Ponder With Ashley

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.What happens when you achieve everything you were supposed to achieve and still feel completely empty?For Hema, it took being taken to the ER by ambulance and asking if she would make her 1pm meeting, trekking to Everest base camp, sitting in an IVF transfer room and realizing she did not want kids, and walking away from a thriving company with 90 consultants worldwide before she finally asked herself the one question she had never once

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.If you have been listening to Ponder With Ashley for the founder interviews, welcome to something new.This is the first Pondering Prompt on the podcast. Every week Ashley drops a short focused question designed to help you move your business forward. These prompts are inspired by questions she is asking herself as she builds and they are the same prompts that have been running on the YouTube channel every week. Now they are here too so you

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.What do you do when you spend 8 months building something and nobody pays for it? For Kyle, the answer was to listen more carefully to what his market was actually asking for and start over. In this honest and practical conversation, Ashley sits down with Kyle Bowen, the founder of a leadership development consulting firm, to talk about what it actually looks like to pivot your entire business model, price your services in a way that

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.Have you ever considered leaving corporate America but stayed because of health insurance?For consultants, freelancers, fractional executives, gig workers, and other self-employed professionals, figuring out healthcare can be one of the biggest barriers to leaving a traditional job.Brian Znamirowski experienced that problem firsthand.Brian is the founder of Fractional Healthcare, a platform created to help independent professionals find

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.Your charitable giving needs a strategy.What if corporate philanthropy could support employee retention, recruitment, client relationships, and business growth while still creating meaningful impact in the community?Emily Zimmon spent more than a decade working in the nonprofit sector before recognizing a problem on the other side of the table: many of the companies funding nonprofits were overwhelmed by their own charitable giving.They

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.Sales doesn’t have to give you the ick.If sales feels like the hardest part of running your business, you’re not alone. You probably don’t need another rigid sales script or someone else’s formula. You need to find an approach to selling that actually feels like you.Joe Hinderstein is the founder of Joe Hinderstein Healthcare Consulting, an independent sales consulting firm primarily serving the healthcare industry. His work sits at the

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.How do you get your first clients when you’re starting a business or consulting practice?Annia Mercado believes founders need to stop hiding behind their websites and start selling.Annia is the founder of Unique Blend Consulting, where she helps early-stage founders build sales confidence, land their first clients, and create the systems they need to start generating revenue.Before entrepreneurship, Annia worked in corporate banking and

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.Welcome to Ponder With Ashley, a podcast dedicated to helping entrepreneurs, founders, consultants, and business owners grow their businesses through practical strategies, authentic leadership, and real-world lessons. In this introduction, Ashley Waddington, founder of Ponder This Consulting, shares her journey of building a consulting business from the ground up after being laid off. Starting with no referrals, no large network, and no