J. Ashley Hunt

• 30+ years of public speaking experience

• International Business Consulting and Training

• Avid Photographer

• Road Warrior

My first experiences in public speaking (other than the awkward class speeches on politics in Junior High School) began in the radio industry in 1985. I worked as an intern/coffee provider for the local sports radio station in my hometown of New Hope, PA. From there I managed to wrangle a gig as the sidekick for all of the high school basketball games and when I left for college I took on an internship for credit program doing local news reporting. After I graduated from college with a degree in Communications the rock and roll lifestyle called to me and I started filling in reading the entertainment news on a Top 40 station in the Philadelphia Market and full time “serious news” on the AM station across the hall. I covered a variety of big trials at the time including the OJ Simpson case and the Menendez brothers. Not once but twice. I met a lot of amazing people and some famous ones too.

After years of fun and shenanigans I became a mom in 1998 and settled down to a normal schedule (sadly I was now expected to pay for my own concert tickets) and was hired by AOL in a management position. I was later promoted to Project Manager in the products department after working on several large projects as a team member. When many projects were successfully executed (trial by fire) I was asked to go into training to provide guidance to the “newbies” coming in. From there my passion for helping people and public speaking grew.

In 2007 I obtained my PMP® certification and I continue to teach to thousands of people around the world to help them get certified and improve their own professional development. Numerous other certifications followed as I became more ingrained in project management of both the predictive and agile variety.

My career began having fun and continues to be. I enjoy engaging people in stories and taking large amounts of information and breaking it down to a fun and real world level so it is understood, not just to pass an exam or to use project management software, but to be able to apply it on the job.

In my spare time I am the mother of college aged daughter, a wife and an avid photographer of landscapes and architecture. I love to combine my love of photography with my road warrior nature and passion for traveling to new and different cultures around the world. Whether it be for work or for fun.

I work for an amazing company called StormWind Studios and we teach live/on demand virtual classes with green screens and Hollywood production. It's so much fun and I love what I do.

I am also a highly devoted football fan of the Philadelphia Eagles and have been since I was old enough to understand football at about 12 years old. I had nothing what-so-ever to do with the snowball throwing incident involving Santa (it happened the year I was born) BUT I have been known to loudly boo the Dallas Cowboys…even in the off-season. It's expected!

The reason I write is because it is a different way of bringing project management best practices to those who are looking to improve their career. My hope is you will all enjoy the books and learn what you need to be as successful as possible.

Thank you for stopping by!

J. Ashley Hunt PMP, MCAS, Project +, PMI-ACP, CSM, LSSGBC