Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashli Montgomery.
Ashli, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The story of “Me and Coach” begins way back on April 21, 1995. That’s the day I met my husband.
Eight months – to the day – later, we married, and I became a coach’s wife.
Over the years, being his wife and #1 fan, mom to our two children, and primary everything-manager in our home led me to share our “modern-day fairytale” with the world through my blog (MeAndCoach.com). I found that people enjoy reading about and seeing into the life of a football coach and what it’s like to be a coaching family. Readers encouraged my voice, and I realized that I love to share.
The coaching life is a unique existence. With every day, every season, and every school is the underlying fact that we are temporary. If the team wins, the coach must capitalize on that success which means a new job. If the team does not win, he coach is released from that job and must find another. Either way, homes and friends and activities are, by the nature of the job, short term.
On the flip side, there are phenomenal benefits and bonuses that come with the coaching life. It’s fast-paced and fun. We are surrounded by incredible young people who constantly impress me; I learn more from them than I could ever repay! It includes game travel to cities and towns all over the country, and we are always working towards a bowl trip which means work for the coach but a vacation for the family! Best of all, it has been a catalyst for our family to develop a tight bond that all four of us treasure immensely.
Writing about our life as a coaching family became both an outlet for thoughts and ideas and dreams as well as a wonderful therapy for challenging times, frustrating truths and uphill struggles. The more comfortable I became with my writing voice, the more empowered I felt in my speaking voice.
I began using my platform as “Coach Montgomery’s wife and Ashli-the-blogger” to advocate for an end to Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a truly horrific death sentence that has touched our family in heartbreaking ways. I began serving as a volunteer in this cause. That work led to chairing fundraisers and awareness events, which in turn led to speaking engagements and opportunities to educate others about Alzheimer’s. All of this led to serving on the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer’s Association Oklahoma Chapter.
This year, gathering all the strength and knowledge I acquired through those experiences, I launched my own non-profit to use my quilting hobby as a platform to advocate for an end to Alzheimer’s disease. Quilt to End ALZ, Inc., is still in its infancy, yet it is already having a tremendous impact. Through speeches, workshops, trunk shows, and retreats, I am sharing the basics of Alzheimer’s disease and what to watch for when concerns arise, I am sharing what to do when it touches your loved ones, and I am sharing my plan for how quilters – both brand new and extremely experienced – can quilt to end ALZ.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Mine has been a journey of self-discovery.
By definition and the laws of nature, I think that self-discovery requires some bumps in the road. And if I’m being honest, the majority of the pot-holes in my path have been self-inflicted, but necessary to navigate.
Without pause nor apology, my first priority has always been my role of coach’s wife and momma. When Coach and the kids need me, I drop everything else. When their lives get crazy, my own journey is often derailed. That is my decision and my choice. I have no regrets about that tendency, and yet because of those decisions, there are times throughout my blogging career when I’ve gone months – almost years – without publishing on my site.
The road to self-discovery will cause some aches, some bumps. I’ve definitely felt a few bruises. But even when I was wandering off the trail, writing and sharing were in the background, and I always knew I would find my way back. I always knew that my platform was waiting for me to return, pick up where I’d left off, and see where the road continues to lead.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I love hats!
Not literally. In the real world, I look terrible in hats. I’m talking about the idiom world, as in “I like to wear a lot of hats all at one time!”
I describe myself as a reader (who likes to share her recommendations), a writer (who likes to share her work), a yoga instructor (who likes to share the importance self-care, the gift of breath and silence, and life-changing possibilities of mindfulness), and a philanthropist (who likes to share how and why and when and where we can help others).
Add to that a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a neighbor, a friend, a skincare business owner, a quilter, a scrapbooker, a crafter, an organizer, a cook, a laundress, a house-cleaner, a bill-payer, a tax preparer, a home manager, a church-goer, and a Christian.
See what I mean? That’s a lot of hats!
What am I most proud of as a company? That my blog, my example, my stack of hats illustrate and encourage others – particularly women who tend to compare and find themselves lacking.
I am proud that my message says, “You CAN do it all. You can tackle all the things and jobs and hobbies and people that are important to you. You might have to juggle a little, you might have to rearrange which hats get to be front and center. You might have to remind yourself that it’s okay for dust to collect on some of the hats here and there. AND THAT IS GREAT!”
You can jump from reading to writing to learning to teaching to yoga to volunteering to mothering to vacationing to this and to that.
It won’t always be easy and painless. There will be tough days and rough roads. But you absolutely CAN embrace whatever is most important to you! You are worth that!!
I am proud that I am promoting a message of success that looks different, allows for chaos, and encourages lots of patience, grace, and understanding.
I think that is a message worth shouting, and I’m proud to shout it!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I can talk to a brick wall, a wood fence, or a blinking cursor. I like talking to humans more, but I’m actually pretty adept at talking and sharing and engaging with anyone or anything.
I feel that God gave me that gift. For a long time, I worried that people wished I would hush. That my incessant chatting and striking up conversations was annoying.
But I like forcing people to say “hello” on the sidewalk or in an elevator. I love being the reason someone looks up from their phone or computer to interact with another person (namely me, refusing to answer their question or place my order without that eye-to-eye contact that seems to be fading away from our world).
Yes, my ability to talk was the bane of my elementary teachers’ existence, but I think it’s now a quality that serves me well!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.meandcoach.com
- Email: ashli@meandcoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meandcoach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeAndCoachMonty/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeAndCoach
- Other: www.quilt2endalz.org
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