Meet Eva Ash

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eva Ash. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eva, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I grew up in a small town in western Canada, a place I couldn’t wait to get out of when I grew up. For as long as I remember I wanted to be a journalist. I was a passionate writer and loved telling stories.

Throughout my childhood, my Mom started her own business in childcare. She worked weekends, and evenings, and long days. She went to networking groups and was a member of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Group in our small city, (back in the early 90’s this was far less common than it is today).

At the time I felt like she had a lot going on, thinking things like: “why wasn’t she home earlier like the other Moms?”

What I didn’t know then was my Mom’s passionate spirit and ambition to create not only a secure job for herself, but a thriving business she would later sell and develop into more businesses set a standard for me for what was possible when you took a skill you were good at, and instead of working for someone else, (and in many cases working for a man), limiting your earnings and potential you could create your own position instead, and therefore dictate your own ability to increase your income beyond what the standards were.

Once I hit University I soon discovered reporting wasn’t for me, but the parts of my Communications studies that I really loved were the Media, Business and Marketing classes.

As soon as I graduated University I ended up on an all women sales team for a leading wine import agency in Vancouver, Canada. I loved my role there, but I really wanted to go deeper with the businesses in a more creative, impactful way, so I decided in 2019 to open my own boutique Social Media Marketing freelance business.

As a kid who thought she would never be her own boss because of the long hours, (I literally laugh out loud thinking about this now), and now a passionate business owner, it was a full circle moment, one I really have my Mom to thank for.

My purpose is to help people who historically didn’t hold the purse strings in society close the wage cap by creating their own destinies through entrepreneurship. When I help another business owner with their marketing, helping them to get more leads, visibility, and sales, it feels like I am helping another person create their own role, and dictate what they deserve and chose to be paid, without someone else controlling or limiting their ability to succeed.

This ability to help more people succeed and close the wage gap in their own way is my purpose in life and business.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I help small business owners connect to their communities and increase their leads and visibility through Social Media Marketing. Primarily focusing on Instagram Marketing.

I work with a variety of business owners from an Anti-Diet Health Coach, to a sustainable fashion brand to an Inclusive Marketing Consultant. One thing they all have in common is how they treat their clients.

They don’t treat people like numbers, but as human beings who they care about. They have impact driven businesses that quite honestly leave people in a better position once they work or buy from these businesses.

This is such an important piece about the work that I do, working with passionate people who really CARE about the people they serve and the work that they do.

It carries over from my earlier discussion about my purpose, and something that I love about Social Media is the ability to market in this new way, that goes way beyond the traditional, (and very expensive), methods like television or billboards, that allowed entrepreneurship to develop in a new way that just wasn’t possible even 20 years ago.

Now my clients can connect with people who want their products or services, and need their help from across the globe. This connects us and allows for a new way to establish community and drive impact that goes far beyond the previous limits of where you were physically located.

This is why I champion the positive side of using Social Media to market small, impact driven businesses, because of the ability to foster community that just isn’t available in other channels.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Tenacity is a big one. You will have to really get outside of your comfort zone if you want to be an entrepreneur, and that determination to keep going with things get sticky and uncomfortable really has the ability to make or break your business. I believe this is something I was raised with and have my parents to thank, they really encouraged me to step outside the box and go after what I really wanted.

Second, I believe it’s my ability to adapt to and be flexible. If you are overly rigid, have too many things planned to the minute detail, and want things a certain way, it can block your ability to hear what people are telling you, or to really analyze data and make changes when you need to. Be flexible and open, because the only consistent is change. (cliche but true!).

Lastly, my ability to take what someone does and distill it in a way that makes sense for their target audience, and break it into simple, digestible terms, not only makes my clients feel like I understand their business, it makes it easier for their target audience to. Which can really drive up desire for their products and services. I think this is something I have developed over time, it started with a skill in writing and developed through University, my sales career, countless marketing courses and now in my day to day role.

A huge piece of advice I would give to my younger self, or to someone earlier in their journey is to be open to working on their skills and to seek out mentors who have been where they want to go. There is nothing quite like having support from someone who has been where you are and can guide you forward.

One last thing to note is to always have your own back, because if you are stepping outside of the usual checklist box of the way of life of people around you, people will not understand it, and so they may end up judging you, or coming across as unsupportive. Finding your own support system, even if it’s online, will be a huge help to you, and always, always having your own back, and coming back to your own why. This will help you in on the hard days.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

As I’ve touched on I would say growing up with a Mom who had her own business was pivotal for me. Even today the percentage of women who have businesses in Canada is only around 18%, and in the 90’s when I was growing up it was far less than that.

I had no idea how lucky I was to have a Mom that set this example for me, always problem solving and advancing to the next step in her career, opening and selling multiple businesses along the way.

My parents both encouraged me to get an education, but to also learn on the job and be flexible about my approach to life and business. This has really helped me develop the ability to be flexible and continue moving forward even when I have blocks in my way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaashmarketing/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-ash-b926049a/

Image Credits

first photo of me Wandering Docs