Ashley Bennett grew up in Laurelhurst with her parents and three sisters in a home she absolutely adored. “When my parents decided to sell, my sisters and I were devastated and swore we would buy the house back when we grew up,” she says laughing. While that didn’t happen, they did have the chance to tour the home when it came on the market a couple of years ago and were thrilled to see their names still etched on the concrete walls of the garage.

In fact, Ashley has loved touring homes for as long as she can remember. As she explains, “My parents have always been interested and engaged in real estate and have been very smart about their investments. Growing up, whenever we would see an open house sign, the whole family would pile out of the car to pop in and just check it out. I was older than I’d care to admit when I realized this wasn’t an activity every family did on Sundays!”

When Ashley later went to the University of Washington the real estate industry wasn’t on her radar as she felt the schedule was too untraditional. Instead, she did a stint in sales for KING5 after graduating and before moving to a small marketing company that made promotional products. Ashley and her husband Griffin married and bought a home in Wedgwood, as they hadn’t planned to leave the area. But shortly after their wedding, Griffin received a job offer from a company in Irvine, California, and off they went.

During their time in California, Ashley worked at Houzz, the home remodeling site, which she loved. “It had this bustling, young, startup vibe and I met amazing friends who were younger than I am and were at a different point in life,” she notes. When she became pregnant with their first child, Ashley and Griffin were thrilled but knew they wanted to raise their children where they had support from both families. After son Henry was born, the couple returned to NE Seattle and Ashley settled into being a stay-at-home mom.

“When Henry was a little over one, my old marketing company initiated conversations to bring me back,” says Ashley. “They’d been acquired by a larger company while I had been living and working in California. While it was exciting to get back to familiar faces after a handful of years there, some of the changes that come from an acquisition ultimately just no longer aligned for me.”  When her older sister, Jen, suggested the two of them go into real estate, Ashley thought she was kidding. But the more they talked, the more it made sense, and ultimately Ashley quit her job and they took the real estate exam in early 2023 and joined the flagship Windermere office (Sand Point) in March 2023.

Ashley credits the Windermere Sand Point Manager, Kian Pornour, as well as owner/designated broker, Laura Smith, for helping them hit the ground running. After about a year in business together, Jen decided to take a step back to focus on family. Ashley understood and adjusted. As she points out, “While I miss doing this with my pal, I completely understand the pressure of that juggle as a mom and a professional. Being a one-woman show has also been a positive change as it allows me to manage my own time in a way that makes sense for me and my family too.”

Ashley has been fortunate to connect with other agents she’s met who have been willing to help, offer advice, and be a resource. As Ashley says, “There are amazing powerhouse brokers in my office. I don’t know if they all necessarily want to be my mentor, but they have such a wealth of knowledge and are an incredible support system, whether they know it or not.” Still, the business can be lonely when you work on your own, so Ashley has found companionship in a group of newer brokers. “We originally got together to trade stories about our experiences, but it has turned into more of a strategy group with a text chain continually going,” she says. “It’s great because we can ask questions, share stories and resources in a safe and supportive space. We’re all relatively new to the industry and find that collaborating in this capacity inspires us to create more opportunities throughout our experiences to engage in partnership and support wherever possible.”

With just a year and a half under her belt, Ashley realizes some people might feel a more seasoned agent is in order, but she makes a great point. “Because I am new to this industry, my clients can rest assured I will be vetting every last detail and checking every box to ensure everything is done correctly and mistakes aren’t made.” She also shows great empathy for her clients whether they are buying their first home or making a shift due to an unforeseen life event, and acknowledges even happy transactions can be stressful. “I was recently helping a single friend in her thirties buy her first home and realized that some of the conversations that she and I were having might have been typically shared with a partner or spouse. I got to be that person to provide support to her through such an important, and somewhat overwhelming experience. I was so honored to join her in that journey,” Ashley notes.

While launching a business in a tough market may seem daunting, Ashley feels otherwise. “In any market, life will continually create the need for people to make changes,” she says. “The majority of transactions I have been part of have been friends who want to take advantage of an investment opportunity, family members who are buying or selling their homes, or acquaintances who need help. I have been honored to be a guide, support, and resource who considers their situation as important to me as it is to them.”

Today, Ashley and Griffin live in View Ridge with their two boys—Henry (6 1/2) and Charlie (4)—and while she admits the untraditional schedule can be challenging at times, it has also allowed her a lot of flexibility which has helped at this point in life. Going forward she plans to continue forging close relationships with her clients and bringing care to every transaction. As she says, “I want my clients to know I am their friend, agent, and resource for life… that relationship doesn’t end simply because the transaction closes.”