Growing up in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, Ashley’s focus was always her family. She attended both Fenwick and Whitney Young High Schools, then moved down south to play basketball while studying Computer Technology at Grambling State University in Louisiana.It was in college, where Ashley picked up cooking, influenced by her then-boyfriend’s mother and grandmother as they prepared classic Creole dishes at their Southern home.

After graduation, she worked as a sports journalist for a few years and headed back to Chicago to be close to her family again. She developed a love for cooking Creole and started making all of the southern dishes she learned for her family and friends.

They couldn’t get enough and encouraged her to start a catering business. In 2014, she traded her microphone for an apron and started Cleo’s Southern Cuisine, named after her late-grandmother, Cleo.

After five successful years of offering Creole-inspired Southern comfort food and creating a large following in Chicago she opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in May 2019. Just four blocks from where Ashley grew up, the entire staff was comprised of her family – her mother, dad, broth, aunt and cousin – and her passion turned into a family business.

In 2021, Cleo’s expanded and opened a second location at the prestigious Time Out Market in Chicago’s West Loop. It was here that the brand popularity crossed into a diverse set of customers and began Ashley’s expanded vision for her quaint restaurant in Chicago’s Southside.

After a year of award-winning success, the hometown football team took notice and invited Ashley to open a location inside of Soldier Field. Ashley then began catering for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls and most recently the Chicago Sky. In late 2022, Cleo’s expanded again to the official second brick-and-mortar location in the Loop.

Then on September 17, 2023, TikTok mega influencer Keith Lee reviewed the restaurant, awarding a rare perfect 10 which sky-rocketed the brand to new heights. The following spring, Cleo’s further expanded to the Northside of Chicago, opening a third location – with plans on opening the first out-of-state location by the year’s end and introducing her second restaurant concept Jackie’s Seafood and Chops, inspired by her late grandmother, Jackie (4.26.2024).

Ashley resides in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and when she’s not in the kitchen at Cleo’s, she is also the head varsity coach of Whitney Young’s varsity girls’ basketball team – Three-Time CPL City Champions (2021. 2022, 2023).