by 
Ashley received her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, College Student Affairs, from the University of South Florida and a B.A. in communication studies from Kansas State University. She joined the K-State Career Center as an Assistant Director in June 2016 after working in Florida career services for 7 years. She serves as liaison to the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the All-University Career Fair committee. Ashley has served on the programs committee for FloridaACE and is currently the Assistant Chair for the SoACE Experiential Education Knowledge Group. Her new hobby involves concocting garden-inspired dinner recipes for her husband and four-year-old daughter.
How did you get into the Career Services profession?
It all actually began with a great nudge from a soon-to-be mentor and memorable supervisor. I was a sophomore at Kansas State University working a part-time job at our student union doing event set up. After a few months, I realized I wasn’t energized by the work because I was spending so much of my time working alone –my extroverted-self dreads large swaths of time working alone. On a mission to find a student job that let me help, be an extrovert, and earn I applied to be a peer instructor for my campus’ university experience course. The director of the program let me know that she had just filled all the teaching spots, but she referred me to her colleague – the coordinator of an office at K-State that was then called the Academic and Career Information Center. I applied, was hired as a peer Career Specialist, and the rest is history. That spring, I completed training for my new job as part of a cohort-style course that exposed me to career theory, personality types, and the power of peer-to-peer advising. In this new position, I got to lead my peers through career research work in one-on-one appointments.
One day, my new supervisor and I were having a conversation about my own future. She asked me what I hoped to do with my career. I shared my ambition of wanting to be a political speechwriter (at the time, I was still competing on weekends as part of K-State’s speech team). She dug into a values conversation with me, pointed out that I had a natural strength working with students, that I may have some values-conflict with how work is done in politics, and we had one of those life changing “See the work I do? You can make a career out of working in student life?” moments with me that so many of us have experienced because pivotal practitioners have entered our life. At that point, I started researching and applying to graduate programs, choosing to join a cohort-style student affairs program at the University of South Florida while completing a graduate assistantship in the career center. Tampa, FL stuck and I was with the career center at USF for almost 7 years, including my assistantship. Someday, if we are at a conference together and you want to hear the even longer version about how a Kansas girl moved herself across the country to become an adult and convinced her now husband to join her in the adventure, then I would gladly oblige you with the narrative. I am fortunate to have a partner that has supported more than one move for my career. Two years ago, we made the move back to Manhattan, Kansas (it’s the Little Apple!) so that I could take a professional position within the Career Center team at Kansas State University. Now, I am an Assistant Director and liaison with our College of Arts and Sciences – the college that is home to my undergraduate degree, Communication Studies. It feels very full-circle. We had our daughter while we were in Tampa, and as she turned four we both decided it was time to get back to our roots. I am thankful for the learning and growth during my time at USF, and for my K-State team. We are lead well by Kerri Keller.
Describe your SoACE Experience. How did you get involved and how has that experience influenced you?
My first SoACE conference was the Ft. Lauderdale conference two years ago. Before that, I was a member of SoACE, but I wasn’t active with the association in any way. I looked around and realized that the people that I admire and look to as thought leaders in our region, and across the country, are actively involved members in the professional associations they have chosen. During my first conference, I decided to sign up for a mentor session with Jay Killough – it was one of the best decisions I made during that conference. I was going to skip the KG meetings and give myself a brain break, but Jay encouraged me to go to the KG that focused on the work that I’m most interested in within our field. During the first meeting I attended for the Experiential Education KG, there was a sign-up sheet to indicate if you were willing to assist with some of the KG’s professional development planning and/or leadership activities. I wrote my name down. After the conference, I was asked to serve as Assistant Chair. When our KG Chair left to pursue a career opportunity in another region, I was asked to move into the role of Chair and then stay on for another year. I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with my Assistant Chair, Wesley Dickens, to create webinar opportunities for our membership.
Because of the confidence I gained as KG Chair (thanks for leading us well, Courtney Edwards), last year I submitted my first SoACE presentation proposal with a colleague and had the opportunity to present at the San Antonio conference.
Last year, I also had the opportunity to work with SoACE colleagues on a tech task force lead by Charlie Wilder. Our mission was to research technology tools that could be used to improve our communication within the association. I learned a lot from Charlie’s patient, persistent, encouraging leadership style as we worked on this project.
Alicia Smyth has also given me the chance to author a couple of blog posts, along with supporting more authorship from our KG members. The chance to write and express my thoughts about our work (and support others to do so) has been a refreshing, creative outlet.
These experiences have allowed me to tangibly see that I have a lot of control and free will to make the most of my career and professional development…or not. It is up to me to decide what kind of imprint I want to leave on the profession. I really appreciated Erica Lake’s recent blog piece on mentorship – it truly does make a significant different. A shout out and thank you to all these folks that have helped to shape my SoACE experience! You have been fuel for the journey.
What advice do you have for new professionals who aspire to get more involved in the profession?
Say yes to a new professional development opportunity even if it means saving a few of your own dollars to supplement the cost of what you get for professional development funding or if it means covering the cost entirely. It is an investment into the life work that you have chosen. Go deep with experiences within an association instead of trying to attend every conference related to our profession – do some research and know what experiences are going to be most helpful to you based on where you are with your time in the field and what you are currently responsible for on your own campus. In the beginning of my career, I spent more time than I should have seeking out opportunities that were a better fit for a seasoned professional. I am still a strategic “let’s look at the forest and dream up new concepts and ways of doing” kind of gal, but I feel like there is currently a more realistic bent to my dreaming and conceptualizing. Now, I’m trying to focus more on involvement in the profession that will have an immediate and direct impact on my own work. It’s like I tell my creative students….hone your craft, take care of it, keep learning about it.
Oh…and say yes to getting involved with KG’s, of course…that’s a no brainer, obviously. KG’s are a great way to make connections within a larger association.
What is your favorite quote?
Julia Child is on the list of women I admire. She said, “Life itself is the proper binge.” She also said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook,” and a lot of other great tidbits about not being afraid of butter, onions, and spending on good wine. Her sentiments about steak especially speak to the heart and soul of this Kansas girl. Girlfriend made “living your best life” a thing before it was an Instagram hashtag. She is truly the embodiment of seeking the fullest flavor out of life. I want to live like that, always – with real butter on my popcorn, the freedom to fail at a project, and an appreciation for details.
What is your favorite book and why?
I have a lot of favorite books (if you know me, you probably know I have an obnoxious habit of recommending something or “resourcing” as a means of providing support – just ask my colleagues who giggle at me now when I say “Oh, have you read….?”). However, one of the most impactful books I have ever read is “A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League” by Ron Suskind. This story helped me better understand the generational transformation that we can help facilitate as higher educators as long as we are willing and ready to be champions for the students that need to be seen, heard, and supported the most.
One of my favorite “I’m a mama who works and I need tools” books is “A Simplified Life” by Emily Ley. We really cannot do it all as working mamas – we have to choose and simplify, create strategies, and let go of some things. She speaks to all that in this book and proposes strategies.
Lately, I’ve been really intrigued by our societal trend towards mindfulness as part of wellness, so next up on my read list is “The Road Back to You” by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. It is about the ancient personality type system called the enneagram (somebody who knows more about this, please do a conference proposal on it…I am fascinated to learn more). Read it with me and we can nerd out and have a book discussion in December!
Random facts about me….
As an undergrad and grad student, I was in the ballroom dancing club. I still love to swing dance when good music calls for it. I love wearing red lipstick. I could eat tacos, literally, every day of my life and not get tired of them…give me all the guacamole. Cooking and reading about cooking relaxes me….it’s how I decompress at the end of a workday. My daughter and I recently planted our first raised-bed garden, so learning to garden has become a new family adventure. I have dabbled in political communications and worked on a congressional campaign, briefly. I hope to write more in my future. My hope is to sharpen up my research skills in a doctoral program and use my research to help inform education policy and get involved in governmental relations work. My goal is to start once my daughter begins kindergarten. I imagine some interesting homework sessions and good, strong coffee are in my future…
What keep
s you motivated?
My daughter and her generation. She is four now, and I imagine that by the time she is a young woman the world will (hopefully) be a better place to be a woman with ambition. Even though introspection and habit change are hard work, I am encouraged to work, every day, on my own goals and on my partnership with my husband so that I can show my daughter what a healthy work life and home life look and feel like.
She motivates me to be vocal about the injustice I see in the world and to take actionable steps, even when they are small, toward seeking out equity.
