Speaker 1: 0:10

What is the proper saying of her last name? Is it Singh?

Speaker 2: 0:14

Yes Singh, Do you not have today off for the long weekend?

Speaker 1: 0:49

No, I work a night job on the side and I do 12-hour shifts yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 0:58

Good, I am Well. Do you have at least Monday off?

Speaker 1: 1:04

Yes.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Good, we all need a break right now.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:12

It's that time of year.

Speaker 1: 1:13

Yeah, it's getting there. Well, I don't know where you are, but I'm in Minnesota, so we're getting ready to transition into.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Oh goodness, that's terrible. Fall and soon winter will be here yeah, I'm in la, but I went to college in ohio so I had a few friends from minnesota and I feel like in my brain that's just like the coldest place on earth. Yes, oh my gosh, didn't you guys have a shooting a few days ago?

Speaker 1: 1:43

Yes, at one of our schools.

Speaker 2: 1:46

Oh my gosh, do you live near there?

Speaker 1: 1:49

I grew up near there but I don't. Now I'm in kind of central Minnesota, about an hour and 20 minutes away.

Speaker 2: 1:58

So scary. Regardless, though, I'm so sorry that's happening.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Yeah, we had that, and then we had the political shootings a couple months ago. Things are so scary. It's kind of weird.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Especially if it's like Minnesota is a place you would think that type of stuff wouldn't happen if you were just to think about it. So it's extra scary that it's happening in these types of places of places.

Speaker 1: 2:36

Um, I can see it bubbling up because there is a very deep divide, but you still don't want to admit that you see it being a deep divide interesting, like in the local government or what uh, like covid really divided us um, I totally feel that just because government's saying one thing and the people I mean we.

Speaker 1: 2:55

When you're not in a heavily populated area, it gets hard to uh say that walmart can be open but mom and pop shop can't be, and we had police going up and down streets making sure people were, you know, staying indoors, and I think that created a lot of rift between government and people.

Speaker 2: 3:20

It creates a resentment.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Yeah, I mean, there was a time where no one knew exactly what was going on. And to be overcompensating some stuff and undercompensating others.

Speaker 2: 3:32

Totally. Would you ever leave Minnesota?

Speaker 1: 3:37

I've lived here most of my life. I lived in Alaska for a little bit.

Speaker 2: 3:42

Okay, my mom's whole family is from Alaska. Because I was thinking the only place I think that's colder than Minnesota is Alaska.

Speaker 1: 3:49

It's about the same.

Speaker 2: 3:51

Really Okay. What did you do in Alaska?

Speaker 1: 3:55

I was a rock climbing instructor at a camp for kids.

Speaker 2: 3:59

What part of Alaska.

Speaker 1: 4:01

Soldotna.

Speaker 2: 4:02

Okay. This would have been back in like 93, 94 uh-huh, my uncle's a state trooper, so like they lived everywhere, like right now they're living. Do you know what saint mary's is? Okay it's like a town, I think. There's like 600 people and he's like finishing out his last few years of being a state trooper there and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't like imagine being, and they like take snowmobiles everywhere.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Not a place to close it out. I'd rather do that than being like Elliot is a cop Closing it out.

Speaker 2: 4:33

I don't know about that.

Speaker 1: 4:36

But I like it. I guess I've done 248 state road trips so I've seen most of the country, but I like Minnesota.

Speaker 2: 4:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Hard to do this kind of stuff when you're away from it, but when you're away from like the LA stuff, but I manage.

Speaker 2: 5:01

Sorry, I'm sending Ashley a text. No, that's fine. Oh wait, she answered. Sorry, I'm sending ashley a text.

Speaker 1: 5:14

No, that's fine. Oh wait, she entered. Is it like a pretty summer in minnesota, like, do you guys have like nature things? Oh yeah, it's gorgeous. Right now it's uh 70s. The state fair is going on. Oh, love it. So yeah, that's nice hi.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Hello Thanks for joining us today. Very casual. I am not a big believer in gotcha questions or do anything to slip you up, so this is all recorded and at any point you feel like you lose your train of thought or you give away a spoiler, just something that you shouldn't have, just let me know and we'll cut it out. I'm not here to to get a headline or anything like that. Very casual, um, if you lose your train of thought, like I said, just say hey, can I start over? Or you know, um, I kind of go through and edit out the ums and ahs to make us look a little bit smarter than we are, at least for me. But very casual, very simple, so nothing to worry about.

Speaker 3: 6:14

Awesome, that sounds great.

Speaker 1: 6:17

I told your publicist my first job was with Target oh okay.

Speaker 1: 6:28

Target and it was the first Target that ever opened. But as a cashier I was nervous, I was terrified and I went through and my first customer and I didn't even look up. I was too nervous and at the end I looked up and it was one of my teachers and the reason I share that is, your publicist asked for questions ahead of time if I had any, and I really, really don't, because I learned that if you focus too much on what you're trying to do, you don't listen to the person.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Right, I got a few things that I have jotted down, but I really let the conversation go where it may go, so I might have a duh moment, um, where I'm trying to think of something new. But that's kind of my format is just kind of to listen and format questions off of that perfect, that sounds great I really don't have anything you know ready to get um, so let's start, and I appreciate you coming on. Awesome, let me get that going and then so it's Ashley R Singh, right.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Yes, yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:36

And R is key in there, or do you prefer Ashley Singh? How do you prefer to be referred to?

Speaker 3: 7:41

Oh yeah, like in conversation, ashley's fine Written on anywhere I prefer. Yeah, ashley R Singh.

Speaker 1: 7:46

All right, we'll start with that, all right. And then finally, you're an actress, but you're also a TikTok star. Basically, how do you, ashley you're saying she is what do you when you kind of think of yourself, what do you prefer as?

Speaker 3: 8:11

Yeah, usually just like a content creator and actress is usually what.

Speaker 1: 8:14

I'm yeah, perfect. All right, here we go, unless you have any questions.

Speaker 3: 8:18

Perfect. No, I'm all good to start.

Speaker 1: 8:20

All right, thank you, my guest. This episode is talented actress and here we go, my my guest. This episode is talented actress and content creator, ashyar Singh. She has her debut feature film doing it, which recently premiered at South by Southwest and is releasing in theaters September 19th. Ashley, thanks for joining us today.

Speaker 3: 8:42

Thank you so much, greg, excited to be here.

Speaker 1: 8:44

So tell us a little bit about yourself. You attended the University of Wisconsin, yes. Tell us a little bit about your upbringing.

Speaker 3: 8:53

Absolutely yeah. So growing up, creativity was really a big part of my life. I grew up in a very South Asian community, so I grew up doing Bollywood dancing and Indian classical singing, which actually eventually led me to being a top 14 finalist on Indian Idol. So just a very musically driven childhood, you know, especially with my parents, my dad also, who loves music, and it's my dad, my mom and then my elder sister. All of my other family is in India. So it was great to have this community with music and loved ones and just a lot, of, a lot of love within the community. And, yeah, that's how I grew up. And then, as you mentioned, I did go to Madison for college, studied industrial and systems engineering, and that's around the same time I started content creating on Instagram and TikTok and that eventually led to my first role, which would be in doing it. So that's kind of a very you know base level of how things happened and my flow of my creative fields growing up.

Speaker 1: 9:50

And where were you born and raised?

Speaker 3: 9:51

Chicago suburbs, Naperville.

Speaker 1: 9:54

Is that where you still are now?

Speaker 3: 9:55

No, I'm in the downtown area now the city.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Of Chicago.

Speaker 3: 10:00

Yes, of Chicago.

Speaker 1: 10:01

So you went to Wisconsin for university. You decided to stick around because you love the winters. Yeah, exactly, we're about to have here. I'm in Minnesota.

Speaker 3: 10:10

Oh, nice, very cool.

Speaker 1: 10:12

So I know University of Wisconsin, madison very well. Yes, so you're of Indian descent and that is a big part of what your TikTok and stuff does. How important was it to kind of share that side of you versus just being? You know just everyday things. You know here I am going to the grocery store, here I am. Right being. You know just everyday things. You know here I am going to the grocery store, here I am. Culture is very important to what your TikTok brings. Education and humor, I would say, are the two key things that you're sharing. Tell us a little bit about getting started doing that.

Speaker 3: 10:54

Absolutely so. It was during COVID. It was like 2020. And I was consuming a lot of content, as one did at the time, and I remember my sister and my mom were like Ashley, you keep scrolling for hours, why don't you post stuff? Because they knew I was creative and I loved just singing and acting and dancing and all of that, and so they really pushed me to start posting. I think had COVID not been there, I would have been like no, are you crazy? Like my engineering colleagues and teachers, if they see this, they're going to laugh at me like I'll be a joke, whatever it may be. But I remember the isolation of COVID really made me realize life is too short and we should just do what we love. And it's too short not to just go for it. And so I was like screw it, I don't care what people think if they're going to laugh, if they're going to. You know, whatever it may be, I'm going to start posting and creating content online.

Speaker 3: 11:39

I initially started creating singing videos because, as I mentioned, I was trained in Hindustani classical singing and so I wanted to start actually doing like covers and creating my base from there. And then I started to dabble into like some comedy and relatability of like growing up in a South Asian community and how uncles would be in conversations with aunties and just how those dynamics are. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much it resonated with people and how, like fast, you know, those views started going up and how people were in the comments were like oh my God, I thought this was just me, like this is so relatable, and so I really enjoyed that and started going towards that direction more so, um, even more than like the singing and stuff, and so that's how it started. Even now I am making it a little bit more diversified, but still I love just making fun of like how it is being south asian trying to be relatable kind of show, that representation that we struggle to see in mainstream media.

Speaker 1: 12:37

Now, how do you translate that into acting then? Was that a positive effect that you became, you know, started doing acting, or was that something that was always in the books? But the TikTok was a way to kind of express yourself also?

Speaker 3: 12:54

Exactly. Yeah, I think I always did really love acting and doing skits and being a part of different plays and stuff growing up, but through TikTok I was really able to showcase more of my acting. Now it's more so comedy skits, but during 2020, 2021, it would be a lot of like concepts and acting and skits and a lot more like well thought out content is what I was creating and that's what led the producer of doing it to seeing my content really being like oh my god, this reminds us a lot of Lily's content because it's very similar. The way that I Lily is always an inspiration to me. So it made sense how both kind of reminded each other of one another and that's how that first audition came to be, which was crazy. I would have never expected expected it, let alone even landing the gig. So I was like, oh cool, my first ever audition. But it was crazy to see how things came about in like reality and you had studied improv at some very reputable places, correct?

Speaker 1: 13:48

yes, yeah, absolutely so is that is the tiktok a way, in a way to kind of harness and and hone your skills, where you're kind of practicing in front of yourself repeatedly, you're testing your craft. Is that something that you've realized helped you as an actress, or is it just a fun little outlet for you?

Speaker 3: 14:11

I would say both for sure. I definitely see certain types of content hitting more than others. I would say both for sure. I definitely see certain types of content hitting more than others, and so I think it challenges me as a creator to be like this is what's been more shareable, relatable, postable for other people, and so it's interesting because sometimes it's not always the acting heavy video that really hits hard. But it's fun because also I dabble like video editing and like because I edit and create all my videos, and so I think it's fun not only on the screen, but behind the screen as well.

Speaker 1: 14:39

Does it give you any desire to do more than acting? Maybe do directing. Is that, is that something you translate into a bigger kind of creative outlet, or is the TikTok kind of the fun little thing for you?

Speaker 3: 14:54

I think down the line that would definitely be a dream. I think that's so. It's so great because they say, like every director should know some acting and every acting should know some directing. So for me it's just been knowing enough directing to help my acting. But going down the line fully of direction, I think it's great. But right now my passion and my kick really lies in acting. So maybe as a future thing down the line, but really lies in acting, so maybe as a future thing down the line.

Speaker 1: 15:19

But yeah, I like that question, it's definitely something to think about. And then I mean, I think a couple years ago being a tic-tac creator would have been kind of dismissive, like oh that's, that's cute, you have your little little project thing that you post your cute little videos on, but you've acquired quite a following.

Speaker 1: 15:35

Um, what has that been like to see that grow? Um, what was the kind of trick for you, or the secret that you have? Because, like, I've posted stuff here and there and I get no, no likes, no, nothing. But then I'll make a comment on a stupid thing and I'm getting hundreds of likes for something.

Speaker 1: 15:55

What was kind of your secret formula? Was it just being your authentic you? Was it the cultural aspect? What did you find and when did you realize that this was not just a cute little you know thing that 18-year-olds are doing? This is something where I can convey a message. I can bring my culture kind of mainstream and have followers see my Indian descent through these videos.

Speaker 3: 16:23

Definitely. I think, as we consume content, it changes so much every year and I think the types of content even from 2020 to 2025 now, like the types of videos that go viral is always changing. So I think, ebbing and flowing with those changes Like, as I mentioned, I started with singing. That wasn't hitting too much. Then I kind of changed to types of videos like types of aunties at parties, types of uncles that you run into, things like that, and I saw that started hitting now.

Speaker 3: 16:47

So it's like a lot of content just being a South Asian adult and also my parents my parents are very not your typical conservative South Asian parents. My mom wears shorter skirts than me, my dad is always making jokes such a goofball and so I think that it really makes people entertain because they're like oh my God, my parents are nothing like this, but it's cool to see asian parents that do exist like this and that are a little bit more on the modern, open-minded end. So it's been seeing what people enjoy viewing and then kind of implementing that and weaving that in, but also trying to do what I love, because if we only focus on the likes and this and that kind of can suck the fun out of things, so a combination of the two, for sure so you, you do the tiktoks, you've done some shorts, uh short films and stuff like that, but doing it was really your, your real, uh feature film.

Speaker 1: 17:42

What was it like transitioning from doing you know little short videos to to being part of a feature film, and what was that like?

Speaker 3: 17:51

awesome.

Speaker 3: 17:51

No, I love that question because it's so crazy, because you're in your room just with one camera and you're everything, and all of a sudden you're on like a you know, multi-million dollar budget set where there's multiple cameras and you're seeing how many times you're doing one take and you're seeing the nuances with sound and camera and directing, and you're speaking with the director, who's it's ultimately their vision at the end of the day, and you are the actor, right, you're, you're listening to them and you're at the hands of their vision and what they want for that scene.

Speaker 3: 18:19

And so it was so cool being in that space, because my full job there was just to act and just thinking about that only in itself. You're not worried about anything else. I think it was so interesting and such an energy. Everyone brings such an energy to set and everyone's there for one goal, and so it was definitely as an actor, you're craving to always be on set, be in that environment, so experiencing it for the first time was euphoric and it's it's one of the best feelings and what was it like attending the premiere itself by southwest.

Speaker 1: 18:49

It was one of my, I think, second year that I've missed, so okay I missed it, but what was it like for you premiering a film there?

Speaker 3: 18:57

it was really exciting. It was great I mean first time on the red carpet and having press interviews, and I was just so new to it all, and so it was great to share my side of things and how I enjoyed playing the role of crystal. Also I just loved seeing it was my first time seeing the movie as well, so I was also like a first time viewer, along with everyone in the audience, and I think it's so rewarding seeing live reactions like my character has a little bit of a twisty scene at the end. That is not expected, and so when that moment happened and hearing the whole audience like erupt into laughter, it gave me a level of like happiness, gratitude and like just joy that I've really never experienced before. And so it was. It was such a surreal moment for me and it was just a great experience.

Speaker 1: 19:44

And again, that gets released in theaters September 19th, yes, so what now? What is your definition of success? I mean, a lot of people would see the Tic Tacs followers that you have and go oh, she's pretty successful doing that. You've attended the University of Wisconsin, you have a good education, You've now done your feature film. What is you know, Ashley's definition of success? What do you want to be defined as going into the future?

Speaker 3: 20:14

Absolutely. I think for me it's that definition has been changing as the years are progressing and as I'm even figuring out more things about myself. It's become less about the numbers and the hits and more so about just storytelling, you know, challenging societal beliefs, increasing the normalization of South Asian culture in modern media and just being a part of that movement. So, whatever that may look like, even if that's writing for something that is a part of that movement, or acting, or whatever it may be because again, I'm learning more about myself as the years progress but I think it's just being part of that movement of South Asian culture within modern media and being a part of that representation. Sure.

Speaker 1: 20:55

And you mentioned, you know, south Asian culture. Your TikTok is very heavily influenced on your Indian descent. Is that a fair or unfair burden? I mean, like Tom Hanks never has to say, I, you know, I want to get my culture out there and show people what my culture is, or I'm carrying this. Is it an unfair burden that we're placing on you that you have to represent the Indian descent? Not that you, I mean, that's a bad thing but the fact that there's like an ownership of I have to carry this and it's placed on you. Do you feel that it's it's, there's like an ownership of I have to carry this and it's placed on you? Do you feel that it's a um, an added thing that most others don't have, that that you're you're carrying?

Speaker 3: 21:38

I think that's a great point, greg, because what happens is when we take on a role as a south asian, because there's so little south asian representation, a lot of the times the community feels like, oh, because there's this one story, it it has to represent every single South Asian in the US. And I think that's where I can get a little, a little frustrated, because it's like we are just trying to push for more South Asian stories. This one story is not going to represent every South Asian, like not every South Asian is going to be like. I resonate with Crystal. She's my story, I love her. It's just diversifying the types of stories, right?

Speaker 3: 22:08

Not every South Asian has to be the tech nerd with the Indian accent coding behind the screen. Like Crystal, she wears her funky eyeliner and she's exploring her sexuality and she's being bold, and to me that's a win, because I say this a lot. But it's about a character who doesn't have to be Indian. She just happens to be Indian. Even with the breakdown of the character, it was any ethnicity and so I just happened to book the gig and so Crystal became Indian. So I think it can definitely be a burden and a pressure, but as long as people are willing to have that open mindedness and understand that we're just pushing for more stories. It's not going to be representative of everything that makes it lighter, easier, and it's also exciting to be a part of this movement because, like I would have loved to see a crystal growing up on screen, and so getting to be that for people who are watching is really exciting and, um, yeah, just a really great opportunity.

Speaker 1: 23:00

So going back to that, I mean seeing crystal or the, the role itself was open. Is that something that when you're looking for roles, you're looking for roles that you can insert yourself and the Indian descent into, or are you looking for specific Indian descent roles that you can kind of explore and whatnot?

Speaker 3: 23:22

I think it's definitely both. So whatever, even if it's like any ethnicity or if it's a South Asian girl, like whichever, I'm being submit to anything, and so I'm willing to play any type of that role. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:37

And how has it been for you as a young actor? I mean, you're a beautiful young woman, you're an up-and-coming actress, you have this TikTok following and everything like that Is there. I mean, 10 years ago I don't think you would have had the success that you are now. I think we're living in a different culture of you know, actors don't do didn't do podcasts or they didn't do smaller outlets, but now almost every actor has their own podcast. We're seeing politicians going on podcasts. We're seeing politicians and actors use TikTok and stuff to get influence. Are you seeing kind of a different breed of actors and actresses and content creators coming up? That's different than what it was 10 years ago maybe, and how are you being received in that?

Speaker 3: 24:26

Yeah, totally in that, yeah, totally. I think I feel like in like the early 2000s and stuff like celebrities, there's such a barrier between like celebrity and then like just being like a normal human, and now that's not really a thing. It's like you have content creators and you have actors, and actors are not really seen as celebrities per se.

Speaker 3: 24:43

I think, like this whole idea of fame and unfame, whatever it may be, is being wishy-washy, which I think is great, because I think it's humanizing everyone. Like I think it's great that there's that barrier that's kind of being destroyed and that we can have these open conversations. We're not like putting anyone on a high pedestal, we're just like this is a human who happens to be in this movie playing this role, or this is a content creator who was a normal college student but then she's blown up, up, you know, like Alex Earl, for example. So I think this wishy-washiness is a new space that we're all navigating, but I like it. I think it just makes everyone on the same platform and we're all just humans at the end of the day, trying to do what we love and figure out life together. And so I like how the changes have been kind of ebbing and flowing throughout the years and now you have a busy schedule.

Speaker 1: 25:29

I'm sure that, as you're you know, getting ready for doing it to premiere yeah theaters and so, with that, how much uh interaction do you have with your fans? On tiktok, are you one of those creators that just post? Are you able to engage? What's that been like?

Speaker 3: 25:46

I definitely do love posting. I try not to look at comments too much because I just think that that's a hole in itself, that absolutely there's positives but there's always going to come with a negative, so I try to keep it light. I think DMs is something I like to check, you know, here and there, and definitely I love to respond to like positive messages and reach out to people and let them know. I'm very grateful because it's all because of like the support I'm receiving, that like I'm able to even have these opportunities. But I think social media it's a little interesting because keeping that boundary, not letting it take up a lot of your headspace, not reading into every negative comment, and so it's been a weird relationship to navigate. But yeah, I do still love posting, posting my skits along with promoting the movie, but I love to still continue to do what I used to before as well and just entertain and make skits.

Speaker 1: 26:35

Now you have doing it, which again comes out in theaters on September 19th. You have your TikTok account and I'll put a link to that on this post, but you didn't get your start there. There, dairy Queen was a commercial that you did. Is that correct? Yes, yeah what got you into commercials?

Speaker 3: 26:57

I think it when it comes to acting, and as an actor, it's just this flexibility of doing it in any capacity, whether that's a short film, whether that's a commercial, whether that's tv, and so I've been very open to being a part of any project that just involves acting in any capacity and so I can do a little this before.

Speaker 1: 27:16

But what now is your? I mean, are you doing more films?

Speaker 3: 27:20

now is the tiktok of the, the focus, what is your, you know, to your plan as far as what you're doing next, yeah, definitely, with the release of doing it, definitely a lot of exciting opportunities acting wise, so I've been dabbling more in like the tv and short film space and so some exciting things in the making that will be coming out eventually too. So, definitely keeping tiktok and instagram um on the side here, but acting has absolutely been um the main focus and, yeah, I'm excited for these things to come out within the next few years and what would you tell a young woman, or even a young man uh looking at maybe starting their own tiktok account, maybe someone with uh an ethnic background looking at sharing their, their past?

Speaker 1: 28:05

what would you? What are kind of the do's and don'ts of getting started there and expressing themselves and their culture, not the way that you have?

Speaker 3: 28:16

absolutely, I think, finding, I think being true to you and like as cliche as it sounds, I think it's hard to not do be like, oh, this is going viral, let me just like recreate that.

Speaker 3: 28:27

Or like this kind of style is doing well, let me just do that. But I think really staying in touch with what you find entertaining and what message you want to put out there is really important. And again, your content might not be everyone's cup of tea, but as you keep posting and finding out the content that you even want to create, you will find that community of people who resonate with you and that will help you keep going, keep posting, keep staying consistent with it, but definitely to not. I know I had COVID, which is why the isolation helped me post, but truly nowadays I feel like content creating has become a lot more normalized. I feel like there's so much different types of content that is being posted, so to just not let that hold you back and just keep, keep doing what you want, keep posting, not caring about what others have to say and staying true to you and your parents.

Speaker 1: 29:13

You said they weren't the strictest culturally, but, um, what is their kind of feedback? Seeing all this, seeing your success, uh, seeing your, your tiktoks, where you are expressing your culture, what has that been like for your family?

Speaker 3: 29:30

They are so excited for me. They've been incredibly supportive even with my singing journey. I mean, they let me skip out on school for a month to fly to Mumbai and film and be a part of that singing competition show. So they've always been incredibly supportive of my dreams. They're even more excited than me and I know they're very excited to to see the movie and be a part of it all, and so, yeah, honestly, I'm just very grateful that they've been so open to everything and again, I don't mean to refer to TikTok, as as I think it used to be something that was silly that 18 year old girls do, uh, but now it's.

Speaker 1: 30:03

It's developed into much more of a a business for many. What is your definition of success or what would? At what point did you feel like you were successful? Because the following that you have on social media is quite impressive. I mean, it's nothing to, it's nothing to laugh at, or or whatnot. It's something that you've built and something, something you should be proud of. So what is your definition of success and how do you see yourself translating that into future projects?

Speaker 3: 30:37

I think again it refers back to the acting success being a part of, like the movement of more projects of south asian representation within the media with tiktok and instagram it's it's more so like something I do out of enjoyment and when I get an idea I'll post it, not so much like, oh, I need to hit x number of following or do x amount. I've kind of kept it as just like a light-hearted thing to help me have a creative outlet, but not too much something I've been seeing as like a milestone based thing when it comes to to content creation and so what's next for you?

Speaker 1: 31:12

is there any projects you can kind of hint? I know you can't give away too much, but is there anything that you can? Fans of yours or fans that are discovering you, um, as an actress now, not just as a content creator is there something that we can look forward to, or is it all kind of under wraps?

Speaker 3: 31:29

yeah, there are some things that'll be releasing some short films and some tv features as well. So all of that, whenever officially, I will absolutely be posted on my instagram. I'll be very excited to share it with everyone. But yeah, there, there will be some things to come in the future that I'm very excited for everyone to see, very different from the role of crystal, but it's been been fun kind of dabbling into these different characters.

Speaker 1: 31:50

And tell us a little bit about life outside of content creating and filmmaking. What is kind of your on a day off? What is your kind of go-to things to do?

Speaker 3: 32:02

Yeah, for me, hot yoga is like my meditation. I love doing hot yoga. I love cooking. For me, cooking is absolutely therapeutic, so trying new recipes that I see online and whipping something new up and definitely being with my family and my friends is probably where you'll that's like. An ideal day for me is definitely comprised of those things.

Speaker 1: 32:26

And when you say your passion is cooking, is that something that is culturally exciting for you, or are you going outside of your culture and exploring more? How do you? What is your approach to that?

Speaker 3: 32:41

Yeah, actually usually it's non-Indian cooking. I think my mom is just so good at it I've been too scared to even dabble in that because I'm like I don't want to mess it up, I'll just let mom take care of that department. But for me it's been, yeah, just like Italian food. Chinese food has been like a lately like a big favorite for me, and so I love TikTok because they'll have like the best recipes and like very easy, concise, understandable recipes that you can kind of follow along. I'm a big foodie, so that has definitely been something I've been enjoying.

Speaker 1: 33:12

And in doing TikToks, one of the things I've found is that it becomes easy to start over and then try again and start over and try again. What is your advice on being your? Because I would say in the videos I've seen of yours you really see your authentic self and I'm sure there is effort that goes into it. I'm sure there's, you know, trying again and filming a couple different times before you get it right. But what is your advice to young kids that see these kind of perfect videos out there? Um, to find your authentic self in creating something and being start being a creator.

Speaker 3: 33:55

Yeah, I feel like in the beginning I'd be scared to, like, make mistakes and have anything that was less than perfect, and so that would prohibit me from creating as much content as I would like.

Speaker 3: 34:05

So I think creativity is all about making mistakes and learning from them, and so I've learned to just be a little bit more loose with it. Like, even if it's an idea, I don't think that's amazing. I think just still putting in the effort to film, edit and post it, it's worth it, because you never know what sticks, what doesn't. And so not being tied to this idea of perfection, just being really okay with flowing with different types of ideas and diversifying your content. I know it's hard when you stick to only one certain type of thing where you're like I have to only do that in order to be successful. But I remember I dabbled into like making cocktails a little bit, which I do want to get back into, and I think that'll help you not burn out as well, because it can get a little repetitive, doing same types of content and so just doing different things to diversify it, spice it up, see what sticks, but also it's fun for you, so doing it again comes out september 19th.

Speaker 1: 34:57

Yeah, give your tiktok account what I mean. We talked a little bit about the the near future, but what is the long-term goal? Uh, 10 years from now, what do you hope to be doing?

Speaker 3: 35:09

I hope to to be in the creative industry full time, as like my full time career, because even now I'm still, you know, continuing engineering, which I do love to do and be a part of. But I think ideally it would definitely to have this creative role as a full time for me and I'm pretty open to seeing where in the creative field I'll be at. But yeah, that that would definitely be the dream.

Speaker 1: 35:31

And I mean you talked about engineering like it's nothing. Tell us a little bit more about the engineering work that you do.

Speaker 3: 35:38

Yeah, I am a solutions engineer, so I work very similar to what my dad does. I used to work at his company because he has his own company with software, and then now I'm away from that at a different company doing a similar job, and so it's great because it's client facing. As silly as it sounds, it does remind me of acting, because it does make me feel out there and I'm presenting, I'm talking with people, I'm understanding what they need, and so I feel like having that more client facing job does help me in my acting world and vice versa, and even, like the technicalities that the engineering mindset teaches you, does help me understand my character role more, because acting is all emotional, engineering is all logical, and so finding that intersectionality between the two has been very interesting and fun. Both have helped each other in some way or another, which people definitely don't expect, but it's.

Speaker 1: 36:28

It's cool to see how the two bounce off each other now, like you said, you mentioned that they bounce off of each other. Could you see your career leaning more? Engineering that the acting thing is is fun but doesn't pay the bills. So you, you rely on the engineering thing. Is the acting thing that the thing that you really want to boost? Are you playing it by ear? Because you get? I mean, you're young, you have time to grow and figure things out what I mean. It's a big path that you're following between engineering and acting. At what point do you think that you're going to have to, or do you think you're going to have to, make a choice to focus on one or the other?

Speaker 3: 37:07

I think when the point of like acting whether it's like a role I've taken on or any project that it would surpass the level that I can like, like it would take on more effort than I need for engineering Cause right now I've been able to balance both, but if any acting role or something would require a vast amount of time where I'd have to let go of my engineering job, I think acting is definitely my, my, my, passion, and so that's priority. But again, with life I mean we can live many different lifestyles in the future and and be happy and it's not only like one way is the right way.

Speaker 3: 37:39

So who knows? I I feel like my opinion could also change throughout the years, but that's kind of how it's been for me.

Speaker 1: 37:45

Both have been very fulfilling in my life so now, finally, um, like I said, doing it comes out September 19th. I'll put a link to your TikTok account. But so much of when we talk to actors and actresses and content creators. You know it's Ashley Arsing. You know the star, or one of the stars, of doing it, ashley Arsing, the TikTok creator, content creator. But when you get up in the morning and look in the mirror for the first time, splash a little water on your face. Who is it that you see?

Speaker 3: 38:19

For me. I see I've been saying this a lot lately, but I just see like, even though I am 24, I feel like a teenager. That's like mimicking adulthood and literally just trying to figure out my life, and I think everything I do is just me trying to understand who I am and who Ashley is. As a person, I truly do feel like a teenager, being like, ah, what's happening, what's going on. But I guess that's what it means to be a young adult. It's just so much change and so much newness, and so, in all honesty, that is how I feel when I look in the mirror. But it's exciting, I think. The 20s there's just so many waves that you go through and it's all part of being a young adult. But yeah, that's the journey.

Speaker 1: 39:02

And what advice would you give? I mean, your TikTok is heavily influenced on your Indian descent, but I wouldn't say it's an Indian page. It's a page that happens to be of a woman that is Indian descent. But what advice would you like? Why should someone, a young 18-year-old, check out your TikTok page? What can they expect to find on it?

Speaker 3: 39:31

It definitely is very uh, south Asian heavy, even like just child of immigrants heavy, and so I think it's to make lightness of your experience and to not feel alone. I think I've really found a community that I love posting to and that we're all able I mean, in my comments people are just, like you know, poking fun at each other or like even giving ideas how I can enhance my video, and so I think if you're looking for a community of just laughter and fun and lightheartedness, that's definitely what my page would be for.

Speaker 1: 40:00

And you ever see a point, maybe dialing it down a little bit, but you ever see a point where the TikTok becomes too much. Or is this something that is now inherently a part of you, that you enjoy doing?

Speaker 3: 40:15

I think it's definitely a part of me, even if, like, it's not skits I'm doing in the future, maybe as an actor, it's a day in the life on set, or maybe it's a little dances I'm doing with like co-stars. But I definitely really do love content creating. I think it gives people a glimpse into like your life and like who you are, and so ideally, I would really love to keep posting, even if it doesn't look the same as it does right now, but just to some capacity.

Speaker 1: 40:39

Well, Ashley, our thing. Thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 1: 40:42

Um, I won't judge you too much for going to the university of Wisconsin, being from Minnesota but look for her feature film doing coming out in theaters on September 19th, or check out her TikTok account, which I'll put a link to, and follow her on there. And again, thank you so much for coming on. I look forward to seeing what the future has for you and maybe next South by Southwest I'll see you there. Like I said, I missed the last one, so I kind of missed that, but I love going there. I think it's a great place for new films and young actors and actresses to come on. But thank you so much.

Speaker 3: 41:20

Perfect. Thank you so much, Greg. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: 41:23

Take care. All right, that does it. Thanks again, I hope it wasn't too rough on you, no not at all that Again, I hope it wasn't too too rough on you, but that was very nice and I look forward to seeing what. What comes next for you, I think.

Speaker 1: 41:35

I think TikTok had a while there where I was like, not treated seriously, but the last few years it's really become a a business for people or a serious outlet, and I think we're seeing more and more jumping to it and actors and actresses realizing that they have now direct contact with their audience.

Speaker 1: 41:57

I think, it now gets the respect that it kind of deserves of the time that's put into something like that. Totally, thank you so much. I'll let you go enjoy the rest of your day and uh, I'll let your publicist know when this goes up. Probably be a couple days, and then I'll get it up, but I'll definitely way before the september 19th. Uh, so I'll be able to promote doing it and uh, wish you all luck awesome.

Speaker 3: 42:26

Thanks so much, greg.

Speaker 1: 42:28

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 42:29

Thank you, Greg.

Speaker 1: 42:30

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 42:32

Bye.

Speaker 1: 42:32

Thank you.