Please introduce yourself to your neighbors.
Hello, Lealman neighbors! Nice to meet you. I’m Ashley. I live in Lealman, near the Cultural Center. I am a designer, as well as a receptionist for a really fun co-working space called Thrive. I have a cat, and if you want to come feed him and pet him, come on in!
How many years have you lived in Lealman?
One year.
What organizations are you involved in?
None currently, but I am open to the possibility of finding some.
What gets you out of bed every day?
Probably those organic connections that I make, the little moments where I see people really excited about stuff. Where I’m at, I see lots of ideas going back and forth, and I enjoy witnessing people collaborate and grow. A lot of my joy comes from helping other people.
What is one thing you’ve seen change for the better in Lealman in the last few years?
Lots of fun events are moving over to Lealman, and that was really big for me. Moving from downtown St. Pete, where there are so many things happening all the time, I was really concerned with moving to the Lealman area that I was going to be missing out on those crazy fun events that are really spontaneous in St. Pete. But within the last year of moving to Lealman, I’ve found lots of fun community things happening. There are a lot of cultural events as well, especially with the high Vietnamese population over there. It’s really exciting seeing that flourishing and growing, especially with lots of local restaurants and stuff. I love getting out and doing community events.
What’s next for you?
I intend on staying in Lealman for a couple more years. I look forward to moving more towards the creative side of me and delving into that, because I feel like I have really stepped away from that, and the daily 9-to-5 has kind of overcome my life, but I’m really excited to start going and doing more creative things.