We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Coffey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

Through the pandemic, I decided to leave the corporate world because my passion for supporting women in leadership grew. I found that no matter what consulting job I took or what CEO I coached to build their teams, the conversations were the same; women were still continuously being left out of important conversations, denied growth opportunities and the pay gap was going unchecked. So, I decided to move my consulting business into a coaching business that focuses on the feminine leadership process; normalizing it, supporting it, and empowering it. I have taken on all kinds of Lady Leaders across Colorado since then and I find my work incredibly rewarding.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Ashley Coffey Coaching is a reflective coaching education program that takes on powerful Lady Leaders who want to step fully into their GREATNESS. We welcome any Lady Leaders who are ready to receive powerful, life-changing tools that will support them in navigating living a BIG life. ACC supports feminine leaders in discovering their true confidence, self-expression, and how to take a stand that inspires others effectively. We do this by providing a safe and supportive platform for women to look and reflect on their own leadership, authenticity, and impact in the world. Ashley Coffey Coaching has been my dream since I was in my undergrad. I have always been passionate about helping others discover their power but I knew I didn’t want to be a therapist. So over the last 10 years, my coaching program has been growing and developing. It’s not easy and finally taking the leap to take on clients 3 years ago was just as scary as it was exciting. However, I can’t coach women to trust their instinct, if I wasn’t going to trust mine. I had the skill, I had the education, and I had the experience. All I needed was the right brand to attract the women I wanted to take on coaching.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My story is long and complicated. Having experienced child abuse and trauma, being an adult survivor of domestic violence, having gotten pregnant at the age of 20, and was a single mom by the time I was 23, to who I am today, It must look like I’m a master of resiliency. The truth of it all, is that I take it one day at a time, reminding myself I ALWAYS have a choice in the matter. We are not victims to our lives when we choose not to be. Again, not easy, but worth it. The road is more challenging at times when deep self-reflection is needed and I won’t lie that it takes grit but know you are not alone on this journey and the lessons you gain will change your life for the better.
My life lessons opened my eyes to the real world around me; specifically, its beliefs about women in general, women’s sexualities, women as business professionals, women as mothers and wives, and women as objects. What I repeatedly found was more and more people, even other women, telling me what I could and couldn’t do because I was a woman. I remember the judgment I would get for being a young mother, wanting to finish school or god forbid taking a night to go out with friends. I remember being called entitled for wanting more pay and told to wait my turn while the less experienced male got the higher positions I applied for. I remember when a boss took credit for my hard work because it would “look better” for the company. I remember every time I was asked to smile more and talk less. My personal favorites were all the times I was asked about my credentials to prove my worth in a conversation. I remember every single one.
I also remembered my choice in the matter, and no one could take that away from me. The more I stood in that choice, the more I wanted to teach other women how to do it, with just as much power and grace. So that is what I started doing.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The reputation you have as a leader is always a reflection. It’s feedback you can choose to take on and make meaning out of. The power of your reputation in the beginning is undeniable. Your past clients, how you left old jobs, your relationships with authority, etc, are all going to be in play when you start. Make sure it’s clean! Clean doesn’t mean roll over but it does mean you need to get comfortable having completion conversations. New doors won’t open until your past doors are closed. This action is the only way you will manifest what you want. For you to walk fully and powerfully into a new chapter, make sure people are going to recommend you. Referrals build trust and if you don’t have trust, why would anyone want to coach with you? So, if you burned a bridge, you may want to look at that and do some repairs. If you have a past professional relationship that ended with disrespect, apologize. For you to be a coach who is credible, you have to practice what you preach. Then, your reputation will speak for itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashleycoffeycoaching.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram/ashleycoffeycoaching
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshleyCoffeyCoaching/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin/ashleycoffeycoaching

Image Credits
Photography done by Trang Le & Barbara Morrison