Meet Ashley Jones: Founder & Executive Director

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

Hi Ashley, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
No one has ever told me to think bigger. I’m a dreamer who believes I can change the world, so risk is a natural part of that journey. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward (and the loss too). I make calculated decisions based on the risk and information on hand. Although I don’t want to do anything reckless, I know that the world wasn’t changed by playing it safe. I am not going to let fear prevent me from achieving big things.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My journey through the corporate world into entrepreneurship and then into the nonprofit world was anything but easy. In the midst of those transitions, I became a mom and lost my daughter when she was 21 months old. No one prepares you for that kind of loss… and as much as I love my daughter and would give anything to have her with me today, I know that her death was what I needed to bring Love Not Lost into the world. Through my own grief and healing, I’ve learned incredibly valuable lessons and will spend the rest of my life trying to help others heal in grief. I’ve learned to heal is to grieve. To grieve is to feel. And to feel is to be present. I want the world to know that if you really want to heal, you can’t run from the pain. It’s going to suck so bad, but when you fully feel it, you allow your body to process it and release it. And if you feel stuck, a therapist or another safe person can be incredibly helpful to continue doing the hard work. Right now, during this pandemic, we are all collectively and individually grieving. Love Not Lost exists to revolutionize the way we heal in grief. We’re sharing resources, tips, and tools to help and will continue to do so. We have tools like www.HowCanILoveYouBetter.com that make it easy to offer help to someone going through a rough season in life. Our community is built around empathy and love and we’d be honored to have you join our tribe.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Atlanta, I spent a decade on the westside of ATL so some of my favorite restaurants to recommend are Bocado, Taqueria Del Sol, Eight, Yeah Burger (hello GF onion rings!), Nuevo Laredo, Brash, Monday Night Brewing, and Upbeet to name a few… For experiences, Ponce City Market’s rooftop experience is really unique, and from there, you can walk/ride the beltline to Krog Street Market and hit up drinks, snacks, and shopping along the way. Some other favorite restaurants include Victory Sandwich bar (whiskey coke slushies, c’mon!), Fritti, Smoke Ring bbq, and Superica. Piedmont Park is also a favorite for some nature in the city. Truly, there are many incredible places around the city that you could enjoy for weeks with someone visiting!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to recognize The Gifts of Imperfections by Brene Brown, which was the catalyst for my exploration of emotional work over 7 years ago, leading me to grief, healing, and neuroscience today. Speaking of neuroscience, I also want to give credit to Dr. Jerome Lubbe, brilliant neurologist and enneagram specialist who has always made time for my questions and encourages me along my discoveries. I want to give a huge shoutout to the incredible leaders/mentors and teams at Dragon Army and Whiteboard – companies leveraging the internet for good and having a significant impact in my life. And of course, a shoutout to my friends, family, and Love Not Lost community for your ongoing support to make my purpose of helping others in grief come to life, especially Northside Hospital, who is our biggest financial supporter and referral partner. I am so grateful.