The daughter of an American father and Swiss German mother, Ashley Loft ‘12 was a rare Leysin local amongst her fellow LAS students. Coached by her father throughout her childhood, Ashley excelled in tennis; by her junior year at LAS, she’d secured a tennis scholarship at Rollins University outside of Orlando, Florida. Transferring at the end of her sophomore year to the University of New Hampshire, Ashley continued to excel on the tennis team and switched her field of study from elementary education to Food and Beverage Management within the Hospitality school. 

After earning her undergrad degree, Ashley moved to London for a job working for Leysin-local Anton Mosimann, a Swiss chef renowned in the UK for his culinary talents, at his private dining club in Belgravia, London. Following her time in London, Ashley worked for Le Rosey boarding school, doing sports, activities, and dorm work with girls 13-16. After attending LAS as a day-student, Ashley was excited to get to experience the other end of boarding school and enjoyed supporting the young girls in their time away from home.

Wrapping up her time at Le Rosey and then at a restaurant in Zurich, Ashley hopped on a plane to Australia for a WWOOFing opportunity at a horse ranch a few hours outside Sydney. There, after tremendously enjoying her time on the ranch decompressing and getting grounded, she moved on to teach tennis classes in New Zealand through a family-friend connection. From New Zealand, Ashley made a quick pit-stop in Switzerland to see family before heading out to Barcelona for a Spanish-language course.

Though she originally thought she’d come back to Switzerland for a little while following her language class in Spain and then move to Portugal, Ashley’s plans were put on hold due to the emergence of COVID-19. Realizing that she had many opportunities locally here in Switzerland, Ashley made a choice she’d never thought she would: moving to the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, settling eventually Bern.

In Bern, Ashley has developed an impressive assortment of small business endeavors all while spending quality time with her father, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She teaches a full course load of tennis classes and has built a strong tennis community; she received her sports-massage license and works with a local dojo to offer sports massage to clients; and, most recently, she began a salad-making and delivery service fueling her neighborhood with healthy and delicious lunches. Ashley is getting closer and closer to her dream of building a nourishing, community-centered space of her own. For the moment, she’s focused on developing and honing her business skills, becoming even further rooted in her local community, and supporting the health and wellness of those around her through her businesses.