LSS Financial Counselor Spotlight: Meet Ashley

Ashley started with LSS Financial Counseling as an intern after she graduated from UMD with a major in Sociology.  Within that same year, she was hired on as a full-time financial counselor, providing budget, credit, and debt counseling. Ashley was one of our first counselors to become HECM certified to provide Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling and is now leading the Reverse Mortgage Counseling Team.  She provides housing counseling as well, helping people determine options to save their home from foreclosure. Most recently Ashley began interviewing and hiring financial counseling interns and coordinating their efforts.

Her Passion

Ashley began with LSS because she wanted to work with people and help them become financially stable. Her main passion is working with the Senior population, which fits very well being a Reverse Mortgage/HECM counselor.  Here is what Ashley indicates is her proudest moment from her years at LSS:

“I met with an older gentleman, 'William,' who explained he had been paying half of his Social Security check to a debt settlement company for 3 years. Even though William was making payments, he found out that he was being sued by one of the creditors this debt settlement company was supposed to be paying with his money. I advocated for him with the MN attorney General’s office and because of this, William was able to get all of his money back from the debt settlement company. It felt great knowing that William was able gain back his financial stability and that he felt empowered to avoid financial scams and advocate for himself going forward."

Her supervisor also said that Ashley takes pride in being a problem-solver and her passion for LSS and assisting families is shown in her advocacy for the people she works with.

Special Projects and Financial Education

"In my days as a partner relations specialist (working with local organizations, banks, and credit unions) I had the opportunity to help develop programs like the Great Debt Pay Down, which brought individuals from all over the community together to reach a goal of paying down debt.  It was a unique opportunity to blend counseling support and financial education to not only pay down debt, but to shape the participants' financial futures.

I also enjoyed my time traveling to college campuses in MN, KS, and VA to talk about student loan debt. I was able to speak to younger students just starting college to give them guidance on how their financial decisions today can impact their futures. The other students I spoke with were about to graduate, launch their careers, and tackle their student loan debts. It's important to have as much knowledge as possible when moving from college to the professional world."

We're so proud of the work that Ashley does. If you'd like to meet with a counselor like Ashley to work on your financial goals, give us a call at 888.577.2227 to schedule your free financial counseling session. Or, you can get started online by clicking HERE.