20% of small or medium business are majority led by women

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Women led SME businesses contribute £75 billion to economic output in the UK

Ash was born from a dissatisfaction with women’s media and we’re driven by the desire to offer a more genuine perspective. As well as instigating conversation and raising awareness for causes close to our hearts, we aim to inspire real world action via our events and fundraising.

Increasingly, we're bombarded with ever-narrowing ideals of beauty and depictions of 'The Perfect Life'. Studies now say it's official: social media makes us sad and competitive, low self-esteem is on the rise, ‘quarter life crisis’ has become a legit term and platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are fueling unprecedented levels of mental turmoil in young women, who we're told are lonelier, more anxious and more depressed than ever before.  
 

In the UK, the gender pay gap stands at 15%, with women on
average earning £5,000 less a year than their male colleagues.

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Only 7% of Britons consider themselves feminists

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We need to change this

Ash is drawing a line under outdated, shallow women’s media that no longer challenges or inspires us – as we enter a new emotional era, we want to challenge the narratives that are so often presented in mainstream media, to find the inspiration to become our best selves and the stimuli to reconnect with what matters. 

We want more than an endless reel of empty, pretty pictures on our social feeds. We’re tired of being sold to and targeted and duped. We want to see diversity. We want conversation. We want emotion. We want to see people that stand for something, we want them to be held up high, we want to hear their stories and we want to amplify them.

Ash is committed to championing women that look like you, feel like you, struggle like you and succeed like you, because it’s vital to remind ourselves that nobody is perfect. We’re on a mission to promote positive role models – because to recognise one is to be one. We want to be your biggest cheerleader.

As we're witnessing a huge global shift with feminist issues increasingly pushed to the forefront of mainstream discourse, Ash will make waves from the bottom, up. Join us to change the conversation!  

Want to contribute?
Drop us a line: charlotte@ash-magazine.com

Want to support us?
Pledge to our crowdfund campaign here.

Who are we?

Founder - Charlotte Ruth @charberto
After studying journalism at University, Charlotte spent eight years working as a DJ Agent. Despite the environment being overtly male dominated, Charlotte is fortunate to have worked alongside some of the music industry’s feistiest, most inspirational women. As one such woman fatefully advised her: “Find your passion”. Charlotte loves a party and approaches life from a place of emotion. She founded Ash because she simply couldn’t ignore the idea. 

Designer - Rosie Leggett @roleggs_
Rosie studied Fashion Communication at University, and graduated in the summer of 2017. During her studies she had the opportunity to work for some truly inspirational women running successful independent brands and getting their voices heard across the creative industries. She has felt, since then, that engaging with more women like the ones that inspired her at the start of her career was an absolute priority. Rosie has a hunger for excellent design and beautiful imagery, and is eager to get that across in each edition of Ash, making it engaging and inspiring to look at, as well as informative and powerful to read.