Ashley Olson Woodward
Ashley Olson Woodward
40 Under 40' 2022
Age: 37
Company Name: OneLove Woodwork, LLC
Position In The Company: Owner
Bio: Ashley Woodward is known for her impeccable creations as a founder of OneLove Woodwork, LLC. Born and raised in Upstate NY, she relocated to Ft. Collins, CO in 2008 with her husband, Dan, two amazing kids, and two dogs, Finley and Timber. After bagging a BS from Syracuse University in 2006, she completed her M.Ed. from CSU and continued to explore her passion for working with kids and education. Driven by this passion, she enjoyed a decade of experience as a professional middle school Counselor and felt extremely proud of the community and families in which she served. During these years, she was known for her constant enthusiasm for inspiring students and coaching sports. Ashley particularly relished instilling a growth mindset in her students and teaching them new skills to help them achieve their life goals.
She attributes a big part of her success to Finley, the Therapy Dog. After earning the title of a Certified Therapy Dog, Finley made an enormous impact on her students and soon became the most popular furry friend around the school. Through her empathetic and compassionate nature, kids felt safe to share concerns and ask for help, when they otherwise couldn’t! In the limelight of the sessions, Finley became a recognized part of the community and the single most impactful 'co-expert' for Ashley. Everything seemed aligned until Ashley’s professional career took a toll due to an unfortunate event in her life.
In July 2018, while volunteering to decorate a parade float for the town’s Recreation Department, Ashley fell from the float onto her head. As a result of this incident, she was severely injured, the most serious of which was to her spinal cord, and a Traumatic Brain Injury forced her to officially retire from public education, at the age of 35. While her courage stumbled a bit, her time in the woodshop kept her going. It was a time when she revived her fondness for woodworking. For her, the results of completed custom woodworking projects make all her hard work worth it!
With an aim and ceaseless hope of inspiring others to overcome hardships through hard work and perseverance, OneLove Woodwork was born. The company aims to incorporate the values to address these authentic human experiences; the hardship, successes, and fears of uncontrollable events and injuries that often take one down in the dumps. According to Ashley, people can have control of their life despite the impacts left behind in the wake of uncontrollable events. In 2019, her company showed immense growth and positive response. On top of ongoing encouragement and love, their family's financial support enabled the company to purchase a new lineup of shop equipment, allowing Ashley to work more safely and efficiently.
This day turned out to be the fuel to Ashley's dream of turning her business into a big success. Today, she has successfully become one of the biggest motivators and incredible entrepreneurs who thrive on one simple philosophy: To continue to embrace opportunities from uncertainties and use creativity as a conduit for improving lives every day. A proud owner of successful businesses, Ashley stays committed to empowering others and believes, "Reclaiming my life became a metaphor for using reclaimed materials in the shop; a true reflection of who we are, and where we plan to go in the future!"
Website URL: www.onelovewoodwork.com
Social Media URL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelovewoodwork/