She Leads®: The Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs Building to $1 Million and Beyond

Why Substack and Community Building Are Outperforming Traditional PR for Growing Brands with Ashley Orfus

·38 min·3 clips

Ashley reveals why brands today need meaning, not just visibility, to stand out in an algorithmic world.

Adrienne Garland hosts Ashley Orfus, founder of the consultancy A-Lab Group, which helps innovative brands build meaning and category leadership. Ashley's work focuses on guiding founders who introduce new behaviors to the market, moving beyond traditional publicity. She transitioned from roles at Ferragamo and with a Hollywood producer, experiences that shaped her understanding of social currency and industry disruption. Ashley explains her agency operates on a "social science" model, creating evolving, integrated communication plans rather than static campaigns. She cites working with clients in vertical farming, space tourism, and audio jewelry, like launching Friends headphones a decade ago. Her approach emphasizes "micro-messaging" to define new categories for the market. Ashley argues that operational refinement, not just scale, drives performance, sharing an example of a friend generating $50 million in revenue with no employees. She identifies a need for women to change conversations around money, overcoming intimidation and guilt about earning. The media landscape is shifting towards platforms like Substack and Beehive, which democratize access and emphasize community building over traditional pitching. Ashley notes her firm anticipated Substack's impact and began cultivating relationships with writers transitioning from outlets like the Wall Street Journal. A key insight is that brands in an algorithmic age need meaning, not just visibility. Ashley advises founders to experiment with platforms, commit deeply to one, and analyze follower data for signals. She stresses that a great product and point of view are fundamental before investing heavily in marketing. The human touch, like handwritten notes or personal calls to customers, provides a competitive edge in a digital world. Ashley encourages founders to honor their own preferences, suggesting that if someone hates podcasts, they shouldn't start one solely for business. She highlights the value of "cultural mining" with clients to develop plans that evolve alongside their brands. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal anecdotes with strategic business advice. The style is forward-looking and advisory, focusing on practical methodologies for brand building. Entrepreneurs interested in modern PR, community-driven marketing, and building purpose-led brands will find this episode valuable. Listeners seeking quick tactical hacks or those skeptical of a consultancy perspective might choose to skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded look at women founders, market fit, and the money conversation around growth.

The episode opens with Ashley Orfas of A-Lab Group and settles into the practical work of building a business. Its best moments come when it weighs whether a company is solving a real market problem, whether a founder's expertise is truly different, and why the money…

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If you want a candid conversation about women founders, market need, and what it takes to pivot, start here.

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