Ashley is Of Counsel at Richards Law Firm. She works with Kimberly Richards on matters concerning sexual abuse, professional negligence, and estate and elder law.

Ashley was born in Henderson, North Carolina in 1970. She grew up in Newton Grove, Elizabeth City, and Four Oaks, where she attended South Johnston High School. She became an avid cross country runner as a teenager and still jogs daily.

She earned her B.A. in Dramatic Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993. While in college, she enjoyed participating in theatrical productions, and after graduation she went on to work in the television and movie industry as a production assistant, set dresser, and props assistant. 

In 1995, she began the study of law at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She served on the NCCU Law Journal, participated in the Trial Advocacy program, and was a member of the trial team that reached the final round of the Southeastern Trial Advocacy Competition. She was also active in such women's groups as the NCCU Women's Caucus and the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys.

After receiving her law degree in 1998, Ashley began her legal career as an associate with the Raleigh firm of Cheshire Parker Schneider Wells & Bryan, where she concentrated in domestic law. She left the domestic field and joined the Kuniholm Law Firm in 2001, focusing on sexual abuse and medical malpractice litigation, until the firm's close in 2008. She continued advocating on behalf of injured plaintiffs at The Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice and the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin. From 2011 to present, she has been with Hardison and Cochran, Attorneys at Law, as an intake attorney assessing and advising potential clients in matters concerning personal injury, social security and workers compensation.