Ashley Janelle has both a corporate perspective, as well as the heart and experiences of an entrepreneur. She’s had a hugely impressive career as an award-winning User Experience Designer. Currently working for Amazon, where she continues to refine her craft and contribute to impactful projects, she’s also the globally renowned founder of Empathive UX Bootcamp.
Her comprehensive 16-week UX course has attracted a powerful online community of over 28,000 members eager to transition into the field. Her successful graduates have landed jobs in global brands from Meta to Amazon Games. Others have gone on to integral roles in fascinating startups. No matter the role they choose – Ashley Janelle’s graduates are helping to shape the future.
Company: Empathive
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company
Ashley Jackson: I have both a corporate perspective and the heart and experiences of an entrepreneur. I’ve had a career as an award-winning User Experience Designer. Currently, I work for Amazon, where I continue to refine my craft and contribute to impactful projects. I’m also the globally renowned founder of Empathive UX Bootcamp.
My comprehensive 16-week UX course has attracted a powerful online community of over 28,000 members eager to transition into the field.
My successful graduates have landed jobs in global brands from Meta to Amazon Games, while others have taken on integral roles in fascinating startups. No matter the role they choose, my graduates are helping to shape the future.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Ashley Jackson: I help aspiring UX Designers go from beginner to experienced in 16 weeks. What sets my course a part from others out there is 1.) I am the mentor for the entirety of the course. Many course don’t have a single mentor that you work with. There’s either no mentor at all with a go at it alone approach, or there’s a one instructor to many approach. For the best success, I’ve found students benefit from having access to a single person who can walk them through each assignment. Our biggest strength is that this approach has landed our students at roles at companies like Amazon Games and Meta.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, is an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Ashley Jackson: One of the biggest things that keeps employees happy is moral and compensation. With all of the layoffs that have taken place over the last few years, moral has tanked as employees wonder if they could be next and or have been stretched thin due to team sizes decreasing. As a solopreneur, I haven’t had to address this in my own business but suggest that if you do have employees, check in with them and understand how they’re feeling. Address any concerns and do your best to show your appreciate for their hard work.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Ashley Jackson: My sense is that online businesses will continue to grow and those that are just starting out will be 100% remote. When it’s time for me to start a team, we too will be 100% remote.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Ashley Jackson: One of the challenges is establishing my UX bootcamp from all of the noise that’s out there. There are a ton of competitors but having my students be able to put a face to the company and who they’ll be working with in the course helps a lot.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Ashley Jackson: Wearing every hat. I’m still a one woman show, for the most part. I’m slowly bringing on contractors to help me focus on other tasks but finding good talent is hard. Until I find the best talent, it’s hard to relinquish control which leaves me feeling depleted at the end of the day. It also takes time to get clear on exactly who you need to hire and what the goal of that will be. Sometimes I think I know who I need to hire, then I realize someone in another role would actually be of higher priority. Running a company takes a lot of trial and error, but the “errors” are usually for the best.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Ashley Jackson: If I had a superpower it would be the ability to be in more than one place at once. I wear many hats within my business, working full-time, content creation, planning a wedding and more. Sometimes I wish I could have another me answering emails or thinking through new ideas instead of executing on other tasks.
What does “success” in 2024 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision
Ashley Jackson: Success for me would be having as many students as I can landing jobs as UX Designers. It would be great to put a number on it which would be somewhere around 120 students a year until I bring on additional mentors. However, the impact isn’t in the numbers, but in the lives changed. So many people never thought it was possible to transition into a new career or even to find a job and my class makes it real for them.
