Ashley grew up in Chicago. Her mother died when Ashley was six. After graduating from The Second City Training Center sketch writing program she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting/writing/comedy career. She has performed at the Groundlings.
Ashley was a full-time content creator for BuzzFeed. She was widely recognized for creating lesbian content. She frequently collaborated with BuzzFeed staffer, Chris Reinacher. While at BuzzFeed, Ashley also wrote the web series You Do You which aired on BuzzFeed Violet and was later sold to iTunes. The series hit the number 1 slot on Apple's top chart after its release meaning it beat out HBO's “Silicon Valley” season 2, TBS's “Angie Tribeca” season 1 and CBS's “The Big Bang Theory” season 9. The series follows four women who go through a series of changes. During her career at BuzzFeed, Ashley created numerous videos that went viral. After Ashley and Jenny Lorenzo appeared in small roles on “Gente-Fied,” a web series produced by America Ferrera, Buzzfeed terminated both staff members for violating their contract on July 10, 2016. Specifically, even though both Ashley and Lorenzo worked on the "Gente-Fied" series in their free time, they were not authorized to work with other companies without prior permission. Due, in part, to Ashley's large fanbase, her dismissal from BuzzFeed also surfaced a number of critiques of the organization and the way it takes advantage of young artists by owning all the creative rights to their work. BuzzFeed pays their employees a standard rate and as such, writers, actors and performers do not receive residual payments when their work is viewed/goes viral. The incident with the firing of Ashley and coworker Jenny Lorenzo has sparked conversations on the need for BuzzFeed staff to unionize.
Freelancing
Since Reinacher also left BuzzFeed, he and Ashley continue to collaborate on their own individual channels.
Ashley created and hosts the podcast "Don't Tell the Babysitter Mom's Dead." The show uses dark humor but mostly features Ashley interviewing a new guest on their personal experience with losing their mother while also asking each guest comment on a pop-culture touchstone that helped them cope with their mothers' death.
"Angel On Top"
Angel on Top is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Brittany Ashley and Laura Zak discuss the TV SeriesAngel one episode at a time.
“Sicker Sadder World”
Similar to Angel on Top, “Sicker Sadder World” is a Daria re-watch podcast.
Publications
2015 "The AfterEllen Summer of Love: “Same Time Next Week” by Emily Smith"
2017 "If There Were a Lesbian Version of “The Bachelorette
2017 "“The Lesbian Bachelorette” Recap: Batter Up "
2017 "“The Lesbian Bachelorette” recap: Love is Heating Up "
2017 "Coming Out To Your Uber Driver"
2017 "Why Every Queer Woman Should Watch “Buffy”"
2017 "How I Found Lesbians Before YouTube"
2017 "Watching “The L Word” After A Decade Shattered My Illusions"
2018 "How The “Buffy” Prom Saved The World—And Reconciled My Own Prom Disappointment"
