Ashley Baron

I am ecstatic to share this next feature. Not only because she is awesome, but she is the first lady I have personally nominated. (and finally after a bit of asking I can share!) I have known Ashley for years. I have always thought…”People NEED to know about this chick”. She rides a motorcycle, wake surfs, has a celebrity dog, but thats not even the HALF of it. Read on about this boss babe who WNY/Buffalo/Southerntier is so honored to have as one of their own….

Follow her here:

@baroness_abcinema, @pandagoatmedia , @snowbeltcanna , @snowbeltgardens

What made you start or brought you where you are today ? Tell us your Story. What makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe?

My mom tells me that ever since I was a kid, I was instinctively ambitious and enthusiastic. She never had to ask me if I did my homework, if I wanted to join a team, I just did it. I wasn't a straight A student and didn't necessarily love school at the time, I did enjoy learning and getting things accomplished. As I progressed into college, my love of learning and adventure amplified. I majored in Mass Communications at SUNY Oneonta and concentrated in film production. It was my videography and documentary filmmaking professor, Pat Murphy, who inspired my love of filmmaking and storytelling. While college as a whole began to shape and drive my passions, it was my experience studying abroad in Wales my senior semester that I felt expanded my awareness and shed light on how I wanted to live my life. Looking back, I’m still in awe of how we pulled it off, that I got on a plane to go to another country by myself not knowing a single soul there, I didn’t have a smartphone for directions or instant information, and I had hardly done much traveling at all prior to this decision. But it was this unknown, unfamiliar experience that forced me out of any shell, drove me to find new ways of creating relationships, and navigate life in general. Moving on to May of 2010, I was graduating with my Bachelor’s in a field that at the time, was not prevalent like it is today. I literally had no idea what I was going to do with this degree. I had been coming home on weekends in the winter of my final semester trying to get a senior video under my belt so I made a 5 minute edit (what I thought was short at the time) of friends ripping around Holiday Valley. When it was released in the spring, a longtime media creator, Billy Bacon, who was living in the WNY region had reached out and expressed how he was impressed with my skills. We began connecting on a media level and when I brought up the need for an internship, he invited me to make videos for a local skateboard shop in Jamestown formerly known as Suburban Blend. That summer was when my video production skills really began to take off and take form. I loved the community we had in Jamestown so I decided to stay in the area and as winter of 2010-11 approached, that’s when my longtime friend and youth marketing coordinator at Holiday Valley at time, Pat Morgan, had come up with an ingenious plan. He hired me on as a park crew employee and instead of raking, I was shooting and editing videos of the terrain parks. It didn’t take long for management at Holiday Valley to ask what was going on as ski resorts at the time didn’t have in-house videographers. After Pat explained the future of marketing and management enjoyed my videos, I was given the green light to stay on and I began making videos for the entire resort and the rest is history. With my instinctive ambition and passion for filmmaking, my video production career snowballed from there as I began freelancing as ABCinema in 2011 (thanks to my friend, Collin, for the name!) for various businesses and organizations in the Southern Tier region while working year-round for Holiday Valley. In 2017, I co-founded PandaGoat Media with my longtime friend and talented graphic designer, Brenda Perks. PandaGoat is a collaborative between five Western NY natives that is a one-stop shop of graphic design, photography, web development, video production, business consultation, social media, drone media, and marketing strategy for our region. Now to steer the ship in a totally different direction- in 2021, NYS legalized recreational cannabis. Being a cannabis consumer for many years and aware of the benefits of the plant, my partner and I decided to take a huge plunge to try and find our place in the brand new and upcoming market. In July of 2021, we came up with the name Snowbelt Cannabis (thanks to our love of living in the snowbelt region of NY) and decided to pursue the cultivation track of the industry. Two years have now passed and unfortunately we’re still waiting for NY to finalize their laws and regulations to begin the general licensing process. These past couple of years have by far been just a waiting game though, we completely dove head first into learning, preparing, networking, building, growing a brand, and attempting to assimilate both of our already busy lives and small businesses with this new venture. I thought I knew what busy was before, but this has been eye-opening and forcing me to grow way outside of my comfort zone that I created the past decade. I am grateful for this opportunity as it unfolds to possibly become a women-led business in another male-dominated industry. Being that this is a brand new industry to our state, I’ve had to take my past decade plus of hard work, devotion, relationship building, media skills, drive and experience and apply it all to this new passion. It’s been nothing short of a roller coaster ride to figure out, but I think that’s what keeps me going, is the feeling of jumping into the unknown again and giving it my all to create a new chapter and advocate for a plant that never should have been made illegal in the first place. There’s a near century of stigma against the cannabis plant and it’s going to take continuous educating of the public to help break it. Our goal is to help normalize using cannabis as medicine and enlighten our communities on the actual facts of its uses and history. I look forward to seeing how this unfolds once we get the chance to apply for a license hopefully this fall. In the meantime while we prepare for cannabis, Snowbelt Gardens is our urban vertical farming avenue for growing healthy and sustainable food for our community and educating them on the importance of a local food system. We received our hemp cultivation license last June and have been growing CBD and CBG flower as a way to prepare our space, practice our methods, and provide people with high quality hemp products.

Who are your favorite people to follow ?

I love learning and tend to listen to a wide variety of podcasts and follow people that aren’t necessarily related to my career, but to my larger scope of life such as preserving the planet, supporting a sustainable food ecosystem and a healthy lifestyle. About 7 years back, I became obsessed with Functional Medicine and following Dr. Mark Hyman. Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders in which many of these can be resolved with dietary and lifestyle changes rather than covering them up with pharmaceuticals. I also enjoy following motivational speaker and author, Mel Robbins. There’s so many great videographers and photographers out there so it feels impossible to list, but a couple of my favorites are Paul Nicklen and Curtis Morgan, both of whom use their talent to broaden people’s perspectives about our planet. There are also so many pioneers in the cannabis space, but to name a few I love to follow- Ed Rosenthal, Steve Deangelo and you will find me listening to the Cannabis Health Radio Podcast quite a bit. I’m always following other small businesses, entrepreneurs, and friends out enjoying life.

What are your favorite things to do in the area ? Buffalo and greater WNY

Anything outside! We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful region of the country. You don’t have to go far to find somewhere incredible to explore, year-round. What’s best is that I can enjoy most of it with my sidekick, Willow! Whether it’s enjoying a paddle through Zoar Valley, riding my motorcycle, fishing our streams and rivers for trout, hanging out at the lakes, camping, snowboarding, surfing on Chautauqua Lake, skateboarding at Jamestown Skate Products, or catching a sunset. I spend a lot of time in the Allegheny National Forest Region, which is a little south of the WNY region, but also filled with endless natural beauty.

Tell us about your favorite collaboration or dream collaborations ?

I love any collaboration with fellow creatives, artists and community members! When a group of determined people get together for the purpose of helping each other and their neighborhood grow, it’s very heartening and uplifting. I love creating videos that show off our region and help businesses tell their story. So maybe my dream collaboration would be to make a documentary of the people and places that make this region spectacular

If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?

This is tough, but I’ll go with David Attenborough. I would love to hear all his stories of exploring the natural world as he continues to inspire generations to care more about this planet we call home.

What are your hopes, dreams, goals. Big or small?

To inspire others to never stop pursuing their dreams and goals. And if you don’t know what your dreams and goals are, to inspire people to enjoy the little things in life and find what makes you happy. We’re all hurling through space on this rock together and have this one opportunity to live a fulfilled life (whatever that means to you) and with lots of obstacles in the way, it can seem impossible at times, but never give up. Keep progressing, even if it’s backwards, it will eventually bring you forwards. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and the universe will align you with the people and opportunities that are meant for you. I’m still not sure where the universe is taking me, but I hope to continue to give back as much as I can along the way.

Tell us about your family?

Going back to my parents, while they were separated my whole life, they both attributed to the person I am today. My mom is the hardest worker I know, she can’t sit still, and from what you can tell so far, neither can I. She has a huge heart and loves to help people. A lot of our time was spent outdoors and enjoying the simple things in life. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to go to Wales without her drive to make it happen. I joke about my dad being a crazy old biker (which there’s probably some truth to that lol), but he has always been so passionate and caring. He started his own business in the late 80s/early 90s, Baron’s Bike Shop. He took his love for Harley Davidsons and created a life around it and immersed my younger brother and I into his biker lifestyle. We grew up a bit unconventional, running around the bike shop, riding dirt bikes and going on family trail rides, which are some of my best memories and helped drive my love for adventure and adrenaline. Both of my parents have gone above and beyond to support and encourage me in any endeavor I’ve pursued in my life, I’m very grateful for that. My family at home consists of my partner, Ryan and the best dog in the world, Willow. Ryan owns a small business in downtown Jamestown called BioDome Project which sources locally produced food from our region, is a local artisans market outlet, and a plant and garden shop. His decades of gardening experience and passion for growing plants, food and community is what is leading the way for Snowbelt Cannabis. We both love to be outdoors, travel, and apparently work a lot haha. We took Willow in about 8.5 years ago after she was found under a porch in Kennedy and never claimed. She ended up giving birth to 7 puppies a month after we took her in which we took care of and found homes with friends. From then on, Willow went everywhere and did everything with us. I still to this day don’t know how we got so lucky to have her crawl under the right porch, but she inspires us all to live our best lives. This past year, my older brother has been transitioning back home from being in Japan for over 20 years and I’m so happy to have him around again. He is self-employed as an accomplished tattoo artist, he’s been a great support all around. I am fortunate to be surrounded by driven and talented friends that also make up my family.

FEEL GOOD FAVORITES

Restaurant in Buffalo: Since I'm in the Southern Tier, I'll go with Labyrinth Press Co!

Color: Blue

Super Power: My Energy

Animal : Goat

Season of the year: Fall

Favorite thing about Buffalo / WNY: The hardy people it creates