RECOGNITION & ACCOLADES
“Ashley is an extremely talented content designer. I was her manager as she onboarded at Instagram, and for the next year she consistently delivered thoughtful, detail-oriented work that very directly helped Instagram meet challenging business goals. I was consistently impressed by the focus Ashley brought to her work, right alongside the openness and positive attitude she demonstrated every single day. As an added bonus, the regular cameo Zoom appearances from her dog helped all of us stay grounded, inevitably when we needed it most. I’d work with Ashley again in a heartbeat!”
— Todd Lappin, Instagram, Content Design Lead
“Ashley is a thoughtful, detailed content designer. I've seen her step into complex projects where she quickly picks up the problem, aligns the team on a solution and thoughtfully executes on the content. She is a utility player who can take on any content problem you throw at her, all while providing well-needed leadership and guidance based on her years of expertise. As a peer, she is caring, giving and provides wonderful and thoughtful feedback to her peers' work, always provoking a good insight by asking simple questions and advocating for brand voice. It's been a privilege to work with her and she'd be an asset to any team!”
— Amy Trang, Instagram, Content Designer
“On every project that we’ve worked on, we closely collaborated to ensure that our product quality and user experience is first and foremost. I noticed her passionate, detail-oriented work ethic from the start. Not only did she have to support our team, she had to juggle projects from a few other teams, which showcased her organization and time management in a fast-paced environment. She brought amazing ideas to the table and put herself in the users’ shoes so that we could create the best possible product.”
— Javen Nakamoto, Instagram, Software Engineer
“Ashley is one of the strongest and most valued partners I’ve worked with. She's dependable, communicates well, and is always eager to contribute beyond her role. Ashley was always at the center of our team’s strategic discussions, being one of the most integral participants in ideation sessions. Her ideas were often translated into projects in our roadmap. And her product thinking and passion for professional users (being a creator herself) helped the team discover and gain empathy for use cases, pain points, and even tools/other services which directly impacted product decisions. Having to support multiple teams at once meant ruthless prioritization and clear communication on her timeline, which helped set clear expectations and plan accordingly.”
— Janette Song, Instagram, Product Designer
“Ashley is an exceptional copywriter. I've worked with scores of writers, and she stands out owing to her incisiveness, intellectual curiosity, and dedication. A master of her craft, Ashley writes brilliant, sparkling copy – but that's never enough for her. She always asks the questions to get at the heart of what her writing is seeking to achieve, from business goals to user reactions. She builds credibility in every team she's in by acquiring the skills important to succeed – whether that's technical understanding or insight into a new customer community. And she's supremely diligent. She'll give her all to provide top-notch work ahead of schedule. I'd recommend Ashley to anyone who needs a writer who is a fantastic thinker and executor.”
— Vivek Wagle, DigitalOcean, Head of Brand
“So many great things to say about Ashley, but I'll focus on this one: I'm a huge fan of Ashley's writing. In particular, I admire the way she is able to choose just the right words to convey not only meaning, but also voice and tone in space-constrained product surfaces. When we worked together on the same team at Instagram, I regularly turned to Ashley as a sounding board for my own projects, to explore content alts and ensure that meaning, voice and tone were all coming through strong. Her feedback and advice was incredibly helpful. I'd love the chance to work together again.”
— Katie Antheil Boyd, Instagram, Content Design Manager
“I had the pleasure of working with Ashley at Square and I can't recommend her highly enough. Ashley is a strong content designer with a laser focus on the user experience. She's always thinking about how to improve the UX and advocating for users. She leverages data and research to make a strong case for how we can balance business goals with quality experiences. She can tackle everything from style guides and information architecture to building in-depth flows and experiences. I wish we could've brought Ashley on full time but Square's loss is absolutely the gain for her next company.”
— Jody Allard, Square, Senior Design Manager
“Ashley was an outstanding content designer at Square, contributing immensely to our team's success. She played a crucial role in shaping our content strategy, establishing foundational principles, and solving complex design challenges with creativity and strategic thinking. A fantastic collaborator, Ashley's proactive approach and dedication make her someone I wholeheartedly recommend to any organization.”
— Charlie Hart, Square, Design Lead
“Ashley supported my team with content design at Instagram, and I was truly impressed with her ability to scale effectively. She demonstrated this ability by supporting 4 teams simultaneously, managing and prioritizing incoming requests with a high level of agility and speed. Outside of content, Ashley also shared her thoughts on team direction, which served as valuable input to our strategy. Would love to work with Ashley again in the future.”
— Ted Annan, Instagram, Engineering Manager
“Ashley is an amazingly talented writer, collaborator and overall creative. She was ready and willing to step up to every challenge we faced together. Ashley is serious about her writing but not precious about her ideas. She has a practically limitless capacity to go back to the well again and again and reformulate or rethink until the problem is solved. She has a flexible mindset: ready to take a strategic view of the big picture but also devoted to nailing the details. She's a straightforward communicator, listens and responds, and she's ruthlessly pragmatic in her approach. Ashley has a broad view of her capacity to contribute, ready to pitch in wherever help is needed and is continuously expanding her skills and expertise. A colleague with a big heart for her craft, her work and the people on her team. I'd work with her again in a heartbeat.”
— Erik Hageman, DigitalOcean, Creative Director
“I worked with Ashley during her time at Instagram, where she was responsible for the content strategy & design of several teams, including some high-priority escalations within the company. Her work always received her full efforts and thoughtfulness, and the designers I support always had great things to say about her collaboration and partnership”
— Ryan McLaughlin, Instagram, Product Design Manager
“Ashley is a creative, articulate writer and marketer. She has the unique ability to develop compelling narratives around technical topics, and consistently delivered content that bolstered the DigitalOcean brand with her authentic tone. In addition to delivering copy on behalf of the entire marketing organization (and often contributing cross-functional collateral), she also sought out opportunities to enhance her skillset and expand her experience, like leading an initiative to workshop feedback with key stakeholders across the company for DigitalOceans’s brand messaging update. Any organization would be lucky to have Ashley as their voice.”
— Lynnette Nolan, DigitalOcean, Head of Corporate Communications
“I had the pleasure of working with Ashley on the Instagram for Business team for almost two years. I've witnessed her content design mastery first-hand, which resulted in product changes that had measurable impact not only for the business but, more importantly, for our users: Instagram professionals. Ashley is also a natural storyteller, creative and passionate. I personally benefitted from her feedback on my writing many, many times. Given her experience, and good rapport with cross-functional peers, she'd be an incredible addition to any team!”
— Angela Sena, Instagram, Senior Content Designer
“Ashley is an incredibly creative content designer and a joy to work with. While at Instagram, Ashley always had ideas at the ready to address user needs. A true team player, she helped others whenever possible — whether it was onboarding fellow team members into a new space or playing an integral role in developing the first-ever Instagram Design Summit. Ashley’s ability to stay organized and prioritize many moving projects while upholding each to a high level of quality and craft is valuable for any team. I would absolutely work with Ashley again!”
— Andrea Crowley, Instagram, Content Design Manager
“Ashley is an incredible writer and design thinker who possesses an empathy and understanding of users like no one else does! I was lucky enough to work with Ashley at Instagram. She is a culture champion who lifts others up and helped lead our Instagram Design team's largest summit of the year. Being a creator herself, Ashley was repeatedly able to make product recommendations that helped small businesses succeed on Instagram due to her experience and expertise. She is the person you want on your team to bring the energy and good vibes — and I miss working with her every day!”
— Casey Capachi, Instagram, UX Researcher
“ Ashley and I worked on several cross-team collaborations together—from working on content that would resonate with both creators and businesses, to helping fellow content designers bring Instagram's brand voice to life. I could always trust her for fast feedback or to help my team communicate more effectively with hers so we could keep projects moving. Ashley would be an asset to any content design team that discovers her next.
— Karen Kelley, Instagram, Senior Content Designer
“Ashley Halligan is the ultimate Swiss Army knife. When I worked with her at DigitalOcean, we partnered on countless product releases and marketing campaigns. As a member of our Brand team, she helped us achieve consistency in our messaging on marketing materials throughout the customer lifecycle. Her attention to detail and ability to keep up in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with several demanding stakeholders proved invaluable. I also appreciated her ability to take smaller assignments and think more ‘big picture’ in terms of what role it would play in the overall UX for someone's experience with the brand. During my time at DO, Ashley was an incredibly supportive and proactive teammate who had no problem asking the hard questions needed to reduce ambiguity and get projects over the finish line.”
— Samantha Coren, DigitalOcean, Senior Demand Gen + User Acquisition Manager
“It goes without saying that Ashley is an excellent writer. She’s one of the best editors I’ve ever worked with and skilled at writing compelling copy for even the most technical of audiences. But Ashley’s talents extend far beyond copywriting. She’s also a strategic and creative content marketer, an amazing project manager, and an all around amazing teammate and colleague. It was a pleasure working alongside Ashley and I know she will be a strong addition to any team!”
— Angela Maglione, DigitalOcean, Senior Communications Manager
“Ashley and I work together on a regular basis and she is an amazing coworker on any number of levels. She is an excellent writer, easily able to pivot between various efforts across multiple teams, mediums, and brand voice. Her contributions to strategy, planning, and implementation make Ashley an essential component to all projects she works on. She is consistently insightful, relentlessly attentive to detail, and efficient with her work. And, perhaps most notably, Ashley's willingness to help out in any area, not only her own areas of expertise, to achieve the best result possible from any given project makes working with her a pleasure.”
— Gabrielle Tyson, DigitalOcean, Lifecycle Campaign Manager
“Ashley Halligan is an American original, one of a kind, and a talented young woman who views the world through a unique prism. She is immensely curious, as demonstrated by and through her writing in multiple venues, and she is open to ideas and adventure.
While comfortable on the world stage, she has never lost her affinity for small-town America, and she continues to seek out opportunities to meet and talk with people wherever she goes. It's clear that she has been an asset to all she has worked with and for over her career, which I expect will broaden exponentially as more people begin to recognize her for who she is.
To know Ashley is to know a great girl with a big heart and the skill to write what she knows and what she feels without reservation.”
— Bill White, Offenberger & White, Inc., Founder & CEO