Ashley Bowling Q&A: On her own unique journey

What started as her first “big-girl job” has become a career for Ashley Bowling.

 

Now a year and a half into her role as Executive Assistant at Hoosier Energy, Bowling is more than the new Melanie. She’s her own Ashley, and she recently sat down with GridLines to talk about that and more.

 

Q: How did you get started at Hoosier?

 

A: I got the idea to apply for an administrative job from Pam Raisor. I grew up with her kids going to the same high school, my mom and her have always been friends and she suggested I apply for the temporary opening at Hoosier. I said, ‘I would love that. I would love something steadier.’

 

I was 19 years old, fresh out of a summer and semester at Indiana University. I knew I wanted to move to back to Bloomington (from Brown County) at some point. I applied and got the phone call in the car and was so excited.

 

This was my first big-girl job. I called my mom the first day and told her, ‘You’ll never believe this. I’ve got my own computer, my own cubicle, all my own supplies.’ I thought I was the bee’s knees, it was so cool.

 

I was a temp for about three years, and when there was an Admin Services opening, I applied for that and worked under Kathy Kardynalski. I worked with her from around 2010 to 2015.

 

Through the years, I would fill in if accounting needed help with a process and I filled in for a lot of secretarial work when needed. I just got a taste of what it was like filling in those different positions, and it just gave me the desire that someday that’s what I want to do. I knew stepping into those and taking any chance I got to fill in would help.

 

I started working for Rob Horton in 2015. Rob hired me as his secretary for the operations department, and I was there for eight years under Rob. In that role, I was able to learn a lot more about what happens behind the scenes at all of the plants and how Hoosier operated – literally!

 

When I got the Executive Assistant position, going from operations to working with the Board of Directors was a big change. But this seemed like a natural progression, so it just made sense.

 

Q: Any nerves stepping into a bigger role?

 

A: There were a lot. I’d never sat in the board room and spoken to many of the Directors, so it was just the unknowns of what goes on with this role and what all’s involved –but I’m a pretty outgoing person so once I got in there and got to know everybody, it got a lot easier. A lot of the processes I follow now, follow the same pattern. Overall, it’s been a really easy transition. Donna, her staff and all of the Directors and CEOs have been wonderful to work with.

 

Q: For those who don’t know, talk about what you do as the Executive Assistant?

 

A: In a nutshell, I am the main connection between Hoosier Energy and our Board of Directors. Whenever they need anything or have any questions whatsoever, I’m there to help.  I prepare vouchers for their time spent at meetings. I’m also setting up the Call to Order sites, getting things ready for each Board or Committee meeting. The Board uses their iPads to access all the necessary meeting information.

I’m also scheduling meetings and assisting a lot of the other teams here at Hoosier. The executive staff meetings, the REMC meetings, and I also help Scott Bowers with the Managers Association, so I really do a little bit of everything.

 

Q: What do you enjoy about your job?

 

What I enjoy most is there is something new every day. I don’t come in here and just do the same thing. Similar things, yes, but day to day there’s always something new. Some days I feel like I’ve been pulled in 20 different directions, but I feed off the busyness because I have three little ones under the age of 10 at home. That chaos keeps going here at work, but it’s good chaos, not bad chaos.

 

I also love getting to talk to everybody at the Board Meetings and in the office. I love getting to interact with everyone and not only talk about business but have a connection to talk about what’s going on in their personal lives.

 

Q: Any significant changes you’ve had in the first year and a half?

 

A: The amount of paper that we used in the past. I’m a huge fan of electronic filing or emailing. I still do some paper, but electronic is the way to go.

 

If a document goes to central file, then there aren’t three, four, five copies laying around the office anymore. We did a lot of shredding and cleaning up things we didn’t need, so it was kind of a refresh when I stepped in to this role.

 

Call to Order has saved us so much paper!

 

Q: Before we wrap up, tell us a little about your personal life?

 

A: My husband’s name is Chad. He owns his own masonry business here in Bloomington called Elite Masonry and is also starting to do home renovations as well. He left the masonry union to venture out on his own in 2016. He recently started in the Airbnb business as well.

 

We have three kids. The oldest is Tristan, 9, my middle daughter Addie is 6 and my youngest daughter is Brylee, she’ll be 4 this month. We live on the east side of Bloomington, built a house there almost three years ago. We just started travel baseball with Tristan – excited to see what that looks like. He is obsessed with baseball.

 

Q: What about hobbies/interests?

 

A: I’m a huge coffee fan, so I love going to random coffee places. Really, anything on the menu I will try. Locally, Soma and Inkwell are my favorites. And I like traveling to different cities. We just went to Chicago this summer and we took a trip to visit Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon last year. My husband and I love going to country music concerts, that’s our anniversary trip every year in June for the CMA Fest.