Welcome to working with Ashley

My goal for this doc is to share my working philosophy and operating principles — how I think and work — so that you get a sense of what it would be like to partner with me either as a manager and/or a teammate.

Leadership Principles

In service of that, these are the main leadership operating principles I strive to uphold for our team:

Cultivate a Growth Culture - Mistakes are valuable opportunities to grow and improve. I encourage my team to view failures as part of the journey to success. I strive to build trust in my team’s abilities, allowing them the freedom to take calculated risks while owning both successes and setbacks.

Respect Breeds Candor — Respect is the foundation for open and honest communication. By valuing and acknowledging the expertise of every team member, we create a collaborative space where diverse perspectives are welcomed. Rooting for someone means being candid with them when it matters.

Strategy is Saying No / Choose Your Problems — Effective strategy is about prioritization—focusing on the goals that truly matter and saying no to distractions. This involves clear communication of priorities, aligning the team's efforts, and empowering team members to make decisions aligned with our objectives.

Debate with Goodwill, Support the Outcome — Healthy debates are vital for innovation and team cohesion. I encourage structured discussions that accommodate diverse communication styles, from introverts to extroverts, while ensuring everyone supports the outcome once a decision is made.

For every job that must be done, There is an Element of Fun - Work should include moments of joy and creativity. I aim to foster a team culture where we dream big, enjoy one another’s company, and celebrate our efforts with organized fun.

About me as a manager

My top priority is to create the conditions for the team to be wildly successful. Winning is fun, and our chances of winning go up when we’re world-class at what we do—both as individuals and as a team.

My Manager Strengths

As a manager, you can count on me for:

Coaching Through Questions - I thrive on asking thoughtful coaching questions that empower you to figure things out on your own. This helps you grow and build confidence in your own decision-making. If you want my advice, please ask for it.

Clearing Roadblocks - I excel at removing obstacles that stand in your way. My extensive relationships within and outside the company allow me to call on the right people or resources to help.

Decisive - I feel this is the best way to support my team by making timely decisions. I might be wrong and you might disagree with my decision (and that’s ok! See Debate with Goodwill and Communication nuances.)

Support in Uncertainty - I lean into uncertainty and provide a steadying presence when navigating the unknown. Whether you need a listening ear to vent or a collaborator to solve problems, I’m here.

Diverse Experience - My background spans product management, finance, strategy, analytics, UX design, and marketing. I’ve built zero-to-one products, worked on growth, redesigns, Platforms, full-stack features, and contributed to multi-figure sales deals. I’m skilled in pattern recognition, thinking years ahead, and setting teams up for future success.

My own strengths / growth areas

What I’m told I’m good at

1. Turning Curiosity Into Clarity: I’m naturally curious and ask questions to understand deeply. I listen closely, then work to distill discussions into clear insights and actionable next steps. 

2. Taking ownership:I don’t leave open loops. If a problem needs solving, I’ll take responsibility or empower the right person to lead. I’m proactive in clarifying ownership, setting timelines, and supporting execution.

3. Data-Driven Decision Making: I ground decisions in evidence. Before changing a process or approach, I establish baseline metrics and success measures so we can track impact and know whether we’ve moved the needle.

4. Building Effective Processes: I believe strong processes clarify roles, prevent gaps, and reduce friction. I design processes as part of a larger framework, with room for iteration and refinement as the team grows.

5. Documenting and sharing knowledge: I value creating a culture and platform where knowledge is easily captured and shared. This ensures continuity, accelerates onboarding, and empowers teams to work more effectively.

   
   

What I’m working on

• Delegating Effectively — I sometimes take on too much myself instead of asking for help or saying no. I’m working on delegating more intentionally and trusting others to step in, which creates stronger ownership across the team.

• Strengthening Executive Relationships — I’m focusing on partnering more closely with executive sponsors to align our team’s work with top priorities and ensure it receives the visibility and support it deserves.

Your Growth with Me

I create structured plans for our collaboration:

When we begin: A career conversation about how you see your story shaping at the Company. From this, we develop a plan together for your growth.

Weekly or Biweekly: 1:1s where you set the agenda. This is about working through anything on your mind today, your active projects and focus for the next few weeks. I welcome venting as much as problem-solving.

Monthly: Retrospective-style meetings to reflect on our working relationship. This is where we will manage your workload and priorities and discuss how I can better support you so you can focus on the top priority items.

Quarterly: Career trajectory check-ins to assess your progress against set goals.

Annually: Career conversations to refine your growth path.

I also develop a team plan for growing our impact. You can choose how much of your growth journey you share with the team. I believe understanding and leveraging each other’s individual work styles is key to collective success.

About me as a co-worker

Working with me

Flexible with Feedback - I welcome feedback. You can expect that I ask for multiple examples and suggestions to improve. To help me prepare, let me know feedback is coming by adding it to an agenda or bringing it up in a regular cadence. If you want feedback from me, giving me time to prepare ensures it will be thoughtful and constructive. When you ask me for feedback, please share with me your goals and what areas you welcome feedback. And do share with me on how best to provide you my feedback as well.

Calendar-Driven - I live by my calendar—if there’s open time, feel free to schedule something without asking. However, if it’s a day of meeting, I prefer you ask me before scheduling. I prefer knowing about meetings a day in advance to plan effectively. I may message you outside of hours if inspiration strikes, but I don’t expect immediate responses. Similarly, I have very effective notification boundaries in my life - you can message me whenever you want!

Team Collaboration - I see “team” as a broad concept, extending to design, Go-to-Market, engineering partners and beyond. Our collective success is rooted in understanding and supporting one another’s work styles and goals. I do not like politics and will not stand for them. I’m happy to be a sounding board for relational nuances, but strongly believe we are all in this together, so expect me to focus much more on problem-solving after letting you vent.

Autonomy and Flexibility - I trust you to manage your time effectively. As long as you are meeting your commitments and not negatively impacting the team, I fully support taking mid-day breaks, vacations, or any adjustments that help you do your best work. In fact, I usually have to take a walk or go into the garden in order to effectively focus on a big project.

I like to celebrate wins - I like to compete and win, who does not! I also have a strength in relationships, so being competitive shows up as a strong desire to win as a team. When we win as a team, I like to also celebrate as a team. And I get the most joy when it’s publicly and together.

Communication

Online hours: 8am-4/5pm. I do take breaks during the day to prepare and rest my mind, but I will be available within 2 hours.

Very calendar-driven: I am motivated by dates and deadlines. So, if you need me to work on something or review something, please put a meeting on my calendar. Similarly, if you see that I have “review time” on my calendar, please respect it because it’s a forcing function for me to get something done ;)

Getting a hold of me: I check Slack all day long, and I check email 2x a day. If you need me urgently, put a meeting on my calendar to “respond to ___”, and this can conflict with a meeting I have if necessary. With Slack, I’ll try to respond within 2 working hours.

Communication agreements: I believe trust is built through consistent communication and actions. I commit to being responsive to you, and in return I ask that you aim for Slack replies within 2 hours and email within 24.

I respect work–life boundaries. I won’t contact you on weekends or time off unless urgent.

Communication nuances:

     I respect data driven decision-making techniques.

I respect it when there is a positive escalation culture. When there is an issue, I'd rather hear it from you first.

     I respect it when you own your failures. Failures and mistakes happen! To me, it’s more about what you do when that happens. I like the framework: “[This] happened. [This] is what we are going to do by [when] to fix it. And you can help by getting us [Ashley action items].”

     Please wait until I tell you I’m done reviewing a document to read my comments. When you ask me to review a document, I like to comment as I read and sometimes my comments are more notes to myself. Then, I go back and review the entire thing to give you a robust commentary. There are lots of times when I resolve comments I made in the beginning or revise them. So, I ask you wait until I tell you I am finished; and thank you!

A final note

Thank you for reading this document and taking the time to get to know me as a person and a co-worker. I welcome clarifying questions and refinements. Like I said, I’m a work in progress, and thanks for being a part of my story.