WOMEN WHO INSPIRE
CHIROPRACTIC CHEERLEADER
Juggling two dream jobs
By ERIN WILLIAMS
White coat doctor by day, spandexed cheerleader by night.
Sounds like something out of a movie script.
From 2011 to 2013, it was indeed the real life of chiropractor
Ashley Eavenson. The Granite City, Illinois native was a
cheerleader for two years for the St. Louis Rams. She made
the team the week she graduated with her doctorate and was
beginning work full-time.
“That whole week, every goal that I wanted to hit - I did. It
was just the coolest, most rewarding time of my life,” she
remembers. Ashley was nearing graduation from Logan College
of Chiropractic when she decided to go for the cheerleading
opportunity, for which she had been mentally preparing
herself for years. “I have two close friends that are like sisters
who cheered for years and years, and since I was a little girl I
wanted to be just like them,” she said. “Besides being a Rams
fan, I really wanted to start a professional dance career.”
The unpredictable nature of her school schedule forced Ashley
to delay the opportunity until graduation, when she made
the decision to work alongside her father, who is a fellow
chiropractor. “I basically asked permission from him if I could
leave a little early for practices.”
The timing for tryouts in March of that year couldn’t have
been more fraught - especially since Ashley only decided to try
out three weeks prior to the audition date. The first round of
tryouts included learning and then performing a dance routine
in front of the judges, then an interview process. “They ask you
everything from what’s your favorite charity to things about
your everyday life, and it’s an intense and intimidating process,
especially your first time,” remembers Ashley. After making it
through the preliminaries, there are more practices and then the
final round of auditions - which includes a swimsuit portion,
and are open to the public.
“I remember studying for my last board during tryouts time,
and it was the most stressful time of my life. I was a nervous
wreck about tryouts and about graduating,” Ashley said.
“I didn’t prepare as much as I should have. From dieting to
exercise,