MADEUS
WHEN PA SSION & PURPOSE COLLIDE WITH
Chesny
ASHLEE
A
MADE BY ASHLEY WHITE
fter graduating from
college and taking on
two jobs that left her
unhappy, Ashlee Chesny knew
she had to make some changes,
professionally and personally.
She took some time to focus
solely on herself and that’s
when her purpose began to
unveil. “For the first time at 23,
I was learning happiness and
I was learning it from a very
wise 2-year-old, my godson,
Nicholas. Nick’s obsession at
the time was bubbles. He was
always so happy when he was
blowing bubbles. I watched
and listened to how happy he
was with something so simple
and I envied him. I wanted that
type of simplistic happiness for
myself, so I studied my godson.
For his wisdom, I wrote my first
children’s book with him as the
main character, Niko and the
Trouble Bubble.”
Writing her first children’s
book opened up a new world
for Chesny. “I confess that
working with and writing for
children is an attempt to heal
the little girl inside myself
that I lost along the way. I was
so creative, imaginative and
determined when I was younger.
But I had let that little girl die
with dreams of corporate work
because that was what I was
‘supposed to do.’” After the
release of her first book, Chesny
embarked on a new journey as a
children’s book author.
PHOTOS by Evan Chesny | @evanchesny
During Winter 2015, Chesny visited a Metro
Detroit school to read her latest title to a group
of 4th grade students. To her surprise, a student
informed her that she couldn’t be an author
because “all authors are old, white men with
glasses.” It was then that Chesny realized that
her stories and her presence as a minority is
a powerful tool for getting children of color
to do two things: fall in love with learning
through literacy and value their own voices and
brilliance allowing them to create success for
themselves. Thus Genius Patch was born.
Genius Patch is a Michigan based 501 (c)3
nonprofit organization serving children. It’s
an education enrichment program providing
services to support 90% of learning that
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