Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Richard.
Hi Ashley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been building things for as long as I can remember — not just businesses, but systems, ideas, and better versions of what already exists. When I was eight years old, I mailed a proposal to President Bill Clinton for a sea-life preserve I’d designed, complete with funding notes and diagrams. Around that same time, I mapped out a plan to end homelessness in my community. I didn’t know it then, but I was already doing what I do now: identifying broken structures and designing ways to fix them.
My childhood was difficult, but it shaped me. I started babysitting at twelve and working full time by fourteen. I grew up understanding that stability wasn’t guaranteed — it was something you built. That became my lifelong philosophy: you can construct anything, even out of chaos. I’ve always been good at reading between the lines — noticing what people don’t say, understanding the undercurrent of systems and situations. That intuitive skill became my foundation, and later, my profession.
Before I ever became a founder, I was an executive assistant — and that experience changed everything. Working alongside executives, attorneys, and entrepreneurs across multiple industries gave me an inside view of how power operates — the brilliance and the blind spots. It was a masterclass in leadership, communication, and decision-making. I learned to see structure as language. I learned how organizations succeed when strategy and empathy coexist, and how they fail when they stop evolving. The companies that thrived were the ones that listened to their data, learned from their patterns, and stayed agile. That realization became the foundation of my business philosophy: every system needs to be adaptive. Whether you’re running a company, building a community, or shaping a life — the ability to evolve is everything.
Those same lessons echoed through my personal life. I experienced abuse in my early years and again later in adulthood, in a situation that became life-threatening during the pandemic. Leaving was terrifying, but necessary. When I sought help, what I found wasn’t a lack of empathy — it was a lack of structure. The systems designed to protect survivors — the courts, law enforcement, and judicial processes — were inconsistent, reactive, and full of loopholes. Cases were delayed, offenders reoffended, and victims were retraumatized by the very institutions meant to protect them. What I saw wasn’t just tragedy; it was inefficiency — a failure of design. As someone who has spent her career analyzing operations and optimizing systems, I recognized it instantly: the justice system wasn’t broken by accident. It was outdated, unmeasured, and unaccountable. And once again, I couldn’t watch something broken without trying to rebuild it.
Customized Consultations was my first creation, born from the understanding that success demands structure and adaptability. It’s a marketing and consulting agency built on precision — we design systems that grow as data grows. Our strategies combine analytics with human psychology — measurable, creative, and constantly evolving. We treat every business as its own ecosystem. Now, we’re expanding: scaling nationally, integrating AI-driven tools to analyze campaign behavior in real time, and developing educational resources that teach small businesses how to interpret their data like major corporations do. But the real goal is larger — to make Customized Consultations a model for sustainable, data-informed growth that still feels deeply human. It’s proof that systems can be both strategic and soulful.
From that same precision came The Domestic Truth Foundation, the nonprofit I founded to create long-term, systemic change for survivors of domestic violence. Our programs — Healing Through Art, Case Management, Self-Defense, Financial Literacy, and Empowerment Coaching — provide the first layer of restoration. But our mission reaches far beyond recovery — we are building an infrastructure for full reinvention.
We are working toward shaping meaningful law reform to hold offenders accountable and strengthen the justice process for survivors. Our advocacy focuses on consistency in sentencing, stricter bond laws, and closing the legal loopholes that too often lead to repeat violence. Alongside that legislative work, we are developing expansive goals that will redefine what rebuilding life after trauma looks like.
We are laying the foundation for a comprehensive community and resource center that will include transitional housing, legal advocacy, therapy, and trauma-informed counseling. It will also feature a service dog program for victims who need emotional and physical support, and tactical training courses to restore confidence, awareness, and personal safety. Our goal is simple but radical: we don’t just want survivors to survive — we want them to thrive. We want to help people rebuild their entire lives, not just get by.
My background in analysis and structure uniquely positioned me for this kind of reform. I know how to study inefficiencies, measure outcomes, and create frameworks that actually work — and I’m applying those same principles to rebuild the systems that should have protected people in the first place. Because survival shouldn’t depend on luck or location. It should depend on law, structure, and access to opportunity.
People often ask how I balance both worlds — business and advocacy — but to me, they’re intertwined. Customized Consultations builds visibility and strategy. The Domestic Truth Foundation builds structure and justice. Both are systems of empowerment. I’ve come far, but I know there’s still a long way to go. I’m still evolving — as a leader, as a mother, as a strategist, as a woman who believes that progress is an ongoing act of creation. That evolution is what I bring to my clients, too. I don’t promise perfection. I promise transformation — strategies that grow, adapt, and become better with every challenge. And that’s my journey too. No matter how far I’ve come, I’m still building. Still refining. Still becoming.
When I look back, I see the throughline — a little girl designing solutions no one asked for, a woman rebuilding from survival, and now, a leader designing frameworks that outlast her. Reinvention isn’t something that happens once. It’s a discipline — the art of studying what fell apart and building something stronger in its place. Everything I’ve created — my business, my foundation, my reform work — was born from that principle. I don’t wait for systems to improve; I redesign them. I’ve made it far, but the work is just beginning. Because change doesn’t happen by chance — it happens by design.
And I’ve spent my entire life designing.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No — not smooth, but deeply meaningful. I think people often mistake resilience for ease. My journey has had every kind of detour you can imagine — personal, professional, emotional — and each one has taught me something I could never have learned from success alone.
In business, there were years when I had to build systems with limited resources, relying on intuition and endurance more than capital. I had to learn how to scale while still protecting the integrity of my vision, how to manage rapid growth without losing authenticity, and how to navigate the moments when opportunity outpaced infrastructure. Those lessons taught me that success isn’t just about ambition — it’s about calibration.
Personally, the road has been even harder. Escaping violence, rebuilding from scratch, raising my children, and building a business at the same time wasn’t glamorous. It was a series of very human days — working long hours, learning how to trust myself again, and facing the constant reminder that survival is not the same thing as stability.
But those moments of instability are where I became the strategist I am today. They forced me to analyze, adapt, and design not just businesses, but entire blueprints for my life. Every hardship made me more resourceful, more self-aware, and more deliberate in how I build things now — from companies to community programs to policy initiatives.
So, no — the road hasn’t been smooth. But it’s been instructive. Every obstacle refined my structure, sharpened my vision, and deepened my purpose. I wouldn’t erase any of it. The detours were the design.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At my core, I build systems that work — whether that means scaling a business or rebuilding a life. Both of my organizations — Customized Consultations and The Domestic Truth Foundation — are rooted in structure, innovation, and transformation.
Customized Consultations is a marketing and business strategy agency built around one guiding principle: no two companies are the same, so no two strategies should be either. We specialize in creating data-driven, human-centered growth systems — strategies that evolve as markets do. My team and I combine analytics, psychology, and storytelling to help businesses reach measurable success while preserving authenticity and brand integrity.
We handle everything from social media management, SEO, and web development to paid advertising, influencer partnerships, and creative direction. But what truly sets us apart is how we operate. Every campaign we create is custom-built and continuously refined based on live analytics. We don’t chase trends — we engineer results.
I’m most proud that our clients don’t just grow in numbers; they grow in clarity. We give them structure — a system they can understand, measure, and sustain. To me, that’s the future of marketing: precision with heart.
On the other side of my work is The Domestic Truth Foundation, my nonprofit organization dedicated to rebuilding systems for survivors of domestic violence. While we offer programs like Healing Through Art, Financial Literacy, Case Management, Empowerment Coaching, Self-Defense, and more, our work goes far beyond traditional support services. We’re building pathways for total reinvention — helping survivors reclaim every part of their lives: safety, independence, stability, and self-worth.
What truly defines the non profit is our vision for expansion and reform. We are actively working toward shaping state and national law reform to ensure survivors receive consistent protection and offenders face real accountability. Our larger goals include building a full-scale community and resource center that will provide transitional housing, therapy, legal advocacy, tactical training, service dogs for victims, and financial and career rebuilding programs all under one roof.
We don’t want people to just survive trauma — we want to give them the tools to rebuild their entire lives.
That’s what sets us apart. It’s not a charity; it’s a blueprint for change.
Across both organizations, I’m most proud of the fact that everything we build is sustainable. Whether I’m helping a brand find its voice or helping a survivor find their footing, the approach is the same — structure, adaptability, and vision. I want people to know that what I do isn’t about momentary success; it’s about designing systems that last.
What are your plans for the future?
I don’t think I’ll ever stop building — it’s just who I am. Everything I’ve created so far has been a foundation for what’s next, and right now, I’m standing at a point of expansion for both my company and my nonprofit.
For Customized Consultations, I’m focused on scaling the agency into new markets and creating an even deeper integration between data and creativity. We’re expanding our national reach, implementing advanced AI analytics to refine campaign strategies in real time, and developing a digital education platform that will help small businesses and entrepreneurs learn how to interpret and apply their own data the way major corporations do. My goal is to make clarity accessible — to empower business owners with the same level of strategic insight that Fortune 500 companies rely on.
Long term, I’m working toward building an international network of creative teams, analysts, and marketing specialists who share one mission: to create systems that are human, adaptive, and measurable. I see Customized Consultations evolving into a global brand that sets the standard for innovation with integrity — where marketing meets meaning.
For The Domestic Truth Foundation, the vision is equally ambitious, but deeply personal. We’re in the process of expanding our reach across Texas and developing the blueprint for a comprehensive community and resource center — one that includes transitional housing, therapy, legal advocacy, financial and career readiness programs, tactical training, and service dogs for survivors. We want to create an environment where recovery and reinvention coexist, where survivors can rebuild not just their safety, but their confidence, careers, and entire sense of self.
In tandem with that, I’m continuing to work toward law reform and justice system transformation — advocating for policy changes that close the gaps in how domestic violence is prosecuted, sentenced, and monitored. My long-term vision is to help establish national standards for accountability — real frameworks that prevent violence instead of reacting to it.
Personally, I’m also evolving. Every year, I push myself to become sharper, more grounded, and more intentional. The future for me isn’t about chasing new titles or accolades — it’s about deepening impact. I want to keep building structures that last — systems that outlive me, serve others, and continue creating change long after I’m gone.
That’s what I’m looking forward to: growth with purpose. Every project, every plan, every law we help shape is another layer in that architecture. The work will keep evolving — and so will I.
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