Ashley Tisdale: 'I want to be just like Jessica Simpson'

Ashley Tisdale has dreams of becoming the next Jessica Simpson.

The former High School Musical star is just starting out as a style mogul and admits the busty blonde is the heroine whose career she wants to emulate.

Ashley tells New You magazine, "(High School Musical castmate) Monique Coleman actually always laughs because I loved Jessica Simpson, especially at that time (of filming HSM). Monique just never understood it, but I think I just could see that she was a really smart businesswoman and I could see that what she’s done is amazing.

"Recently, Monique called me and said, 'You know I used to make fun of you all the time. Now I see what you’re doing and now I understand it. And now I see what she (Jessica Simpson) has done'."

And she's also using Simpson's girl power to fuel her Blondie Girl production company projects.

"I’ve always been a very independent person," Ashley explains. "As a woman, I just never wanted to rely on anyone specifically, except for myself. I remember Blondie Girl produced a Disney channel movie called Cloud 9, and we changed the ending based off me being like, 'I don’t want her to do it for the guy. She’s got to do it for her'.

"I love what’s happening right now because it’s really important for our younger generation. I have a niece who’s five-years-old. For her to look up to strong women? That’s amazing... For us, as a company, we’re really about women’s empowerment. Our main stories always have a woman character."