Future Leaders: Ashley Gordon of Content and Research at Simpli5 On How Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success
An Interview With Eden Gold
I believe young adults are also redefining success by realizing there is no set timeline for success. Previously, there was a tremendous amount of pressure to quickly find a successful career, quickly get married, quickly start a family and check all of the boxes you were expected to check. Now more than ever, people are taking their time and being more intentional about their decisions and what they want in life rather than just doing all of the things they believe they are expected to do.
In a world rapidly changing through technology, societal norms, and global challenges, a new generation of leaders is emerging. Ambitious young adults are not just aiming for traditional markers of success; they are redefining what it means to be successful. Beyond the corporate ladder and financial milestones, they prioritize impact, sustainability, and personal fulfillment. They are entrepreneurs, activists, scientists, and artists who are shaping the future with innovative ideas and actions. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ashley Gordon.
Ashley Gordon, the VP of Content & Research for Simpli5, stands at the forefront in the realm of human behavior and interpersonal dynamics. With a background in behavioral neuroscience, Ashley has been enmeshed in the Simpli5 methodology from a young age, bringing a unique and insightful perspective to the Simpli5 team and driving the development of content and research that backs the innovative Simpli5 platform.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about cultural sensitivity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
My current career path has been a long time in the making. Right now, I am VP of Content & Research at 5 Dynamics and a Partner/Author at Blueberry Pancake Publishing, with my debut children’s book coming out later this year.
First, I was raised in the world of 5 Dynamics. My mother, Karen Gordon, Founder & CEO at 5 Dynamics, acquired the 5 Dynamics methodology and built an entire company around it when I was 14 years old, and it’s been a part of nearly every dinner table conversation since. I grew up with a unique visibility into the world and developed a deeply ingrained 5D lens. It wasn’t my first stop along my career path, however. After graduating from St. Edward’s University with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience, I accepted a job at Dell Technologies in the Diversity & Inclusion department, where I interned during college. Even in college, I frequently had conversations with my mom about what was going on at 5D and how the things I was learning about aligned well. We were constantly dreaming up big ideas for us to accomplish together. After two years at Dell, I found myself on the way to becoming a new mom and I knew I wanted more flexibility to be able to care for my child in addition to continuing my career. I am extremely fortunate to be in the position I am and to have been afforded the opportunity that I was at 5 Dynamics.
When I started at 5 Dynamics, I began in Sales with a focus on Research on the side. It didn’t take long for me to realize sales was not for me and was not an area I enjoyed being in. Even when I was in sales, I found myself helping out with marketing, specifically with editing and occasionally writing copy, so it was a natural transition into the Marketing department. Once I joined the marketing team, I quickly became in charge of all marketing copy, from newsletters to blog posts to social media posts to sales one-pagers and beyond. In addition to writing the copy, I was also beginning to dabble in graphic design and doing the design work for all of the marketing collateral as well. All of this work eventually led to my promotion as VP of Content.
While my career with 5 Dynamics was a natural progression, my newest endeavor with Blueberry Pancake Publishing came out of a lifelong passion for writing. Ever since I was a child, I would write stories and later, would blog on and off throughout college. I always knew I wanted to write a book one day, and that just so happened to start with a children’s book. I reached out to a published children’s author I knew to get her opinion and advice on the book I had written, and that turned into a partnership and going into business together at her publishing company.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The most interesting and, really, the most impactful thing that has happened to me since the start of my career is becoming a mom. Becoming a mom reframed everything for me and fundamentally changed me as a person in the best ways. I was early on in my career, and I was rather aimless and unsure about the direction I was headed in (which, for being freshly out of college and working a “real” job for the first time, is a totally fair place to be). Then entered motherhood and slowly, yet all so suddenly, everything began to change for me, and everything became clearer. My passion, my mission, my goals, and what I hope to impart on the world all stem from my journey of motherhood.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Some now call it passion, but, for me at least, at the root of that is stubbornness; a refusal to accept the status quo. I have spent my life questioning and challenging everything. I accept nothing at face value and instead always dig deeper. I always seek to understand why something is the way it is and how it came to be. This analysis helps me to determine what is really necessary, and what is really people and processes cruising on autopilot. I was never okay with blindly stumbling into the standard assembly line. From the start I have done things in my own way and in my own time, whether that was the zig-zag approach I took to my schooling years or to forging my own path in the corporate world based on what felt right to me. But, with this stubbornness comes the need to occasionally compromise and to be okay with being on a different path than others. I truly believe the only way to find success and happiness is to do it in your own way. Simply following the well-trodden path is only going to lead you to someone else’s version of success.
Authenticity and integrity are also a vital part of who I am and are key contributors to my success. I learned from my environment and the people I was around, but I didn’t let them change me. Instead, I left my own unique mark on them and remained true to who I was along the way. There have been times in my career I have been challenged to alter my voice or approach in favor of a more “polished” style. For example, I was once tasked with creating an internal team newsletter and I decided to do it with a light and fun spin. My manager at the time said it was hilarious and so fun to read, but the pressure of professionalism prevented that version from being used in fear of the possibility of it “getting out.” For too long, there has been this misconception that having fun with and maybe even enjoying your job somehow means there’s a lack of competence or credibility. Having more opportunities to use my voice has enabled me to push back on that belief. And that voice is a huge part of what got me to where I am today. That voice is the one that is worth sharing with the world.
Walking the walk and building trust are also crucial for success. I have earned the amount of freedom I have to do things in my own way because I do what I need to do and I do it well. I can be trusted that my approach works just fine, even if it’s different from others. As VP of Content and someone who spends a huge chunk of my job writing, my colleagues have come to learn that, in order for me to do what I need to do, I need the space to be able to do it. This may mean I push an internal call when I’m really in the zone on something and don’t want to lose my flow state, or it may mean having to step back to replenish my Explore energy when I’ve been operating in Execute for too long and am feeling like a content mill instead of letting inspiration lead me. Part of being able to finetune the approach that works best for you is by having awareness about yourself and your process. Lean into your natural strengths and then adjust as necessary until you find your rhythm and then let your work speak for itself.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about how ambitious young adults are redefining success. How would you define success?
My personal definition of success is not putting off living and enjoying my life until retirement, but rather living how I want along the way with work being in support of my life, not in the way of it. To do so, I am pushing back against the standard 8–5, 5-day work week that overemphasizes busyness and execution and burnout. I don’t believe in living for the weekend or maybe taking a week or two off each year to actually enjoy life. I am unwavering and uncompromising in my mission to be able to be the mom and the person I want to be and to provide myself and my child with the life I want for us above all else. I am a single mom navigating the choppy waters of co-parenting and working full-time while raising my child full-time. I have been juggling this for a few years now. I have been “doing it all,” and many times, I have felt like I am crumbling under the weight. I want a simple life for myself and my child. I want to be deeply immersed in nature, to spend our days outside learning from the world around us, and to spend this time fully enjoying our time together. I also have intellectual pursuits I’d like to further explore on the side, and I know I can do big things, but I want to do them in my own way, in my own time. That is my personal definition of success. But society is not set up for this. We live in a world that expects us to be “productive” members of society first and foremost. We are expected to give our whole selves to our jobs or our academic pursuits, but what this really means is to help the rich get richer and to forego our own selves and our own desires. The best thing I can do for humanity is to be the best version of myself, to be happy, to spread love and light and to have the freedom to lean into my natural gifts; that’s really the best thing anyone can do for humanity. But that gets stifled by the mundane pressures of bills piling up, deadlines creeping closer, expectations of what we’re supposed to look like, what we’re supposed to wear, to consume, to regurgitate, and it’s all wrapped up in the guise that we’re doing our societal duty, but we’re miserable along the way and that makes us miserable to one another. It has become clear to me that I have to do my part to untangle this twisted web. Still, it’s one thing to become aware of the situation and another entirely to actually dismantle the systems that keep us placated. We can realize we have a right to a happy life, but at the end of the day there are still bills to pay and we have to find ways to pay them. That is one of the great things about the world we live in today, though. In many ways, technology has leveled the playing field and has opened up opportunities for financial freedom that previously didn’t exist. I have realized there is money to be made and now more than ever we have more say over how we make that money. For instance, social media has democratized the entertainment industry, marketplace apps have enabled hobbies to become thriving businesses, and brand partnerships allow you to make money simply by living the way you want to live. I, and many others, and I hope many others after that, are all on our way to pursuing our own dreams and living on our own terms, not simply answering to, and working in pursuit of, the dreams of someone else. How do you incorporate social responsibility and sustainability into your definition of success?
Can you describe a moment or decision that significantly redirected your path toward leadership?
I was a very strong-willed and opinionated child and teenager. I often naturally took a more leader-like role (read: was quite bossy) with my friends, family, and occasionally total strangers. But somewhere along the way I kind of lost this assuredness. I sort of became afraid and stopped leading the way, opting instead to take a backseat. I stopped believing in the things I had to say and what I had to offer. Over the last few years, between finding the things that I’m interested in/passionate about, becoming a mother, and leaning into my natural strengths and abilities, I have discovered a whole new sense of confidence that has led me towards leadership. So, I can’t say for certain there was a specific moment or decision, instead, my path to this point has been the culmination of the hard work it has taken over the last few years to rediscover the gifts that have always been inside of me and finding the right way to share them with the world.
What role do mentorship and community play in shaping your approach to leadership and success?
As far as my work at 5 Dynamics goes, I try to be a mentor even when I’m not a leader. Even if someone isn’t my direct report, if I feel like I have valuable insights to share with them, I’ll try to do so in a way that feels empowering to the person. For example, we had an intern turned new hire in the last year, and although she isn’t my direct report, I’ve tried to encourage her to learn from others while listening to herself and bringing her own natural strengths to the table, instead of simply thinking and doing the way others may think and do. The beautiful blend of perspectives is what we strive for and what the 5 Dynamics methodology and the Simpli5 platform encourage, so it’s vital we create the space for each person to share what they have to offer.Our mission at Blueberry Pancake Publishing is deeply rooted in mentorship and community, aimed at encouraging parents and children to spend more time in nature, reading, and simply enjoying their lives. We are on a mission to put learning back at the heart of everyday life instead of being stifled in a classroom. To let kids just be kids before society starts looking at what they’re going to get out of them. Through reading readiness resources and community initiatives, we hope to get kids and parents alike outside and into the moment. Our Reading Rocks program combines nature and reading into one super fun, worldwide scavenger hunt that gets people exploring and reading new or old favorite books along the way. We also mentor other authors to help everyone share the story that is inside of them.
In what ways do you think your generation’s view of success differs from previous generations?
Each generation is a product of the preceding one, so, while it can sometimes be a little too easy to criticize the way previous generations did things, they were simply responding to the circumstances of which they were part. Our current situation wouldn’t be possible without the hard work they put in. That being said, I think previous generations found themselves so caught up in the standardized method of schooling and working and conducting themselves that they lost sight of the importance of truly enjoying their lives along the way and were led to believe they didn’t have the power to do anything about it. They were expected to put their heads down, toil away, and maybe receive a little reward at the end of the day for all their hard work, or they were told they could do anything as long as they sacrificed almost everything to make it happen. Success for older generations meant putting in your time and getting your fair due from it. I think Millennials and Gen Z have challenged this and are realizing the power in forcing the hand of society. With advancing technologies and things like social media connecting people from all over the world, collective movements and the sharing of ideas is more possible than ever before. This has led the younger generations to be able to question everything, to have visibility into the inner workings of corporations, and to decide what seems fair and what needs fixing. This has enabled people to choose for themselves what they wish to prioritize and what success means to them. For some that may mean hustling and making big career moves, for others that may mean walking slowly along the beach and using found driftwood for art projects they sell at the local crafts fair. What’s really cool about the younger generations is the acceptance and support for each person’s unique version of success.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success?” If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1 . First and foremost, as I’ve been saying throughout this interview, I think one of the top ways young adults are redefining success is by acknowledging there is no one correct version of success and there is no one correct path to get there. More and more, I am seeing people build their own paths to success rather than following the standard career paths set out before them or leaving behind a standard career in favor of a more custom approach. For example, moms (and dads) have carved out an entire section of the internet for their own unique brand of content creation and are finding immense success from it. A few examples of this are the mom duo behind Big Little Feelings, Kristin Gallant and Deena Margolin, and other content creators that I love to follow, such as Nicole Story Dent and Kelsey Pomeroy. In the past, becoming a parent may have stalled your career or sidelined you completely, but modern-day parents have realized the value in sharing the experience of parenthood with others and, whether coupled with a standard career or done as a solo endeavor, this newfound avenue has become a thriving industry in and of itself.
2 . I believe young adults are also redefining success by realizing there is no set timeline for success. Previously, there was a tremendous amount of pressure to quickly find a successful career, quickly get married, quickly start a family and check all of the boxes you were expected to check. Now more than ever, people are taking their time and being more intentional about their decisions and what they want in life rather than just doing all of the things they believe they are expected to do.
3 . I also see a lot of young adults working hard to help set others up for success as well by being transparent and having the conversations that need to be had and using their experiences to help teach others. Erin McGoff and the guests she has on her internet talk show “No One Knows What They’re Doing” are fantastic examples of this. This is helping with things such as increasing pay equity, reducing biases, increasing the emphasis on wellbeing and mental health, increasing paid family leave, and much more. Success is more of a collective effort than it previously was as young adults work together to ensure everyone has a fair chance at finding their own personal success.
4 . Learning quickly and not being afraid to fail is also a hallmark trait of how young adults are redefining success. Things change so rapidly in today’s day and age, and it really can be hard to keep up at times, but I think what is really special about this is that people are becoming more comfortable with that change and with not necessarily getting everything right on the first try. If we are collectively trying to understand a social phenomenon and we don’t use the correct paradigm to explain it at first, we learn, adjust, and try again until we get closer to getting it right.
5 . Last, but certainly not least, is that the younger generations measure success by impact and how they/others feel instead of wealth and material gain. Empty success doesn’t cut it anymore. Ambitious young adults want to make a difference and they want to be happy while doing so. What’s especially interesting about this, though, is that the younger generations are balancing feeling this way while living in one of the most fiscally unobtainable times in recent history. Inflation and housing prices have made it nearly impossible for Millenials and Gen Z to reach the standard yardsticks of success of yesteryear. Despite this, younger generations are still not willing to sacrifice the things that are most important to them for minimal financial gains. According to an article by Entrepreneur which talks about younger generations having little to no interest in becoming managers, “people see managerial responsibilities as a non-starter for work-life balance. Among those we surveyed, 40% said their biggest worry with becoming a manager was increased stress, pressure, and hours. When we asked people to identify their top ambition, 67% said spending more time with their friends and families.” So, you have nearly whole generations of people that simply want time with their loved ones and the ability to enjoy their lives who are willing to forego climbing the corporate ladder in pursuit of that whilst living in a time of increasing pressure and demand to keep up financially and meet their most basic needs, but still, they hold true to their values.
How do you navigate the challenges of innovation and change while staying true to your values and vision for success?
I am by no means an early adopter of the latest and greatest technological advances. I prefer to sit back and observe for a while, seeing how others are using it and the experiences they are having before I begin to explore. Take generative AI, for example, for the first few months, I wouldn’t go near ChatGPT or any of those other services, even though there were people around me that were big-time believers in it. It didn’t feel right to me, and I had no interest in using it. It wasn’t until I began to think that perhaps there’s a way to use these services to alleviate and even enhance my workload while still staying true to my work, that I began to try it out. I take great pride in my work and I have no desire to plagiarize the work of others, even an artificial source.
I have a great deal of respect for scientific disciplines and technological ambitions, I even got my degree in Behavioral Neuroscience, but I also see innovation and change simply for the sake of innovation and change. Too often I see science and tech doing things just to see if they can, and not necessarily stopping to think if they should. I think it’s incredibly important to think through the advancements we as a society work towards to ensure what we are doing is 1) necessary, 2) wanted by the majority of people, and 3) going to have a generally positive effect on peoples’ lives. Never taking things at face value and always digging deeper, as I mentioned earlier, helps me use a critical eye to evaluate our ever-changing society so I can remain true to my values and vision for success.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Similarly to what I’ve said throughout this interview, the movement I would start would be to allow everyone the chance to look at life differently, to think for themselves instead of being told what to think and to feel, to fall in love with themselves, to fall in love with one another, and to fall in love with this incredible world around them. Too often, people are bred into hate and born into misery, knowing no other way out but in. The constraints of society and the futile attempt to keep up with the endless barrage of menial tasks and responsibilities are enough to break the spirit of humanity and leave us disconnected from ourselves and everything around us. I want people to be given the chance to rise beyond this. We as humans like to pride ourselves on how evolved we are and how different we are from the rest of the animal kingdom, but the most evolved thing would be to rise above circumstances and obstacles and animal instincts to create a better life for everybody. We have the resources available; food, clean water, and shelter are the most fundamental aspects of life that should be available to everyone, not gatekept by corporate entities or governmental agencies. Mental health services should be freely available to everyone, period. Healthcare should be accessible, and no one should have to worry if they or a loved one were to get sick, if they would be able to afford treatment, or if lifesaving treatment would be denied by some insurance agency. I don’t believe the answer to a happier, healthier society is in past attempts or preexisting paradigms. I believe an entirely new approach must be taken. People often fear that the drive to collectively get better would disappear if things were “too easy,” but I disagree. I believe that if people didn’t have to spend so much time worrying about basic needs and overworking themselves to make ends meet, they would find a whole new sense of passion and energy for the things that keep a society advancing. We would still have scientists, teachers, doctors, and artists, we would still have people wanting to put in the work, but we would have them in their purest form. I think we could do so much more as a society than we ever thought possible if it were a society full of people who loved themselves, loved one another, loved this world, and loved life. I would like to start a movement that would allow this life to be enjoyed deeply and fully by all.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold
Future Leaders: Ashley Gordon of Content and Research at Simpli5 On How Ambitious Young Adults Are… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.