Her Story
About Ashley
Before entering workforce development, I was in early childhood education. I have my bachelor's degree in psychology from Lehman College in New York, and I was teaching preschool, first grade, even third grade. When I moved to the state of Connecticut, I literally happened to go to a job fair, and that introduced me to the workforce world. I began working for an agency called American Job Center with ECWIS, and I fell in love with the success story process and helping people get from literally unemployed to employed and into their own career fields. I found just great excitement and success, and I've also been able to grow within my position. I am not only a workforce specialist, I am a facilitator of job readiness workshops. My main area of expertise is job readiness and workforce development as a whole, including all the sectors that fall in it, like applying for jobs, resume building, and interview coaching. My most notable professional achievement is my career coaching skills - I have been able to take people from unemployment and hardship to literally having successful careers within the span of months. I'm a young girl from the Bronx, New York, Puerto Rican, and I think that in itself has made me who I am today. I'm able to accept people from all walks of life with no bias, and that's definitely helped me in my career.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ashley
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would definitely have to say I am what you call a go-getter. I'm always looking at skills-based trainings, conferences, places where I can be to advance myself. That's just like a personal thing for myself, but I will also say my mentors and people that I've met along the way that kind of guided me into the rooms have been crucial to my success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If I had to give the biggest advice, it doesn't matter where you start, it matters where you are finishing. I'm a big Drake fan, and he has that saying, you know, like, started from the bottom, now we're here. I would definitely say there is no shame in where you start. It's all about just getting your foot in the door. And that has helped me throughout every stage of my career. I started, you know, teaching in daycares, earning $17, $16 an hour, and now I'm a workforce specialist earning close to $35. Every stepping stone leads you somewhere.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I know that you may be aware of what's going on with AI and what's coming, and there are very large mass layoffs. I work in workforce development, so I am directly seeing how this is affecting our communities. People who have worked in their careers 10-plus years are now losing their jobs, and this has been dramatically impacting people's lives. As someone working in this field, it's about keeping that hope, like, hey, jobs are not lost. Yes, you're seeing on TikTok that nobody's hiring. That is not true. I'm just eliminating that rhetoric, because a lot of young people I speak to think that entry-level jobs are totally gone. It's not. As things happen politically, people get nervous, and they get scared, and it begins to shift people's ideas on what is really going on. So that's been the biggest thing.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Some of the values I bring from my personal life into my work life are integrity - always just, if I say I'm gonna do something, do it. And if I can't, making sure that communication is always open. I'm a young girl from the Bronx, New York, Puerto Rican, and I think that in itself has made me who I am today. I'm able to accept people from all walks of life with no bias. That's definitely helped me in my career.
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