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Ashley Rizzotto is a career advisor with the Office of Career Development at Nova Southeastern University since June 2017. Ashley works with undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni to help them confidently pursue their career endeavors. Ashley is a proud native of Brooklyn, NY. She attended Stony Brook University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, with two minors: Health and Wellness, and Women and Gender Studies. She continued her education by earning a Masters of Education degree in Student Affairs Administration and Higher Education at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to joining the Office of Career Development, Ashley has held roles in Career Services, Orientation Services, and Health and Wellness Education. These experiences, along with Ashley’s winding and bumpy career journey to find her own path inspires her daily in helping students discover the strengths that’ll set them up for success academically, socially, and professionally.
How did you get into the Career Services profession?
I attended UNC Greensboro for my Masters of Education in Student Affairs Administration and Higher Education from 2015-2017. There, I was encouraged to take on mini-internships in functional areas that I was not familiar with. In the spring of my first year, I became a Peer Career Ambassador and took on drop-in appointments spanning resumes, cover letters, Linkedin, and interview tips. I quickly began to find alignment in the ways I enjoy educating and developing others and the ways that career development can truly empower students with life-long skills. I advocated for myself and became a graduate assistant in that career center for my second year, leading to my first professional role within Career Services as a Career Advisor & Coordinator of Peer Advisor Programs at Nova Southeastern University.
Describe your SoACE Experience. How did you get involved and how has that experience influenced you?
My first experience with SoACE was attending the December 2016 conference in Fort Lauderdale as a Graduate Student. There, I learned so much about the field and connected with many brilliant colleagues. Most notably, I met Maggie Morrissey, who was a graduate student at Nova Southeastern University at the time. We stuck together throughout the conference and a couple months later when a career advisor position was opened at NSU I was able to leverage my connection with her at SoACE which led to my first professional job out of graduate school. She is now my coworker and we look back fondly on how we met!
Since August 2018 I have been the Marketing and Communications Chair for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of SoACE. In that time I’ve launched #inclusionthursday tweets to spark dialogue through twitter and published a blog on current standings of the wage gap and pay equity. I’m greatly appreciative of this opportunity since I get to engage with career professionals across state lines and a variety of institutions all with the same purpose of serving students and meeting their needs.
What advice do you have for new professionals who aspire to get more involved in the profession?
Talk your truth into existence and try everything.
If there’s something you want to try, ask for it. If it doesn’t make sense within your responsibilities, find ways to weave in your interests and passions. Colleagues who have been in the field have lots of experiences and advise to share, so don’t be afraid to reach out and include others in your process.
What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?
My greatest accomplishment is being accepted to give a TEDx talk at TEDxNSU in March 2019. Since I first realized I wanted to be an educator, having a TED talk was immediately put on my professional bucket list. I will be speaking on “Researching & Soul-searching: Mastering the Art of the Interview,” my own strategic approach to help people find alignment between their internal needs and the external career opportunities around them. It is my hope with this talk to help others intentionally pursue careers that fulfill them from a motivational level and help them prepare to advocate for those identified needs. See Ashley’s TEDx Talk embedded below.
What are some of your hobbies when not working?
I am a woman of many hobbies! Some of my current favorites are: crocheting blankets and stuffed animals, listening to podcasts (preferably nerdy or feminist topics), playing board games or attending trivia with friends, and recently learning how to play the ukulele. It’s been the greatest pleasure to not have homework since grad school ended. J
What keeps you motivated?
My top strength in StrengthsFinder is Maximizer and that is something I’ve always taken to heart. I gain so much joy from training and educating others, whether it’s students or colleagues, because I believe that I can help provide the tools for others to become the best version of themselves. I am always looking several steps ahead at what I could be doing right now to accomplish even more in the future, and that is the spirit I get to try to instill in my coworkers and students every day.
There was a starfish story I was introduced to as a mental health peer educator in my sophomore year of undergrad. There’s a young child on a beach covered in thousands of starfish and they begin to toss them one by one back into the ocean. An adult approaches and says “what do you think you are doing? You can’t possibly save all of them.” The child picks one up and says “Well it matters to this one.”
This story is something that has grounded and guided me within my higher ed career and continues to inspire the work I get the privilege to do.
