About

Ashley
Lathrum

I'm a strategic operator with 18 years in industrial B2B marketing and communications. I build the infrastructure that makes marketing, communications, and brands self-sustaining — so when I leave, the work doesn't collapse behind me.

The pattern runs through everything I've built. An internal platform at John Deere that saved $300K/year and is still running two years after I left. A brand overhaul at Cemen Tech that drove 180% conversion lift and won AMA NOVA Best Website 2025.

I'm equally comfortable on a factory floor and in a boardroom. I build things that are grounded in how work actually gets done — not how it's supposed to work on a slide deck.

Currently
  • Marketing Manager
    Diamond Vogel
  • Deputy Director, Marketing
    Capital City Pride
  • Fractional CMO
    Available · 1–2 clients
Location
  • Des Moines, Iowa
Recognition
  • AMA NOVA Best Website · 2025
  • New Employee of the Year, Cemen Tech · 2024
  • SVP Innovation Award, John Deere · 2021
Education
  • BA Organizational Communication
    University of Northern Iowa
01

Career

2025 — Present
Diamond Vogel
Remote
Marketing Manager

Building internal communications infrastructure for a decentralized multi-division organization — persona-based messaging, intake workflow, brand voice standards, and marketing-to-sales feedback systems.

2023 — 2025
Cemen Tech
Indianola, Iowa
Director of Marketing

Full brand and digital overhaul. Rebuilt messaging, standardized global dealer network, redesigned website. Also rebuilt a disengaged team of five — with clear ownership, accountability, and a culture of actual execution.

180% Conversion Lift AMA NOVA Best Website 2025 40% MQL Growth New Employee of the Year 2024
2010 — 2023
John Deere
Waterloo, Iowa
13 Years · 5 Roles

Spent 13 years at John Deere building infrastructure at every level — from the Student Program I ran for college recruiting (the portal I built in 2011 is still running) to the Power Connect platform that replaced $300K/year in manual process and earned the SVP Innovation Award in 2021. Roles spanned college recruiting, aftermarket, tradeshows, powertrain, and global go-to-market.

$300K Annual Savings SVP Innovation Award 2021 Intern Portal Still Running, 2025
02

What Drives the Work

Belonging over selling.

People can feel the difference between a community built for them and one built around them. Every brand, comms system, and team I build is oriented toward the former.

Systems over heroics.

If it only works when I'm in the room, I didn't build anything. The measure of the work is what's still standing after I leave.

Specificity over sentiment.

I work in details, data, and real decisions. Vague strategy is no strategy. The specifics are where the actual thinking lives.

Momentum that sustains itself.

Every engagement is built to transfer capability and make itself unnecessary. The goal is never dependence — it's infrastructure that keeps running long after I'm gone.

Let's Work Together

The infrastructure
behind the movement.

I take 1–2 fractional clients at a time. If the problem is real and the work makes sense, we'll move fast.