Story & Lesson Highlights with Ashley Elizabeth of East Atlanta/Krog District

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Ashley Elizabeth. Check out our conversation below.

Ashley, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I became a Certified Breathwork Facilitator, so I’ve been heavy into incorporating that into my morning routine. So, lately, the first 90 minutes of my day looks like: I wake up at 7:30. I check my emails, make a green tea oat milk matcha latte, turn on some vinyl or a breathwork playlist and stretch/workout/do breathwork. Sometimes, if I don’t have anything else to do, I might get a second sleep in (lol).

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely! My name is Ashley Elizabeth aka Kitana Cash and I am the owner of ELEVEN17 and founder of Come As You Are. ELEVEN17 is a boutique and lifestyle brand that specializes in unique offerings for those that want to stand out. I started it as an ode to my mother, who passed in 2022, so there’s a retro flair to it. The brand was formerly named something else, but the name change is based upon numerology and a significant date in my journey. We’re opening our first brick and mortar this fall through the Atlanta Beltline Marketplace and I couldn’t be more excited.

Come As You Are is a community healing event that I started during Covid as a safe place for people to be themselves after my battle with depression. Since then we have partnered with some great brands such as Topo Chico, Sweetgreen, Sweathouz, Fabletics, and more and have hosted free or low cost events around the city of Atlanta. We will be opening a permanent space in 2026.

My mission is finding the intersection between creativity and wellness, as I’m both a healer but also a highly creative individual. When I’m not doing these things, I freelance as an interior and production designer, act, shoot photography and film, and make music under the name Kitana Cash.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
My earliest moment of feeling powerful actually happened at a pretty young age. When I was 5, my parents decided to let me be a child model, and I remember I was walking in my first runway show and they were putting makeup on me and making me wear a dress, and I was not having it then and really am pretty much the same now (lol), but they put the makeup and the dress on me and I went out on stage bawling my eyes out. And no one cared (lol). They acted like it was the most amazing thing they’ve ever seen and just said “Oh, how cute!” or “She’s so pretty.” and I remember internalizing that feeling. Not so much in a pretty privilege way, but in a way where I realized I have the power to command a room. I’ve owned that part of myself and I think it’s served me well in my current ventures.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I would say it was probably between the time I got divorced and when my mom died, which happened almost back to back. For a long time, I pretended to be the strong one. When I got divorced, I didn’t even show up to the hearing. I signed the papers and caught a flight to California and stayed there. When my mom transitioned, I took maybe 2 days off of work. And I thought this made me strong. But it materialized itself into delayed grief and unhealthy coping mechanisms. That was the turning point for me and why I started Come As You Are. I was suffering in silence for so long and then I realized like there’s a story here. A story that needs to be shared and I’m sure other people can identify with. So I stepped into that moment and it’s been really liberating.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to believe that you had to choose. As a child, I was really ambitious and involved in a lot of clubs and extracurriculars, but then I became an adult and lost that spark. And for a long time I believed that I had to pick a path or pick a life and that was that. But I’m realizing that I can have it all. I met a woman a few weeks ago who told me she has been an entrepreneur, real estate agent, and became a lawyer at 50 and that was so beautiful to me. So, I’m realizing that I can have whatever I want as long as I focus and believe that I can.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What false labels are you still carrying?
That I don’t deserve this. My life has been really beautiful but really hard. I’ve endured more than the average individual and people like me aren’t supposed to have good things happen to them. And I’m still grappling with that. Heavy imposter syndrome. Like maybe I don’t know what I’m doing or not qualified enough. But I’m doing it and I’m learning along the way. And I have to understand that I deserve to be here. I deserve good things.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thesocietyempire.com
• Instagram: @iloveashleye
• Youtube: https://YouTube.com/thehealspace
• Other: @shopxeleven17 @comeasyouare.atl