Given that the transportation industry is rarely simple, it’s good that Ashley Sowell, co-founder and CEO of Integrity Fleet Services, is used to high-intensity situations. While she now runs a Conroe, Texas-based shop that offers everything from emergency roadside assistance to trailer body repair, Sowell began her career as a paramedic. After she met her husband, Ryan Sowell, who came up in the industry as a technician, she joined him at his organization.
“I started working at the company [Ryan] was working at part-time as a secretary,” Sowell recalled. “From there, I moved all the way up to where I was vice president of accounting and HR for that company.”
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As VP of accounting and HR, she was already “doing everything,” Sowell related. “I was already running the business side of it. I already knew how to do all the back-end business. I handled all the taxes, marketing, and HR.”
Despite that she wore many hats at her old job, she found that her pay did not reflect her effort, even after more than a decade of service. And even more so, she was passed over for advancement in favor of a man she had helped train.
“That was honestly my tipping point,” she recalled. “Because the day that I had my son, I was in the hospital, working hours after I had him, only to find out when I got out that they had passed me over again.”
Ryan and Ashley had discussed striking out on their own before this point, but with four, and now five, kids to take care of, the idea had never felt feasible. Finally realizing they had had enough, the couple pulled the trigger.
Starting anew
The Sowells began work as a mobile operation with two trucks that quickly grew to five, with Ashley working from their closet in the early days. In her new role, Sowell continued managing the tasks she’d handled in her prior position but on her own terms.
“It [was] a lot easier because I was able to do it in ways that I felt was more efficient and better for business in my eyes,” she explained. Chief among these was enacting efficient practices and establishing a culture that prioritized growth and the open discussion of ideas, values that Sowell felt hadn’t been celebrated at her old company.
“Culture is a very, very, very big deal to me because we spend most of our time with our co-workers, more than we do our families sometimes,” Sowell said. “The last thing I want to do is go to a place where one, I don't feel like I can be myself; two, I have to be on eggshells all the time; or three, I’m just a number.”
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And these practices paid off, as the Sowells’ mobile operation grew enough that they were able to find their own location in 2020 – just before the COVID shutdowns.
Instead of giving up, the Sowells adapted their business. This allowed Integrity Fleet Services to grow during quarantine, and Sowell noted that they didn’t need to lay off any employees during this period.
Since then, Integrity Fleet Services has continued to grow and currently has a contract to expand into 48 different locations over the next few years. In addition, Sowell noted that they moved from their three-bay “starter shop” to one with 14 bays.
Taking ownership in a male-dominated field
Despite her success, Ashley does still run into occasional assumptions about what she can and can’t do as a woman.
“Our industry’s kind of behind on the times in a lot of ways,” she admitted. “Especially in the South, there's a lot of that ‘good old boy’ stuff, where I've had customers call and tell me ‘Oh, honey, I need to talk to a man.’”
Sowell does not let this attitude impact her work, especially when any time spent working with her quickly reveals her expertise.
“I definitely feel like there's been many times where I'm not taken seriously until I start talking, and then their attitude changes," Sowell noted. "Once they realize I actually do know what I'm talking about, there's a little bit more leeway.”
Sowell has some advice for other women who want to follow in her footsteps. “Don't let people's limitations or views of how it should be or what you should do stop you. You get one life. Do what makes you happy.”
