Ashleigh Hakes

I attribute my success to curiosity, resilience, and a genuine commitment to lifelong learning.

For the past 17 years, I've invested in understanding human development, leadership, transformational experiences, and what truly creates lasting change. I don't believe expertise comes from a single certification. It comes from continually being a student, putting what you learn into practice, reflecting on the results, and refining your approach over time.

I also believe many of my greatest lessons came through lived experience. Every challenge I've faced both personally and professionally has deepened my empathy, strengthened my leadership, and shaped the way I serve others today. Rather than seeing setbacks as failures, I've learned to view them as opportunities to grow, adapt, and become more aligned with my purpose.

Finally, I attribute my success to leading with service. My focus has never been on building a business for the sake of building a business. It's always been about creating experiences that genuinely change lives. When people feel seen, supported, and transformed, everything else naturally follows.

The best career advice I have received is to stop waiting until I feel completely ready.

Most meaningful opportunities have required me to trust myself before I had every detail figured out. Growth often begins when we are willing to take the next honest step, learn through the experience, and allow the path to become clearer as we move.

I would also encourage people not to build their careers alone. Mentorship, collaboration, and community have played an essential role in my journey. The people who reach the next level are rarely the ones who tried to carry everything by themselves. They are the ones who were willing to ask for support, receive feedback, and learn from people who had already walked part of the path.

Your career does not have to look linear to be meaningful. Every role, challenge, ending, and new beginning can teach you something valuable. Stay connected to who you are, continue developing your gifts, and do not be afraid to evolve beyond the version of success you once imagined.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to trust that your voice, perspective, and lived experience have value, but do not confuse having a calling with having to figure everything out alone.

Seek mentorship early. Learn from people who understand both the beauty and the responsibility of leading transformational experiences. Study facilitation, human development, communication, business, logistics, boundaries, and participant care. The most impactful leaders are not only inspiring; they are prepared.

I would also encourage women to stop waiting for permission to begin. You may never feel completely ready, but you can start with integrity, remain teachable, and continue developing your skills as you grow. Confidence is often built through action, not before it.

At the same time, do not believe that service requires self-sacrifice. Learn how to set clear boundaries, charge sustainably, communicate expectations, and create systems that support both the people you serve and your own well-being. Overgiving and undercharging do not make your work more meaningful; they often make it harder to continue.

Most importantly, protect your integrity. In this industry, people may remember the beauty of an event, but they will always remember how they felt in your presence. Lead with honesty, take responsibility when something goes wrong, respect the sovereignty of the people you serve, and build your reputation through consistency.

You do not need to become someone else to succeed. Your work becomes most powerful when it is rooted in who you truly are and who you are truly becoming.

One of the biggest challenges in my career has been learning how to move forward when the path changes unexpectedly. I have experienced projects ending, partnerships shifting, communities evolving, and seasons when I had to rebuild from the ground up. Those moments taught me that starting over does not mean starting from nothing. Every relationship, skill, lesson, and experience continues with you.

Another challenge has been learning how to balance service with sustainability. In the transformational experience industry, many leaders care deeply about helping others, but that can lead to overgiving, undercharging, weak boundaries, or carrying more responsibility than is healthy. I have had to learn that meaningful impact requires clear communication, strong systems, financial sustainability, and a willingness to protect my own capacity.

At the same time, those challenges have revealed some of the greatest opportunities in this industry. People are craving real human connection, meaningful community, and experiences that move beyond passive information. They want spaces where they can feel seen, slow down, reconnect with themselves, and experience genuine transformation.

I believe experience-led businesses are becoming an increasingly important part of the future. Retreats, workshops, immersive events, and community gatherings allow people to embody what they are learning rather than simply consume it. My opportunity is to help purpose-driven leaders turn their wisdom into experiences that are thoughtful, impactful, and sustainable.

There is also a powerful opportunity to raise the standard of the industry. As transformational experiences continue to grow in popularity, integrity, preparation, participant care, emotional responsibility, and skilled facilitation will become even more important. I want to help create experiences that are not only beautiful and inspiring, but also grounded, responsibly led, and capable of creating lasting impact.

The values most important to me, both personally and professionally, are integrity, authenticity, sovereignty, community, and service.

Integrity is at the center of everything. I believe it is important for our words, actions, and private choices to align. Especially when leading transformational experiences, trust is sacred. That requires honesty, transparency, accountability, and the willingness to have difficult conversations when necessary.

Authenticity means living and leading from who I truly am rather than becoming who I believe the world expects me to be. So much of my own journey has involved remembering who I am, trusting my voice, and allowing my work to evolve alongside me. I want the spaces I create to give others permission to do the same.

I deeply value personal sovereignty. I believe every individual is the authority of their own life and experience. Whether I am mentoring a leader or facilitating a retreat, my role is not to tell someone who they should become. It is to create a supportive environment where they can listen to themselves, make empowered choices, and take responsibility for their path.

Community is also foundational to my life. I believe we are meant to grow, celebrate, heal, and create alongside one another. My greatest opportunities and most meaningful experiences have come through relationships, collaboration, and building spaces where people feel seen and know they belong.

Ultimately, service guides my work. I want what I create to contribute to something larger than myself. Success, to me, is not only about what I accomplish. It is about how people feel in my presence, the impact an experience continues to have after it ends, and the ripple effect it creates within families and communities.