"A picture is worth a thousand words." A simple yet complex adage that Ashley Tumlinson oftentimes reflects upon and draws inspiration from as a creative in the industry. Growing up in the Texas Valley, Ashley remembers always having a passion for taking pictures and capturing moments. To her, this was the perfect medium that allowed her to tell stories and highlight those around her in their most authentic light. It was during her time in college though—after stepping away from the game of volleyball—that she began to explore her passions in the creative space. From working with the men's basketball and intramural sports teams to collaborating with the university's business school, Ashley immersed herself in the world of branding and social media management. Experiences which proved to not only give her insight into the parallels between sports and business, but also helped define her mission as a creative in the industry. It was only up from there! From working as a Digital Content Assistant with the San Antonio Spurs to now embarking on her own entrepreneurial journey in sports and entertainment, Ashley has embraced and pursued an array of opportunities since. Fueled by her love of photography, storytelling, and visual media, Ashley is excited to go all in on this new chapter of her career; and is focused on helping athletes—through her lens—build connections with their supporters and share their stories beyond their professional endeavors.
Take us back to your journey early on! You studied business, entrepreneurship, and management during your time in college. How was that transition then from college into the world of digital media and content creation like for you?
Being able to put myself out there and vouch for myself was tough. I'm fairly new to the industry, but professionally I think a lot of people get caught up in the competition of it. There's enough to go around and there's enough room for everyone to shine (though). I remember seeing a quote one time that said something about you and another person never seeing the same thing even if you're looking at the same thing. You know, you can both be looking at a tree but you both are gonna see that same tree in different ways. I think that's what’s so beautiful when it comes to the creative space. Even if there's 100 shooters at an event, you're all gonna have different views and there's gonna be people who love each and every individual view. It's just beautiful. I love it. I think that the spirit of entrepreneurship is what's really helped me in the industry—just being able to go after opportunities and say ‘yes’ to opportunities. Originally, maybe I would have overthought things or been like: “Oh, that's not really up my alley.” But, things are changing. People change. I feel like just being able to say yes, being able to pivot, and being able to take on really anything has (been) great. It’s like: “If you don't like it, you move on.”
Could you share more with us about your time with the San Antonio Spurs and your work there as a Digital Content Assistant?
For sure! I worked for the Spurs for a little bit over a year and I was on the digital and social team. I helped everywhere between the content planning for social, identifying trends, all the way to helping with the digital team—planning what we were going to shoot, then actually going out and shooting it, and then coming back and editing it. From there, going back to the social team and saying: “Ok, this is what we have. Now, let's plan to put it out. How are we going to put it out? How does it fit in the calendar?” It was a lot. Gamedays were also crazy. I think anyone that works in sports knows that no day is the same, so that's also where that spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation comes from (*laughs*). You know, being able to think quickly on your feet and pivot—being able to be very sound, stand firm in who you are, and be confident in your ability (to the point) that it's easy to pivot. You don't overthink things. I feel like you can't really overthink things in sports because everything is happening so fast. It's really just about being confident in your ability and being able to make those quick decisions. Also, it's not that deep. My stepmom once said: “It's PR, not ER. Nobody's dying.” You know, like if it doesn't work out…if you don't get as many likes, comments, or engagement as you wanted with this one video, it's fine. Just do it differently the next time; so it's very lenient in that sense.
Let’s talk branding! How did you get started building your personal brand in this space?
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