JJELLYFISH

Founding teams are fantastic at proving the feasibility of their solution. Where they struggle is bringing repeatability to the processes and business units that touch the customer, such as sales, marketing, implementation, customer support, and customer success.

I lead Client Engagements for JJellyfish, which helps Startups & SMBs achieve repeatability in these areas so they have a company built to scale optimally.

Client Engagement Lead

MKG Marketing

Leading the growth efforts to find B2B companies who are looking for data-driven strategies for Paid Digital Advertising & SEO for measurable, predictable growth!

What sets MKG Marketing apart is its agile, iterative approach to marketing—focused on delivering actionable insights, optimizing strategies for revenue impact, and aligning closely with client goals. With a team of experienced professionals (average 10 years of experience) based in North America (except for me...), MKG combines technical expertise with personalized service to drive sustainable, predictable outcomes for its clients.

Head of Growth

Other Side of Sales Consulting

**This is my personal company for consulting & coaching programs**

I specialize in building and rebuilding programs for long-term stability and consistent performance. From overhauling onboarding to decreasing ramp times to building playbooks to troubleshooting systems, I have done it before, made the mistakes, and am ready to share my experience. If you're not sure if consulting is the right fit for your team book time below - regardless of the outcome, I am always happy to give quick pointers and introduce you to any resources that may help! 

Additionally, I maintain an active book of coaching clients for SDRs, AEs and SDR managers who are looking to improve their skills and navigate their careers with confidence and a reputation for success. If you're interested in coaching services book time --> https://calendly.com/ashleigh-appts/15mincoaching


Projects include: Fractional Sales Leadership (<5 sales pros), Outreach/Salesloft Content Audit - Sequence Creation - Stylebook for a online education company. sequence generation for a translation service, Fractional Sales leadership for HR Technology, SDR management and consulting for a medical billing application, Inside Sales Program Design for a Medical Device company, Inside Sales Leadership and Program Development for a Shipping Management Application.

Chief Executive Officer

RevOptics

After years of seeing companies struggle to ensure they're getting actionable insights from their Sales Engagement tools - RevOptics has a proprietary service (and tool) to show you what you've never seen before.

ACTUAL DATA around how your team is using your Sales Engagement tool - what's working, what isn't, and prescriptive advice & content generation to fill the gaps.

As the Director of Revenue Optimization, my team and I conduct Audit and Content Generation/ Optimization projects to support your sales team and ensure their sales efforts, from prospecting to closing to cross-sell to referrals, not only WORKS but are held to the highest standards.

Director, Revenue Optimization

Sunnylabs AI

Taking the 6-factor formula for cloud cost savings to companies! Building the revenue motion from the ground up - stay tuned and make sure to follow @Sunnylabs.ai !

Across the Pond & Over the Rainbow

Across the Pond & Over the Rainbow - ANOTHER Sales & Marketing Show!

APOR (Across the Pond & Over the Rainbow) is the sales and marketing live show that no one asked for yet everyone needed. Hosted by Ashleigh Early and Evan Patterson.

In each episode, Ashleigh and Evan talk about life lessons we've gained along the way (some more painful than others), the unique experiences we share as friends separated by an entire f*cking ocean, sales and marketing tips, career advice so you don't mess sh!t up, and of course...plenty of unhinged hilarity as Ashleigh and Evan navigate lives as the professional weirdos that they are.

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Ashleigh Early (she/her) is an American expat living in The Netherlands with her talented husband and two adorable dogs. Ashleigh is a #LinkedInTopVoice in sales sharing tips and strategies to help sales professionals and leaders do better at what they do. She has a love for all-things diversity, equity, and inclusion and demonstrates this passion by uplifting the voices of underrepresented identities in sales with her leadership, services, content, and allyship.

Evan Patterson (he/him) lives in Chicago, Illinois but is originally from the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. He's an openly gay, polyamorous man with four loving partners. Evan is an award-winning B2B SaaS marketer providing freelance and full-time marketing and consulting services to innovative companies around the world. He is a proud college dropout who dedicates time to helping marginalized groups, especially LGBTQ+ folks, break into SaaS in order to help boost their lives for themselves and their families.

Both Ashleigh and Evan are strong supporters of injecting humor into work as being professional doesn't mean you have to boring. They don't believe in gatekeeping knowledge and love to tell the stories that need to be told. Their mission is to have fun, learn, teach, and uplift others in the sales and marketing communities who don't have enough representation.

Co-Founder & Co-Host

Winning by Design

At Winning by Design we help B2B SaaS companies to design scalable go-to-market plans and execute with a customer-centric approach to sales and customer success. With an engineering background and approach, we use our experience in working with 200+ SaaS companies to build and improve sales process and training methodologies. 

Winning By Design is trusted by clients including: Adobe, AdRoll, CultureAmp, FreshDesk, LiftOff, SalesLoft, SendGrid, Omaze, Outreach, Gainsight, and Zenefits.

Certified Trainer

The Other Side of Sales

As of June 2023 - The Other Side of Sales is no longer creating or publishing any new work. It's been a wild ride and please keep talking!

The Other Side of Sales is a podcast devoted to the vision of a truly inclusive sales culture created through hard conversations and the amplification of underrepresented voices. Our team utilizes weekly podcasts, webinar series, sponsored media, and the annual "State of Sales Survey" to move the profession forward. 

In 2019, I joined forces with Kasey Jones and created The Other Side of Sales in 2019 after looking at one too many lists of "influencers" and "sales podcasts to listen to" that failed to represent the voices of the diverse sales people they knew were dominating their fields. 

In 2021, the podcast re-launched after a hiatus where Kasey decided to step away - and 5 new co-hosts were included to broaden the range of perspectives and help spread the word about our mission. We know diversity makes us stronger and are proud to have such a wide range of experiences, races, gender identities and physical locations represented and sharing their wisdom.

The Other Side of Sales is on a journey to solve the big problems facing our profession through data, constructive discourse and active listening. You can expect honest conversations, guests as diverse as the communities they live in, accountability when we screw up, transparency on our methods and sincere effort to give more than we receive. We believe that is the only way to move this profession we love forward. 

Will you join us?

Check out the blog and sign up for our email list for BIG news at 
 ---> https://www.othersideofsales.com/  <-----


New episodes every Thursday!

Host and CEO

The Duckbill Group

We help companies fix their AWS bill by making it smaller and less horrifying.

Head Of Sales

Vendition

Architect of Vendition's Sales Development Apprenticeship Program. Responsible for curriculum, mentorship and advocacy to deliver the best SDRs to top technology firms. Coached over 300 apprentices at over 100 companies to permanent sales positions with a >90% retention rate at one year.

Apprenticeship Program Director

Hi, I'm Ashleigh 👋

I'm not 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉... but I am 'The Other Sales Coach' 😉 

I'm on a mission to enable companies and sales professionals to achieve sustainable growth by emphasizing empathy and humanity through science.  

I bring over a decade of experience at Silicon Valley icons like Okta, FireEye, Mattermark to early-stage startups.  

I call myself "The Other Sales Coach" because I don't subscribe to any specific methodologies.  Instead, I adapt my coaching to the individual, and focus my consulting on the unique intersection of product, people, and industry.  My style works- or maybe it's just my spectacular wit and rigorous attention to detail- but almost 90% of my clients have extended or renewed their contracts after initial engagement. 

I allow my clients a "safe place" to get creative, be honest and GROW their sales skills.  Let's be honest, there are some things you can't tell the person who signs your paycheck.  I ensure you have a balanced combination of accountability, healthy-habit formation, personality-tailored feedback and unconditional support.  

I'm here to push you to your 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥, not just your quota. (This applies to founders/leaders and individual reps!

Also, be sure to check out "Across the Pond and Over the Rainbow"- ANOTHER Sales & Marketing live show that no one asked for yet everyone needed. We talk about life lessons we've gained along the way (some more painful than others), the unique experiences we share as friends separated by an entire f*cking ocean, sales and marketing tips, career advice so you don't mess sh!t up, and of course...plenty of unhinged hilarity as Ashleigh and Evan navigate lives as the professional weirdos that they are.

#HotTake - I'm no longer taking fractional roles with companies that don't have SOLID marketing support.


I'll own this as a mistake I made too many times. Saw all the ways I could help. All the "quick wins".


But without marketing support to validate and shape those ICP/Persona discussions... without marketing to help generate content to build trust... without marketing to grow awareness alongside my work...


It'd doomed to fail.


Now I'm not saying you can't have limited success...but that's the thing. It's LIMITED.


That's not good for companies that need to grow.
That's not good for my reputation and building my skills.



So without marketing - you're not ready for fractional sales leadership...and probably not for a full time sales person (unless that person is coming with a network they can sell to for at least 6 months).


Use us in defined projects. Build the systems, start testing outbound plays, educate founders in sales basics so they can hold their future teams accountable and be better sellers themselves.


But I really wish I'd drawn this line two years ago. #LessonLearned

Ashleigh Early

Sales Leader, Cheerleader and Champion | Helping Sales teams connect with their clients utilizing empathy and science #LinkedinTopVoices in Sales

If my GTM strategy had to start from zero tomorrow, I’m not sure which five AI tools I’d bet on.

I mentioned last month how I took my foot off the gas for three months and got a year behind.
This is how I’m trying to catch up.

Next week, BackEngine is putting on a 30-minute showcase of five AI tools built for GTM teams. All curated. All demoed. No fluff.

Same format that helped me reset my baseline fast last month. Except this time, it’s part of the plan.

Because once you realize how fast things are shifting, not conceptually but in the tools and tactics people are using right now, you need a strategy to stay aware.

And I get it. 

Next week is already chaos. 

Last full week before the holidays shut everything down. Budgets, last-minute decks, annual reviews, Q1 planning. It’s a mess.

But that’s exactly why I’m making time for this.

If you’re trying to make smart bets for 2025 or avoid dragging a bloated, outdated stack into Q1, come watch with me.

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗗𝗲𝗰 𝟭𝟲 - 𝟮𝗽𝗺 𝗘𝗧

(Also enjoy this photo of me trying to get out of the house and enjoy something during these dark/cold months...YAY WARM CLOTHES AND GLOVES so I don't go completely nuts)

#sales #sponsored #AI #GTM

👋Ashleigh Early

Took avantage of the rare sun today to show off this EPIC t shirt Alina Vandenberghe 🌶️ sent me!


Yes, its COLD. Jacket, gloves and scarf went on the moment this pic was done.

Do I love how I look in this photo? NOPE. 

But embracing the journey and...as the note with the shirt said...

"Things feel intense and fast these days. Just a small reminder to be kind to yourself and let the perfectly-imperfect parts of you breathe too."

I'm getting real sick of seeing tools dressing up automation as “AI.”


Call it what you want, but if your shiny new AI feature is just counting words, setting timers, or assigning tasks based on a rule, it’s not intelligence. It’s an if/then statement with a PR team.

What’s frustrating is how often this gets passed off as smart decision-making. What most teams really need is either (a) good automation, or (b) actual AI that can make sense of messy context, surface insights, and suggest a next step that isn’t time-triggered.

Here’s the part most tools miss: prioritization. It’s easy to say “send a follow-up after 3 days.” It’s harder to say, “this deal matters more because of what the buyer said in the last call, how fast they’ve been moving, and which stakeholders are active.”

That’s what made BackEngine stand out. It didn’t just execute logic — it thought like a seller. Gave recommended actions, writing emails, designing proposals, and helping with all the details that distract us from real thought and human connection.

You don’t need AI for everything. But you should know where it’s worth it. 

(And if you're looking for orchestration so your team is confident they're always doing the right things, and nothing slips through the cracks on mid-market or enterprise deals…I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by Backengine)



#sponsored

AI or Automation_ Know the Difference (2)

Nothing says "Monday" like waking up with a migraine.


Yes, I'm fine.

For anyone else who gets them...he's the only thing that helps me.


Triptans.


Ask your Doctor. For me they turn off the pain and make me groggy but at least I'm surviving if not fully functional, and they cut the duration SIGNIFICANTLY. It's magic compared to the no noise, no light, no movement, or I vomit that comes without the triptans.

Thankfully it's never been regular enough I need ongoing medication or botox for them (but I know people who have benefitted from both)




If you don't get migraines, be thankful.


If you do...sending you a calm house and good drugs that make them bearable.

So...working on a bit of a rebrand....OMG why has no one explained color pallet theory to me before now?!? It's like I get why my 10 years of giving feedback always resulted in drafts that looked worse. (Also hire Evan Patterson)

It's 2040 - What do you want your LinkedIn title to say? (The crazier the better - see my answer below!!)


(Shamelessly stolen from Alicia Ostarello because I LOVE this question)

Stop Random Acts of Marketing. Start Generating Predictable Growth | CEO & Podcast Host

We’ve all seen the playbook: A founder wants to grow, so they hire a "Head of Sales" to come in and save the day. They hand them a laptop, a list of cold leads, and zero brand support.

And then, six months later, everyone is frustrated, the sales leader burns out, and the founder is back to square one.

My friend Ashleigh Early (CEO, The Other Side of Sales) recently drew a hard line in the sand. She posted that moving forward, she will not join an organization that doesn’t have marketing in place.

That is a bold stance in this economy. But she’s right.

Ashleigh isn’t just a sales consultant; she’s been in the trenches with us at MKG Marketing. We’ve worked on client projects together, and she even stepped in earlier this year to help us refine our own sales motion. She knows exactly what happens when you try to build a revenue engine on a one-legged stool.

In this episode of Back on T-R-A-C-K, we are digging into:

Why "Sales" is not a magic wand you can wave at a revenue problem.

The "Smarketing" reality: Why you can't have one without the other.

How to stabilize your revenue engine so you aren’t just burning through talent.

It’s time to stop chasing unicorns and start building systems.

Join us today and let's have this conversation in realtime.

Things I Resolve NOT to do in 2026:


Write a Book

Start recruiting

Stop drinking coffee

Committ to one "favorite" tool for each sales stack role

Say "synergy" unironically

Forget who screwed me over and give them a chance to do it again

Release my first album

Share my workout routine

Post fake rage-bait stories about firing people or lessons from walking my dogs

Stop posting photos of said dogs. (They're cute. You love it.)

Shut up about social injustice, politics, gender inequality or uncomfortable topics.

Let you see my horrifically messy, disorganized house ( #boundaries lol)

Blame SDRs who were never trained properly for their terrible outreach.

Excuse manipulative leaders for creating chrun factories with unehalthy workplaces.

Sugarcoat when I think a product doesn't have PMF or violates ethics/laws.

Auto-message or auto-connect people on Linkedin.

Launch a TikTok account (Seriously...that app is toxic and from a security perspective DANGEROUS)

Only post polished photos of myself with perfect hair and makeup.





but more than anything...


I will never say I have all the answers to life, the universe and everything.


I don't. 

No one does. 


So...stop engaging with that content even to say "This is stupid". It just reinforces it and you'll keep seeing it.

Want to prevent the dreaded Dec 31 slip? Make sure your sellers are seeing the signs, NOW, before it's too late.

96.5% time when I review lost deals with a team (totally a real stat), the same pattern shows up. 

The risk was there. 
Response time slowed. 
Next steps stalled. 
The champion got quieter. 

But it was all reasonable/excusable….until the deal was already slipping.

The team wasn’t ignoring it. 
The system just didn’t surface it early enough to act.

That’s why BackEngine has stuck with me. It doesn’t rely on postmortems. It flags that quiet risk early and suggests the next best move. Not a generic nudge. A real, seller-relevant step. And it does it while the deal is still in play.

Most systems work like a rearview mirror. They’re built to analyze, not support decisions in the moment. But the cost of delay is real. The damage isn’t when a deal disappears. It’s in the two weeks before that, when no one noticed.


Fixing that doesn’t mean watching everything. It means watching the 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. At the right time.



Also enjoy this throwback from my beloved Colorado Avalanche (Throwback to Berra) - Good sales lesson here...if you think you're slipping/sliding...drop and do a shimmy. Usually gets people's attention ;)


What are YOU looking for to make sure your Dec deals don't #slip? 


#Sponsored #EOY #Sales

I will be using all of these... and probably adding a bunch of my own I need to think up... 


Anthony Perry ☁️ , Josh Ruff 🐶 , Larry Long Jr 🎤, April Palmer I feel like you'd have some ideas...

Making sales fun. Brand @ MySalesCoach #AutismDad

That time already? As always, I'm sorry.

#salespuns 🎅🏻

My brain after spending 6 hours straight trying to do expat taxes on the due date (yes I got extensions). But THEY'RE DONE.


Also, any other #expats got recommendations for a new tax preparer for the US? Mine bailed with two weeks notice...yay...

Know I'm late to the party - but where my other Hellaverse fans/residents at??!!


Finally watched #HazbinHotel earlier this month and...I'm obsessed.


Mostly because it honestly reminds me of the community of disfuctional sales pros I've loved working with my whole career.

So...WHO ELSE IS OBSESSED?!?!?!? 



(Also if this somehow gets 1k likes I'll do a cover of "Gravity")

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