than anyone. Um, you know I have I have the dads in my life that have taught me confidence, that have taught me, um, you know, business skills, but there was one particular man that put me through really unfortunate things. That shaped my resilience.

Ashley Chamberlain: 23:07

So in high school it's a vulnerable feeling to not know who you are in the world, and especially with all the hormones, all of societal pressures. I took a road that to this day I do not regret. I say that to every single person that asks would you do it differently? Absolutely not. I would do it all over again and I would do it the exact same way because I wouldn't be who I am without it.

Ashley Chamberlain: 23:36

And I went down this road, met the guy, the bad boy, if you will. You know, the boy you read about in the books but in reality you're like this is not a good idea, but you know, especially because my parents didn't like him, I thought, well, you add that factor in there. Well, come on, let's go and went down that road with the guy, took me off track with school, took me off track with goals because at that point my options were taken away. Um, it was a very traditional in his mind, relationship where I was staying home and we had a child together and within the first two years I had isolated all of my. I've been isolated from my family, isolated from the finances, isolated from any family, isolated from the finances, isolated from any friends. We lived very far out in the country, I was very much alone and within two years you know, it was just kind of a looking in the mirror situation I attempted to leave.

Ashley Chamberlain: 24:37

I think it ended up being about four times where I would leave and then I would come back and I realized I couldn't do it on my own. He has all the money. And eventually, I say, the stars aligned. Eventually my mom aligned and she ended up moving into an area close by. She ended up renting an apartment and said there is a room. You and your little one can go to this room, or not?

Ashley Chamberlain: 25:05

So in the middle of the night, little one and I packed up our Honda element and we ran and and I didn't look back and eventually got my own place, you know, went back to school to get my bachelor's and that that time of my life, I want to say it was probably the lowest point. Not because financially I was rubbing two pennies together, not because I felt like, oh well, is me a marriage failed. You know, my parents are divorced. I come from a long lines of doors. In my mind I'm like, well, check, I did that, okay, I'm good. Um, it was the lowest point because I didn't recognize myself, I didn't remember what I valued.

Ashley Chamberlain: 25:49

I couldn't remember what was important. All I had was this tiny human being that was looking up at me with these big blue eyes like all right, what's next? And I had no idea. So that greatly changed my perspective on the world, where I thought, if I do exactly what I'm told to do, everything will work out. If I just stay in the lines, get the job, go to school, you know, marry the guy, everything's going to work out. And it was that moment I was.

Ashley Chamberlain: 26:22

I was a single mom for years. After that that I realized there is no map, there is no guide, there is no checklist, that everyone is different and everyone has to experience different things. And because of that time, the resilience, picking yourself up Um, I think it helped that I had a child, because I thought I just can't give up. That's not an option. It really showed me what I'm made of. It showed me what you're capable of and having to keep going every single day.

Ashley Chamberlain: 27:01

If you're by yourself, sometimes I'm not going to say it's easier, because it's still hard it's a different kind of hard being alone you feel like you have more options to sit still, but when you have a child looking up at you, like, what are we doing? What's for dinner? You have to keep going, and there were days I felt like a zombie. But there were more days that I felt like I am finally finding my sense of purpose, and that determination that I grew organically from hard, hard times led me to this almost crazy amount of ambition, because I wanted my little one to see you don't have to follow any kind of checklist, you can do whatever you want. And so I started from the bottom, as my dad did, as I was a salon receptionist, I was an office manager. I worked my way through an accounting department, every position.

Ashley Chamberlain: 28:01

You did whatever you had to do. Yeah, I did, I did and it it was so ambitious, um, that I got to a point. I it was before I turned 30, because I was I'm not stopping until I get to the top. I had no idea what the top was.

Alethea Felton: 28:19

It was just the top, just the top whatever that means Hold on just a second, let me pause you here that, oh, you didn't know what the top was, you just knew. That's so powerful. And let me just backtrack here briefly because, while I've never been in a domestic violence situation, over the years've heard well, first of all, I know people who have and escaped, and I've heard people have their perspectives on things, and one of the things I always hear is a person saying why won't she just leave? And and there was an actress, her name was the late Della Reese.

Alethea Felton: 29:05

She was in touch by an angel and all of that stuff back in the day and while she's passed, she did an interview and years ago I mean years and years ago, when she was young, her first husband was abusive and one of the things she said is and it struck me so powerfully she said whenever people say why don't you leave, she said I said to where?

Alethea Felton: 29:37

She said if you don't have money, if you don't have this, if you're cut off from this, and she went through basically the same list as you to say it's easy to say leave and you might try to leave, but then you end up right back where you are because most women do not have a place to go at first, and it takes time to really plan a strategic escape where you won't be found, you won't be lured back.

Alethea Felton: 30:06

And so I just want to pause here, because, while your life is happy now, you've got the right person for you, you got a beautiful family I know that that part still lives and it can be very emotional and very traumatic, and I want to just thank you for choosing you and your son and to say you know what this doesn't have to be the rest of my life. And so now we're at this ambition part, and I want you to acknowledge that courage and that fire in you. So now you're at this ambition part. Take us now throughout that realm where you moved up the ranks here, but explain to us how the experience of overcoming your personal adversity shaped your vision for Chamberlain and good company, adversity shaped your vision for Chamberlain and Good Company, and how does that actually influence your approach to empowering others to regain their financial independence?

Ashley Chamberlain: 31:15

I just got chill bumps hearing that. I think that a lot of people react to I don't think I know. A lot of people react to trauma differently and whether it's emotional, physical, you know it's trauma and your chemistry in your brain reacts differently. And I would be lying if I said I didn't have days that I just sat on the couch. I think the kids call it rotting days, but they were. They were rotting days for me because I was just in the depths of my soul figuring it out, and my reaction to the trauma was I'll never be in that place again. That was my going thought, that was my affirmation I am beautiful, I am smart, I will never be in that place again and that was what really pushed me so hard sometimes to say this was good, but it could get better, let's go. And I I have so many, I've talked to so many women that have gone through any kind of domestic violence and I think I love being able to give back now because I've personally been through the system and while I do think there were some advantages, I had, as far as I had, I had one degree. That's an advantage in itself. My mom did end up coming close by and that was a place, and.

Ashley Chamberlain: 32:54

But it's a cycle, it's you can't get a place until you have a job. You can't get a job until you have an address. You can't get a bank account until you have an address. And it's this big cycle and it's it's. You know, the system was not built for those that need help. I say that all the time. It's built for people that have a little bit of push foundation, but people that really need help. It's, it's a struggle and I pushed myself through the ranks. So I worked everywhere. I worked as every accounting position possible to learn the ranks. I went from job to job and it wasn't because I quit, because I was unhappy. I would get to a point where I thought, all right, I have learned how to do accounts payable, what's next I'm going to go to this job and I'm going to learn how to do accounts receivable.

Ashley Chamberlain: 33:46

I'm going to go here and now I'm an assistant controller and at that point I found myself in my early late twenties, early thirties, at the top and it was very, I say, unexpected. But when I look back at my journey, like, what did you think was going to happen? Um, when I think about what the top means for my industry, as an accountant, I worked in construction, uh, accounting, probably because my dad was, it's tough like a sailor. I knew the language, I spoke it and I was really tough. Um, but the top position for my industry is a controller and I found myself, I was hired from this company, um, as a controller before I hit 30 years old. And that is a wild thing. In this account, in this industry, normally a controller position is held by someone in their late 40s to 50s and they retire in that position. I see, okay, okay, it's very different.

Ashley Chamberlain: 34:53

So when I got to that position, I had a little bit of imposter syndrome because I knew this is a weird dynamic, but I was. I had experience in every single department, in the accounting department, and I don't think it hurt that I was very tough. So they felt confident that even though she's green which is what keeps a lot of women from applying I'm so green she can do it. So I went into this job I was not even 30. And after about a year I felt comfortable, like I can do this. I thought, oh no, well, what's what's after this? What have I done? I was so ambitious and motivated. It didn't take me 20 years to get to this position. It took me like six six.

Ashley Chamberlain: 35:43

And that was scary, and I knew that my restless self was not going to remain happy in one position like this. I needed to know what was next, my survival. Part of me thought you can't stay here forever. You got to keep moving. And I was talking to my father-in-law and from the beginning, when he was the one that told me I was overqualified, he said oh, you'll run a business one day. And I'm like he spoke it into your life, yeah.

Ashley Chamberlain: 36:14

He really did. And when I was talking to him about this position as a controller, the things I was saying, he just kept laughing at me and I was so infuriated I'm like this is not funny. This is the most serious thing. You know, your problems change when you are in a different situation. This is serious. And he said, well, I guess it's time to open a company. And that changed everything. And I took a little bit of time to really think about what that meant for me. What am I good at? What do I offer? How do I lead? And so in the beginning I, you know, I opened the company. It was just me for a few months, and being a business owner gives you that constant change. If you're that kind of person that you need change and you need, um, sometimes, chaos, go be a business owner.

Alethea Felton: 37:04

And so, in terms of Chamberlain and good company, explain to us exactly how you came up with that name, but also what do you do? What's your mission there?

Ashley Chamberlain: 37:17

Sure, so when I took the plunge, started the company and it was just me I kept thinking what do I want to do for the world? I was thinking big picture, who am I to the world? What am I giving back? At this point? When I started the company, I will say I was routinely spending time at our Women and Children Center. I was routinely spending time at our Women and Children Center because in my healing journey I had almost like my 10th step or something. I was ready to give back. I had healed, I had gone to some therapy. I spent a lot of time with Project Safe, a lot of group discussions. I was at the point that I was ready to give back and so when I started my company, I was routinely spending time in the shelters, helping however I could. Sometimes I was ready to give back and so when I started my company, I was routinely spending time in the shelters, helping however I could. Sometimes I was putting binders together, sometimes I was making beds. It was whatever was really needed.

Ashley Chamberlain: 38:12

So when I started I had heard people say oh, you're in good company, you're fine. It was like a safe feeling. I wanted to provide a safe place for women, for business owners and I wanted people to feel that as soon as they saw my name. And so I had to do Chamberlain, not only because it's my last name, but because my father-in-law made such a big impact. So, chamberlain and you're it's my last name, but because my father-in-law made such a big impact, so, chamberlain and you're in good company, you're safe.

Ashley Chamberlain: 38:47

Talking about your finances is so intimate and so personal. I wanted people to feel from the beginning you are in a safe space. There is no judgment, there is no situation when people say you've probably never seen this. I'm like I probably have. You know, you're special, but not that special. And one of that feeling for clients but for what I do is well, I'm an accountant by trade now. I file taxes, we do bookkeeping, we do accounting the whole nine for small to medium sized businesses, solopreneurs. We're helping you if you're making income and you need help. We're helping you if you're making income and you need help.

Ashley Chamberlain: 39:25

But when it came to hiring, that was where I feel like my mission truly started blossoming and I and it was kind of unintentional in the beginning I wanted to make my clients feel safe. But when I started getting busy and thought, oh no, I gotta like ask for help, which hurt my soul, and that was hard. But I got to ask for help. The first employee that I brought on, who is not she's not my my best friend, but she she was what shaped the employees that I wanted to hire. She was exactly it because she was, she's a mom and at the time she was pregnant and she kept saying how this company gives her purpose. She doesn't have to choose how she wants to be a mom and I never thought about that. I always had to make those choices.

Ashley Chamberlain: 40:18

As a controller, I was working 60, 70, 80 hours a week. I'm sure I couldn't be the parent to go pick up the kids. I couldn't go to the parties the Christmas parties, the Valentine's Day parties. I missed so much. And when I hired Whitney, I said I don't want you to choose, I want you to do it how you want to do it. Some people like to send their kids to daycare, some people want to keep them home. You know, but you get that choice because that's your life and you need to do what's right for you. And I have stuck with that with every employee I've hired since then. They are all moms. At one point they were all pregnant at the same time. That was a little stressful.

Alethea Felton: 41:01

That is something else. Oh my gosh, they're all had babies, they're all good now, but that was stressful, yeah.

Ashley Chamberlain: 41:08

So they get to choose, like are you showing up, you know, at night, Are you showing up during the day? And we're very open with our clients. Like this is what we do and this is why and we're not changing that because it doesn't fit your schedule. You have to fit our schedule.

Alethea Felton: 41:23

And I like how you remain so focused on the mission and I will share just to toot your horn and it's probably higher stats now, but you all. Ashley has had over 3000 hours spent helping single mothers regain financial stability. She, of course, is active in her community. She is dead set, focused on helping them regain their financial futures and through that, when your finances are starting to shape up and be in order, that translates directly to more confidence. Also, Ashley did state that how she, when she was in that unpleasant relationship, she had one son, but now she has two, and so she is balancing life as a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, a community advocate, so to speak. No-transcript.

Ashley Chamberlain: 42:55

I will say I'm incredibly, incredibly grateful and blessed. I feel it every day when I wake up and it's hard to narrow it down because I have a lot. I have a lot going on. You're right. I have a lot of different moving parts and the most rewarding are the things I'm not getting paid for. The most rewarding are showing up to the shelter and teaching that financial literacy class and seeing light bulbs go off in grown woman's eyes when I teach them how to open a bank account, and that that feeling is just untouched.

Ashley Chamberlain: 43:34

It's um, it is a. It's something they take with them forever, because I remember the feeling where do I start? And I feel dumb, that I don't know how to start, and the feeling of giving them that information for free. They don't have to pay me for a mentorship, you know. They don't have to pay me for my mini course that'll lead them to this sales funnel and all these landing pages Like Nope, it's just me and you and we're going to talk about how to get you back on your feet and what that means.

Ashley Chamberlain: 44:07

Uh, that just it. Really I can't explain it. It it could bring me to tears because I I am so fortunate to see that light bulb so many times that now I have other women teaching that course so we can keep it going. We can keep many courses going at one time and I believe that course, my work done for that shelter, my work done in our community, will leave a lasting effect, and that that is the most important thing to me. It's. It's not about the money. You need money to survive, and that was working on your money mindset is a whole different thing. You need it to survive but at the end of the day, you need people to survive and they're nothing.

Alethea Felton: 44:55

A zoom call does not replace that in person interaction and I feel that every time I go and do something like that, yeah, wow, that is well said and well put and say that there is someone be, because of course you'll share this with your networks. But suppose a listener or a viewer may be in that situation where they're a single mom or perhaps could be secretly or quietly in a domestic violence situation and they want to have that hope of financial stability, financial independence and freedom. But there's still a doubt in their mind that that can be achievable for them. And some may even be older, who have been in it so long, where they say, oh, that can be helpful for the young people, but for me I can't really get there. What would you say to her?

Ashley Chamberlain: 46:02

First, I would say that domestic violence, toxic relationships have no eyes for color, no eyes for gender, no eyes for class that it can literally happen to anyone. I had a good upbringing, like I had parents that loved me. There was no lack in that department. Um, I grew up in a safe, good hometown. It can happen to anyone at any time and there's a lot of shame that goes around that and I get it and I'm not minimizing that. But to get better you have to move past that shame because there's nothing more vulnerable than feeling like I can't do this by myself. There are resources in almost every community.

Ashley Chamberlain: 46:54

For me at that time I was near Atlanta, Georgia, and I reached out to a Project Safe, and they are the ones that hooked me up with group therapy. They had resources that helped me pay a few months of rent. They gave me an address to establish a residency so I could get an apartment. There is help out there and anyone that doesn't know where to start. I am so, so honored if anyone would want to reach out to me and I'll help you. Um, but it takes getting over your shame, getting through it I won't say getting over it, because shame has a funny way of sticking around, but getting through it and asking for help. It can be anonymously. You know I understand the safety and security that's needed for things like this. I tried multiple times to leave and every time I got caught it was worse when I went back. So I get it. It is never too late to change your situation.

Ashley Chamberlain: 47:55

It does not matter, matter how old you are, does not matter where you live. It is never too late to change your situation, but first you have to work on changing yourself before your environment can change. That's hard, that's easier said than done, and I know that. Um, but there are resources that you have to look for. They're not going to come to you, they're really not. And the only time that I would say something comes to you is when pops are called. Then something's coming to you, but not in a way you would want it and reach out. It doesn't have to be family. Sometimes family is not the best option. Family is not the one you know. Reach out to a trusted person and find a way to get through your shame and to find that next step for you. It is. I see all different age age ranges. I really do. It is not, oh, 18 to 25. That is not it. And a statistic shows it takes an average of seven times for a domestic violence survivor to leave and to stay gone.

Alethea Felton: 49:02

And that could take years. That could take years, yeah.

Ashley Chamberlain: 49:08

That takes planning. It does take planning. We could strategize and find a way out, but you've got to work on your inner thinking. And how am I going to put my shame aside and stop blaming myself, because that's easy to do and find some help? And it is out there. It really is.

Alethea Felton: 49:31

Thank you for that. And so if a person wants to connect with you for your accounting services or even just to learn more about you, share with us how they can go about doing that.

Ashley Chamberlain: 49:46

Sure. So I have a rockstar team that put together many systems and processes that they were really good at, and the first start would be going to our website. It's wwwchamberlainandgoodcompanycom. There's some information on there about things that we do. There's also a contact us form and that goes to my assistant, who is chef's kiss so good at her job, um, and she kind of lets me know what to do with it. So I am answering the emails. We are on Facebook, we're on Instagram. I'm not cool enough to be on another platform. That's where my line is drawn. Facebook and Instagram is where we show up, send us a DM. We haven't blocked any kind of privacy stuff. We're not big enough to say you know, I still answer them all myself, so happy to chat and kind of see where you're at in business. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to work with us yet, but we will for sure guide you in a direction that makes sense for where you are and in terms of Instagram, is it your first and your last name, or is it your company's name?

Alethea Felton: 50:52

And either way, I'll put links and things, okay, yeah.

Ashley Chamberlain: 50:58

Our, our Instagram is Chamberlain and good. Chamberlain, good co is what it is. Um, I, I have a very long name, uh, chamberlain, and good company. So sometimes you have to get creative, exactly, exactly.

Alethea Felton: 51:14

That's fine, and I will post all of those and also on the audio podcast platforms, but also, by the time this is released, it'll also be on YouTube. I'll also include an added link with some type of domestic violence hotline or something like that, so that people can connect with that. And just to kind of wrap up in terms of a closing question for you, ashley, in thinking about how, yes, you love the work that you do, that's important to you, but your sons are your everything. So my question for you, as this comes to a close, is what do you want your legacy to be for your sons?

Ashley Chamberlain: 52:09

Oh man, if my preteen heard you ask that question, he would roll his eyes, because I talk about legacy all the time. Really. Oh my gosh, unscripted. Wow, I am constantly.

Alethea Felton: 52:23

Oh my gosh.

Ashley Chamberlain: 52:25

That is unscripted.

Alethea Felton: 52:26

Wow.

Ashley Chamberlain: 52:28

Yeah, he would be like bro.

Alethea Felton: 52:31

Exactly.

Ashley Chamberlain: 52:33

Oh, that's funny. So my boys are very different. They my first one grew up during my struggle and saw lives change. My, my youngest, knows no struggle. Honestly, we have to teach him like everyone doesn't have a life like this so many times, which is, I guess, a good problem to have. But you know, I want both of them to find fulfillment in what they do every single day. And I tell, tell my oldest this is why he would roll his eyes you don't have to love it, but you have to be able to stand it and you have to feel fulfilled. And he's my math and science kid. So that's why I talk about legacy, because we joke like you will be taking over this company. You will do it. That's not an option, you are doing it. And at the end of the day, I just want him to feel passion about something. And with the changing environment of college, you know, when I was growing up, it was you had to go to college. You either went or you didn't. If you didn't like, what are you doing with your?

Alethea Felton: 53:40

life.

Ashley Chamberlain: 53:40

Uh, you must be either inheriting some money or you're going to be a small town loser. And that was my high school self-thinking. But now there are so many options. I just want them to feel passionate about something. It can be work, it can be non-work stuff. My youngest one's very creative. He's a lot like my husband who's a musician, which actually full circle. I probably always wanted to be with a musician.

Alethea Felton: 54:06

See, exactly, that's cool. I didn't know that. Wow, wow.

Ashley Chamberlain: 54:11

Yeah, so he'll probably end up following his dad's footsteps. He's very musically talented and he finds passion every single time he opens his mouth. He's just that kind of kid, a passionate kid. So I just find passion wherever you can.

Alethea Felton: 54:25

What a comeback story, and to know that you're not finished, but to just see how your life is truly the epitome of hope, resilience, overcoming obstacles, but also just your sheer determination to make life better. And you continue to make the lives of so many people better. And although it's something you continue to work through, I do hope and pray that all of the shame will fully be released, because you truly are an incredible woman and your work is really transforming lives, and that's what it's all about. Ashley, it has been an honor to not just have met you a couple of months ago, but also just to interview you here, and that you have graced this platform with your presence. I know that you still have so much to do and it's going to be absolutely fantastic, so thank you again, ashley, for being a guest on the Power Transformation Podcast.

Ashley Chamberlain: 55:36

Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun.

Alethea Felton: 55:40

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Power Transformation Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe, leave a five-star rating and write a review. It helps us inspire even more listeners. And don't keep it to yourself. Share it with someone who could use a little power in their transformation. Until next time, keep bouncing back, keep rising and be good to yourself and to others.