Ashlei Elise

THE PROFESSIONAL BRIEF

I’m Ashlei Elise, a Chief Marketing Officer, storyteller, and founder of BAE Studios.

For more than fifteen years, I’ve helped organizations grow through strategic marketing and sales, audience development, and brand leadership across both nonprofit and corporate sectors. Today, I serve as Chief Marketing Officer of the International African American Museum, leading brand strategy, communications, partnerships, and revenue-driving marketing initiatives.

My career has taken me across industries, from real estate and technology to professional sports and cultural institutions, but the thread connecting the work has remained consistent: understanding people, finding the story beneath the surface, and turning that understanding into strategy.

I believe the strongest brands are built much the same way the strongest relationships are: by paying attention to what matters to people. That belief has shaped how I build teams, grow audiences, develop brands, and create work that moves both people and organizations forward.

My Career at a Glance

  • International African American Museum

    Remote | Charleston, SC

    • Direct integrated marketing strategy and approximately $2M in marketing investment across visitation, membership, exhibitions, programs, retail, and institutional priorities.

    • Lead cross-functional brand, audience, and revenue strategies influencing approximately $4M in organizational revenue and driving growth across visitation, membership, and earned revenue.

    • Build and lead teams, campaigns, partnerships, and major cultural initiatives that expand IAAM’s reach locally, nationally, and internationally.

  • Houston Astros | Fayetteville Woodpeckers

    Fayetteville, NC

    • Led marketing, brand, digital, community, and audience growth strategy for the Houston Astros’ Single-A affiliate, partnering across ticketing, sponsorship, retail, and game-day operations.

    • Drove 223% growth in single-game ticket sales through integrated campaigns, promotions, audience development, and community engagement.

    • Developed brand campaigns, community initiatives, and revenue-driving experiences that strengthened the Woodpeckers’ presence across the Fayetteville market.

  • I did something I had always dreamed of doing: I packed my bags and traveled the world solo.

    For seven months, I wandered through new cities, met people whose paths I never would have otherwise crossed, ate very well, got lost more than once, and gave myself the space to figure out what I wanted the next chapter of my life to look like.

    Along the way:
    San Juan, Puerto Rico • Barcelona, Spain • Accra, Ghana • Cairo, Egypt • Paris, France • Singapore • Bali, Indonesia

  • Varsity Campus

    Remote | Chicago, IL

    • Led marketing and sales strategy for a growing startup, managing regional and onsite teams as the company expanded from 75 to 125 employees.

    • Oversaw budgets, KPIs, CRM strategy, and revenue performance across a portfolio of multimillion-dollar assets and acquisitions.

    • Built sales and marketing systems, training, and cross-functional strategies that supported organizational growth, customer acquisition, and retention.

  • Landmark Properties

    Remote | Athens, GA

    • Led regional sales, leasing, and marketing strategy across multiple markets, supporting property performance, customer acquisition, and retention.

    • Consistently delivered 4–8% annual revenue growth through targeted sales and marketing initiatives.

    • Developed training and performance programs for onsite teams, strengthening sales execution, retention, and recruitment.

  • Campus Crest

    Pullman, WA | Charlotte, NC

    • Built an early foundation in sales and marketing while supporting leasing, customer acquisition, retention, and revenue goals across multiple markets.

    • Developed and executed local marketing campaigns, events, digital content, and outreach strategies designed to generate leads and strengthen community engagement.

    • Trained and supported onsite teams in sales, marketing, and customer experience, eventually taking on broader responsibilities across properties and markets.

Rollcall

I've done some pretty cool ish with some pretty amazing people along the way.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

―Marianne Williamson

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