Her Story
About Ashley
Ashley Dale Rodriguez is an employee benefits consultant with over eight years of experience at Hub, where she serves as a consultant. She began her tenure there as an analyst and advanced through positions including account manager and associate benefit consultant. With nearly 12 years total in the insurance and benefits field, her expertise centers on helping large employers manage and evaluate their employee benefits portfolios. She previously worked at a third-party administrator handling self-insured health plans. Although she attended college with an initial focus on nursing, she did not complete a degree. She attributes her success to being willing to try new things, leading with empathy, and balancing the people and financial sides of her work. She values intentionality, showing up, and integrity. Among the challenges she navigates are rising healthcare and pharmacy costs, where she focuses on creative solutions to deliver valuable benefits amid uncertainty.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ashley
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I could attribute success to being willing to try, and to really put myself in the perspective of who I am working with at the time, whether that's an executive, whether that's HR, whether that's an employee, or just someone in the community. I think it's important to kind of lead with empathy in the conversations that you're having, but also, like, being willing to kind of, like, take a step back and make sure that the approach that you're taking is correct, and understanding the people side of it, as well as the financial side of it.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to not let the fear of you know, historically your broker contacts were, you know, and again, this is not trying to be stereotypical, but you have a lot of male-dominated industries. I would say that the broker community was and has been one of them. You know, to not let the fear of being a younger woman in this field prevent you from trying and being really good at it. ... put your head down, and willing to try and do the work, it will pay off, and just trying to make sure that you're thinking through things in the way that you would want somebody to think through things if it was your company or your family going through what you're helping the employee with. Leading with empathy. And then just showing up and, you know, being willing to do the work, whether you have the degree or don't have the degree.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some of the biggest challenges is obviously, you know, the costs of healthcare and pharmacy, continues to rise. ... My job is trying to find ways that we can still give employees valuable benefits in a market that there is some uncertainty with, you know, how long can pharmacy costs continue to inflate the way that they do, and same thing with everything, from a consumerism perspective. We have high inflation right now, high interest rates, healthcare costs are really expensive. What can employers do or do creatively, to try to still offer valuable benefits to take care of their employees? In a market that's kind of uncertain, and of course, costs continuing to rise.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think for me, Being intentional is an important value. In everything that we do, the intentional, You know, and showing up, I think, integrity. I think those would be good.
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