Ashley Northam

I contribute my success to my drive and just a desire to always excel. I've never been one to just not have a goal, not have a next level. I've always given myself goals. For instance, when I went to undergrad, I had 3 best friends and we've been best friends since 1998, 7th grade. We went to undergrad and we said we're gonna finish school in 4 years, and I finished that in 4 years. As soon as I graduated from undergrad, I gave myself my next goal - I want to get my master's and I want to have it within 2 years, and I did that. Then I wanted to have a successful career. I've been able to adapt with my situation and circumstances, and I've always set goals for myself, and I've always been able to check those goals off. Being a business owner, that's a goal that I set many, many years ago. It's just now coming into fruition because I'm a firm believer that things happen when it's time to happen. I'm a very driven person. I wake up in the morning and I know that I have to do it. There's no one else that's gonna do it for me, so you can't be lazy and you can't be just complacent. You have to have drive, and I'm finding that drive.

The best advice I've ever received is to take it a step at a time and don't get overwhelmed by the big picture. Break it out, work on pieces of it. Once you accomplish this, you move on to the next piece, and before you know it, you have a masterpiece. That's something that I try to bring with me on my day-to-day journey - don't get overwhelmed by what I want to eventually happen. Just make progress. This is something that I tell myself, that I've been told, and I continue to tell myself on a daily basis, especially in the journey that I'm on right now.

I would say if you can believe it, you can achieve it. That was one of my sayings from when I was a cotillion in 12th grade - if you can believe it, you can achieve it. Nothing to it but to do it. Use your resources. Talk to people. It's all about who you know. We don't know everything, right? But don't be afraid to go for what you want. Don't be afraid to talk about what you want to people, because you never know who's listening and you never know how they can help you. I'm a big proponent for helping people and asking for help, and that has worked for me so far.

For my industry, I would think the changes in the administration are the biggest challenge. Two years ago, government contracts was something that everyone aspired to get into because the government has a lot of work and a lot of money to give out, and that was probably true a couple years ago. Now, not so much. There are so many stipulations on getting into the business. However, I'm not letting those stipulations hinder me from making progress. It's just more work to do. There's more certifications probably needed. It's not as easy to get a government contract because you have a minority business or you are a disabled veteran - things like that used to be a walk-in for such a long time. Now, it isn't. So I think just the administration and the climate change is making it difficult for myself and people like myself that are trying to enter into this world. But again, I won't let that stop me. I know I can get there, it may take a little longer, but I will get there. I know I will meet the person or people that will help me get to where I need to be.

Honesty is most important to me - being an honest person, being true to yourself and the people around you. I think that goes hand-in-hand with work and home. Having a good work-home-life balance is very important to me. But I think if you do right by people, people will do right by you, and that's with everything that you do, whether it's home or work.