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Hometown Living At Its Best 63 PHOTO BY MIRA ADWELL PHOTOGRAPHY Tausi gave Ashton the resources she needed to uncover her own talent. “Tausi taught me so much. I learned my ‘angles’ for photo shoots, and the rest just felt natural,” said Ashton. “What really gave her the modeling fever was the 2014 Tony Bowls Instagram contest,” said Tammy. “She was 16 years old at the time. Tony Bowls is an American designer who specializes in formal evening wear. Many Miss America, Miss USA, and Miss Universe contestants have competed in his gowns.” Ashton entered her pictures in the contest. “There were about 8,000 girls in that group,” she said. The group was narrowed down on a website to 100. When Ashton found out she was still in the running, she had about two hours to submit a video to Tony Bowls. “You said something about yourself and then sent it in. You had to get it in before the time expired or you weren’t a candidate anymore.” And then they waited. After a couple of days, the top 25 finalists were announced: Ashton was one of them. “That’s when I started feeling like maybe I had a chance,” she said. “One day while I was driving home from school, I got a call from New Jersey.” Normally, she wouldn’t have answered an unknown caller, but without thinking, PHOTO BY TIFFANY MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO BY AMANDA BERUBE PHOTOGRAPHY | WWW.AMANDABERUBE.COM


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