A Month After a Breakup, She Lost Everything in the L.A. Fires. In Her Grief, She Gained Something She Never Expected (Exclusive)
A Month After a Breakup, She Lost Everything in the L.A. Fires. In Her Grief, She Gained Something She Never Expected (Exclusive)
Kelsie GibsonTue, June 23, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Ashley PaigeCredit: Lindsey Englander Photography -
Influencer Ashley Paige has built a following online, sharing lifestyle content, from recipes to beauty recommendations
After her long-term relationship ended in December 2024, she documented starting her life over as she moved into a new apartment. Less than a month later, she lost her home in the devastating Palisades Fire
She talks exclusively with PEOPLE about rebuilding her life in the year since, including recently purchasing a new home
In the past year, Ashley Paige's life has changed drastically, but through it all, she's found comfort in her community.
The influencer, 31, initially worked in social media in corporate social media, but about three years ago, she tells PEOPLE she had a "flip switch" moment to start sharing about her own life online.
"I was just in a lull in my career, and I think especially as women, when we're not feeling satisfied creatively or in our careers, you feel like you have hit a wall. I was just looking for any way to express that urge," she tells PEOPLE exclusively. "So I just started posting online and pretty immediately started gaining a following."
Whether it's a beauty tip or a simple recipe, she notes that people immediately "connected" with her content, and eventually, she made the leap to go full-time with content creation about two years ago.
For her, the "goal" with her content was to be like a "big sister" to people online, which eventually led to her opening up about real-life heartbreak in candid ways.
Ashley PageCredit: Lindsey Englander Photography
In December 2024, Paige detailed starting her life over again after her long-term relationship ended. In a TikTok posted the day before Christmas Eve, she took her followers along as she moved all of her belongings into her new apartment.
Little did she know that less than a month later, she would face yet another heartbreak as her entire apartment burned down in the Palisades Fire in January 2025.
She notes that the devastating experience completely changed her "perspective" as she stepped into the new year.
"It was strange that it happened at the beginning of the year because I think we all start with New Year's resolutions, and my resolution was like, 'Okay, how can I process this heartbreak [from my breakup]?' And I really thought that that was gonna be my focus for the year of 2025," she explains. "And then when something that traumatic kind of uproots you from everything that you thought you had to focus on and changes and shifts your perspective … obviously heartbreak is one of the hardest things to ever go through, but when such a big loss as a fire happens, I think you are able to step back for a second and just be like, 'Okay, I'm healthy, I have love all around me and it's not just in romantic relationships, it's in relationships with your friends, your family, your online community, your neighbors.' I feel like that was a really big one for me, in the Palisades, building on those relationships."
She notes that her community, both in-person and online, was a huge motivator for her as she processed the trauma of losing her home.
"I remember a few days after the fire, my dad said, 'Okay, we have to get down to L.A. and start looking at apartments.' And I was like, 'Dad, I can't process this. I can't do anything right now. There's no way in heck that I can go look at apartments.' And he was like, 'No, you don't understand, like 12,000 people just lost their homes. You're gonna be in a race against time to get this new place.' So it was really nice to have people that were not processing such a crazy trauma, kind of like leading me and guiding me through this." She notes that even a simple message from a follower telling them they were praying for her "made the biggest difference in the world."
Paige also found community with other residents who lost their homes, recalling how she bonded with neighbors as she returned to her apartment for the first time after the fire.
Ashley PaigeCredit: Lindsey Englander Photography
"It was truly the craziest thing I've ever seen," she says of the aftermath of the fires. "It looked like War of the Worlds. I knew obviously my whole neighborhood had gone, but I didn't realize how far up into Malibu it went. So that was pretty shocking that everything had burned. Even just sifting through my stuff, I met like 20 people because everyone was there doing the same thing. That sparked all the WhatsApp groups … I'm in four different WhatsApp groups just with my street, and then with my neighborhood, and then the Palisades as a whole. It's just been such a lovely way to find community and such a hard thing, but it is truly just crazy to picture that level of devastation for so many different people because there really was nothing left. I had a Martha Stewart gingerbread house, and that's pretty much all I found."
As with all of her content, she tried to show up as authentically as possible as she candidly detailed her grief online and how she was rebuilding her life from scratch, from replacing old Christmas ornaments to buying her first new pair of jeans.
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"In general, I have really tried to go very vintage with everything that I've replaced," she says of the process. "It's a very strange thing to lose everything and just to start from scratch because one month into my new apartment, everything around me was brand new and had no memories attached, which is very strange for a sentimental person. So it was really comforting to me to find so many vintage items and just know that, especially for Christmas, that they had seen so many different Christmases before and just to kind of imagine the life behind all of the ornaments or all of the decorations that I picked up."
She admits that the process of starting over again, both physically and mentally, was "extremely overwhelming" at first. "I really didn't buy anything for the first few months because it's just kind of, like, 'Well, really, all I want is my old stuff.' You take it step by step and day by day. I remember having a moment last August where I woke up, and I made my almond milk, and I sat down with my matcha, and I thought to myself, 'Oh my gosh, I feel like myself today.' Step by step and piece by piece, you put yourself back together. It's very beautiful the human resilience that I've seen in the last few months, not just in me, but in my community as a whole."
As she slowly picked up the pieces, Paige began a new chapter in her life: looking for a permanent home. After starting the house hunting process last October, Paige revealed that she had purchased a home in May.
Ashley PaigeCredit: Lindsey Englander Photography
Just like her own story, she knew she wanted a home with history and character, and that's exactly what she found with her nearly 100-year-old Spanish revival home, photos of which she shares exclusively with PEOPLE. From the moment she walked in, she says she felt at home.
"It was just so special to kind of walk in and to see the arch doorways and the tile, and I have a wood-burning fireplace, which is only grandfathered in in L.A. County," she says. "I really did walk in and felt like I was ready to put roots down and ready to feel grounded and safe and secure."
When asked how she made the decision to start searching for a permanent home, she points to the Palisades Fire as a motivating factor.
"I feel like, especially as a single woman, a lot of people were like, 'Well, why wouldn't you wait until you have a husband or wait to see if you have a family?' And I think if anything, the fire has taught me that you really do have to live presently and do all the things that you wanna do in the current moment because you never know what's happening tomorrow," she explains.
As she moves in, she's excited to add little details that feel representative of both her and the history of the home. She notes that she bought a 1920s mailbox as well as a thrifted 1910 chandelier from Spain that she envisions will bring the home "back to 1927."
Though she notes that her kitchen "feels magical" with its "beautiful morning lights," her favorite place in the home is her bedroom, noting it feels like a "sanctuary."
"We did a really beautiful freestanding tub, and it feels like a spa. I think especially in the middle of L.A., it's really nice to have a place that you feel like you can retreat to and that is your sanctuary. It's just been so lovely to kind of see that actually realized and to have a place to just decompress."
Ashley PaigeCredit: Lindsey Englander Photography
As she's detailed her life online, Paige has often been referred to as a "comfort creator" by her followers. Despite all the turmoil this past year has brought her, she's incredibly grateful to be that safe space for others.
"It means everything," she says of her online community. "Especially after the last year and a half that I've been through, I really have learned that it's the tiniest, simplest ways that you can infuse joy into your everyday. If anyone takes anything from my content, it's that you really can shift your perspective on what's going on in your life. You might not be able to change the outcome, but you can change how you think about it. That is something that I always hear is just that I've helped people find little tiny joys in their life, and that truly means the world to me."
She tears up as she recalls one interaction with a fan in Florence last year that was especially meaningful. "I was walking around with my mom, and I met a follower from India, and she was telling me that my content helped me get through her breast cancer journey."
"I was having this moment of kind of just awe that here I am in Italy, halfway across the world, meeting someone who is also halfway across from their world, having this shared connection," she continues. "It's just so special to think that posting little silly videos on the internet brings women together like that. It's been so rewarding to meet people from all around the world. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to meet people and to touch their lives because they've touched mine in numerous ways."
on People
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