Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Ashworth.
Hi Tamara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I help owner-led businesses run leaner with AI, and my path here started in finance. I loved the stock market, where you put money in, watch what happens and learn to read the people behind the numbers. Then I earned my MBA in marketing from the University of Notre Dame, and digital marketing was clearly where things were heading. I fell in love with advertising, especially social media advertising, because it works a lot like the market. You invest, you can see the results as they happen and you steer toward revenue and profit. Both worlds are really about understanding the people who make up an economy.
That analytical base led me into media buying on Meta and Google, and then I built my own company from the ground up. I founded Ashworth Strategy, a multichannel marketing agency for e-commerce and service businesses, in New York, moved it to Charleston in 2021 and grew it to a team of 16 and multiple seven figures. I have worked in ad accounts for twelve years, first as a freelancer and then as the founder. Over the years the brands I worked with generated more than $100 million in revenue.
Along the way I noticed a pattern. The clients who grew the fastest had operations that were ready for growth, with quick follow-up, clear systems and a team that could handle more customers. When operations were ready, marketing worked beautifully. So I started looking at operations first.
I sold Ashworth Strategy in December 2024 and the team and clients kept going, which mattered a lot to me. I had already been using AI at the agency, and after the sale I went much deeper, because I could see where things were heading for every small business. For the first time ever, small businesses can have what only billion-dollar global enterprises used to have. It reminds me of what social media marketing did for small businesses, and setting AI up properly can be life-changing for an owner.
I have always loved getting into the details with small business owners and helping them scale. Now I get to do that on the operations side as well as the marketing side. Bringing leads and customers through the door is only half of it. AI lets me fix the foundation so a business can sustain that growth, run more efficiently and be ready to take full advantage of the marketing. I build these systems into my own companies and rentals here in Charleston, the follow-up, scheduling, bookkeeping, guest messaging and reporting, and it gives me hours back every day. Then I install the same systems for other owners.
The bigger goal is ownership. I am in the process of buying cash-flowing local businesses to run on the systems I build, so my time goes to people. I live downtown with my husband and our daughter, and being there for school pickup is what all of it is for.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has had plenty of bumps and I am grateful for every one. Growing from a solo freelancer to a team of 16 taught me how to hire, train and lead, and how to build a company that runs beyond my own hours. Ad platforms change their rules constantly, so I learned to build strategy that holds up when the tools shift.
The biggest lesson was about readiness. I watched good businesses invest in marketing and then need time to catch up on serving all the new customers, because follow-up, scheduling and operations were not built for the volume. That lesson shaped everything I do now.
I have spent the time since the sale building what comes next, and I feel lucky to be doing it here in Charleston.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I help owner-led businesses run leaner with AI and grow smarter with marketing. My approach is operations first, marketing after. I start by finding where a business loses time and money, usually in follow-up, scheduling, reporting and the repetitive work that buries good people. Then I build the systems that fix it. That can be an AI assistant that answers and books, automated follow-up for every lead, a CRM that runs itself or back-office workflows that used to take hours.
I am known for two things. Twelve years of hands-on media buying, with more than $100 million in revenue generated for the brands I worked with and up to $500,000 a month in ad spend managed. And building real AI systems that get used every day. I run my own companies and rentals on the same systems I install for clients, so every client gets something I already trust with my own business.
What sets me apart is that I have sat in the owner’s seat. I built and sold a 16-person agency and I still run a small portfolio of businesses and rentals, so I understand payroll, thin margins and the pressure to do more with the same team.
What I am most proud of is the team I built at Ashworth Strategy and the work we did together for our clients. If you own a business here and wonder where AI fits, I would love to help you find out.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
A few things I would love readers to know. Charleston is home and a big part of why I do this. I moved here in 2021 and I want to build and own things here for decades. My mission is simple. I use AI so my time goes to what only a person can do, the relationships, the rooms and being there for my family, and I would love to help other owners get that time back. I also write about what I am building, the numbers and the lessons, at tamaraashworth.substack.com. Local owners who want to talk through where AI could help their business are welcome to reach out through my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tamaraashworth.com/ai-implementation
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaraashworth/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaraashworth
- Other: https://tamaraashworth.substack.com
