We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Vance a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My goal has always been to uplift brands and business owners with marketing tools they can use to tell their stories. That’s why I started The Write Brand Agency six years ago, and that’s also why I recently launched my newest venture: Content Day ATL.

“Content Day” serves the creative community as a production group combined with an event series, allowing young professionals of all backgrounds with a space to create content that represents their brand. By curating events focused on the goal of creating digital assets (like “Headshot Hangouts,” for example), we’re brining together some of Atlanta’s brightest minds for a collaborative networking experience.

That’s our mission. To make content creation less of a necessary evil, and more of an enjoyable pleasure for which business owners, brands and creatives of all backgrounds can utilize professional help!

Ashley , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Ashley Vance, and I’m the founder and CEO of Content Day ATL, and Production Group x Event Series dedicated to serving Atlanta creatives and young professionals by supplying them with digital media assets.

Like many of my fellow ATL-iens, I started my digital media journey as a Georgia State student, double majoring in Journalism and Film & Video, but I’ve been passionate about storytelling for as long as I remember. My first “major” role in the industry as A3C’s editor-in-chief really shaped my career and put and put me on the path to entrepreneurship. Since then, I’ve done just about everything under the multi-media umbrella, from managing brands to covering live events as an entertainment journalist.

I’ve always provided services that help people communicate with others more effectively, and I doubt that will ever change! Even my newest venture, Content Day, puts me in the privilege position to help people create visual content that helps tell their story. I think the thing that sets me a part the most is my desire to help people in any way that I can, whether it be writing an Instagram caption or choosing which of their shoot-photos are most iconic. The more people I help, the more successful I feel.

I mostly proud of all of the connection’s I’ve made along the way; I wouldn’t be starting this new business if I didn’t have a team of photographers, event planners, graphic designers, etc., in my arsenal. I’m also proud of the support I’m getting for “Content Day” so early in our journey. As we inch towards our first event on Oct. 16th, the community support has been somewhat overwhelming, but rewarding. It’s going to be a true pleasure to service Atlanta in such a unique way!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In order to truly commit to launching “Content Day,” I had to terminate my former business, The Write Brand Agency.

It was a hard, but necessary decision that lead to me realizing my greater purposed. My previous role as a manager of a team of writers and graphic designers didn’t allow me to “be in the field” with our clients and customers, which made me feel disconnected to the content creation process I’d grown to love so much.

Understanding when to pivot, is pivotal in itself. Before I made the commitment to start. a new brand, I had to be honest with myself on whether or not I’d still be able to manage the old one. This internal dilemma also lied in re-inventing myself as a behind-the-scenes girl to someone who stood in the center of the spotlight. Will people still support me? Does this change what I bring to the table? Will anyone view me as credible anymore?

But these are all questions I had to realize only mattered if I didn’t believe in myself in my abilities. So I pushed them to the side, and made the decision that fulfilled my purpose and my joy.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

When it comes to managing a team, the best thing to do, is to make their vision, your vision.

It can be hard to get people to help you fulfill your dreams, which is why you have to be more willing to help other people achieve theirs. Not because you know it’s good karma, but because you know it means you’re a good person. By seeing their vision for the dreams, it’s much easier for me to find out how they can also help me achieve what needs to be done in the process. That’s what keeps morale high; putting people first in a world that’s detrimentally selfish, and making sure everyone’s individuality is both recognized and respected.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.contentday-atl.com
• Instagram: @contentday.atl / @ayevance

Image Credits
Chris Triplett shot all photos