Ashley Faus

Director of Integrated Product Marketing, Atlassian

Marketer, writer, speaker by day... singer, actor, fitness fiend by night!

I've handled all aspects of marketing strategy and execution, from product marketing, to demand-gen, to content and events. I love telling the high-level stories that resonate with an audience and connecting the dots between types of assets and distribution channels.

My writing has been published on TIME, Forbes, The Journal of Brand Strategy, and The Muse, and I've spoken on various marketing topics for INBOUND, Harvard Business Review, and MarketingProfs.

Visit https://ashleyfaus.com/ for more information about my book, "Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI".

(Views are my own)

Head of Lifecycle Marketing, Portfolio

"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one."

Funny how we only ever hear the first part of that^^ quote, often said with a derisive tone.

Nobody wants the "master of none" 😬

And yet... I proudly claim the moniker of "marketing generalist"!

My superpower is connecting the dots, working across multiple teams, and integrating across channels.

If you need someone who sits at the intersection, I gotchu.

And this is why I'm always slightly surprised but delighted when I'm recognized in a specific marketing discipline.

My current title is "Lifecycle Marketing", but I contributed enough PMM-related content to earn a spot on the 2025 Product Marketing Influencer list.

And Alt Marketing School offers courses across allllll the marketing disciplines, including trendier topics, like the creator economy.

Personally, I think we're in a generalists' economy right now.

With teams running lean, leaders looking to bring in more AI and automation, and the rise of the fractional or solopreneur, generalists are making a comeback!

So cheers to all the folks who are making their mark in each (or every) discipline 🎉 

See the Alt Marketing School list: https://amschool.click/top

See the Product Marketing Alliance list: https://lnkd.in/dTmpNtJ5

Buy my book, "Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI": https://amzn.to/4jqaKDW

Head of Lifecycle Marketing, Portfolio at Atlassian

I almost ended up naked onstage 😳

I was playing a bride, wearing this ridiculous '80s-style dress (pictured below), with a dropped waist, heavy beading, and a ridiculous train.

And on opening night, the zipper down the back of the dress started coming undone...

Inching.
Down.
My. 
Back.

And no one could help me 😬

I felt the sleeves start to slide towards the edge of my shoulders.

I felt an unpleasant breeze on my lower back.

And I realized that I'm just hoping I don't end up naked in front of the audience.

So... when I tell you that I've had things go wrong onstage, I'm not talking about a momentary hiccup with the slides or stuttering over a few words or going blank on my next sentence 😅

What this means for you, as a professional sharing your knowledge at a conference or Town Hall or QBR: it's gonna be ok.

YOU CAN DO IT!

At minimum, you won't end up naked onstage.
And the audience probably won't even notice a flub!

I get a lot of questions about how to overcome the fear, swallow the nerves, and feel confident stepping onstage.

One of my counterintuitive exercises is to catastrophize.

What's the WORST thing that could happen?

How would you react (and recover) if it happens?

Thinking through the worst-case scenario takes the surprise and sting out of it, because usually, it's not that bad.

And now you know how to react 😎

I said I ALMOST ended up naked onstage... handily, I've had a lot of practice reacting to things going wrong.

I straightened my posture to widen my shoulders, put my hands on my hips and across my chest to keep the dress from slipping off completely, and angled my back away from the audience to maintain a little dignity.

And then I asked the costumer to secure the zipper before the next performance, 'cuz we're not trying to have things go wrong twice 💃

Wanna be on a podcast? 

Drop your name and topics in the comments 👇👇

What hosts want to know:

💡 What's your expertise and unique angle?
🎤 Can you speak in an engaging way?
📣 Will you help bring in listeners?

Don't have prior appearances? 

I gotchu:

--> Go live on LinkedIn or post a short clip to share your advice

--> Confirm that you'll share about your episode on LinkedIn (and any other channels where you are active, like a newsletter, website, etc.)

Let's connect some hosts and guests!

(Full disclosure: I'm trying to streamline my inbox a bit, so my goal is to make this an easy place for folks to connect without a middleman 😀)

AI can be the epitome of a productivity mirage.

It FEELS productive to craft the perfect prompt, thinking of all the details that an LLM might need to tailor its response to your specific use case.

It FEELS like progress to refine and refine again and refine just once more for perfection.

It FEELS like insight to ask, "But what about _____?" over and over again.

And. Yet.

Blathering on with the chatbot is not, in fact, DOING anything.

Did you actually use all that research that it pumped out for you to take action?

Did you make the updates to the slide deck or blog post, based on the recommendations?

Did you go to the event and see for yourself whether your ICP actually attends?

I've been struggling with this mirage over the last few weeks 😳

In particular, I'm sparring with Claude to improve my talk track and slides, based on session scores and audience comments from my fall speaking engagements.

I feel like I've been so productive!
I spent so much time typing!
I considered so many angles!

My slide deck has not changed.
My speaker notes are not updated.

And as I go back through the chat history, I'm left feeling a bit overwhelmed, annoyed, and generally unmotivated to take the necessary action to ACTUALLY IMPROVE.

AI is only as good as the action it enables.

You can "doom scroll" and "water cooler chat" and "push pixels" around in an LLM just as easily as any other tool (maybe more so 😅).

Don't fall prey to the productivity mirage.

There are MANY smart marketers in the world.

They have great ideas, they've executed impactful programs, and they've written useful books.

The difference between what they share and what I share is literally THEM and ME.

It's not just about the idea.
It's about the person sharing the idea.

WHO says it is just as important as WHAT they say.

People trust people like themselves.
People resonate with different people.

So using your authentic voice, talking about your lived experience, and sharing your unique expertise is the reason someone trusts you, follows you, and listens to you.

If you're looking to be more visible, get more opportunities, and accelerate your success in 2026, you gotta listen to this episode 😀

Thanks for hosting a great conversation Wednesday Women!

Hear the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/e-BwQmxb

Join my Stanford class, starting on Jan. 26: https://lnkd.in/eCe697Zx

Buy "Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI": https://amzn.to/4jqaKDW

Got big goals in 2026? 

I joined Erica Anderson Rooney to talk about my career journey, and I gave some SPICY takes:

♟️Chess vs. Checkers promotion advice

☑️ Minimum Viable Action (MVA)

💡The trouble with "bright" girls

✨ The real pitfalls of perfection

This episode tackles a few more personal issues than my usual fare, so if you want a candid conversation to kick off the New Year, I gotchu 😎

Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/eMp-UCs5

Exercises to help you speak confidently: https://lnkd.in/e8wvrZpD

Grab my book, "Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI": https://amzn.to/3YjquAk

"But what if they build a personal brand and then leave!?!"

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

This is common pushback on not only allowing employees to share their insights, speak on podcasts, build a following on LinkedIn, etc., but encouraging and enabling them to do this.

The ironic part is that these statements are usually sitting alongside a mandate to "get the employees sharing company content on social media"!

Here's the thing: NOBODY wants the soulless company content 😬

Not the employee you're nagging to share it.
Not the viewer scrolling the feed.
And frankly, not even most of your users.

People want to hear from people, which means helping your employees share in their unique voice is a much better approach, all the way around.

And yes, some employees will attract recruiters and brand collabs and advisor offers, such that they might just decide to leave your company.

But the valley is small, and careers are long!

These former employees might become customers, partners, investors, or brand champions... there's so many ways to exchange value 🙌

And in the age of AI?
HUMANS are even MORE important!

I covered several related topics in my conversation with Finn Thormeier on The Executive Brand podcast, tune in for more details on:

- Why and how to build internal influencers
- The 4 pillars of thought leadership
- Choosing the "best" B2B creator

Rant: Freakin' LinkedIn, you are BUGGY!! Pull yourself together!!

I've noticed that when I schedule posts, they often show up wonky.

It un-tags accounts that I at-mention.

It replaces images and videos with link previews.

The formatting in generally is just not what it looks like in the preview.

But apparently, now it's DOUBLE POSTING content?!?!

I schedule a post, went to "post now" and fixed the issues noted above, and then published... only to find that it apparently posted the same content, but with the mistakes, later in the day.

WHHHHYYYY!?!?

I didn't catch it in time to delete the rogue post, so I figured I'd ask if anyone else is seeing this janky behavior.

It's VERY frustrating.

I'm using native features and trying to follow whatever stupid rules the algorithm randomly enforces.

But good grief.

FIX THE BUGS.

/rant

"All effective marketing is human-centered. While we're busy being distracted with shortcuts, Faus helps us refocus on what matters." ― Seth Godin, Author “This is Marketing”

"Trust is under siege from nearly every angle. Yet marketers like you and me want (need!) to build trust with our audiences. The question is... How? Ashley draws you a map." ― Ann Handley, best-selling author and Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

"Most of the go-to playbooks are outdated, but it's hard to find a replacement for stale marketing practices. Ashley constructed a powerful new set of frameworks, along with practical advice and real-world examples. "Human-Centered Marketing" brings us back to what actually matters: the people behind the screen." ― Nancy Duarte, best-selling author and CEO of Duarte, Inc.

If you've been on the fence about grabbing a copy of my award-winning book, "Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI", this is the perfect time to buy 😀

On Wednesdays, we keynote 💃

Honored to present keynote session at B2B Marketing Exchange with ADWEEK, talking about human-centered marketing!

Grab your tickets with special pricing through Feb. 16, and yes, you CAN sit with us 😎

"Don't panic, bring a towel."

We're going on an adventure!

Join me on January 14 to talk about the B2B creators you need in your galaxy this year.

I'm talking with Nadia Davis, MBA from CaliberMind about how to:

👩‍🚀 Find the RIGHT voices for your marketing mix

🚀 Build a thought leadership program that delivers the RIGHT outcomes

💫 Measure the RIGHT metrics across B2B creators

Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eYsKtvYN

Building Neurowire: intelligent behavior enablement layer for companies to overcome team friction, middle manager crisis, and forgetting curve issue. 

Supported by Innovate UK, we are on a mission to align teams around shared goals, and priority behaviours, with every penny spent on 'learning' reflected in 'doing'. 

Inbox is open for synergies. Let’s connect. ☕️

Ramisha Mujahid

I celebrated my 25th birthday,

By honoring the woman I’m becoming, 

Alongside the ones who fuel my days with energy and optimism. 

P.S. Founding can be a solo journey, but life shouldn’t be.

Happy building to me! 🥳

Ramisha   Mujahid 

Co-founder @Neurowire; Turning Priority Work Behaviours into Daily Practice for Modern Teams

No alternative text description for this image

A surprisingly important thing I’ve learned as a founder:

Turning a bold vision into small projects, clear deliverables, and concrete work packages isn’t busywork, it’s survival. 

It’s what protects focus when everything feels urgent and keeps momentum when motivation dips.

Building Neurowire forced me to stop romanticising “the big picture” and start respecting execution.

Credit where it’s due: the structured project planning templates from Innovate UK (milestones, risk registers, delivery plans) made this shift simpler.

Excited (and humbled) by how much more there is to learn in the months ahead.

Who are you building for??

I have a founder friend from Iran.

Today, while the rest of the world talks about ‘keeping up momentum’ and ‘shipping fast,’ his morale is shaking. 

His struggle isn't about skill, it's about his geography.

We celebrate technology as the 'great equalizer,' but the data tells a different story. 

Currently, less than 2% of global venture capital reaches founders in emerging markets, despite these regions being home to some of the world’s most resilient builders.

It was never an even playing field for the brilliant minds in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, or Sudan.

As we race toward an AI-automated future, we must ask ourselves: 

- Are we only building for a monopoly of ideas shaped by a powerful 1%?      
- Or are we also building to solve the grassroots problems existing in the wider world? 

At Neurowire, I’m obsessed with the 'behavior layer' of work. 

But today, I’m reminded that we can’t fix how people interact inside a company if we ignore the systemic walls outside the ecosystem. 

We must do better!

Do you want to retain your best people?

And support your middle managers to lead effectively?

Then you are exactly who I’m building Neurowire for.

We’ve built an intelligent behavioral layer that enables:

- Conscious interpersonal interactions
- Intentional managerial support
- In-the-moment learning via habits

👍🏼 All at a fraction of the cost traditionally spent on training, coaching, and culture initiatives.

P.S. that's how I’ve been introducing myself at founder meet-ups lately! 😁

Here is a snap from the Barclays Eagle Labs  Women co-working day. Loved the energy and the chatter. ☕️✨

Recent data shows a dangerous tipping point!

Middle-manager burnout has hit an all-time high, with 70% of middle managers stretched beyond capacity, and nearly 1 in 4 actively planning their exit (@Deloitte).

Companies aren’t just losing talent. They are losing the "human glue" that holds them together.

This turnover isn't due to lack of skills or willingness to work.

But because managers are caught in a systemic squeeze: expected to deliver at AI-speed while managing human complexity with outdated theories.

Employers can no longer fix this with ad-hoc workshops.

The companies that will survive this shift are those that embed behavioral development and interpersonal bonding directly into their ecosystem.

We have to move growth from a "distant, self-directed choice" to being embedded in the daily workflow. 

When I spoke to 100 leaders in 2025, the consensus was unanimous.

At @Neurowire, we are building to solve this expensive problem.

If you’re ready to move from theories to actual behavioral tools, drop me a DM to join our Beta Phase. 🚀

I used to assume my struggle with procrastination was a personal flaw.

Perhaps just a classic ADHD challenge.

Then I realized it’s the exact same wall every top performer, manager and business owner hits. 

When you’re tasked with parallel projects, urgent deliverables, and high-stakes decisions, the brain gets overwhelmed.

Procrastination isn't 'laziness.' 

It's the brain’s natural defense mechanism to avoid the emotional stress of making a 'wrong' choice or worse, performing 'average' under pressure.

This is exactly why I’m building @Neurowire.

I need behavioral interventions rooted in my unique work rhythm, and delivered inside the workflow to turn 'stalling' into momentum! 

I'm building Neurowire for the leaders who know that with the right behavioral systems their talent will produce exceptional results.

I'd love to hear from you: How do you deal with procrastination or creative blocks when the stakes are high? 

Here's a 👇🏼lowkey work-from-a-cafe Monday!

Building Neurowire has made one thing very clear to me:

The hardest part isn’t building the product. It’s deciding what not to build right now.

Every week comes with trade-offs: speed vs clarity, ambition vs focus, instinct vs evidence. 

Most of those decisions never make it into pitch decks or updates. 

Some days, progress looks like restraint.

Curious for other founders or operators here:
what’s been the hardest trade-off you’ve had to make recently?

POV: If you don't measure how learning shows up in daily work, you’re not really investing in learning.

Research has been saying this for years. 

Studies on the forgetting curve show that people forget up to 70% of new information within 24 hours if it isn’t applied. 

The LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report points to the same blind spot year after year: organisations track course completion, not behaviour change.

The fix isn’t more content or more dashboards.

It’s enabling the missing 'habits layer'; using behavioral science and technology embedded directly into daily work.

At Neurowire we focus on this missing layer: what habits actually form (or break) after a learning goal is set. 

As we prepare for commercial pilots, we’ll be tracking what matters most to leaders: productivity lift, manager effectiveness and performance confidence.

If you, too, are serious about closing the knowing–doing gap, let’s talk!

The stated problem is non-quantifiable and often hidden.

Yet the scale of problem is massive with each of us having experienced it.

For #neurodivergent individuals, it is a challenge in particular: navigating alien brains, and environments that aren't designed keeping them in mind.

It's time we approach this problem differently than we always had. Excited to be building in this space.

AI + Science to Fix Your People Problems | Founder & Principal Behavioral Scientist at Aptive Index

I’ve read 50+ leadership books.

None explained why I get irrationally frustrated when people miss what feels obvious.

Then Aria told me:
“You’re not irrational. You’re just operating 3–5 moves ahead.
What feels obvious to you required invisible computation.”

That hit hard.

Because most workplace friction isn’t laziness.
It isn’t incompetence.
It’s wiring.

One person is sprinting in abstraction.
Another needs runway and detail.

And leadership is basically this:
Stop judging the gap. Start translating it.

Most advice says “be more patient.”

Better advice is:

Understand what brain you’re dealing with — including your own.

What’s one relationship at work that would instantly improve if you could name the mismatch?

#TeamBuilding #Leadership #Aria

taplio

The Battle

Ashley Faus

Ramisha Mujahid

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAshley Faus's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreRamisha Mujahid's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Ashley Faus

Ramisha Mujahid

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ashley Faus's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreRamisha Mujahid's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAshley Faus's LinkedIn Performance