We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Roelofsz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
During Covid me and some of my field hockey teammates were thinking of ways we could give back to our community. While doing so we realized how fortunate our community already was. We decided to reach out to under-served communities instead. I worked with a Non-profit organization leader and got into contact with an elementary school in a low-income area. Seeing how little these schools had compared to the schools in my community was very eye-opening to how privileged I was. This was when I knew that all I wanted to do was help these students feel as special and supported as I did when I was in elementary school.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I attend a very diverse high school that helped me understand the impact I can make not only in my own school, but others as well. The schools I grew up in had so many ethnically and socio-economically diverse students. Me and my club members adopted a class of 3rd graders from an elementary school outside of our community and began with giving them gift bags of things they needed like food, socks, school supplies, and even just notes of encouragement. I am very proud to say that now we are in charge of a prize system for the whole school. It feels really good to know that I am supporting a whole school now instead of just 1 class and seeing the smiles on the students faces when they see their gifts is amazing.
This was not the easiest road, I think the biggest struggle I ran into was time management. As I am still in high school, it became a lot to handle while I was juggling school, college apps, testing, field hockey, and work. I occasionally found myself up at midnight creating a prize barrel by myself that was due the next morning. Through all of this though, I never missed a deadline and I learned better ways to manage my time and picked up a lot of skills on the way. I think the biggest lesson I learned was simply not giving up. At times I felt so drained from everything life was throwing at me and I wanted to quit my job, quit field hockey, and quit this club. But I always thought back to the impact I was making on these kids’ lives and it was too special to give up on. Instead I came up with better work habits like not procrastinating, dividing work, leadership, and more.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I was born and raised in San Diego so I definitely have my favorite spots. To start, we would go to Downtown, San Diego and head towards the Gaslamp. I work at a restaurant called El Chingon so we would start off our day having Sunday Brunch there because the food and deals are amazing. Next we would head to La Jolla Cove to check out the underwater caves, sea lions, and hidden beaches. After this, we would continue to drive down the coast to Mission beach. Mission beach has Belmont Park which is such a fun little amusement park right next to the water, the bay where you can rent paddle boards, boats, or kayaks, and multiple cute little coffee shops or restaurants with great views and food.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give 3 little shoutouts. 1. Leah Blankenship from the Care House Kids Organization. Leah has been a blessing in helping me find ways to support King Chavez Elementary and has been supporting me since I started.
2. The original members of my club are Ava Clovis, Sofia Abraham, Ryan Robinson, Mia Ward, Cameron Ward, and Sophia Preston. These girls initially helped start the club during COVID-19 and have been supporting our cause since.
3. My mom. My mom has been supporting me and helping me become the best possible version of myself. Hearing about her past and how she grew up was what caused me to care and have so much passion for the under-served communities and I owe it all to her.

Instagram: @tierrasantakindnesscrew

Image Credits
Personal Photo- Myda Clark

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