Carol Fishman Cohen: Welcome to 3 2 1 iRelaunch, a podcast where we discuss return to work strategies, advice, and success stories. I'm Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and co founder of iRelaunch, and your host. Before we get started, I want to make sure that those of you who are in our audience who are actively relaunching should go to our iRelaunch.com Job Board and register and upload your resume there, because that is where we go to share relaunchers profiles with our employers that are hiring for career re entry jobs and programs. So, make sure that you're profile and resume are in there. Today we welcome Ashley Miller. Ashley enjoyed a 19 year career working on the sidelines and front office in the NBA and WNBA. It was here where her passion for the importance of equity in all aspects of the workplace became a focal point of her career journey. After a two year career break where she honed her love for house renovations and flipping, she transitioned to the finance industry where she working in private wealth management for Goldman Sachs.

Her time at Goldman proved successful, managing client portfolios and investment strategies before becoming the Chief of Staff for Diversity Recruiting and leading the very program that brought her to Goldman Returnship. Currently, Ashley leads equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as social impact at Pizza Hut Global, allowing her to steer initiatives that champion inclusiveness and foster cultures of belonging around the world. We are going to discuss Ashley's career path, including her career break, relaunch, and where she is now, and also focus on questions of changing identity during different life phases and imposter syndrome during relaunching.

Ashley, welcome to 3,2,1 iRelaunch.

Ashley Miller: Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Well, it's so exciting to have you here in this conversation. We've known each other for a long time, and we also appreciate your ongoing championship of relaunching and your enthusiasm for iRelaunch, and I know we're going to get into a little bit of that.

But I want to start by talking about your 19 year pre career break career in professional sports. Were you a high school or college athlete, and how did you get interested in that field? And can you tell us a little bit about the kinds of roles you had during that long career span?

Ashley Miller: For sure, for sure. Yes. 19 years. It was definitely a long tenured career, at the time that I was like, kind of, you know, took the break. And I know we'll talk about that later. It was almost half of my life spent working in sports and really all of my life when it came to just being involved in sports. So a little factoid, I guess, about me, my father was a collegiate athlete, played at Texas Southern, played football, and also briefly played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys.

So I would say like the love of sports has just always been in my veins. And I think for me as well, my, my dad didn't have any sons, just two girls. And for, I think my dad and I honestly, sports brought us together in many ways. And for me, it was basketball. I really started to love basketball, I would say after the 1996 Olympics, it was a really big deal, and like leading up to that as something that was important for us. And I think, even after my father died, which actually was shortly before the 1996 Olympics, it became a part of who I was, like I wanted to play basketball. I wanted to be that little girl that was the first girl in the NBA and all those really grandiose thoughts prior to there being a WNBA.

And then I think for me, ultimately I would say in terms of my skills and ability, ultimately it capped with high school. I was recruited to a few small schools in college, but ultimately for me, I think, I saw that there was an opportunity for me to work on the sidelines and work with the team.

And I was very lucky to start working on the team side at 14. So for me, it coincided with me being in high school, being able to work on a sideline as well, but also playing. And I think the love and respect that I had for all of the women that were playing the WNBA, but also knowing, okay, like maybe I won't achieve the greatness that they have on the court, but for me, I can work behind the scenes.

I can be the person on the sidelines. And really worked my way up in ways that I don't even know that I could have thought at 14 would have turned into a 20 year career, to be very honest. I started as a ball kid. I was the one out there like rebounding, mopping the floors, literally going and grabbing mouthguards out of the stands.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Wow, that is great.

Ashley Miller: And that really transitioned over the course of my time with the organization when I worked with the Indiana Pacers Sports Entertainment, and the Indiana Fever. And I was able to work as a ball kid, that turned into equipment manager with the WNBA side with the Fever. And then ultimately for that, after I graduated from Purdue, Boiler up, I was able to transition that to the front office and work directly in basketball operations for another eight years.

So it was really, really amazing. I think to see that time and not knowing that the little girl who signed up to be a ball kid would turn that into a career that ultimately took me from Pacers Sports and Entertainment. as well to the Dallas Wings in Dallas. So it was definitely, it's almost storybook in some ways for me, but I didn't think about basketball.

It was so much about who I was and I think for me it was also an opportunity to make so many friends when I was younger and to be able to turn that into a career was, I don't know, in some ways I still pinch myself that I even had that opportunity to kind of be that person that, you know, I was able to be in that space for as long as I was.

So it was, it was definitely a really amazing time.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Well, I love hearing the origins of you as a ball kid and also what a time for us to be talking about this coming off of the unbelievably exciting semifinals and finals of the women's NCAA championships.

Ashley Miller: So exciting. And, shout out to my former team who do have the first pick in the WNBA draft. And, I think there's a lot of people who think they know who will go first and I think, to whoever it is that they choose. I think it'll be really exciting for them and it's a really stand up organization.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That's great. So can you talk a little bit about, you have this long history and real sports identity as an athlete yourself and how you started in the professional sports world and evolved over time and all those different roles.

Talk a little bit about how you viewed yourself and, how closely your identity was tied to the work that you were doing in the sports industry.

Ashley Miller: Sure. You know, it's interesting because I think for so long working in sports or being closely related to it was, it was me. And it's funny because I don't tell this story often,

But when I was younger, I remember telling my grandmother at the time who, it was a different generation. And I remember telling her, grandma, I'm going to play in the NBA. I'm going to play basketball. I'm going to do all these things. And I remember her, politely, I think in the way that grandmothers do, she was like, why don't you do something that women do? And that really struck me, I would think at that time, and again, that was going back to this little girl in 1996, who was like, I want to do all these things. I can work in sports. I could, I could play in sports and being directly told that wasn't something typical for women to do, so you should think of a different career path. And I think for me, it became this plight, right? Where I was like, no, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to play, I'm going to do these things. And I think when that opportunity came for me to be able to work in it, it was like, no, this is, this is why I'm here on earth in many ways, is to be in this space. And this is who I'm going to be. And, I think even as much as I can say at 14, I wasn't sure what that path was going to be. I still think in my mind, once I got on it, I was then I'm going to be this and I'm going to be a GM and then I can be an owner.

And it's, this is going to be who I am. So it's interesting. I think, when you talk about where I am now and where I started that for me, it very much was, it was everything. It was all encompassing. It was what people knew me. So it was like, Oh, Ashley, she works in sports and she does this thing.

And I think for a lot of time and a lot of me not really thinking I could do too many other things, to be very honest, it was kind of like, this is the path I'm on or bust, to be very honest.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right. And, I'm, the way you're describing this is, it's so accurate in terms of how, the way our society thinks about or views, how people are identified in terms of what we do for work.

And we talk about this at iRelaunch regularly that, when we go on our career breaks and then we're professionally disconnected for a period of time, we somehow feel like we lose part of our identity and we can go through this feeling of being a diminished, we call it a diminished sense of self.

So I wanted to know, you had this unbelievable career and it lasted for a long time, and then you took a career break. And so I just, I want to know if you could tell us a little bit about what led to that decision to take the career break and, how did you feel about your changing identity once you were on a career break?

Ashley Miller: It was scary, honestly. Coming to the decision, I think for me, I started to look at the career and I think there was a part of me when I remember when I was little, my mom had this magnet that used to be on a refrigerator, and it was, so technically it was like, those cheeky things where it's someone looking in the refrigerator like I came, I conquered type of thing.

And I remember feeling like I've done a lot, like my sports career honestly has been so blessed in so many ways from what I've been able to accomplish, the people I've been able to meet, what I've done, the places I've been. Getting to win a WNBA championship, meeting a sitting president, being a guest of honor at the White House, meeting amazing, like sports icons like Billie Jean King playing an amazing outdoor game at Arthur Ashe Stadium. And I thought back on all these amazing things and it was like, it's not like I haven't accomplished things. And I've been doing these things for so long. What else is out there? And I, I think being at that time in my like, what, early to mid thirties, I was like, is this all that I am?

Is there other things that are out there for me? And I think during my time working in sports. There was an evolution inside of me of seeing that it maybe wasn't everything that I thought it was about me working in sports in the beginning, versus where it ended up. And I think in very much the beginning, it was like, it's about sports.

It's this thing that I love. It's my passion. And then I think there was this transition of oh, it's about like gender parity and like seeing women excel in these things. And then I think in so many ways, it became bigger about like representation in so many ways. LIke, even having people look at me and say, I see the people on the court, but you're also dressed up like, what do you do on the sidelines?

What's your job? Yeah. And little girls who look like me saying, who are you? What do you do? And not only seeing themselves as maybe the talent on the court. So I think there was this evolution within me of seeing okay, like this has been about more than I thought it was during this 20 years.

And I've been able to make these connections and do all these things. What else can I take these learnings and knowledge and do? And I think, for me, it was really just a step out on faith in some ways of saying okay, I've done this. I came, I conquered in some ways. What else can I do?

Where else can I see myself in other areas? Just like other people were like starting to ask what I was doing and behind the scenes. But I'd not to say that wasn't scary in many ways, it was really all I had known. It was this comfort factor that I think predates literally working in sports, but going back to the time where it was, this comfortable girl who could go out and play basketball with her dad.

Right, like that was what I knew. And I think for me, again, I, I have a great support system in my family and being able to say, I think I need a change. And there being support behind that to say, let's find something else that makes sense too, and taking a little bit of a leap of faith in many ways, what was next, if I did step away from such a comfortable atmosphere. So it was definitely scary,

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right.

Ashley Miller: But it's been very fruitful.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Okay. And so you make the break, you decide to step away. You're now immersed in, in the career break itself. So can you talk about how long it lasted versus how long you thought it was going to last and what you were focused on when you were on your career break?

Ashley Miller: For sure, for sure. I will say, I didn't expect it to last as long. So ultimately my career break was about two years and I think it ultimately started with, this will be a couple of months or maybe to the end of the year.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right.

Ashley Miller: I had formally stepped away from my previous role in like October of, for me, that was 2018.

And I remember thinking, okay, let's get through the holidays. I could be more present with my family in ways that maybe I hadn't been. And then, once the new year starts, we'll start diving into the next steps and what that looks like. And I think there was some feelings and thoughts that changed.

And I would say candidly, as a person that was suddenly in the relaunch space, even after only a few months, it became a little harder in some ways where people and players like, Oh, we have a career break. Tell me about that. And I'm like, it's not, it hasn't been that long, but I think for me too, it gave me an opportunity to really invest in some of the community aspects of things that I didn't necessarily have time for before. I was able to volunteer more.

I was able to sit on boards. I was able to do some of the things that really filled my cup in other ways that I missed doing unless we were doing it from a team based standpoint, I wasn't able to really do individually. And so that was, I think, something that was, I didn't realize how important it was, in the lives that you get to touch in those many ways when you're doing volunteer events with different people.

And then I think, the second year ended up being COVID year. It was 2020. And that was an unexpected year, I think, for so many people, and definitely through a wrench where we were like, okay, it's already been a year. I'm going to start looking again. I think I'm ready to go back into this full time space.

And then for my family, we found out that, we were going to be expecting our second child in February of 2020. And then a month later, the world obviously changed pretty drastically. So making that decision that maybe, what that looks like for our family in terms of me going back, and obviously being pregnant at the time was, it was an interesting, it was very nuanced, of what that could look like. However, I, another, I think, again, you step out on a leaf of faith and beautiful things can happen sometimes where my husband, again, from a support system, I remember I was watching Joanna Gaines and Jen Chen, literally watching the show, and I remember my husband said, I like to tear stuff up. And you like to build it back up and make it look nice. Wouldn't it be crazy if we like bought a house and flipped it? And I remember thinking he was insane.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah.

Ashley Miller: But I joined him in that insanity. And 24 hours later, we bought our first house and decided to start fixing it. So again, I think, these opportunities that probably wouldn't have been there, and I think for us to be able to really work together, honestly, as a unit, as partners in that way, it was a whole other aspect that neither of us had ever thought we would be in, working together. Yeah. We did it not once, but twice before our daughter was born in the fall that we were able to fix two houses up and flip them.

And I don't know, the opportunities that, that two years really gave us, I couldn't have imagined it. I really, I couldn't. I think it was so scary. And in the end, it was like, this was exactly what we needed, actually, in some ways to be able to find ourselves and to be able to find something that we were both actually passionate about as well. It was really cool.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Wow. I didn't know that you did that, that the house flipping. That's amazing that you have that experience.

Ashley Miller: It is. We're currently working on a renovation on our own house, so we learned a lot from that and doing it now and be able to translate it. But it's really cool. It's a whirlwind experience, that's for sure.

Carol Fishman Cohen: So, you were pretty busy during your career break, doing all these different things. So, at one point, and I have to add that I don't think we've talked to a single relauncher who said that their career break was the length they thought it was going to be. Everyone, their career break is longer. So lots of times it's not in terms of months and then a couple of years, sometimes it's, I only thought I was going to be out for two or three years and then it was 10 years.

But, anyway, this whole idea that, we end up being out on career break for longer than anticipated, it's pretty universal. It's really interesting in itself. That's a whole separate topic.

Ashley Miller: It's like, you never know. You're just going to be open sometimes.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Like you don't know exactly. So at some point you, did you start thinking about I want to focus now on getting back into some sort of a corporate or some sort of a relaunch.

And I don't know if you were thinking in terms of coming back to a bigger organization or in what field? And what was that thought process? And can you tell us some of the highlights of what happened once you made that decision that you were going to start looking again?

Ashley Miller: Yeah, it's interesting. I would say, I never stopped looking. I think what I became was pickier in some ways of, if I'm taking this break and I'm doing kind of this work on myself and, doing all these things that make me kind of feel good, right? It's a little altruistic in some ways that I want to be picky about, what to go next.

I don't want to just, I don't want to just land anywhere and hope it's something. I want to go somewhere with a company that I've heard good things about, right? Reading reviews and, going in and doing some in depth kind of research on what's next for me. That became really important for me.

And again, I don't know that I would have thought about that before. It was just like, this is where I work. And, in some ways I felt like previously. I don't know that I was as in control of my career in some ways of just like, Oh, yeah, you just kind of move up because you've been somewhere for so long.

Whereas no, I can kind of take the bull by the horns in some ways and say, this is the way that I actually want to steer my career. And I want to be very intentional in what that looks like. And so I think as I was looking, it was very intentional, what companies align to my values, what companies are doing things in the community, what companies do I hear that former employees still speak highly of. And that was, I think, really important to me. Work life balance became something that I didn't know as well previously working in the sports world, where you do work all kinds of hours. That's just part of working in sports. Right now, I was like, okay, I've got one child. I have a newborn.

So, you know, looking at that work life balance, it was just something that was important to me in so many ways. And so I think it really came down to, what fits me, not where does Ashley fit? It's what fits me? What fits my life dynamic, that I'm going to feel comfortable with, and I won't look back on and say, like, why did I do this?

Like maybe I should have taken longer or maybe I should have looked somewhere else. And so I think that aspect of it, which, I think for a lot of people, they assumed, you'll just go back to sports, right? That's where you'll go. And that makes sense. And I said, it doesn't, I don't know if that makes sense for me right now.

That doesn't have to be where I am, but I could always come back. So I think even that was a journey, not only for myself, but for the people around me who just, I think, made assumptions of what would be next. And so I think that next step for me, once I got to Goldman, honestly, was a shock.

Carol Fishman Cohen: You know, this idea of you're saying you got pickier and you were thinking what's best for you, but if it can be aligned, that's what's best for you is also best for the employer, then, that's really the best of both worlds.

I think, one of the attributes of relaunchers is that we've lived more life and we have a more refined sense of who we are and what our strengths are. So I hear that from you.

Ashley Miller: For sure. And it was, I think there was like this level of, I mean, especially I think for everyone, once we got through 2020, it's like this level of resilience of there's a lot of things I can do,

And sometimes I joke, I'm like, if I can, give birth wearing a mask in the middle of a global pandemic, like there's a lot of things that I'm actually capable of that I don't think I thought I was a couple of years ago. How can I carry that into other aspects of my life in terms of, who am I?

And I think for me, the career break allowed me to figure out who I was in some ways, as opposed to just, this is something that I am because everyone else sees me as this. For me, it was like, how can I continue to elevate and learn in so many ways? I want to continue to be a sponge and learn new things.

And I think that intellectual curiosity really guided a lot of that intentionality of I don't want to just go anywhere. Like I truly want to be somewhere where I'm learning something new, that's kind of challenging me in some ways.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah. So you mentioned that you went back to Goldman, but can you take a step back and give us a sense of how did you even find out about Goldman and the Returnship program?

Ashley Miller: Yeah. Honestly, that's where iRelaunch comes in and why I'm such like a huge, like advocate proponent for the platform. It was, It was integral for me in terms of finding the returnship program with Goldman. I remember the interesting thing. And it's funny, just again, when you think about how things happen and the times that they happen.

I remember when I first entered into my career break, I did start looking into Goldman Sachs and I was like, this is an interesting company. It's right here. I think for me, it wasn't something that was tangible growing up. It wasn't a company or a brand that I knew a lot about growing up.

It wasn't something that was necessarily part of my family dynamics. However, I had heard just so many positive things from people who had worked at the company either currently or previously. And I remember thinking like, I want to look into this company. And I think for a lot of reasons too, when it came to just the finance world, starting to open my eyes in many ways, being in the sports realm of, what does that look like in terms of a lot of our athletes, understanding like what it means for them from a financial basis. And I think from the times, the team side, bringing in some of these people to talk to our athletes.

But I remember thinking, I don't know anything about this area. There's so much of just a dead hole for me where I'm like, I'm not someone who knows a lot about finances and it's interesting that, we're bringing in people to maybe talk to our athletes, but it's, I don't get it,

I don't really know. And I want it to be a resource. So I think for me, looking into Goldman actually started there, that intrigue of what is, what does this look like when we talk about like personal finances and wealth building and generational wealth? Goldman came to mind first, but I didn't know much about it.

I remember doing some just general searching and I came across iRelaunch, and the returnship program that Goldman had. And it's funny because again, we talk about, Oh, we don't think these career breaks are going to last as long as they are. I remember seeing the criteria on there saying at minimum, a career break of two years or more.

And I was like a month into my career break. And I was like, I guess I'll never qualify for this program. I'm going to be back to work in the next six months. So this is not a program I'll take part in, but like how cool. And I remember telling some other people that I knew about it, Oh, this is a really cool program, like, you should apply. But luckily what I did at that moment was I did sign up to get the emails from iRelaunch.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Okay.

Ashley Miller: Thank goodness. And I think, it's funny because, I remember again, in my mind, it was like, Oh, I'll never qualify. I'm not going to hit that two years. And then, time goes by. And I remember almost to the day, my daughter was born on a Monday, and I remember getting an email from iRelaunch that it was a reminder that applications were due for the Goldman returnship, I think by that Sunday. And I was like, what's the worst that could happen? I'm about to have a baby on Monday and I'm probably going to forget everything in the world for a couple months.

I might as well just apply right now. And I did. I applied that night. And, again, I was like, it was that weird moment of I don't know why I was even checking emails a few days before going into labor, but it was just that moment of just like, Oh wow, like I got this email. And I remember having this weird ding moment of, It's been almost two years to the day.

Carol Fishman Cohen: So all of this, it's like you qualified right at that moment. Everything fell into line.

Ashley Miller: Literally it all fell into place. I believe it was literally like, it was an October and it was an October two years later. And I was like, that is so weird. I remember thinking like, I guess I might as well.

And I don't even know if I told anyone in my family that I applied for it, cause I was just like, it's a whim. I don't know. We'll see what happens. And it worked out.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That's a great story. Ashley, actually, you went through the program and then you, less than two years later, you ended up leading the program and can you talk about a little bit about that, how that happened and then how you felt watching other relaunchers start and go through that program and then move on inside the organization?

Ashley Miller: For sure. I mean, it was, honestly, when I look back on that, my time with Goldman is almost a little surreal, to be very honest. I, you know, I literally applied before I had my daughter, and I think she was three weeks old, and I got an email saying, can you do an interview in a couple days, which I was like, oh, God, she's gonna be crying in the background, this is gonna be awful. And again, I think having this level of, what did I get myself into, why am I doing this, that led to ultimately me being accepted into the program.

And then again, we talk about timelines. I started exactly three months to the day that she was born. She was three months old on that day. And because we were still in this very virtual world of COVID in 2021, she wasn't even a daycare. So I was literally holding her off screen as we started kind of feeling like, Oh God, again, what am I doing?

But honestly, it was amazing. It was one of those leaps of faith and opportunities that I'm so grateful for, not only for the program itself, and I can talk about that kind of in these little parameters, but for meeting this other community of people who were going through this in different ways for all of us.

I think the year that I was in the program, it was a pretty large group, well over 20 people in the program. And, it was a mix of men and women and all of our different stories and learning like what they had gone through and why they were relaunching, how long, to your point, quite a few people had that story of Oh, I thought it'd be a couple of years and maybe until my kids started school, and then 10 years later, now I'm coming back in, but also again, seeing so many people who were pivoting in some ways, which was, very much what I was doing as I was actually pivoting into private wealth, which was very different from where I started. And I think that part of it was so huge. It was just like, it was like, okay, I found this really amazing company that has a program like this, but I've also found a community within it that have these people who are going through these similar experiences and being able to have that on top of the program and learning that we got, it meant the world to me. So I think for that, just setting the foundation coming in to the firm, it was so important. And I think so impactful for all of us that went through that together. And especially we're a hundred percent virtual in this new environment and, having to really adapt in so many ways.

And I think for a lot of us, it's we've been adapting and changing in so many different ways as we took our career break that it almost seemed like that was the easy part, to be very honest. But then, yeah, I mean, was able to transition throughout that time and, do that first year in private wealth, which again, diving into finance as someone who does not have a finance background, that was scary and in many ways and definitely felt like a fish out of water, but also I think felt so accomplished in the end of it that I was able to do it, especially, you know, taking these securities exams many years after I'd last taken exams and, you know, that part of it, while also having a new board at home, presented a lot of challenges, but again, was I think a little bit of like, all right, mommy can do this. I can get through this.

And then to be able to transition truly, I think to the place where, about a year into my time with the firm, they happened to be looking for a new person to help run the program. And it was a natural transition in many ways, for me to be able to come in and work on a new area of the firm, but specifically with something that meant honestly the world to me with the program.

I think also just having that layer of being relatable to the people who are now coming into the program that I've been where you've been, I've been in your shoes. I felt a lot of the feelings that I'm sure you're going to feel and being able to almost, I almost looked like I wasn't really a program facilitator.

It's like just being a guide. It's like, I'm going to help you get through this. We're going to talk about all the feelings that you're having. And honestly, I think for that was, it's such an amazing experience as well.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah. You know, it is, you're talking about how powerful it is to go through this with a cohort of being a community of relaunchers where people are experiencing the transition, personal and professional sort of all at the same time.

And then you're the role model. You're the example of what it looks like to be successful in the program for the other people who are coming through and you can relate to everything that they're going through. And it is, that's powerful too.

Ashley Miller: Yes, it was. And I think in ways that again, you just don't expect, I feel like this journey, since I've stepped away from I don't know, Ashley 1.0 in some ways, it's like meeting all these new people, you're learning about these different experiences. And again, it's it's this, I don't know, subset of, I guess, if you will, of people coming into the workforce that honestly bring in all these different skills that you don't expect.

Right. And it's we are a part of the recruiting pipeline in so many ways and like what we bring to the table. And I think you hear all these like really interesting experiences that in some ways I think, there's maybe a perception that people are stepping away from like a caretaking role or something like that.

And it's it's interesting because it's caretaking on different levels. Like maybe it is for young children, maybe it is for, for aging adults, maybe it's for yourself, right? And I think like hearing the stories of people, and like understanding why they stepped away and like how it made them where they are and like, they're ready to come back and, almost are like so filled with this level of okay, like I've had this time I've done these things and now I'm ready to do this. I don't know. It was something special about that in so many ways. And I'm so happy for the people that I've been able to meet, even people that didn't make it into the program and that I was still able to keep in contact with and other ways just to like, how are you doing?

Are you going other places? I've actually seen a few people even featured on here where I'm like, very pro them. I'm like, yes, like I know that they, are such a great person and they've got to other places. So I think it's exciting to just create that community of it's like, we're so excited for each other in these ways to like, keep on going through and moving, and having each other on the end.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah, for sure. I think I've been in this field for almost 20 years, and one of the by products of being in the field for a long time is to be able to be connected with people as they move through different parts of their career once they're relaunched.

So I see, I find it fascinating when like you go through the returnship program at Goldman, you have successful track record there, and then you get hired by a new employer for the next phase of your career, and you're not a relauncher anymore. So I wanted to know if you could talk to us about the transition that you went through when you moved to start working for Pizza Hut.

Ashley Miller: For sure. Again, a blessing, honestly. Like I look at it and it's like having this opportunity to work with truly iconic brands in some ways. I think I've been a little lucky in that. And I think for me, Pizza Hut is a brand that I've always admired, like I literally I eat Pizza Hut all the time, growing up It was a place for me that it's you know, you have the family gatherings and you have the salad bar and you've got the pizza, the red cups. You know even for like team aspects when I was younger like having your basketball team out to Pizza Hut and just, it's always been a part of me.

And again, shout out to Purdue, one of the dorms that I lived in, literally like my window, I looked out and the Pizza Hut on campus was right there. So I ate there way more than I should have, to be very honest, anyone that knew me knew was like, let's go to Pizza Hut. So I think for me, it's been this brand that has always just been there.

And I think, you know, once I was like, okay, what else is out there? I think for me as well, continuing to grow was just really part of what is my journey of I want to grow and immerse myself in so many things. And I think being in the space that I was able to be in with Goldman and diversity recruiting, it opened me up to just again, that idea of representation in so many ways, which is weirdly what I was looking at when I was in the WNBA side of, what does it mean to be any number of these things working in any of these environments?

And so for Pizza Hut with this opportunity to work really directly in equity, inclusion, and belonging, it was exciting to be very honest, to be able to work again with a brand that meant a lot to me, that I could also have this impact, and what that looks like on a global scale. So for me, it was kind of like, honestly, it was like a no brainer, but I think it, it, to be very honest, I don't know that I, had I not had the career break previously, would I have had like maybe the like courage to be like, okay, I can do something else.

I can work somewhere else, being in one atmosphere for almost 20 years, you're like, that's all I can do. But I think what really, it did save me in the aspect that it's it's okay to grow your career and go on, and this isn't anything about a former employer. I love everything.

It's for me. It's for me and personal growth. That's truly all it is. And I think that was the exciting part, to be very honest, that I was just like, in a weird way, I was almost excited to tell my former boss, Hey, like this other opportunity, because for me, it was just like, this is an opportunity for me to continue to grow in so many ways.

And I hope that everybody can understand that. And that's truly where Pizza Hut came in, where it's okay, here's another leap of faith. In some ways of like, this is a little different. It's not necessarily an area that I'm classically trained in, but it's an area for me to continue to grow and make a real lasting impact with a global brand.

And that's honestly what it's been since the moment I came in the door. It's just another place that has been so welcoming, honestly has a, just a great atmosphere and culture.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Well, you know, they say the best managers are people who understand that when they're a high performer, that that career progression for that person may mean they move outside the organization,

And that's, that's okay. That's a good thing. And the best leaders really encourage that. Can you give us a sense of your schedule and your role and what it's like to be working at Pizza Hut?

Ashley Miller: Yeah, it's honestly, it's an interesting place because, now, truly I'm on the global side, so I'm working with stakeholders from across the world. So I will say, one of the things that I do love about the brand is that there is an opportunity to work flexibly. And for me, honestly, there's times that I have meetings as early as maybe 5 a. m. or as late as 10, 11 p. m. Just varying in terms of who I'm talking with and in different parts of the world.

But what I've appreciated with that is again, having coaches and managers and team that are understanding to that, that we can work in different environments, with Pizza Hut being headquartered here in Plano, Texas, I am able to go into the office, and I'm also able to be flexible for my family.

I do have different generations living in my family. And I think being flexible and being comfortable as well that, right now with my coach at Pizza Hut that I could say, Hey, you know, one of my kids has a field trip or, I want to be present and be there for this thing that's happening in their classroom.

That means a lot to me. That also means it doesn't mean it's necessarily stopping my work day. It just means for this time, I'm going to go do this, then I'll be back on, and have an understanding and flexibility, I think means the world to me, to be very honest, that I don't, look at my kids and say, no, sorry, can't come for this thing, or, even, recently with having a solar eclipse and being able to sit outside with my son for that and enjoy, those are things that mean a lot to me, but then also knowing oh, I'm going to get back online and going to have a meeting and, carry on with my day.

So that definitely, I think, has been really great for me and my family and that way. And again, I think, when I go back to earlier saying being choosier and being pickier with where I go, that was something that definitely stood out and it's really important to me and it's definitely made an impact for me that I have that accessibility for my family.

Carol Fishman Cohen: And it seems like it's truly embedded in the culture at Pizza Hut.

Ashley Miller: It is. It is.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That is great. Ashley, this has been a great conversation and I could talk to you for hours. I wanted to though, try to wrap up now. I want to ask you a couple of questions and maybe you can combine your answer into one, but I wanted to just come back to that question about identity, your comments about identity, you relaunched in finance and not in sports, and now you're in a new industry. And I wanted to know, do you feel like you're shedding one identity and getting another, or is, are they building on each other and combining? And, at the same time, I wanted to ask you the question about, that we ask all of our podcast guests, and that is, what is your best piece of advice for our relauncher audience even if it's something that we've already talked about today.

Ashley Miller: No, I think, I think I can kind of tie them together in many ways. I think, it has been a little bit of a shedding of kind of like that, that old me in some ways, but also bringing that with me, right? Like I think, you know, the caterpillar and the butterfly, which butterflies are kind of like, they're my favorite insect.

And I think of it, I, my family, we, we do speak Spanish at home as well sometimes. And I, like, we, we, we love mariposas. And I think like, when you really think about this idea of like shedding, maybe who you were, or just the ideas sometimes of who you were, or maybe even the things that are holding you back, right?

If the caterpillar doesn't go into the coccoon for a little bit, which might be my career break, you know, you're not going to come out with this like beautiful thing on the other side, whatever it is. And I think just understanding that, I think for people that are relaunching, like, being comfortable being uncomfortable in some way, which is not easy for people, right?

Like understanding that, like, it's not gonna maybe feel great all the time. Like, what am I getting myself into, that imposter syndrome? But I think understanding that, like, if you could be, like, kind of a sponge in some ways and absorb and kind of, I don't know, like take your time and enjoy a little bit of like, this is a new foundation for me and you're building something different and being open in so many ways.

Ultimately is, I think what I have found for people who have success, even seeing it with the program when I was at Goldman is like people who I felt were open minded and didn't mind getting uncomfortable really, I think saw the most success. And I think for them shedding that old part, then it's I have to do this, I have to be this, or I have to be at this level. I have to make this amount of money, whatever it is. It's like, be open in the beginning a little bit and talk about it. It's okay. And I think just, You'll never know like kind of what that path or trajectory is going to be, if you can get a little uncomfortable.

Carol Fishman Cohen: I love that. I love that imagery of the caterpillar and the butterfly and the shedding piece of it, and great advice about being open. That's when some of the best things can happen to you. Perfect.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining us today.

Ashley Miller: Of course. Thank you so much for inviting me. I had definitely, you know how I feel about iRelaunch, it just means a lot to me. And honestly where I am today, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for iRelaunch.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That is very meaningful to me. So thank you. And I want to thank our audience for listening to 3,2,1 iRelaunch the podcast where we discuss return to work strategies, advice, and success stories.

I'm Carol Fishman Cohen, the CEO and co founder of iRelaunch and your host. Be sure to visit iRelaunch.com to access our many return to work tools and resources, and to sign up for our mailing list, just like Ashley did, so you can receive our weekly return to work report featuring career re entry jobs and programs.

Thanks for joining us.