Doris Jean Copeland Ashwell Sample Peterson was born August 8, 1926 in Lebanon, Indiana. She married James R. Ashwell in 1946 and had three children. Jim was an electrical engineer with Martin Marietta. Doris' modeling career began in 1951 in Maryland. In 1958, the Ashwells moved to Orlando. Doris became a fashion coordinator for Montgomery Ward stores, then became the instructor for the Wendy Ward Charm School. During the same time period Doris was hired as a swimwear consultant for Sea Lure, a division of Catalina Swimwear. After returning from California Tony Gerard of WKIS-AM 740 invited Doris to appear on his program. WKIS General Manager Bob Keith wanted Doris to do a daily show from 10AM-11AM known as "Woman's World".  WKIS Program Director Jim Boynton recommended featuring different subjects on different days. For instance Wednesday was Medical Day when various local Doctors would discuss their specialties. Thursday was Gardening Day, first with Sal Tamburo and then later with Tom McCubbin. Friday was Book Review Day with Win Pendleton, author and lecturer known as "The Sage of Windermere". It was decided to take calls from listeners on the air. This made WKIS the first Central Florida station to do so. Chief Engineer John Loving taught Doris to "...run the board, spin records and push the buttons". All commercials were "live reads" sold by Doris and the program was sold out on a regular basis.  

  Doris with Larry Shannon (Roberts) and Larry King (Bessler) on the WKIS mid-day show. clip courtesy of Pete Simonson

Doris was also active on local TV. She was the "Frigidaire Queen" for Claude H. Wolfe & Co., performed in commercials for the Orlando Utilities Commission as well as Borden Dairy, commercials for WESH-TV. Her radio experience and high visibility as a local celebrity even took her to WFTV channel nine and a 10 minute segment on the daily "Eyewitness News" program.