Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley LaCombe.
Hi Ashley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Fitness has been woven into my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up playing sports, but my true passion was always on the water with my mom! (She was a national champion barefoot waterskier) water skiing and wakeboarding were my world my whole childhood. Between 2008 and 2013, I had three children and bounced back physically each time, but I felt this pull to push myself further. Around 2015–2016, that spark turned into something bigger when a cousin and a friend introduced me to the world of bodybuilding. The bikini division instantly captured my attention. It wasn’t just fitness, it was artistry, discipline, and empowerment all in one.
At the time, I was training to become a personal trainer, and stepping into competition prep felt like the most natural extension of who I already was becoming. My very first show, I walked away with a fifth-place trophy out of more than forty competitors. That show, I earned my first national qualification and again the next fall! With that, I fell in love with the fitness industry on a whole new level.
But life has a way of testing you in the moments you least expect. From 2019 to 2022, I found myself in an extremely abusive relationship that was emotionally, mentally, and physically draining. Fitness, competing, and even just walking into a gym disappeared from my life entirely. I had another baby, and during that period, survival and healing were my only focus.
But healing became its own kind of strength training. I rebuilt myself from the inside out just learning, unlearning, and reconnecting with who I really was. I started a new, relationship, blended our big and beautiful family, began writing a book (releases in January on Amazon), and slowly felt that fire for fitness and purpose return.
This is where Iron Siren Fitness was born!
When I stepped back into coaching, I knew I didn’t want to do it the same way as before. I didn’t want to just build physiques, I wanted to build women. Strong, self-aware, emotionally grounded women who understood that their transformation wasn’t just physical.
My main focus is bikini bodybuilding and helping women pursue their competitive dreams, but I also coach weight loss, recomposition, and lifestyle clients. ( I also coach men but my main focus is women because I am one! I can relate and coach better with that). What makes my approach different is the space I create: a safe, intentional environment for women navigating anything from trauma, heartbreak, or stress, to simply wanting to evolve into their highest self.
I’ve studied somatic healing and am currently completing a neuro-linguistic programming course. I’ve personally spent years in therapy, learning how the brain and nervous system respond to pain, shock, and emotional conditioning. What I’ve discovered, and now teach, is how deeply these internal systems affect muscle growth, discipline, motivation, and self-belief.
Bodybuilding becomes the vessel for the transformation, but the true work happens internally. The discipline required for competing gives structure to their healing; the physical transformation mirrors the emotional one. And that’s where I come in, not just as a coach, but as someone who has lived it, survived it, and turned it into purpose.
My mission with Iron Siren Fitness is simple:
To help women rise, from anything, through anything, beyond anything.
To rebuild their confidence, their strength, and their identity.
To create a generation of women who evolve from the inside out.
That’s where I started. This is where it’s going. And I’m just getting warmed up!
Aside from all of this, my other half and I have started a woman/veteran owned apparel business called “Undivided Apparel” so we are slowly but surely building. We have three boys and three girls between us and I am a mother first. They are my purpose and my why. I hope and pray that everything I do leads them into a good life of their own! As good, upstanding, integral people.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely the bad relationship I was in. I had dealt with a boyfriend after my divorce that was heavily into steroids and ultimately, we did not stay together. They truly ruined who he could’ve been, and I made it my mission to be as natural as possible, and Coach that way as well. Our bodies, especially as women are so powerful. We can bounce back from having kids and honestly I look and feel better now that I did before I ever had kids!
Back on subject, I had unfortunately fallen ill to a narcissistic relationship that turned physically abusive as well as like psychologically abusive, and it took me literal years to get out of it as well as heal myself in general. I was physically sick for a long time and even now I deal with anxiety And I’m still healing. But this experience is something that I’ve rebuilt myself with and now I can advocate for other women. Truly from the inside out. There are so many people that go through things that they don’t talk about. It doesn’t just have to be in abusive relationship. And so many people that don’t understand that healing is even possible because it just feels so hard. Our bodies retain memory of trauma, even if it’s emotional And that’s how bad habits can start because everyone wants to try to hit a doping mean high, but they don’t know how their body really needs it. It’s a horrible cycle that too many people are in. Anywhere from drugs and alcohol to porn all because there is unhealed trauma.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
On top of my training and coaching, I’m also a singer and a painter. I’ve sold my artwork over the years and have performed in several bands. These are passions I wish I had more time for right now, but we’re still fairly new to Summerville and the Charleston area, so I know those opportunities will come with time. One of my personal goals is to have my artwork featured in a gallery next year and, hopefully, to connect with a guitarist who shares my style so I can start performing again.
Creatively, this season of my life is really focused on completing my book and pouring my heart into building Iron Siren Fitness. What I’m most proud of is that everything I do, whether it’s coaching, creating art, or writing, comes from a place of healing and purpose. I specialize in helping women transform their bodies and their mindset through a combination of bikini bodybuilding, somatic principles, and emotional-awareness coaching. What sets me apart is that I’m not just teaching fitness; I’m teaching women how to rebuild their strength from the inside out.
Right now, I’m also getting ready to roll out my New Year’s coaching offers for new clients, which I’m incredibly excited about. My work is a blend of discipline, creativity, and healing, and I love that I get to share all of those pieces with the women I coach.
The book, “To: Her” should launch in January and is my story, and hopefully a helpful guide to anyone who has gone through or is going through, or healing from abuse/trauma.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My biggest advice for anyone just starting out is this: don’t expect perfection, expect progress. There will be days you feel unstoppable and days you feel like you’re right back at the beginning. Both are completely normal. Consistency matters far more than motivation, and discipline will carry you on the days your emotions don’t.
I wish I had known early on how damaging comparison can be. Everyone starts in a different place, and comparing your first step to someone else’s year ten will steal your confidence faster than anything. The only person you need to beat is who you were yesterday.
I also learned the hard way that your mindset and emotional health play a bigger role than most people realize. You can train your body, but if you don’t train your mind, the journey will feel heavier than it needs to. Life’s hardest seasons will impact your fitness, your motivation, and your confidence, and that’s okay. You’re allowed to reset. You’re allowed to rebuild. Starting over is not failing.
Build a support system. Find people who want to see you win. And above all, listen to your body and your nervous system. Rest isn’t quitting, it’s part of growth. And learn how to draw healthy boundaries. Especially if you are healing from trauma. Whether it’s childhood, relationship, whatever it may be. It’s OK to be selfish about your healing from the inside out. That’s how you break generational curses. Most people don’t make it because they’re not willing to go through the worst parts of the healing. You grieve the version of you that you lost. The people you’ve had to let go or whatever it may be. Your muscle memory isn’t just with weights, it’s with the things you’ve carried with you through the years. And retraining, all of that is a whole lot of work! But it’s doable. It’s possible! We have to give ourselves, grace and time.
Start messy. Start scared. Just start.
Pricing:
- My pricing is tailored to each individual and how they are training with me. Everyone is different and not everyone comes for the same thing. So a bikini bodybuilding client is going to have a different program than someone who’s trying to lose weight after a baby or learn how to meal prep for their family. I do monthly payments and I’m able to work with clients pretty flexibly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ironsirenfitness.com/
- Instagram: @ashlacombe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1a4QTGqJzd/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ironsirenfitness?_r=1&_t=ZT-91utQoV2iKF
