Meet Ashlyn Bell, a hardworking copywriter who's sure to make you laugh! Her body is in Kansas City, her heart is in Georgia, and her mind is in Disney World. Read more about her views on humor, her side hustle, and her hilarious advice!

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO RIGHT NOW?

I am showing my parents that putting me through four years of college and two years of portfolio school was totally worth it. No, but seriously. I am beginning my career in the advertising industry as a copywriter.

WHAT'S YOUR DAILY ROUTINE TYPICALLY LOOK LIKE ON A WEEKDAY?

Well, everything is really new to me right now, and I am far from settled into a routine. Until a couple of weeks ago I would stay up til 3 or 4 in the morning writing, reading, binging on Netflix, entertaining myself with Snapchat filters…But now that I have a big girl job, I’m learning to schedule my day like a real adult. Right now I guess my day-to-day looks something like this: wake up, go to work, make cool stuff with cool people, go home, think about working out, microwave dinner, and then I watch some TV until I go to sleep. And by go to sleep I mean pass out while scrolling through Instagram.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A COPYWRITER? HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THAT?

I knew I wanted to be a copywriter somewhere between my junior and senior year of high school. Up until that point, I wanted to be a journalist. So like any other 16-year-old wannabe journalist I joined my school paper. The newspaper teachers and I realized that I had more fun writing headlines for article than the stories themselves. It was then they helped introduce me to advertising and copywriting. And so here I am. Fun fact though, for the longest time (like from 5^th – 8^th grade) I wanted to fabricate motorcycles.

HOW DO YOU REPRESENT THE TRAIT FUNNY?

If I’m being completely honest, I think it’s funny that you chose me for funny.

Sure, I make myself laugh, but I wouldn’t consider myself the “funny girl.” Maybe that’s because I go out of my way to surround myself with really, really funny people. But to actually answer your question, I think what makes me funny is that I’m observant, honest, and not afraid to say what pops into my head. A big part of being funny is timing. So if you’re not paying attention you’ll miss your shot. Similarly, if you keep things to yourself because you’re afraid of flopping then you’ll never get any laughs. It’s always nice to sprinkle an appropriate amount of self-deprecation in there too.

DO YOU SEE YOUR FUNNY PERSONALITY TRANSLATED IN THE WORK YOU ARE DOING NOW?

Sure, people love to laugh and be in on jokes. So there are plenty of times when humor is used in advertising to express a brand’s personality, build a relationship with consumers, or push a product. That said, it depends on the brands and the creative solutions they’re seeking. Not all brands have the same sense of humor, and then there are some brands that don’t care to be jokesters at all.

WHO INSPIRES YOU? HAS YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR BEEN SHAPED BY THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE?

Walt Disney and the entire Walt Disney Company is a huge source of inspiration to me. Disney tells the most amazing stories, and everything they do (movies, parks, etc.) is done with such intention and such perfection – it’s mind blowing to me.

I also grew up believing that you can find inspiration in anything. Everyone has different experiences and views of the world that they can bring to the table, so if you let yourself you can learn something from anyone.

SO YOU ALSO HAVE MAD SKILLS AS A MAKEUP ARTIST, TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT!

I grew up doing competitive cheerleading. So I was running around with a full face of make up at a young age. I had one coach who used to call me Little Tammy Faye – which I know now was not necessarily a compliment. Anyways, I was never a stranger to makeup. I loved it. I would try different looks I saw in magazines and eventually I got good at everyday or beauty looks.

As for the crazier stuff, I didn’t get those skills until college. I minored in theatre, and one of the classes UGA offered was a make-up class where we focused on bigger, production or stage quality looks. I fell head over heels for that class. I still use those skills for the Halloween parties and what not, but I hope to find more reasons to create characters and looks. I guess my only hold up right now is good makeup and tools aren’t cheap, and I’m fresh out of six years of higher education (shout out to Sallie Mae).

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT NEVER FAILS TO MAKE YOU LAUGH?

I’m the first to admit that I’m a cheap laugh, but I do love a good pun. Yes, puns are low hanging fruit, but whatever.

ASIDE FROM BEING FUNNY, WHAT ARE THREE OTHER PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND HOW SO?

Creative, Passionate, Hardworking.

Creative: I’m a storyteller so I’m always looking for nuggets of awesomeness and creative ways to communicate them with people. Most of the time my creativity presents itself in the form of words, but I also love to draw, paint, and pin DIY crafts that I’ll never complete.

Hardworking: If we had time to dive deeper into my story, you’d learn that I’ve always been somewhat of an underdog. Because of that working hard (and doing right by others in the process) is really all I know.  

Passionate: I’ll admit that I’m easily excitable, but life is so much better when you’re doing things that you’re passionate about. I’m fortunate enough to where I don’t have “job.” I have a career that I’m on fire for – so work doesn’t feel laborious.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES AND GOALS? WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS FROM NOW? 

Professionally, my hopes and goals are to create work that I’m not only proud of but work that also has a bigger impact than selling a product. Call me crazy, but I think ads and brands can change the world in positive ways. Now at the risk of sounding slightly selfish, I’d also love to create a Super Bowl spot or two within the next five years.  

Personally, I don’t know where I see myself five year from now. I just want to be happy. If I had to guess, I’d imagine there’d be a lot of dogs in the picture.

WHAT'S ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WISH YOU COULD GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

If I could, I’d go back to freshman year of high school and tell myself to not get bangs. No, seriously. It was 2006-2007, and in the wake of Laguna Beach those side-swept, swoopy bangs were all the rage.

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