Ashley Steyaert
Conservationist, One Ocean Diving
One Ocean Diving
About Me
Upon moving to the island of Oahu in mid 2015 Ashley had been following One Ocean Diving’s Co-Founder, Ocean Ramsey, on Instagram for about two years. She first came to know of Ocean by searching Google images for ‘woman with Great White Shark’ thinking she might find a drawing of her greatest fear, looking for inspiration to make the risky move out of the corporate office and into a life of passion. Ashley made this image, captured by One Ocean Diving Co-Founder Juan Oliphant, the desktop image on her work computer and looked at it every day until she stepped away from that desk and onto her path to a life filled with fulfillment and purpose. She became a certified SCUBA diver, began teaching yoga and moved to Hawaii shortly thereafter – not realizing that the people who created the image that had inspired her to do so were both raised and currently living on the same island. As fate would have it, Ashley met the One Ocean Diving team during her first week on Oahu, faced her greatest fear of being in the water with sharks, and has been supporting them ever since.
Ashley now regularly attends One Ocean Diving tours, swimming with upwards of 30-40 sharks at a time and learning more about the animals and their plight every time. She advocates for sharks at every possible opportunity by sharing her personal experience with them in the water as well as the scientific research behind their vital role in the ocean’s ecosystem and how their existence supports our own. She leads One Ocean Conservation by supporting the organization and promotion of regular Beach and Reef Cleanup efforts and spreads the word of the importance of marine conservation efforts through social media outlets and in-person connections on and off Oahu.
A small business owner herself, Ashley operates Yoga Kai Hawaii, a Stand-Up Paddle yoga outfit offering classes on the ocean to people from all over the world outside of Waikiki. She also invented the Real Life Mermaid Hair Tie inspired by Ocean Ramsey and her team of water women which she sells online worldwide.
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