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Ashley Letts

Ashley Letts is a writer and communications consultant based in Hamilton, Ontario. She has developed and executed media relations and social impact strategy for Red Bull, Honour House, Vancouver Farmers Markets and more. Her work has appeared in GOOD Magazine, Conscious Company, the Globe and Mail, Financial Post, and HuffPost.

Writer and PR Consultant, Ashley Letts

Tell us a little something about your business...

I’ve loved to write since I was in elementary school, and often used reading as an escape (even during class). Despite my mother’s protestations, I moved to Ireland for a gap year after high school to become more worldly and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I returned thinking I’d like to be a teacher, but after a couple semesters in college, I still wasn’t sure I was on the right path. That led me to several years working in restaurants, where I discovered I had a knack for establishing a rapport with people, communicating with them in a way that made them open up and share their passions. A career in PR was the perfect union of writing, storytelling, and working with people.

When was your lightbulb moment?

PR gets a rep sometimes for “spin” and making bad people look good, but those who work in social enterprises or use business to contribute a net positive to society need help articulating their “why,” too. Working in an agency gave me exposure to driven entrepreneurs in all kinds of industries. What lights me up now, as a communications consultant, is connecting with entrepreneurs who are doing cool things and helping them craft a story that gets the world excited about what they’re doing.

What are your three words of advice?

When you first start out in PR, as in any field, you often hear “fake it till you make it.” Be confident enough in yourself to know when you’re not faking it anymore — your expertise is valuable, you worked hard to develop it! Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. This runs counter to a lot of what I was told on my way up. You’re not going to have all the answers, and sometimes you’re going to try things that don’t work. What will keep your clients/coworkers and bosses wanting to work with you (the cool ones, anyway) is a willingness to take risks, and the resilience to have a new course of action ready when those risks don’t pan out.Approach everything in life and business from the standpoint of “What problem am I solving? Why should people care?”

Three words of advice...

Ascend… Be Vulnerable… Solve

Ashley Letts is a writer and communications consultant based in Hamilton, Ontario. She has developed and executed media relations and social impact strategy for Red Bull, Honour House, Vancouver Farmers Markets and more. Her work has appeared in GOOD Magazine, Conscious Company, the Globe and Mail, Financial Post, and HuffPost.

“May your legacy create a footprint of success for the next person who steps into your shoes”

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