“Initially people didn’t really know
who I was or what I did, if you
just look over and see a younger
looking female you think brand
ambassador or promo girl, so I
don’t think they knew to take
me very seriously, WHICH WAS
THEIR MISTAKE.”
136 | VM23
Getting twenty minutes of Ashley’s time to sit down and
chat with her is not easily accomplished: she is a woman
in demand. Between catching clients, customers and
industry friends; to business meetings, presentations
and manning the stand alongside her team, the Vaper
Expo is Ashley’s playground and she’s been playing
hard all weekend by the time we talk.
Despite the non-stop hustle of a packed schedule,
Ashley is entirely present when we do finally meet.
There’s no complacency or diverted attention spans, no
responses coming from behind the screen of a phone,
she’s here to talk and – above all – she’s here to listen.
“I am always listening,” she tells me when I ask about her
experiences of being a woman in the vaping industry. “I
am always listening and I’m always paying attention; I
like to think strategically.”
It’s this strategic way of thinking that has been the
lynchpin of her success in what is, undoubtedly, a male-
dominated industry but one that she adores, nonetheless.
She says: “Initially people didn’t really know who I was
or what I did. If you just look over and see a younger
looking female you think brand ambassador or promo
girl, so I don’t think they knew to take me very seriously,
which was their mistake.”