Episode 19 – Felicity Ashley: Mother. Marketer. Mariner. Motivator.

Mother. Marketer. Mariner. Motivator.

After over 20 years working as a blue-chip marketing leader, the business founder and mother of three rowed the Atlantic whilst unknowingly fighting cancer.

Drawing on her personal journeys of discovery, she now works with organisations and leaders facing transformational change. Supporting them to become more inclusive, dynamic, confident, adaptable and resilient. Her work focuses on how a positive mindset is key to success – overcoming challenges, tackling biases, creating winning teams, thriving through change, embracing opportunities, smashing goals. When life gives you lemons, it’s not just about making lemonade – it’s about using them to create something amazing.

In her 20+ years of leading marketing teams in some of the UK’s largest organisations, she successfully navigated and guided teams through a plethora of business and personal challenges, from organisational restructuring and transforming corporate culture, to supporting colleagues’ return to work, striking her own work/life balance with three young children and adjusting to extreme market disruption.

Inspired by renewed mobility following a hip replacement, she put her body and mind to the ultimate test by taking on ‘The World’s Toughest Row’ as part of ‘The Mothership’ crew – a 3,000 mile, unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean and in completing it, joined the ranks of fewer than 250 women to have ever rowed an ocean. Her aim was to inspire women and children, and show them that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Just weeks after this incredible achievement she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, a challenge which would once again put her mental and physical resilience to the test.

These two life-changing experiences have had a profound effect on Felicity, and have been a catalyst for change. After her successful cancer treatment, Felicity decided to pursue a different avenue of work and now shares her story, experiences and lessons learnt with organisations as an expert speaker to help them become more resilient, adapt to change and thrive.

Felicity’s 3 mindset messages:

1. Embrace your superpower

2. The power of reframing

3. Understanding your ‘why’.

The Food

Felicity have always loved food and cooking but as a busy mum of three, it is often a very functional process now and thinking about what to cook can be a chore!

So, she asked if I could cook something that I love, which might help rekindle her own cooking inspiration!

I thought of delicious, full of flavour recipe which is easy to make for everyone to enjoy: Chicken Francese. You can create various versions of this recipe, but I used this recipe here. 

You can find out more about Felicity on her website or connect on Linkedin.