Graduates and employers often advise current students to get involved in registered student organizations to build professional skills and lifelong networks. But in some cases, it can also lead to true love, like it did for Josh and Alexis Ashley.
Josh Ashley ‘16
Major: Marketing-professional sales
Minor: Spanish
Current role: Sales supervisor, Norton Abrasives
Alexis Ashley ‘16
Major: Public relations
Minor: Business administration
Current role: Marketing and business development coordinator, DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors
Combined Redbird family connections = 14
Alexis: As a sophomore I joined Pi Sigma Epsilon to get more involved in the College of Business. The first time I saw Josh I was a new member, and he was a well-known existing member. He was wearing a business suit and looking handsome.
Josh: Both of us kind of had crushes on each other and it evolved from there. We started dating spring semester of 2014 and would meet up after class, walk around campus, get coffee at Einstein’s, or head to Bone Student Center. We’ve been together ever since.
Alexis: We had been planning a wedding out here in California and COVID disrupted all that. Instead, we got legally married in May 2020 over Zoom call with the Alameda County Clerk’s Office and started planning our formal wedding ceremony to be held at Illinois State in July 2022. Luckily, Josh’s parents live in Bloomington-Normal and helped us a lot with the arrangements. They even went with my parents to the dinner tasting.
Josh: Alexis and I were familiar with the Aaron Leetch Stadium Club at Hancock Stadium because we’d hosted a PSE event there when we were in college. With the giant windows overlooking campus and the stadium, it served as the main decoration or the theme for our wedding.
Alexis: It was important to Josh and me to have our ISU story integrated in the actual ceremony script. Our officiant talked about that and asked guests to look out the windows to see the beautiful campus where we first met.
Josh: There were about 80 to 90 people at our wedding and 26 of them were Redbirds. Cocktail hour was down on the concourse, and we served Reggie’s Red Sangria for the guests. Reggie came wearing a suit and everybody went crazy for him. He was a real hit!
Josh and Ashley are loving their California careers and adventures with their very own Reggie. When asked what advice they’d offer current students the said: “Get involved starting your freshman year. It was life-changing for us!”
