Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Lachterman.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story as a creative started in high school, back in the era when blogging was the big outlet before social media really took off. I wasn’t the kid who was exceptionally gifted at dance or art or music, but I found my own niche in storytelling. Back then, blogging really only had three lanes: fashion and beauty, mom content, or food. I gravitated toward fashion because I loved playing with outfits, so in 2013, I taught myself how to build an actual blog and turn my personal Instagram into something more like a brand, which wasn’t exactly common practice for a high schooler at the time.
I started posting weekly, pairing blog posts with outfit-of-the-day photos on Instagram, and slowly, people outside my circle of friends and family started paying attention. By college, I had a real audience, and my content had naturally shifted from just fashion to more of my actual life. When blogging faded out as a format, I moved fully into social media content creation.
Today, I post multiple times a week about being a young professional, a bride-to-be, and generally trying to figure life out. It’s still my creative outlet. I love making fun, relatable content that makes people laugh or feel seen.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road. Growing up online the way I did came with real ups and downs, and honestly, I learned who I was while posting about myself in real time, which is a strange way to figure yourself out.
There was a point in college where I burned myself out completely. I had gotten way too critical of the quality of what I was putting out, and I ended up taking a full year offline to reset. The timing wasn’t great since that was right when my audience was at its largest, and the algorithm doesn’t do you any favors after a long break like that, so I lost some traction. But coming back gave me a new kind of passion for it. I got a lot better at creating for myself first and worrying less about whether people were going to judge it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I create content across a mix of lifestyle categories, my career and professional life, being a twenty-something figuring things out, fashion, and now my bridal era, plus a whole other side dedicated to exploring Texas food and culinary spots around San Antonio. I don’t try to squeeze myself into one niche, because I think most people today have way too many interests to fit into a single box.
What sets me apart is that I try to make everything as genuine as possible. I never want to come across as fake. My litmus test is usually thinking about what I would have wanted to see five years ago. If I were scrolling as a twenty-something prepping to work full-time, would I actually relate to this? Would I like it?
I think what I’m most proud of is that I showcase all the different parts of me online instead of just one. The career-driven side, the young adult life side, the fashion, the lifestyle, and hobbies outside of work, and the bride-to-be era. It all gets to exist together, because that’s actually what real life looks like.
What’s next?
The biggest thing on the horizon for me right now is my wedding. I’m engaged to my fiancé Nathan and deep in wedding planning mode, so that’s been a huge part of my life and my content, too! I think people connect with that “bride to be” chapter because it’s so universal, whether you’re the one getting married or watching a friend go through it.
Beyond that, I’m continuing to grow in my career as a woman in tech, which is something I care about showing on social media, too. I want people to see that you can be building a serious career in product and tech while still being fully yourself outside of it, planning a wedding, posting about food, and having a personality. I think there’s still a version of “woman in tech” that gets flattened into one image, and I like being proof that it doesn’t have to look just one way.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleylachterman/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleylachterman/
