Ashley Bales found her passion for personal finance as a young adult. Struggling to make ends meet after moving out on her own at 18, she came across Dave Ramsey and followed the Baby Steps until she was able to save enough cash to pay off her debt and finance her college education. This lit a fire within Ashley to strive for financial success for herself and to help others as well!
Shortly after completing her MBA at Missouri Baptist University, Ashley was offered a position as a Family Financial Education Specialist with University of Missouri Extension, where she became certified as an Accredited Financial Counselor®. In her five years there, she served as the Site Coordinator for a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site (preparing tax returns for individuals and families) and as a Medicare Counselor (providing one-on-one consultations with Medicare beneficiaries). These roles set the stage for Ashley to take an educational approach as a financial advisor, helping clients to truly understand their situations and to prepare for the unknowns of their financial futures.
Ashley cares deeply about her community. She recently completed a three year term as a board member for the Madison County Chamber of Commerce in Fredericktown, where she served as both Treasurer and Secretary, and she is a member of several other area Chambers as well. Ashley is a 4-H Clover Kids leader, introducing children under age 8 to 4-H – an organization that instills confidence in youth by allowing them to conduct their own meetings and learn new life skills.
Ashley lives on a 40-acre horse farm in Madison County, Missouri, with her daughters where she enjoys the opportunity to fish, hunt and kayak as often as possible!
Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn and Facebook or reach out to her by e-mail at ashley@hbfg1.com