Ashley Dunn
I've been in tech and software for about 5 years now, and what really drew me to this field was looking for a career with long-term growth and upward mobility in an area where women weren't super present. When I got into tech, it was male-dominated, so I was trying to pave a way for myself in a space that wasn't traditional at the time. I was also very interested in technology and software, something I was passionate about, so it fueled my interests. I started super entry-level about three and a half years ago at a great company where I built foundational skills, did a lot of networking, and learned so much about the industry and the specific product unit I was focused on. As I've grown into leadership and development of young individual contributors, it's been really rewarding to help people progress in their careers too. My typical day involves meeting with my managed reps, checking in over Slack and Zoom, doing weekly one-on-ones, checking our numbers and attainment to make sure we're tracking towards quotas, and helping reps progress their deals. I provide coaching and get in the trenches with their book of businesses and territories to help push deals forward. I do a lot of cross-functional work with sales and marketing counterparts, promote company events to get leads, and iterate on messaging and strategy my reps are using. Lately, we've been focused a lot on AI and how we can leverage that in the day-to-day, so I make sure to stay up to date on what's relevant in our industry right now.
• Value Selling Associates Corporation
• AI Community Board (internal at GitLab)
• SPCA
• Animal shelters in Tampa area
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've been given is to fail fast. When I was entry level and didn't know what I was doing, one of my managers told me there's nothing that you can break, so just try through error and curiosity, and make sure that you're always pushing through the next thing. I think failure isn't really failure if you use it as an opportunity to learn and grow from it, and that's something that's held true to me for my whole career.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you don't have a technical background, that's not a dead stop. I never had a technical background. Tech companies don't just need engineers, they need people who can communicate and build relationships and be personable and execute under pressure. Part of that is just getting in the room before you're ready. You'll never feel like you're 100% qualified or be 100% fit for something, but no one else expects that from you either. I think the people who move fast are the ones who say yes first, and then work on figuring it out second. Part of that is building your brand, so if tech is something you want to get into, connect with thought leaders on LinkedIn, and make sure that you're finding a mentor somewhere and having coffee chats just to learn and build on that knowledge. I think you can find your people in your community early, so making sure that you find women that are in similar roles and network. I think that opens a lot of doors that sometimes just a resume doesn't.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Transparency is a huge one for me. I want to make sure that I'm very transparent with my reps, but also with the prospects and the customers we're talking to, to just be very upfront about what we can do, and also what I can do for my reps. One of my values is grit. I think that's been really prevalent throughout my life and my career, and it's something that I try to inspire with my team too. I would also say a bias for action, making sure that I can deliver on the ideas that I have and the thoughts that I want to contribute to my reps and the company, and making sure that I move forward and take action there. I think empathy is really important too, especially when you're in people management, making sure that I spend time to build genuine relationships with all of my reps and our customers to make sure that they feel comfortable chatting with me and coming to me, and that I can also empathize with their situations too.
Locations
GitLab
Tampa, FL