- Ashley Stoyanov Ojeda started her consulting business after seeing a gap in Latino representation.
- In March 2022, she published a business guide called “Jefa in Training”.
- She reveals why diversifying her offerings and writing a book helped establish her as an expert.
Ashley Stoyanov Ojeda was building her career as a consultant when she realized there was a lack of Latino representation in business. As the daughter of a Mexican woman, Stoyanov Ojeda wanted to see or hear more people like her on the cover of business magazines or speaking on business podcasts.
“There was this need for a resource, a guide for Latina entrepreneurs,” Stoyanov Ojeda told Insider. “If you look at all the podcasts, books, and people at big companies that we look up to, they’re all white.”
Stoyanov Ojeda decided to become that guide. Today, she is a full-time consultant at her namesake brand, Ashley K. Stoyanov LLC, and the author of “Jefa in Training.” — jefa means “boss woman” in Spanish — a business guide written in Spanglish.
Before launching her latest business, Stoyanov Ojeda was already a creator: After graduating from Hunter College in New York City, she moved to Portland, Oregon to “find herself,” merging her love of music there. , creative women and the community. she building to launch a non-profit organization.
What started as a monthly showcase at a local venue became an international organization for women composers. The series of events spanned 16 cities and was attended by more than 10,000 community members, Stoyanov Ojeda said.
That experience helped foster skills like business development, launch, and scaling, which she uses for her consulting clients today. Stoyanov Ojeda shared her experience building her business and how diversifying her offerings and writing a book helped establish her as an expert.
This is an essay as told based on an interview that has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Diversified services help expand my business
Stoyanov Ojeda’s consulting business has multiple branches
courtesy of Stoyanov Ojeda
My consulting work has gone through several stages. I started with individual 90 minute sessions, which I still offer. But as my client base grew and I became established in the field, I began offering recurring monthly and weekly sessions, which are my most popular offering today.
I also expanded into speaking engagements, which has since become my most lucrative business branch, accounting for about 15% of my annual income.
Also, last year, I launched retreats where I bring clients to Mexico for business strategy sessions in the mornings and cultural activities in the afternoons. And I started creating content for college courses, which brought in about 10% of my revenue last year.
My highest level program is called “Part Time COO”. When a client purchases this service, I join their team for a few hours each month for three to six months to work with the founder. We focus on a big goal, whether it be a pitch or a pivot, and I will train team members and participate in team meetings.
Writing a book opened more doors for me as a consultant.
Stoyanov Ojeda is the author of a book called “Boss in Training”
courtesy of Stoyanov Ojeda
In March 2022, I published “Jefa en capacitación” which is a step-by-step guide to building your business that includes case studies and success stories from Latina entrepreneurs. Because it is written in Spanglish, it is aimed at a Latino demographic.
The idea for the book came at a time in 2019 when my nonprofit was growing a lot, but I felt stuck because the business was not on a proper footing: there was no financial plan or strategy. I wanted to help other founders who might be in that situation today.
Once I introduced authoring to my portfolio, more opportunities were created for me as a consultant. For example, it brought more opportunities to speak and generated buzz in the press about my brand.
What people need to realize is that before you decide to become an author, you need to think about what you want to get out of the book. You probably don’t make millions of dollars from book sales, so you should know how to use the book as a tool. That could mean getting more clients, getting more speaking engagements, or becoming a thought leader.
A book can be a great way to build that trust factor with your community. So I encourage others to do it, but I know that this is how you have to use it.
