Ashley Woodworth: A Day-Dream Turned Reality

A few years ago, Ashley Woodworth lived a life most would consider picture-perfect: a gorgeous home in the Seattle area, a corporate career with Nordstrom, a hubby, a pup, and a calendar filled with travel, wine drinking, and leisure.

But Ashley and her husband, Joe, had bigger ambitions than keeping up with the urban rat race. And instead of simply day-dreaming about them, they crafted a plan and actually MADE. IT. HAPPEN.

Today they’re the owners and winemakers behind Alton Wines in Walla Walla, Washington, a business they literally built from the ground up.

So just how did they do it? Here’s an extremely simplified breakdown of how the couple went from hopes and wishes to living their dream.

Step 1: Ashley convinced her company to let her work from home. This might not seem like a big deal now, but we’re talking pre-pandemic times, before working remotely was commonplace.

Step 2: Ashley and Joe wrote a business plan, purchased land, and Joe enrolled in winemaking school.

Steps 3-100+: Ashley continued and continues working for Nordstrom and handles all things Alton in her spare time . . . which translates to working pretty much all the time. But when you tangibly see your visions come to life—whether that’s watching grapes transform into wine that dons your own label or seeing the foundation being poured for a tasting room you designed—it’s hard to call it work at all.

With a background in communications and a lifelong athlete, Ashley is no stranger to teamwork, and she’ll be the first to credit all those who helped her dream come true. So raise a glass to this dreamer who put pen to paper and chipped away at a goal that is now a reality.

Q&A with ASHLEY

[Note for context: This interview was conducted at the beginning of 2021.]

Where do you get your energy/what motivates you?

“I get energy from what's around me. My husband is a very dynamic person with no off switch, and he gives me good energy all the time. I also get energy from my surroundings—music, vibes, decor, people are all important in how I'm feeling, whether I'm creative or productive, whether I'm having a great time or ready for a change of scenery. What motivates me is having a full life with very few regrets. I think a measure of what you ‘have’ is the company you keep, what you mean to those closest to you, how you show up every day, versus accumulated things. Selling our life in Seattle and moving to a small town has made being true to that goal and those values so much more tangible, something I'm grateful for every day.” 

What other women inspire you?

“IRL: My Grandma Nonie—she built a business around something she loved—travel—and thrived in that space. She was independent, creative, warm, and cultured. Watching her seize opportunities to travel, host friends, celebrate and enjoy life, all around her chosen career, was a huge driver for me when we decided to build the winery. She gave people amazing experiences via travel. I hope we can carry on that spirit creating unique experiences for our guests, too.  The biggest thing I learned from being around her was that you don't need anyone's permission to go out and create the life YOU want to live, even if that means starting over. 

“Celebs: Chrissy Teigen—for being real in a sea of people pretending to be someone else. I just got her cookbook and I'm dying to get into it! Gabrielle Reece—I love her general outlook on life, marriage, competing, and how you show up in life. She's both grounded and a total badass. I used to love to watch her play volleyball too.” 

What’s your pie-in-the-sky dream or ambition?

“Ha, this is an interesting one. Our goal in moving to Walla Walla and opening the winery was to be here and hustle and work hard on what we love during the season, basically March/April through late November, and then have the freedom to get out and travel with friends, see more of the world, golf, do all the things we love in the offseason together. We're getting closer to this being real, so we're really working hard to make that happen. I wonder if we'll create a new pie-in-the-sky when we get there or be like, ‘Yep, we're good.’” 

What’s your go-to recipe?

“Lemon Pistachio Israeli Couscous.

“This one I started making about five years ago, and everyone loves it. I always keep these things on hand and it goes well with pretty much any main protein dish. I also love that you can swap herbs or which citrus you're using seasonally to mix it up, plus it comes together easily even with a crowd full of people in your kitchen.”

How do you break up your days/what’s a day-in-the-life look like?

“I just moved into a new role at Nordstrom working for Trunk Club, so now I'm on a Chicago schedule, which I'm loving. I'm usually up around 5:30, I drink my coffee, and set up my to-do list for the day.

“Next is a strength or cycling class on the Peloton (best quarantine purchase ever!). Then I get ready, make a smoothie, and sit down to start calls for the day around 8 a.m., with my golden retriever, Hari, who is my literal shadow. 

“Around noon, I take 30-45 minutes to make what I call ‘spa lunch.’ When I used to commute, I hated having to make packable lunches or buy food downtown, so I was stoked to be able to make nice lunches when I moved to working remotely. I call it spa lunch because I try to use it as a real break. I listen to a podcast while making an elaborate salad or grain bowl or something healthy and delicious.

“I usually am on calls until 3 p.m., PST, then it's out for a walk with Hari before happy hour or dinner with friends.

“One of my favorite things about small town life is that you can see your friends spontaneously. There are so many nights where all of the sudden we have people over for dinner or we're headed to someone's house. Most of our close friends live within five minutes of our house—what a treat that is after life in Seattle. On the weekends, I'm working at the winery with Joe and our team. Sometimes it feels like a double life, but in the best way.”  

How do you stay organized or what strategies do you have for accomplishing goals?

“I'm a huge list maker. I've recently started using this format for my list: ‘Doing | Dealing | Dreaming,’ and it’s really helping me be more productive. The ‘doing’ is whatever has to happen today for work. The ‘dealing’ is ticky-tacky stuff for real life (make a doctor appointment, take Hari to the groomer, run to the post office, etc.). Then the ‘dreaming’ is basically giving yourself permission to take 30 minutes (or more) to work on something fun or just for you. My dreaming section of late has been planning a little wine weekend to Oregon for Valentine’s Day and trolling Pinterest for kitchen remodel ideas, but most often it's working on something for Alton. I'm finding that this setup helps me feel productive across the board, not just on Nordstrom work tasks. The ‘dreaming’ break between hours of Zoom meetings is also a good mental health break.”  

Do you have any good life hacks?

“Figuring out my ‘uniform.’ When we moved, I sold SO many clothes on Poshmark, probably two-thirds of my clothes, and only kept the things I wore all the time and loved. When I laid out what was left, it was pretty clear what the formulas were and what my go-to items were. I only buy things in those categories now, even if it's another version of a boyfriend jean or cute sneaker. I know I'll actually wear it. It feels so much less wasteful, and I never have days where I hate what I'm wearing, so that's the best.
 

“The other one is Marco Polo. My sister and I have been using this asynchronous communication app while she's living in a different time zone (it would totally work for people with busy days in the same time zone too!), and it's been such a great way to stay connected, so that when we do Facetime or get on the phone, it's not days or weeks of catching up on real life. We're actively trying to drag our brother into this as well—it's so fun to get out of a meeting and have a Polo waiting.”

Name three positives that came out of 2020 for you personally.

“This is both easy and hard. Opening Alton [last year] was such a huge milestone, but with the state of the world, it sometimes felt strange or out of place to be celebratory, or have something SO good going down, in the midst of a pandemic, social unrest, and so many people with small businesses struggling. Looking back on the entire year, outside of seeing our plan through and opening the winery during an unprecedented year, here are my three positives: 

“1. Having my brother live with us for four months. After WFH for three years solo, it was so fun having an office buddy during the day! His general energy and vibe is awesome, and he definitely kept me looking forward on days I was feeling frustrated or low with all the overhead of life this past year. We joke that we're the same person, but this time definitely confirmed it—we had a lot of fun. 

“2. Seeing that Joe and I could effectively run the business together. We dreamed this, planned this, and executed it 100 percent as a team behind the scenes, but it was awesome to see that, in practice, we could also keep that team energy day-to-day and also that we could stay in our lanes, each playing to our own strengths versus butting heads. 

“3. Making forward progress in my career at Nordstrom despite a lot of layoffs and re-orgs this year. I was working remotely for almost three years before Covid (under some special agreement with HR, which now seems hilarious) and seeing WFH go mainstream was also pretty validating that, yes, you can be effective from anywhere. When we left Seattle, we weren't sure how long I'd keep working, but I'm proud of the moves I've made, especially in 2020, and how this job has allowed us to be aggressive with Alton in ways I didn't anticipate up front. Also, hello, what I work on is so much fun. I'm grateful every day for being able to move between roles and parts of the company at Nordstrom over the last 11 years and keep challenging myself to grow and learn more.”