Prior to having Stella, Ashley was under the impression she was unable to have a baby. Because of this, she struggled immensely with the deep rooted belief that something was wrong with her. 

Her anxieties manifested in her daily life, even into how she approached diet & exercise. She was so unsure of herself that she doubted herself in her approach to everything, including fitness and nutrition. She yo-yo dieted and bounced back and forth between over-restricting & binge eating food. Her health was in a state of decline and she was in constant pain both physically and mentally. She neglected herself in many ways, and was her own worst enemy for quite some time. 

Ashley Soden is the Owner & Founder of Empowered Bodies where she coaches individuals to achieve empowerment by conquering the body and mind. Ashley is also a nationally qualified bodybuilder through the National Physique Committee, and highly sought after Body Transformation Expert. She holds her Bachelor's Degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and incorporates Neurolinguistic Programming and Cognitive Reconditioning techniques to her exercises for an overall lifestyle and behavioral-based approach. 

Ok, so that's all the technical stuff about Ash... but who is she, REALLY? 

Ashley takes most pride in being a mother to her beautiful two year old daughter, Stella, with her husband Ray. 

To throw herself into action, she knew she needed a motivator - so at 5'0" resting at 200 lbs sitting on the coach with her c-section stitches still fresh, Ashley committed 100% to competing in a Bodybuilding competition within 1 year. She received a ton of doubt from others, but she knew deep in her belief system that she could do it if she really wanted to.

So, she set a goal. She put together steps to get to that goal and made it tangible. She already learned the power of collapsing time with mentorship, so she hired a mentor to hold her accountable and remain objective. Then she relied on her discipline to her self worth to push her to take action every day.

With her vicious passion for the human body, Ashley quickly knew that she needed to help others the way she helped herself. Through all her years of geeking out and studying the best of the best in the industry, Ashley was not only able to lose 80 pounds, but she won 1st in her division as well as the Overall Champion title -- all within 1 year of having a c-section!

Ashley realized her transformation was so much more than physical... it was emotional, mental, spiritual. Through this journey, she found EMPOWERMENT.

But she soon realized that this empowerment was only one type of empowerment. Were there other types? Ashley needed to empower her whole life, not create an imbalance.

She used all her combined years of education, research, personal experience, and trial/error led her to find out the truth behind obtaining TOTAL EMPOWERMENT, and how to obtain it from a place of health.

SO: how does one obtain total empowerment? By conquering the seven empowerment sectors: body, emotions, relationships, time, business, money and spirituality.

The following year, Ashley stepped on stage at the North American Championships and won second place in Figure Division, all while operating her business and training through a pandemic.

Ashley's mission is to provide guidance to those who are inspired to follow a similar journey, and to help YOU find your own EMPOWERED BODY!