During her first week at Weyerhaeuser, Ashley had the opportunity to travel to West Virginia with the OSB sales team. This photo shows Ashley just before going on her first mill tour at the Sutton OSB mill.
Ashley Robinson came to Weyerhaeuser from the high-pressure advertising agency world, where she learned valuable skills such as time management and client communication. Looking back, she says the experience prepared her well for her position as a Wood Products marketing specialist based at our Seattle Headquarters.
“I’m essentially the middleman between sales and marketing,” she says. “I communicate sales associates’ needs to our creative team, which includes graphic designers and freelancers. A lot of people come to me with information, and I translate that into action and deliverables to support our teams. This has been a theme throughout my career.”
GET TO KNOW ASHLEY
“Why did you choose Weyerhaeuser?
“I grew up in Seattle, so I’ve always known about Weyerhaeuser because it’s one of the largest headquarters in the area. Once I got a job offer in 2024, I didn’t hesitate to accept.
“I loved everyone who interviewed me — I hit it off with Carolyn Atkinson, director of customer experience, who was my manager for two years, and I really like the whole marketing team. Our team just merged with the Corporate Communications team, and I’m really excited about having all those shared resources and being able to present a unified voice of Weyerhaeuser to our internal and external customers.
“I also love what Weyerhaeuser represents as a company. Employees are truly valued here — evidenced by the many people who have worked here for 30 years or more, and the value the company is putting on marketing and communications in support of our 2030 growth targets!
Ashley with Carolyn Atkinson at our Boise, Idaho, distribution center, visiting our Distribution marketing team and nearby vendors.
What do you do as a marketing specialist?
“I work with sales associates on the Oriented Strand Board, Lumber and Engineered Wood Products teams to make sure they have everything they need to sell our products. For example, they may say they have a webinar in two weeks and they want to tell their customers about it, so I’ll draft an email for them.
“I also handle a bimonthly marketing newsletter called “Insights.” It’s emailed to a large database of our customers, sharing what our company is doing as well as advertising our products.
“I’m the marketing point of contact for our product managers and engineers, and I help update the document library on wy.com. It’s one of the most viewed sections on wy.com — anyone who buys our products can go to the document library to learn how to use that product correctly. We provide a lot of very technical information pertaining to our products, and we’re constantly updating our literature.
“I also do a lot of trade show support. The lead-up to the International Builders’ Show each February is our busiest time of the year. It’s the largest wood products trade show in the world, and we invest a lot of time and resources into the Weyerhaeuser booth to promote our products. I make sure the booth is ready to go and has everything from giveaways to custom Weyerhaeuser shirts for our sales associates to wear on the showroom floor. IBS is the biggest event, but we attend other trade shows throughout the year, too, so I’m continually updating marketing materials to support our sales associates.
What’s been your favorite project so far?
“I would say working on IBS. It’s a hustle preparing for the show, and it’s stressful. But I feel like I thrive in a high-stress environment, and I like the high-intensity preparation involved.
Have there been any surprises in your experience so far?
“I didn’t realize how many people at WY have been here for decades. That’s something I wasn’t used to, especially coming from the ad agency world! Learning people stay here for their entire career was a very pleasant surprise.
Ashley is also a huge Seattle sports fan. She’s especially looking forward to watching the Mariners this season.
What’s been your biggest challenge so far?
“I get a lot of emails every day, so my biggest challenge is responding to every ask and learning how to prioritize them. I want to support everyone who comes to me with a question, but it can be challenging with a small team.
What do you like most about the team?
“Until recently, the team was just me, Carolyn and Josh Dill, digital marketing manager. We got to know each other well on a personal level, and I’m looking forward to learning more about my new marketing and communications teammates.
What makes WY a good fit for you?
“Not only do I feel supported by everyone, I feel confident suggesting ideas of something that hasn’t been done in the past. For example, in a recent meeting with OSB sales teams, I heard concerns that our document library can be hard to navigate when customers are looking for specific documents. I asked Josh and Carolyn if I could create a research project to meet with the sales team and have them show me exactly how they use the document library to see their challenges firsthand. Now we’ve been making updates on the back end so our sales associates and customers have a better overall experience.
“There are also so many opportunities for growth here. I could definitely see myself being here for 20 or 30 years because of how much I love the company.
