Angela Dee and Ascend Strategic Advisory: Strategy That Sticks

Please share a brief introduction and your business:

I’m Angela Dee, founder of Ascend Strategic Advisory, a boutique consultancy focused on helping agribusiness leaders and mission-driven organizations grow forward with clarity, alignment, and momentum.

After spending more than 20 years working inside organizations navigating growth, complexity, and transformation, I saw a consistent gap between strategy and execution. Ascend was built to help close that gap, partnering with leaders to turn vision into action and ensure change actually sticks.

My work blends strategic planning, leadership development, and change leadership, all grounded in deep roots in agriculture and rural communities.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, even if I didn’t initially call it that. Over the years, I’ve created several part-time and side ventures alongside my corporate career from creative businesses to family-run operations tied to agriculture. Those experiences taught me how much I love building, problem-solving, and creating something meaningful from the ground up.

Ascend is the first venture I stepped into fully and intentionally, bringing together everything I’d learned professionally and personally into one focused, purpose-driven business.

Do you have a co-founder?

I don’t have a co-founder, but I’ve learned how important leadership and collaboration are to me. As Ascend grows, I want to be surrounded by people who share the direction, values, and standards of excellence for the business. Building a strong team, and having trusted colleagues inside my own company, is a big part of how I envision the future.

Are you a mamaprenista?

Yes! I am honored to be raising my own pair of future female leaders, and my best advice is to release the idea that you have to do everything at once or perfectly.

Some days you’re winning at work, some days you’re winning at home, and most days you’re doing your best at both. Give yourself grace, ask for help, and remember that your kids are watching how you lead, not just what you accomplish.

Take us back to when you launched? What was your marketing strategy?

When I first launched Ascend, my strategy was simple and relationship-driven. I focused on conversations, referrals, and showing up authentically in spaces where leaders already knew and trusted my work.

I didn’t lead with flashy campaigns. I led with clarity about who I serve and how I help. That approach worked better than expected. Early traction has come through word of mouth, thoughtful LinkedIn presence, and direct outreach, which confirmed that there is a deep need for this kind of work in the market.

What accomplishments are you the most proud of to date in your business?

I’m most proud of building a business that reflects my values: rooted in integrity, clarity, and meaningful impact. Seeing leaders gain confidence, teams align around a shared direction, and organizations move forward with momentum reminds me why Ascend exists in the first place. That kind of transformation is deeply fulfilling and creates value for my clients.

What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

Honestly, I’m still early in my journey, and learning something new every day. I appreciate having access to a community of women who are building, supporting and growing together to walk alongside.

When hiring, what is your go-to interview question?

“Tell me about a time you had to make progress without clear direction.”

This question matters to me because it reflects the reality of both my work inside Ascend and the work we do with our clients.

At Ascend, we’re often tailoring solutions in situations where there isn’t a clear playbook - every organization, leadership team, and moment of change is different. I value people who can think clearly in uncertainty, create structure where none exists, and move forward thoughtfully without waiting for perfect information.

The same is true for our clients. Leaders often come to us precisely because they don’t have clear direction yet. They’re navigating complexity, competing priorities, or significant change, and they’re looking for a partner who can help them make sense of it, ask the right questions, and guide them toward confident decisions.

When I ask this question, I’m listening for how someone thinks, how they engage others, and how they balance progress with judgment. That ability to bring clarity and momentum when the path isn’t obvious is core to how Ascend operates and how we support the leaders we serve.

What did you go before starting your own business?

Before launching Ascend, I spent over two decades working in strategy, transformation, and leadership roles inside complex organizations. I partnered closely with executive teams and boards, led enterprise-wide initiatives, and helped organizations navigate change at scale.

That experience gave me a deep appreciation for what leaders are really up against: competing priorities, limited capacity, and the pressure to deliver results while keeping people aligned and engaged.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

The decision to start my own business came from a growing sense of alignment, and a realization that I could have a deeper impact by stepping into my own lane.

After years of supporting transformation from the inside, I saw how often leaders needed a trusted, objective partner; someone who could bring clarity, challenge thinking, and help move ideas into action without being constrained by internal politics or legacy structures. I also recognized that the way I worked best - thoughtfully, strategically, and relationally didn’t always fit neatly inside traditional roles.

Starting Ascend allowed me to bring my full experience, values, and perspective together in one place. It gave me the freedom to focus on the work that energizes me most, partner more deeply with leaders, and build something that reflects not just what I do, but why I do it. It felt less like a leap and more like a natural next step... one that honored both my professional journey and the future I wanted to create.

Do you have any recent wins?

This past year has been full of meaningful milestones from expanding client partnerships to being invited into more board-level and executive conversations. I’ve also stepped more fully into thought leadership through writing, speaking, and podcast conversations, which will extend Ascend’s reach and deepen its impact beyond individual engagements.

What's one app on your phone that you cannot live without?

My Kindle app. I try to stay off social media as much as possible during the day, so when I have small pockets of downtime, reading gives me a mental reset without the noise. It’s both an escape and a way I continue learning.

Who are your customers?

I work primarily with agribusiness leaders and organizations across the food and agriculture ecosystem including cooperatives, protein and food companies, ag-adjacent service firms, and other mission-driven organizations tied to food security and rural vitality.

My clients are typically navigating growth, modernization, or organizational change and want to evolve without losing what makes them exceptional.

What's your top productivity tip?

Clarity before action. I start each day identifying the one or two things that truly matter - that way I don't get as bogged down in the noise of the disruptions that naturally arise. When priorities are clear, productivity follows. I’ve learned that being busy and being effective are not the same, and clarity is what keeps me focused on work that actually moves my business and my client work forward.

What's your favorite business tool?

Any tool that helps me stay organized, prepared, and reflective. I rely heavily on systems that allow me to capture ideas, debrief conversations, and walk into meetings grounded and ready. Preparation is one of my greatest productivity multipliers.

What's your approach to work-life balance?

I think in terms of integration, not balance. There are seasons when work needs more of me and seasons when family does, and I’ve learned to stop fighting that reality. What matters most is being present where I am, whether that’s in a client conversation or at home with my family. Alignment matters more than perfection.

How do you avoid burn-out?

Honestly, I’m not perfect at avoiding burnout, and I’ve learned to stop pretending I am.

What works best for me is intentionally building in quiet catch-up pockets, often in the evenings when my husband is traveling and my kids are asleep. That uninterrupted time allows me to drop into my zone of genius and tackle the bigger, more complex work that’s hard to do during a full day of meetings and responsibilities. Those quiet hours help me feel grounded, caught up, and mentally clear which actually prevents burnout more than trying to force balance during the day.

What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

Make a plan before you start, but don’t let perfection keep you from getting going. You will learn far more by doing than by waiting. Try things. Experiment. Fail fast. Learn from it. Adjust and move forward. The path becomes clearer once you’re already walking it.

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