Miami Living Magazine

Cate Blanchett

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The Kent State University graduate went on to compete as a professional bodybuilder and found lots of success in this arena. During her body building journey, she met and began dating fellow bodybuilder, Dallas McCarver. His untimely death in 2017 turned her world upside down. The 3-year anniversary of his passing was a few months ago. "Wrestling has saved my life. Going through that experience, wrestling was there for me. It gave me a reason to live my life." During a trip to the Arnold Classic in Spain, Ashley met a very special recruiter that changed the trajectory of her entire career. "I was competing and a recruiter from WWE came. I couldn't believe it. My family watched wrestling while I was growing up. My dad and I would always wrestle. So they asked me to come down to Tampa, Florida and try it out. The moment I was in the ring, I fell in love. To experience the outreach that WWE has, how hands-on they are with children, Special Olympics, community programs such as UNICEF, and more, I'm so grateful. Never give up on your dreams." Ashley started The Dallas McCarver Foundation, a non-profit organization, in honor of Dallas to raise money for underprivileged children. "He was a big kid at heart; I always called him a kid. He grew up with a rough upbringing and childhood, so I partnered with Dallas' family, his mom Penny, to help others. We make donations to St. Jude. It's amazing to see children's eyes light up when they get a new toy or a new book to read. It's really painful to lose a loved one. He would want us to do this. It feels right." Ashley and her boyfriend Uly Diaz also give back to the Miami community. Uly founded 305 Gives Back, a non-profit organization that is responsible for feeding the homeless. "Uly is such a strong motivator and supporter. He has a very strong local following in Miami, so we love giving back by speaking with children through anti-bullying campaigns. We've experienced similar situations as them, so we want to impact children as much as we can. To us, giving back is receiving." The two are also heavily involved with the Boys and Girls Club of America, and Ashley is currently developing a Women's Empowerment group, focused on pulling together women to be able to connect and share similar interests with each other. After a night filming at Amway, Ashley makes the three-and-a-half-hour drive back to her home in Miami. "The last eight years I've been traveling from city to city, 4-5 days a week on the road. Being able to be home has been a blessing. I'm spending time with

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