This week’s episode of Good Girls Get Rich is brought to you by Uplevel Media CEO and LinkedIn expert, Karen Yankovich. In this episode, guest Ashley Russo and Karen Yankovich discuss elevating your influence.
Ashley Russo, president of ASR Media Productions, is a five-time Emmy® award-winning executive producer and host of The PEAK TV and St. Luke’s HealthNow. A twenty-year media veteran, Ashley graduated from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is also the creator and host of the podcast, Unscripted with Russo. Additionally, Russo is the chief operating officer at General Magnaplate Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of engineered coating solutions. Ashley is the third generation to step into an executive role at the company founded by her grandparents, Charles and Sylvia, in 1952. At General Magnaplate, Ashley’s years of management experience are capitalized to improve efficiency and communication.
#GoodGirlsGetRich
We want to hear your thoughts on this episode! Leave us a message on Speakpipe or email us at info@karenyankovich.com.
About the Episode:
In today’s episode, we have a fantastic conversation with Ashley Russo, a remarkable entrepreneur, TV producer, and the host of the podcast “Unscripted with Russo.” Ashley’s journey is filled with insights and inspiration that can help you elevate your influence and create meaningful connections. So let’s dive into some key takeaways from our discussion.
Getting to Know Ashley Russo:
Ashley shares her background and talks about her transition from network TV to becoming an entrepreneur. She highlights the importance of crafting a compelling value proposition and building a strong network.
Unleashing the Power of Volunteering:
Ashley emphasizes the incredible impact of volunteer work in fostering connections and developing financial skills. Volunteering can be a powerful avenue for networking and discovering your unique value proposition.
Mastering Time Management and Embracing Atomic Habits:
Ashley delves into the significance of effective time management and recommends the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Prioritizing your goals and cultivating positive habits are essential ingredients for success.
Nurturing Relationships and Seizing Opportunities:
Building genuine relationships is the cornerstone of any successful venture. It’s all about genuinely caring about people and their aspirations. The art of having conversations and keeping relationships at the forefront of your journey.
How to Connect with Ashley Russo:
You can explore Ashley’s TV show, “The Peak TV,” and her company, ASR Media Productions, by visiting their respective websites. Don’t forget to tune in to Ashley’s podcast, “Unscripted with Russo,” available on various platforms.
Final Thoughts:
I encourage all of you to connect with Ashley and explore the incredible resources she offers. Sharing this podcast and engaging in two-way conversations with me is a fantastic way to show your support for the show.
By following Ashley Russo’s incredible journey and implementing the insights we’ve shared today, you can find the inspiration and practical strategies needed to elevate your influence, forge meaningful relationships, and leave a positive mark on your personal and professional life.
Episode Spotlights:
- Where to find everything for this week’s episode: https://karenyankovich.com/252
Magical Quotes from the Episode:
- “To really figure out what your value proposition is, you have to say it out loud to other people.” – Ashley Russo
- “Volunteerism is a huge part of the foundation of our company, because it’s important to me.” – Ashley Russo
- “The basis of all of it is relationships… it’s very important to infuse that first into yourself, then into your family, then into your business.” – Ashley Russo
- “We can use social media, we can use LinkedIn, we can use Twitter, Facebook, etc. We can use video, but none of that’s particularly useful until you’ve gotten to the point where you know what you’re trying to put out there.” – Ashley Russo
- “You’ve got to be networking… do you have a local chamber? Do you have a rotary club? Do you have a women’s group? Get yourself out there.” – Ashley Russo
Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
- Where you can find Ashley Russo:
- Sign up for the She’s LinkedUp Masterclass
- Join my free Facebook Group if you have any questions about today’s episode
Help Us Spread the Word!
It would be awesome if you shared the Good Girls Get Rich Podcast with your fellow entrepreneurs on twitter. Click here to tweet some love!
If this episode has taught you just one thing, I would love if you could head on over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW! And if you’re moved to, kindly leave us a rating and review. Maybe you’ll get a shout out on the show!
Ways to Subscribe to Good Girls Get Rich:
- Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts
- Click here to subscribe via PlayerFM
- You can also subscribe via Stitcher
- Good Girls Get Rich is also on Spotify
- Take a listen on Podcast Addict
Read the Transcript
Karen Yankovich 0:00
You’re listening to the good girls get rich podcast episode 252.
Intro 0:06
Welcome to the good girls get rich podcast with your host, Karen Yankovich. This is where we embrace how good you are girl. Stop being the best kept secret in town, learn how to use simple LinkedIn and social media strategies and make the big bucks.
Karen Yankovich 0:24
Hello, I’m your host Karen Yankovich. And I am so excited for this week’s episode. Ashley Russo brings the PR perspective to us that you know, I think is so important for you as you build your credibility and as we move into the next chapter of your career. But she brings it from the perspective of a television producer. So it was really fun to have this conversation and I think that you’re gonna get a ton of really great tips out of this episode. I know I did, and I can’t wait for you to meet Ashley Russo. I am so excited for our guest today. We have Ashley Russo with us today. She is the president of ASR Media Productions. She is a five time Emmy award winning executive producer and host of the peak TV and St Luke’s health now, a 20 year media veteran Ashley graduated from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter journalism Institute. She’s also the creator and host of the podcast unscripted with Russo. Additionally, Russo’s the Chief Operating Officer at General Magna play Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of engineered coding solutions, Ashley is a third generation to step into an executive role at this company that was founded by her grandparents, and they of course are taking advantage of her years of management experience. Ashley began her career as a producer on NBC Today Show Bloomberg LP and the weather channel for entrepreneurial spirit soon kicked in and she became a writer, independent producer and media consultant for numerous national publications and experts including Cook’s Illustrated Prevention Magazine Women’s Day and wieder publications a lifetime Horselover Russo is a multi time American Saddlebred world and national title equestrian she resides in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with her husband of 22 years Joe and her two children Nola and Rana and I skipped a whole bunch of stuff because she is so accomplished and does so much but asked him so happy to have you here
Ashley Russo 2:11
Thank you so much for having me, Karen. I really appreciate it. And that getting through all that I realized there’s a few edits that need to be it’s, like 25 years, you know, keep aging and they kept that 20 year
Karen Yankovich 2:21
No, right. And as long as that happens. Yeah. You know, that happens. Well, I love I you know, first of all, you know, we talked a couple seconds before we started recording this. And I just think I love that, that the spirit that you brought to what you’re doing now is really around just helping other people show up in the media, and you’re doing it from a place of actually knowing, knowing this, you’ve done this work, right. So I mean, we heard a lot about this in your bio. But tell me a little bit about you and your journey with all of this. Right you were you know, you began your career as a producer on NBC Today Show
Ashley Russo 2:56
and my career I would say in high school as writing for the school newspaper and become the editor of the paper. And then I went to NYU for for journalism and knew that I loved my my mom likes to say that this was a great profession for a nosy kid who never stopped talking or asking questions. So I was always curious. I’ve always liked people. I’ve always liked learning things. And so when I started to get a little taste for journalism and a very, very small scale in high school, I had the opportunity to do a little bit of freelance writing at that time, and I just loved it. So I really use that as a springboard to go to school for that field. Now, at the time, we’re talking about the mid 90s. You we really picked your field nowadays, it’s a little bit more, it’s a little broader. Kids today are learning a little bit more in their field than we were but I went for broadcast journalism. And I was really my next step was to join the radio station, where I discovered some amazing mentors. One of them is still a very good friend of mine today. And she went on to be a very successful producer for over 20 years with ABC bunch of their shows and now has a financial consulting business interestingly enough for Freelancer so I just I always joined in, and I joined that radio station W NYU at 9.1 FM, and I was able to be a reporter I had a news magazine show. I produced segments we used to actually have to cut tape. So you’d record people on tape and cut tape and tape tape it together. And then I went out and saw an internship. So I got an internship at NBC weekend today show back then it used to be today and weekend today. They were separate staffs, separate offices, same concept. And it was awesome because it was a pretty small stuff relative to the Today Show and I was able to have direct access with producers executive producers, writers the talent and learn a ton. I also did an internship at a PR firm. I also did an internship at Bloomberg. And so when it came down to a job I had a couple of offers and NBC said we’d like to bring you in. So I actually started as a researcher, which is what was the first title back then and worked my way up to associate producer and then left and went on to be a producer of my own right with my own first business. So I just I’m gonna say yes person. So I would say that at that time of my life, and certainly in the beginning of your career or shifts in your career, saying yes, and jumping is really important.
Karen Yankovich 5:17
Oh, my gosh, I love that so much. And you know, it’s interesting, because I hear you talk, you know, we talk a lot on this show about the power of publicity to for entrepreneurial women and freelancers and the power of having the credibility that that gives you right, but as you’re talking, one of the things, one of the things that I noticed a lot with the women that I work with is that there’s a lot of imposter syndrome. And you refer to that as the talent. And that’s really who I’m asking you to be right? I’m asking my listeners to be the talent, the people that are getting interviewed. And that’s a pretty big mindset job.
Ashley Russo 5:50
It is, it’s a really big shift for people. And I think that one of the things that’s happened in recent years is with the advent of social media, and the ability to reach people, and have your own voice and your own brand, can be and should be very powerful. Obviously, we know the negative side effects with kids and everything else. But from a personal perspective of entrepreneurs, leaders, people who want to be out out in the world sharing something, I think that gives you a great platform. So it’s really important, I believe, for people to think of themselves and their brands, sometimes people are uncomfortable with that concept. Both because they think it sounds like you’re sort of making something up, you’re turning yourself into a thing. But I think it’s really actually different than that. I think it’s owning your strengths. I think it’s owning what you bring to the community, what you bring to the world, what you bring to your business. And then it’s putting that out there sort of in a in a planned way in a way that’s thoughtful and meaningful. And I think the more you own your brand, and you find your voice, the more comfortable you get with interviews and with meeting people and with networking, and with growing your business and with asking for the right amount of money. And all that, to me starts with owning who you are, knowing your strengths, knowing your blind spots, and surrounding yourself with really good people who can help lift you up in that process.
Karen Yankovich 7:01
I love that. That’s so that’s awesome. And you know, I also think, though, that it also comes from, you know, what I hear a lot is people think that they’re bragging. And I like that you talked about owning it, right? Because there’s a there’s a fine line between owning and bragging. And it doesn’t. And it’s a by the way, it’s okay to brag. I mean, it’s okay to tell people what you did and, and be proud of what you did, right? But, but if you’re doing it from the energy of owning it, as opposed to the energy of bragging it, the sentence might be the same. But the energy that you’re delivering with it with is different. And it’s important, because who else is going to be telling people how great you are? Well, absolutely. And
Ashley Russo 7:37
I think that a lot of that you mentioned tone, but I also think your purpose, you know, where you’re coming from your intent really matters. So if your intent is to promote your team, if your intent is to offer people a service that you really feel passionately about our product you really feel passionately about that could change people’s lives, or a nonprofit that you have poured into, that’s changing your community. It’s about the intent, and and what you’re doing, it’s not so much about you. So there’s a way and that you can own it, and brag, but I think have the focus be maybe on the right thing. So, you know, I noticed you see entrepreneurs, I mean, they’re really passionate about what they do, because you have to be to survive. If you’re not passionate. And you don’t focus and work really hard and put it out there to the world and take risks and own that you have this thing that’s amazing, you won’t succeed. So by nature, you have that so if you’re not an entrepreneur, but you’re looking to be one, I would say that first step is really looking at yourself in your brand, your mission, and and hone that and think about things when I talk to women, one of the things I see a lot is they discount what I guess all of us as women sort of think is just a normal thing. So maybe you rent a house, maybe you ran a household for 20 years with six children, I got news for you, you have skills, I don’t have I only write maybe you volunteer hours a week in the community, and you’ve been on boards, and you’ve run fundraisers, those are transferable skills to all kinds of things. So don’t discount the time that maybe you’re putting into the community if especially if it’s non paid, or the time that you were working in home or with your family. I think those things have tremendous value, and can really propel you into the next phase of your life if that’s what you’re looking for.
Karen Yankovich 9:20
Are they absolutely do I you know, there was a woman that I was working with a bunch of years ago and she created the most awesome LinkedIn profile around her time working, being a home homeowner like a home care person, like a mom, stay at home mom, right? And it was awesome, because like you said, there’s a billion skills that you are pulling from and it was it was just awesome. I actually remember when my kids were little being at like, you know, PTA type meetings and things like that. And like looking at some of the skills that these people had like the bookkeeper of the PTAs, and things like that, and they don’t really get that those are really valuable skills and, and you’re right, the things that come easy to us are the ones we discount the most but really they’re the things that’s actually the Part of this the title of the show, when you focus on what you’re good at, that’s where the abundance comes into your life. You know, you don’t, doesn’t have to be hard for it to, you know, bring you a lot of wealth, it can be easy. And it’s easy when you focus on what you’re good at, as opposed to struggling with something that you think you need to be doing.
Ashley Russo 10:17
I think, too, there’s a lot of feeling, I certainly felt this way that we need to be good at everything. And we need to race and do everything. And sometimes that prevents us from really owning and feeling good about what we really feel good about. I think it’s okay to say, I hate invoicing. So as for instance, when I started my very first business, I had to do everything. So I had to learn how to invoice I had to learn how to do QuickBooks, and I’m glad that I know how. But as soon as I could afford not to was the first thing I dumped because I was terrible. I was always late. I hated doing it. It was like a whole buildup, I felt like I had to clean my house to sit in invoice. Because that was out of alignment with my strength, shoot me to a networking event put me on a concept call with a client to come up with a video idea. I’m all in. Right. That’s my strength. And so I started to arm myself with people who could play to that. But I think you know, we do it. All right, women do it all home work society. And so we kind of think we have to and asking for help. And saying, this is your strength, not mine, I would love you to be on my team and support me on that is so liberating. When people start to let go, you can actually embrace so much more. And it’s just a very hard thing. It was hard for me, I didn’t do it easily at first. But now that I’ve sort of mastered it, I’m pretty quick to say where I need help and bring my circle in, you know, expand my circle and expand my reach.
Karen Yankovich 11:37
Yeah, I love that. And you know, here’s the thing, the more you focus on first filling your own cup, that allows you to do that with the overflow, right? So, so focusing on like, I like to focus on the highest ticket opportunities first as an entrepreneur, right. And a lot of people especially if they’re coming from like corporate going into entrepreneurism, they feel like they need to start at the bottom. But you’re coming to this, if you’re like over 20, you’re coming to this with lots of years of expertise, even if you don’t feel like you have the experience in what you’re currently doing now, right? So, so remembering that and owning that and, and looking for opportunities at the highest end of what you do. So that you’re very quickly bringing the cash in to pay people to help you is so too much, it’s so much faster, to get where you want to go, then starting out at the bottom and making $20 and then $40 and try to compete with the guy down the street that charges $50. And you know, and I think
Ashley Russo 12:29
it is challenging to figure out which opportunities to pursue. But one of the things that was a big turning point positively for ASR media, which is my television and video production company, is we started creating contract clients. So much like industries, such as PR or marketing, where you have a retainer, and someone pays you monthly to do the work. Video is not like that, it tends to be one off, we need this, we need that social media started to shift that. And then COVID Put a major emphasis on it, everybody realized they needed a whole lot more content than they had. So now that became what was our foundation in the business to be able to pay the bills, right? So we work in a way where we’re always looking for clients who are looking for a stream of content across a bunch of different mediums, whether it be social media, and event, their website, any of those things, and we try to get them into something long term. So it’s, it’s it is it’s a longer sell, it’s a harder sell, you have to really over deliver, right, they become your VIP clients. But to your point that gives you some freedom to decide what kind of projects you want to take on to decide equipment you want to buy and hire the right people. So it’s pretty rewarding if you can find a revenue stream that allows you that freedom. Yeah, and
Karen Yankovich 13:42
I do think you can, I think you can, but we have to be intentional and understand that we are worthy of that. You know, we’re worthy of that revenue stream. You know, tell me a little bit more about though about you. So you have a couple different things you’ve got going on, right? You’ve got ASR Media Productions, you’ve got the PTV. Tell me a little bit about what you’ve got going on?
Ashley Russo 13:59
Sure. So the story actually is that I was a stay at home mom for a few years, I left network TV, I had my own production company when I worked with some of those magazines you listed. And I did that until my son was two and I was five months pregnant with my daughter. At that point, my husband was taking a job in a different state. We moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. And my network was very New York based. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed having two kids and a husband too, as a physician. So he takes was taking call every three nights at that point. So I decided that I had the opportunity and I was going to stay home for a little bit. My husband laughs when I say that, because he’s like, you weren’t really home that much. You were either dragging the kids somewhere or volunteering. So I started to take my skill set and turn it into a volunteer that was fundraising, helping plan events, things like that, because it’s exactly the same process as producing a segment for television. And that was incredibly rewarding. And I also started helping doing some media. We have a small media market here. We’re not a major market, but I was able to build some connections and help do some PR for some of these organizations as a volunteer law. I’m story short, I got noticed by the, at the time the Vice President of Marketing for one of the hospital systems here who thought maybe I would do some consulting. And when we met, and he found out that I had actually worked in TV and knew about production and how to pull it together, he said, Well, actually, we’ve had an idea for something that would tell patient stories, but it needs to be bigger than that. And I got six months and a little bit of seed money. And I created a rundown a 30 minute rundown for a show, but that’s now known as the peak TV. And we cover health, wellness, and community. And we do lots of fun stuff, too. And it’s evergreen, so you can really watch it anytime and learn something positive about our region. But as soon as I did that, I was doing it with freelancers, which is extremely expensive. So I realized that the only way for this to be sustainable would be to actually have a production company. So I grabbed another mom who worked in marketing at this kid’s school. She’s a superstar, she now has her own business that spun out of our business. So very excited for her and proud of that. And I hired a young woman right out of a local college has a phenomenal video and film department called to sales University. And together, we just did it. We did it. And what we do is we go film stories. And those places, whether they were a nonprofit or business often would ask, do you do other video work? And that’s really when I kept saying yes, often not knowing how we’d get it done or not having enough people on the staff and things like that I soon within a few months, I’d hire two more people who were all friends in college at film school.
Karen Yankovich 16:23
And how great is that? Yeah, pretty great. I want to just take a minute to remind you that in our shoes linked up program, all the things Ashton are talking about today are the things we work with you on in this program. You know, once you learn this PR process, there is no cost to you, you don’t need a $10,000 publicist to get the kind of visibility that PR is going to get you it gives you credibility as you’re building out your next chapter. It’s so powerful, and it’s such a powerful part of our LinkedIn strategy. And some of the women in our program you’re gonna hear from some of them in the next few weeks, are killing it with this PR strategy. And what it does is it helps you build your email list, build your your visibility, build your credibility, all the things that are going to skyrocket you into that wealthy woman of influence that I am here to help you be. So if you want to know more about what it’s like to hang out with the beautiful women in this program to get these strategies for you in your business. Just grab a spot on our calendar, Karen yankovich.com/call gets you there, I’d love to see your name on the calendar.
Ashley Russo 17:28
People have gone on we have a I’ve always had the policy that I want to support people get wherever they’re going. So I don’t expect ASR media to be their final resting stop, if we’re just a stop on the way. We are very hands on so much like my experience at the radio station. Much like my experience that weekend today, I had strong female role models, who allowed me to do all kinds of stuff that usually right out of school or in school, you would not be able to do. I’ve always brought that philosophy forward to my team, we have a really robust internship program, I’d say half of my employees over the years have come out of that program. And another half dozen have moved on. And I’ve always said, Tell me where you want to go. We’re a small business give me lots of warning, we’re not a two week notice kind of company Give me three months. But we’ll write I’ll write the letter, I’ll make the calls. We’ll get you where you need to go. And I’m really proud to see where people have gone from our little startup production company in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Karen Yankovich 18:20
That’s so cool. That’s so cool. So okay, so I’m a woman listening to the show right now thinking, Okay, I need to be the talent I need to get, I need to get more visibility, and where do they start? Like, what is where do you? What do you recommend? Cuz it sounds like, you can support them with some of the visibility tools, right? But how do they even get from there to there? Like, if you’re a producer, for segments on the Today Show? Who are you looking for? How do you find people? How do I? Well, I or I’m listening? How do I become one of those people? Yeah, you
Ashley Russo 18:48
have to create a pitch. I mean, I think you have to create a value proposition, what are you selling, whether that’s an idea of book, a product, you know, a lifestyle thing. So it’s a value proposition. And I think that you build that over time, I would say that really, really, to me, the very first place you start is you’ve got to be networking. So volunteer, because that’s phenomenal for community. It’s a great way to learn financial skills. I learned more about finance, by sitting on boards, with CFOs of huge companies near here. And I was on the board with them. So here I am this little startup business owner, but I served on committees and then got on a significant board. I learned from the people I was serving it. So get on a committee volunteer at something, it’ll give you back 10 times more than then you give to it first of all, and I would say look, do you have a local chamber? Do you have a rotary club? Do you have a women’s group? Does your library run anything? Get yourself out there? Because I think to really figure out what your value proposition is, you have to say it out loud to other people. And yes, we can use social media. We can use LinkedIn, we can use Twitter, Facebook, etc. We can use video, but none of that’s particularly useful until you’ve gotten to the point where you know what you’re trying to put out there. And then I would say, don’t wait for it to be perfect. Just start the engine and get into gear. For me, I like to say it’s important that you stay in here. Don’t I always say don’t we’re in neutral. Worrying a neutral, is you’re never doing anything. So I would rather you took a step forward, that turns out to be the wrong step. Because it led you to the next step, which means it really wasn’t wrong. It just you the path might go like little data paths are wiggly. Yeah, but that’s okay. It’s better than doing nothing. So do something. And you talked about, you know, scheduling time and how I think time management is incredibly important. I would say that there’s a book called atomic habits by James clear, if you haven’t read it, please go read it get the audiobook, such a great book. It’s it’s a like, it’s just a game changer. Anyone who tells me they don’t have time. We talk through what they’re doing and how they’re prioritizing and generally it’s not being prioritized correctly. And so if, if staying fit and healthy is important to you, it’s important to me. I have four days a week that I have a workout scheduled in the morning crack of dawn before work starts. Do I want to get up most of the time? No. Do I like it? Never. What is that important to me? Is that a goal for me as I’m approaching 50? It absolutely is. So guess what it is the first thing in my calendar. And very rarely I have taken. I took a board meeting once on Zoom without the video on while I did my workout. And then when it was my turn, I came on all sweaty and whatever I was like I’m here, I’m listening, I’m participating. My physical health is important. And my workout doesn’t end till 730. Can you start at seven?
Karen Yankovich 21:37
Oh, that’s awesome. That’s awesome.
Ashley Russo 21:39
I think that’s that’s something I really like to strive with people is to say, really try to do the time management and look at look at how you spend your time.
Karen Yankovich 21:47
Yeah, I was at my daughter’s and she’s in her late 20s. And she I saw that book on her on her shelf. And I was like, Oh, I didn’t even comment on it. Because like, you know, years of Did you do your homework? Did you do this? Did you know Did you fill out this application of that? Seeing that book in her house was like so gratifying because I’m like, All right, listen, somewhere in there. She read it because you bought it. So I felt like that I
Ashley Russo 22:08
listened to part of that book, the second time as an audio book when I was driving my daughter who’s now 19 In college, but at the time didn’t have her license. And she’d hear snippets. And it was amazing how many times it popped up, she ended up writing a paper on essentially habits she had formed during COVID for college, and you’re like, Okay, I guess she was listening those different grades.
Karen Yankovich 22:29
Right? That’s awesome. That’s awesome. This is so good. This is so valuable. I think that I love that you are just encouraging women. You know, one of the things, one of the things you said I want to just kind of reinforce because I think it’s important, because sometimes we can go down this rabbit hole of to do’s in our business, I gotta make money, I gotta do this, I gotta get a client, I gotta serve my clients. You talked about volunteering, and I completely agree with that I can, I would, I can think of so many examples. In my life and in people’s lives that people I know where the volunteering took them. Some of in fact, some of the most successful people I know, got where they are, because they started by volunteering something. Right? So So you know, and I remember the first time I joined the Chamber of Commerce, I didn’t do anything. And then I’m like, I need to be on a board. The only way I’m gonna do, the only way I’m gonna go to these meetings is if I’m on a board, and then I was on a board and I started, you know, I created a conference for them. And, you know, and I met a ton of people that way. Right? So, but it came from volunteering, and that is a part of the networking that you talked about, right? And all of those things, you know, it’s interesting, I was at a kind of a like a retreat this past weekend. So I’m coming into this conversation a little you if you can’t if probably if you don’t know me, you’re like, This is you. Chill Karen but this is chill, Karen, I guess a little chill Karen, a little taller than normal, maybe. But we talked a little bit about like everything and nothing right. Like, we think that all the things we do are the is the everything that used to happen in our business. But sometimes, it’s the things that we think are nothing that are the most important things. You don’t I mean, the volunteering, the things like that, that we don’t really see the we can’t really pinpoint the value. Those are sometimes the most important things for us to do not necessarily the things we can actually drive the draw the path to the value.
Ashley Russo 24:09
Absolutely. And that’s part of putting yourself out there. That’s part of saying yes, and fulfilling your sort of Mind, Body Spirit, however you’d like to look at it. But I volunteerism is a huge part of the foundation of our company, because it’s important to me. So most of my employees, about half sit on boards, the other half volunteer at something, and it’s just something that we do we do a United Way Campaign collectively, we have 100% participation. And I’m really proud of that. And I think that it’s very important to infuse that first into yourself, then into your family then into your business. It will it’ll it’ll absolutely, absolutely pay you back. So find something you love. I mean, who knows it could be going and playing with dogs in a shelter it can be it really doesn’t matter what it is. But something that fulfills you and I you’ll get a lot out of it and you’ll create a ton of opportunity for yourself that maybe you don’t know All right off the bat, but it will happen. If you’re not an extrovert, get a buddy, get a friend, hold yourself accountable. I’m a big I said about scheduling and habits. I’m a big calendar person, I think if you want something to happen, you’ve got to put it in your calendar. I walk around you guys listening can’t see it. But I walk around with my 36 ounce, no 32 ounce water bottle with little reminders. And by the afternoon, I’ve usually gone through too, and I’m like, Okay, hit my water. anything extra is a bonus. Right? Right, right. Just creating those reminders and habits. And what I love about that book atomic habits is he opens the book talking about nobody wakes up and runs a marathon. So if you want to do that, what do you do? You wake up and you put your sneakers at the edge of your bed. It’s just a great analogy of how we can do things in our life and get and accomplish them with very small steps.
Karen Yankovich 25:47
Oh my gosh, so valuable, so valuable. So Ashley, tell me a little bit about how people can find you and learn more about you. And sure, how can people stay connected to you?
Ashley Russo 25:56
Yeah, well, first of all, if you’d ever like to check out our show, our website is the peak PE A K tv.com, the peak tv.com You can find us on social media, but also on our website, you can see past episodes. It’s all great positive stories of, of people’s individual and collective success. So I think people out there would enjoy it and relate to it. And our company is ASR media productions.com. And we’re happy to discuss anything anytime with anyone about what we do and how if we can ever be a resource or assistance, even if we don’t do the work, happy to do that, as well. So and you can listen to my podcast on scripted, with Russo on Apple, podcast, Spotify, or online.
Karen Yankovich 26:38
I can see that I can see that. Well, we’re gonna put links to all of this in the in the show notes here. So people to make it really easy for people to be able to find you. And this has been great, this has been great, I am definitely going to take a deeper dive into what you’ve got going. And I look forward to seeing work. No, but thank you so much for doing this. I think there’s a lot of things you said today that, you know, that apply so universally, to to people that are really trying to step into a new dynamic for their life, a new chapter of their life. Right. And it starts with you feeling the confidence in showing up and, and doing that. And, you know, one of the big tenants of Yeah, and one of the big tenants of all the work that I do really is have the conversation because you just don’t know where that conversation is gonna go. Right. So that’s where that volunteer is it comes in, that’s where you’re, you know, I remember having a conversation one time somebody in my local neighborhood when my kids were younger, and I’m like, you know, drinking a beer and a hotdog and shorts and a T shirt. And then I realized what I was taught, like I was talking to somebody that can be really valuable. And I’m like, Alright, like, how do I switch this gear? Because this is a really good conversation, right? Like, so you just don’t know when that’s gonna happen.
Ashley Russo 27:43
The basis of all of it is relationships. Exactly. Exactly the genuine interest in people and what they’re trying to achieve and where they’re headed. That how many to all kinds of opportunities and conversations, especially when you keep it like that. So
Karen Yankovich 27:55
great. All right, we’re gonna end on that note, because that says it all. Thanks so much for being here. Ashley.
Ashley Russo 27:59
Thanks, Karen.
Karen Yankovich 28:01
Oh, my gosh, I learned so much from Ashley Russo. I know, this is one of the reasons why I love having a podcast, I get to meet just some of the coolest women in the world. So if you I totally recommend that you follow Ashley on our social media, all the links are in the show notes for this episode. And check her out and connect with her on LinkedIn and bring her into your world the way I’ve brought her into my world. And this is how we all start to build this network of strong, successful, smart, amazing women around us right. And only good things happen when you do that. Remember, that actually is linked up. We are creating wealthy women of influence. I would love to talk to you to see if it’s a fit to get you some support. As you move into the next chapter of your life and your business. Just go on over to Karen yankovich.com/call. There’s a link. anywhere you’re listening to the show. There’s a link in the notes for this. And I’d love to see your name on our calendar. I’d also love if you love this episode, I’d love for you to share this. Right we come out with a new episode for you every week. I’ve got my LinkedIn quiz to help you get started on LinkedIn at LinkedIn quiz.com. We’ve got a lot of complimentary ways for you to learn how to just set your foundation. And the way we continue to do this is by you sharing this podcast right with your audience. So if you share this podcast with your audience, take a quick screenshot, share it on your social media tag me tag, Ashley, we all get more visibility. And it just helps us with our strategy to help provide this content to you every single week. So take a quick screenshot and tell your audience what you loved about this episode. Also, in the show notes, there’s a link for SpeakPipe where you can leave me an audio message. I love getting your audio messages. I respond to every single one of them personally. So just go on over to Karen yankovich.com/ 252. You’ll see all the details for this episode and the link for that. And it allows us to be more of a two way conversation right? It’s not just me speaking at you. I get to have a conversation with you. The bottom line is this can be simple for you. Let’s do this together and I’ll be back here next week with another episode.