2024 Speakers & Celebrities

Ashley Basnight was born in Chesapeake, Virginia but reared in Moyock, NC a little town in Currituck County, which encompasses the northern most section of the Outer Banks.

She is a 2009 graduate of Currituck County High School. Upon completion of high school Ashley attended Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, graduating with honors in 2013.  She later went on to earn a Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Ashley was formerly employed by The Boeing Company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for nine years where she worked as a Software Engineer assigned to the B-52 Bomber, until she later decided to pursue her business full-time, Ashley is the owner and operator of Handmade Haven, LLC a business that was started in 2016 when she wanted a kitchen table but could not find the table she wanted, so she built one herself. She is a self-taught woodworker and designer with a passion for teaching others the art of doing it yourself. On her blog you can find practical DIY’s to make your home more functional and also see how Ashley showcases her bold designs to make her homes pop.

Ashley has been recognized and was featured in the Better Homes & Gardens Magazine and was featured in the Boeing IQ Innovation Quarterly, a publication of the Boeing Company. Ashley has made appearances on the Drew Barrymore Show where she was excited to instruct Drew how to do it yourself making a coat rack. Perhaps one of her two most exhilarating experiences were appearing as a contestant on NBC’s Making It Season Two hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman and competing on HGTV’s hit show Battle on the Beach Season 3, where she got work alongside her mentor Ty Pennington.