Ashley Karlosky

I attribute all of my success to staying positive, staying open, and taking initiative. In the marketing industry, you have to stand out because it's such a big pool of people. You have to be the one to sign yourself up, you have to be the one to advocate for yourself and get yourself in the room. Nobody's gonna hand that necessarily to you, especially when you're first starting out your career. All of my success has always started with me just trying, with me believing in myself, and wanting more than what I currently have, and allowing myself to want that. Pushing myself out there has been the biggest thing that has helped my success. Being open to opportunities, regardless of what they look like, going for what you want, and never saying no. Just keep on going. I've always found success when I tried, and that has been the kind of repeating lesson in everything I've done. The biggest obstacle is getting over my own fear and my own unsureness of my ability or myself, but every time I've proven myself wrong, and I hope to continue doing that.

The best piece of advice I ever received was from my boss at my current job, Jess. She told me about a story from her first internship out of college. She was doing everything her boss was telling her to do, but in a meeting, her boss called her in and said she wasn't doing enough. She was confused because she was doing everything asked of her. Her advice to me from that story was: don't just do what's asked of you. Show how you're important, show how you are needed and essential. Really make a name for yourself in the community and show how, without you, things wouldn't be happening, things wouldn't be running. Show how you are an asset to who you are working for. As somebody that is new to this field, I think that's just so important, because it feels so confusing when you've never worked in an environment like that. Knowing how to actually show that you are doing what you are doing, how to put your name out there, nobody really tells you how to do it. Everybody is just thrown into the deep end and you have to swim, you have to figure it out. That was a really nice piece of advice because it gave me a roadmap into what it actually looks like to be a worker that is standing out, not just yet another intern that they have hired, but somebody that they'd want long-term and that they know is needed to what they're doing.

For women specifically, I know marketing and business fields can be complicated, especially because a lot of it can be male-dominated, which is a whole other element that comes with being a woman in more corporate jobs and categories. The biggest thing is never let somebody denounce you or doubt you just because you are a woman. You know what you're worth, you know that you're a good worker, and if somebody ever tries to imply that you are not, don't even say anything, just show them that they're wrong. Prove them wrong. Hone in on your own ability. I think the biggest thing that we can do as women in this field that is definitely male-dominated is just pushing through, regardless of any adversity that we might experience. Make friends with fellow women at your company. I'm really privileged to have a company that I work at that is mainly women I'm working with, so it's quite nice in that sense. Never prevent yourself from going further just because of what other people are thinking or assuming about you because you're a woman. Wish for the stars. There is no limit to your own success. Hold that as you navigate the ladder.

The biggest challenge I'm facing right now is the amount of applicants we have versus the lower amount of job listings. More than ever, it seems like it's harder and hardest to kind of stand out amongst peers that are also applying for these positions. The biggest struggle has been knowing how to stand out, knowing how to represent myself and advertise myself well. As somebody still in college, it's about knowing how to network and knowing where to find the door that is going to lead me to broader opportunities and connections. In general, the biggest challenge within my industry is just the amount of jobs is a little bit lower than the amount of people that are needing them. Another issue is seeing a disconnect between what companies think consumers want to see versus what we're actually wanting to see. A lot of companies' advertising efforts give the impression of older, male higher-ups dictating what's actually being put out, but that creates a disconnect between you and your audience. The biggest opportunity right now is bringing that fresh perspective from my generation. Having the perspective of what consumers want is so valuable. More and more, especially with the rise in social media, the average age of consumers is increasingly getting lower, which means your audience and age range is also increasing. So having your perspective as a consumer and knowing that your perspective is valuable, use that as a way to guide the marketing choices you make through your job. The biggest opportunity is bringing that perspective in, knowing what people are actually wanting, and showing to higher-ups that you have that edge, that you know what the people are wanting and you know how to get it to them.

When it comes to work, I think responsibility is really important. The values I try to uphold myself to when it comes to work are responsibility, keeping on track of things, showing up as the worker I know I can be, and really holding myself accountable for the responsibility that I've been given. At home in my personal life, I think it's just be a good person. Be empathetic. And that also translates into how I navigate and move through my work life, especially the interpersonal relationships that come with that. I always try to be a receptive, loving, caring person. You never know what somebody's going through. I hold myself to a high standard because I know the kind of person I want to be, and that kind of mentality absolutely translates into the kind of worker I want to be. I want to be able to go home after I clock out and say, I did a good job, and that's something I pride myself on. Those values are just knowing that I made something, whether it is in my work life or personal life, like making a friend happier, talking through something that they're experiencing. It all goes together to just feeling like I made a good impact today, whether it was through work life or personal life.