In this deeply emotional episode of Beauty Bound Podcast, host Cristal Rubio of Beauty Pro Bookkeeping sits down with Ashley Woods, owner of Bitter End’s Hair Artistry in Helotes, Texas, to share a story that redefines resilience in the beauty industry.

Ashley was born with cystic fibrosis (CF)—a life-threatening genetic disease—and grew up believing she wouldn’t live past age 12. By 16, she was on oxygen full-time, severely underweight, and preparing for a double lung transplant. By 21, after years of running from fear and an “expiration date,” she needed a second transplant just to survive.

Today, Ashley is 36 years old, 15 years behind the chair, a wife, stepmom, independent hairstylist, and a woman living with the reality that her transplant lungs have a limited lifespan. There is no third transplant. Every year, every client, every service is done on borrowed time.

And still—she shows up.

She shows up for her clients, her family, her business, and her faith. This isn’t a pity story. It’s a fight story.

🎧 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

Growing Up With Cystic Fibrosis & a Deadline on Life

• Being misdiagnosed before finally learning she had CF at age 7

• Growing up in hospitals, on oxygen, and homeschooled

• Being told she might not live past 12—and later, that a transplant might buy her “five good years”

Double Lung Transplants… Twice

• Getting “the call” for her first double lung transplant at 16

• Waking up with new lungs and leaving the hospital in just 6 days

• How freedom from oxygen turned into rebellion, partying, and skipping meds

• Lung rejection and needing a second transplant at 21

• Waiting 10 months in Houston, dropping dangerously low in weight, and nearly not making it

From Hospital Shampoo Bowls to Beauty School

• The nurse who washed her hair in a hospital basement and changed her life

• How one act of care sparked a calling to help others feel seen

• Attending beauty school in 2011 and graduating in 2012 with a radically different view of life and work

Corporate Salons, Burnout & Being “Replaceable”

• Starting out in chains like Great Clips and men’s grooming franchises

• Cutting 20–25 haircuts a day and burning out under speed metrics

• Hearing “you are replaceable” while fighting for her life

• Hiding her illness so she wouldn’t be seen as a liability

Independent Stylist Life With Chronic Illness

• Going independent in 2020 at Bitter End’s Hair Artistry

• Navigating health insurance, medications, and medical debt as a solo stylist

• Why benefits keep so many stylists trapped in jobs they hate

Pricing, Client Grace & the Real Cost Behind the Chair

• Why “your prices are too high” misses the full picture

• Booth rent, product costs, booking fees, and healthcare expenses

• The double standard when clients cancel vs. when stylists get sick

Marriage, Stepkids & Redefining Success

• Choosing potential over perfection in love

• Becoming a stepmom to two teens and later gaining custody of her stepson

• Letting go of hustle-culture “girlboss” lies and redefining fulfillment

Faith, Organ Donation & Walking With God

• Losing every CF friend she bonded with in the hospital

• Living with survivor’s guilt and learning to live for those she lost

• Reconnecting with faith, releasing control, and listening to God’s direction