Life & Work with Ashley Robertson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Robertson.  

Hi Ashley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In all honesty, I never imagined we would be here today. When our first daughter was born, I started our account out of all the frustration that had been building up over my pregnancy about the “right” choices to make – finding out the sex, where she should be born, epidural or not, etc., etc. It seemed as though pregnancy opened the floodgates to any and all unsolicited advice and opinions, and if we chose to go against those, we were doing it wrong. And boy oh boy are people quick to tell you how you’re going to mess up your kid if you don’t do things the way they do with theirs. It became super important to me to show that there is no one right way to parent, and we’re all in this thing together. Fast forward four years and our account is an open supportive place that we show through lifestyle photography our daily life and choices we personally make for our family so that hopefully by normalizing them we make parenthood a little less isolating for everyone who stumbles upon us. We all know the village doesn’t exist nearly to the same extent that it used to, and for some, it’s completely nonexistent. We want to be that village. 

Alright, 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?
There have definitely been challenges, but they’ve been primarily on the learning curve side of things. Of course, living life on social media opens you up to a lot of unkind people, and I think everyone struggles at some point with learning how to balance their online presence with their real life as well. Mostly the challenges have been in my own head as far as mom-guilt struggling over the decision regularly whether or not to post our children on social media, and things of that nature. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
So, during the week I am a stay-at-home parent and digital content creator, and on the weekends I’m a wedding and family photographer. With content creation, I love that I have a platform to highlight sustainable businesses, practices, and products, specifically in Cincinnati and NKY but we also work with a few bigger brands that are nationwide. I would say that we’re known for sharing family fun experiences, daily life with toddlers, and sustainable brands that we feel are worth bringing into our home. Having a photography background definitely draws people in too because I got a lot of practice in lifestyle/documentary style shooting over the pandemic and having a lot of time at home, and I think people relate to those kinds of photos that look relatable everyday life. I think our main difference from other accounts is that our followers can probably name all the brands we work with because we are so selective about what comes into our house. 

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love that there are always things going on; you can wake up and decide that day that you want to get out of the house and there will be like eight unique things to choose from to go do. From the markets to food festivals to pup crawls; there’s literally something for everyone here. Related to that, it’s so easy to find your people here, especially with how certain communities overlap. 

Coming off of AAPI Heritage Month, I have to reiterate how challenging it can be to be an Asian-American in this city, especially in the past two years. Thankfully my own individual experience here has been mostly positive, but I also think I moved here at a good time – when the AAPI community has been making huge strides in increasing our visibility, bettering the overall treatment of individuals, and building up the businesses and brands that are already here. There’s a way to go, but it’s finally being done. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ohhappyrobertsons.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ohhappyrobertsons

Image Credits
Denise Ante
Shilo Kirkpatrick
Ashley Robertson