Playtime is Over

“I’ve always been inspired to follow my dreams and my goals,” says Ashley Mae Sebera (a.k.a. Dana Brooke). This WWE star does not let anything, including this pandemic, deter her from achieving her goals. While she has supported UNICEF and the WWE’s Be a STAR anti-bullying campaign, Sebera and boxer Ulysses Diaz have used this time to help feed low-income and homeless families throughout Florida. “The whole world has stopped, and we have no excuse to dig deep down and know every single individual’s passion and something with myself and also Ulysses Diaz,” she says. “Our passion is fighting hunger, our passion is giving back to the community.”

Not only has Sebera used her platform to give back to the community, but she also utilizes it to inspire women all across the world. “Wrestling has been my passion and life, and it’s definitely taken over everything, but it’s giving me an additional platform to gain a momentum of fans,” she explains. “This is me, this is who I am. Who I am on TV is who I am in real life, which has been an advantage to me. I’m vulnerable. What you see is what you get.” Her makeup line, PlayTime is Over, revolves around not covering up an individual’s looks but enhancing their features. This line holds a special place in Sebera’s heart. “I would say a weakness for myself is that I have had freckles on my face my entire life, and something that I’ve always wanted to do was cover up my freckles,” she shares. “Over this last year, and as I launched my makeup line, [it was about] letting your natural beauty show through, because that’s how you were made – whatever higher power that we all believe in, whether it’s God or not, a higher energy, they gave you that, and you should be proud of it. With this makeup line, I don’t want to cover those up. It took a very long time and a strong part of me to let that show and be proud of it.”

She even had plans to give away bags of products from her makeup line at her seminars that are “based on women getting together in different communities and sharing common interests and also common struggles that we women face on a day-to-day basis.” However, due to the pandemic, Sebera may have to move them to a digital platform until it’s safe to travel again and she can be on the road, touring from city to city.

In addition to her dedication to women’s empowerment, Diaz and Sebera want to expand their effort to help distribute these free meals to those in need, as well as visit different juvenile-detention centers to spread their message (“It’s never too late”). “This is what drives me, this is what really motivates me, I don’t want anything in return, I don’t want a pat on my back. I just want other people to jump on board and know that life is truly way too short,” she adds. While Sebera has her sights set on becoming a WWE women’s champion, nothing seems to be able to stop her: “My hats are constantly changing from a wrestler to training, to helping the community, to empowering women, to helping children, but that’s what makes me happy, deep down inside,” she affirms.

Writer: Savannah Dial

Photographer: Tolga Kavut

Makeup: Aryana Diaz

Editor: Eiko Watanabe

Special thanks to EPK Media (@myepk & @epkmedia - epkmedia.com)