I am going to be direct with you. I am not here to impress anyone. I am not here to pretend I have all the answers. And I am definitely not here to sell you something wrapped in corporate language that means nothing when you peel back the layers. Ashlie Marshall is a leader of humans, a CFO, a mother, and someone who has walked through enough mud to know that values are not motivational posters on a wall. They are the decisions you make when nobody is watching and the way you show up when it would be easier not to.
Digital marketing has a trust problem. Business owners have been burned by agencies that promised the world and delivered a PDF full of numbers that do not connect to anything meaningful. The industry is full of flash over substance. And when values are unclear, or worse, absent, it shows. It shows in the exaggerated promises. It shows in the dashboards nobody understands. It shows in the revolving door of clients who feel like they got sold but never served.
Values are not fluff. They are the operating system that drives every decision, every conversation, every relationship. When my values are clear, my clients know exactly what to expect. My team knows exactly what I stand for. And anyone who works with me knows that what you see is what you get.
What This Means
Integrity which encompasses honesty. Being honest, making every decision with integrity. For me, integrity is not a word I put on my LinkedIn profile. It is the thing that keeps me up at night when I feel like I have not lived up to it and the thing that lets me sleep when I know I have.
Why I Hold This Value
I have been in situations where the people above me made decisions that lacked integrity, and I had to navigate the fallout. I have watched a CEO fail to disclose critical information that cost an entire division their jobs, including mine. I have seen what happens when honesty takes a back seat to convenience. And I decided a long time ago that I would rather lose an opportunity than compromise on this.
How This Shows Up in My Work
I do not lie to clients. I do not exaggerate results. When clients consider cheaper competitors, I do not bad-mouth the competition. Instead, I gladly give them questions to ask. Bring it back to me. Let us have a conversation about it. Every single one of those clients stayed with us. Not because I pressured them, but because they verified for themselves that they were getting what they paid for.
When I make a mistake, I own it publicly. I dropped the ball there. I am sorry. I will handle it right now. And because I am honest about it, people respond. They trust that when things go wrong, I will not hide. And when things go right, I will not exaggerate.
What This Means for You
If you work with me, you will always know where you stand. I will tell you uncomfortable truths. I will tell you if you are spending money in the wrong place. I will tell you if your expectations do not align with reality. And I will never, ever oversell what we can deliver.
What This Means
If I had to choose between tripling my revenue or growing the people, I would always pick growing the people because growing the people will eventually triple my revenue. But if I select the revenue over the people, it is not going to go well. Will I make the money? Sure. Will I do it in an ethical way that brings the people that are working on it with me? No. That is not acceptable to me.
Why I Hold This Value
I have been the person who was not invested in. I have been the person who lost a job because a CEO prioritized their own interests over their people. I know what it feels like to be expendable. And I decided that anyone who works for me or with me would never feel that way. Not on my watch.
How This Shows Up in My Work
My biggest achievement is not a revenue number. It is this: I created a vision and strategy for a company, and the team is learning. They have improved their ability to learn new things. They are continuing to learn and evolve their skill set. They feel more productive. They feel more educated. They feel like they are doing something. Even though those are their accomplishments, I am helping them achieve it. I am a part of that journey for them. And I enjoy being a part of that.
For clients, putting others first means I will push you toward what is actually going to work for your business, even if it means you spend less money with us. I am not going to recommend services you do not need just to grow our revenue. That is not how I operate.
What This Means for You
It means my team stays. They grow. They bring new ideas. And that stability and growth translates directly into better work for every client we serve.
What This Means
If you do not respect yourself, and that encompasses caring for yourself, giving yourself breaks when you need it, having grace with yourself, you cannot extend it to others. If you do not respect yourself, you cannot respect others. So, it starts there.
Why I Hold This Value
My dad is a workhorse generation. He is in his seventies and still working just because he cannot live without working. He was also the dad who was not around much because he was always working, and he regrets that deeply. At the end of my life when my children are grown and they look back and say, 'What is your biggest memory of your childhood?' I do not want them to say mom was always working the way that I say it about my dad.
How This Shows Up in My Work
My weekends are non-negotiable family time. Some days I kill it at being a mom and some days I suck at it. But knowing that over the average time, I am doing pretty good. Same thing with the business. I expect my team to respect their own time off. Respect your time with your family. Reply to them first thing when you get back into the office. That is not a weakness. That is how you sustain excellence over years instead of burning out in months.
What This Means for You
If you work with Tier Level, you are working with people who are rested, grounded, and whole. That is not a limitation. That is a competitive advantage.
I will never exaggerate results to win a deal. I will never pressure someone into a decision with artificial urgency. I will never claim to be something I am not. I will never sacrifice my team's wellbeing for a client's unrealistic expectations. And I will never pretend that I have all the answers. I am nothing special. I am 100% replaceable. But if I am showing up and putting in the effort, then I am not going to be replaced. That is the standard I hold myself to, and it is the standard I hold everyone around me to.
If there is ever tension between these three values, integrity wins. Always. I can put others first with integrity. I can respect myself with integrity. But I cannot maintain the other two without being honest first. Integrity is the foundation beneath everything else.
If you are looking for a leader, a partner, or an agency that operates from a clear set of values, you have found one. These are not marketing taglines. These are the principles I test every decision against. They are why clients stay. They are why my team grows. And they are why I can look in the mirror at the end of every day and know I did right by the people who trusted me.
If these values resonate with you, whether you are a business owner looking for the right agency, a professional looking for the right kind of leadership, or just someone who believes that kindness and accountability can coexist, I want to hear from you. Connect with me on LinkedIn or reach out through Tier Level Digital Marketing. Let us build something real together.
Ashlie