Influential Woman · Streaming

Ashley Herbert

Manager, Pluto TV

New York City, NY

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree AA in Liberal Arts

Her Story

About Ashley

When I was younger, I used to work in a movie theater, and after that, I became completely obsessed with movies. I watched like 300 movies a year at a certain point, so I was completely interested in all of that stuff, and I love TV, so it was a natural fit. Previously I've worked in customer service, and that one was a little rough on myself, so after a while, I had the great opportunity to move into streaming and get to know things. I originally went to college for graphic design and quickly realized how much I didn't want to do that as a profession. I just enjoy it as a hobby. So I ended up with just an AA in liberal arts, and I didn't really know what I wanted to do, and that's where I was bouncing around from job to job. I worked at a movie theater, I worked in some offices, I did some customer service stuff, I even used to work at Disneyland at one point, and I happen to find this really good opportunity and chance to change paths, and I've been stuck on it ever since. I've had some background in quality control before - I actually worked on the 2010 census as quality control. Having the opportunity to actually fix the things that I've seen that are wrong on a service is really gratifying. It makes it very easy to care about the work that we do, because it's just a matter of getting it right and being able to fix the things that are incorrect - make sure it has the right actors, it has the right metadata, it has the right pictures. It's such a simple concept, so it's really just easy to go after.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Ashley

01What do you attribute your success to?

I would say luck. I think there's a lot of things in the world where you need to be open to opportunities so that when you do get lucky, you can strike while the iron is hot. I got my job in 2021, and there has never been another opening for a position in this department like that since then, because people just don't really leave that much. So I think I was in the right place at the right time to get into this one, and then I made the most of it. You need to be open to opportunities, and when you're encouraged to take the chance, you have to go for it.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say continue to speak up. I think that's a big change that's been happening. There's a lot of people who respect women's voices, I think, more and more, at least on the level that I am on, I see it. There's a lot of people who listen, so don't be afraid to speak your mind.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

Challenges I find are usually with people. Just getting people to get along and work together can be a little tricky. It's kind of like being a summer camp counselor. I know you two don't like each other, but we both gotta just get this project done. I always find that really interesting, the different personalities and different ways to handle different things - there's so many different schools of thought, so I think that is the part that vexes me the most and interests me a lot. As for opportunities right now, anyone that is really working on AI that solves problems that are actually real problems. I don't think we really need AI making artwork, but we do need it running through spreadsheets and making connections and doing a lot of the menial, repetitive tasks. So I think if someone has their eyes on that, that is a lucrative thing right now.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Honesty and openness are really big ones for me. I do most of my work out in the open, where everyone can see. All of my job is to connect people and make sure that stuff is getting hit, or being done on time and hitting the due dates. People want to know where is this at, where is the other thing, how are we doing with this, and it's just so much easier for me. I put all of my information out on a spreadsheet that everyone can read and see, and they know exactly what's going on without having to even talk to me. I think when people play things too close to the chest and hold onto information and they get siloed and controlled, it really just kind of stifles the ability to change and get better.

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