We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Ashley Gaddy Robbins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Ashley below.

Hi Dr. Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Social Justice has always been embedded in my everyday life. I received a NAACP Lifetime Membership card for my 11th birthday, so that should give an idea of how my parents really believed in the fight for justice. Throughout my college journey, I focused on making people feel more visible by amplifying stories that were often hidden. I also had public speaking and training experience in my professional career. Time and time again I would sit in trainings where I left feeling blamed, attacked, and not considered. There was a lack of humanity in the development and delivery. I knew I could do better than what I was experiencing. So, I went for it! I made a flyer, started an Instagram page and promoted myself. I did not have a business plan, I was very nervous, but I knew people deserved to feel connected to the content and be given a message authentically. From there, Ashley Gaddy Enterprises was born.

Dr. Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I first heard my calling in my early years and followed that voice in pursuit of advocating for equity in underserved communities and for underrepresented groups. I serve as the founder and head consultant of Ashley Gaddy Enterprises, an organizational culture agency which focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion using authentic approach to center humanity. I have previously worked in Higher Education, Corporate Sales, and Telecommunications serving in all organizational levels. I believe that normalizing authenticity in the workplace leads to happier and more successful teams. I also believe that true leadership requires the awareness of one’s values and purpose, and I leverage that foundation as I build and implement winning people and culture strategies.

I am born and raised on the southside of Raleigh, North Carolina and received my Bachelor’s in Communication Studies and Master’s in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and PhD in Cultural Studies at George Mason University. Social Justice Education and Social Change are my passion areas and I enjoy watching individuals transform during their liberation journey.

As a Black woman who has worked mostly in predominately white spaces in the south, I spend much time advocating for vulnerable identity groups and centering their power of everyday people. My research & practitioner focuses on race and gender equity, power, inclusive leadership, DEI in practice, institutional equity using mixed methods assessment, and also serve as faculty in Communication Studies at UNCW teaching Interracial Communication.

As the daughter of an Executive Director of a non-profit, I have personally witnessed the ongoing work and dedication that is required to serve communities. I am a wife, Amma to 4 girls, and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

I help organizations take care of the people who are already in the organization. Most often, organizations want to focus on recruiting and hiring, however, the people who already work there deserve an infrastructure and leadership who create inclusive spaces and a focus on equity. I do this by offering training and workshops, organizational assessment and strategy development, and guidance and advisory. I have found that guidance and advisory extremely helpful right now as organizations and people try to figure out how they are going to navigate these changing times.

I also provide keynotes and educational conversations for conferences, summits, retreats, seminars, etc. I love speaking about the intersections of me and how we can use our own identities to advance justice. Whether it is a mom conference speaking to the power motherhood in social justice or large Human Resources conferences speaking to building inclusive and authentic spaces, I handcraft topics of all types for what the audiences need.

What sets Ashley Gaddy Enterprises apart from others is the authentic approach and focus on everyday people. I am often amazed by how rare authenticity is in our personal and professional lives. I release this idea of code switching to truly connect with audiences and show up as myself fully in my identities. This humanizes the experience. My method is a combination of data and storytelling, and this approach is one that can allow for handling uncomfortable topics with humility. While some of my work directly works with executive and senior leaders, it is always my connection to everyday people that I center to help organizations and audiences understand their power. Corporations, industries, organizations, systems, are nothing without the people who press past challenges every day and continue to show up.

I am most proud of the ability to create relationships and do good work. People refer me because they know I have the knowledge, experience, and education; however, I deliver it in a way where anyone can understand. The more we understand, the better we can be. I want ALL people to do better.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My doctoral journey was one that truly tested my resilience and ignited by grit. I enrolled in 2013 and finished in 2023. I struggled with understanding the environment, the writing process, and how to make connections with faculty. I was the only Black woman, Black person for that matter, in my cohort and I needed support. After almost a year of being in the program, I was told that maybe I should reconsider moving forward. This crushed me. But even though I was working full time, moved to three different states, paused for a semester, got married and had a baby, I finished. I am a doctor.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started my side hustle in my office at my full-time job LOL! I was so determined to get started that I just created the flyer and Instagram page right there. My colleagues kept telling me that I was really good at presenting hard topics in a way that made people feel seen. There was no blame, shame, or guilt as a part of my philosophy, however, there was grace and accountability. This meant that thoughts and behaviors still needed to change, but it was not my job to blame anyone because of their identity. My colleagues believed in my approach and delivery and became my first clients. As soon as they moved onto a new job, they hired me to deliver trainings and keynotes, and this is how I got started. In these 6 years, 93% of my business were from referrals.

In 2022, while pregnant with my daughter, I kept feeling this tug to branch out and turn my side hustle into the real deal and go full time. After having my daughter and recovering from a c-section, which was really the first time I was able to truly REST, the decision was final.

In December of 2022, I left my full-time job and became a full-time entrepreneur. I talked to my husband, he said he had my back. We knew we were entering inconsistent territory, but we promised to figure it out.

I have been figuring it out since then and it has been the best professional decision I have made.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ashleygaddyenterprises.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashley_gaddy_enterprises/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@agaddy1231/featured

Image Credits

Casha Mosley
Shots by Cash
JC Penney Portraits