About

I look past the request and build the system underneath it.

Businesses ask for websites, dashboards, marketing, tools, automations, or workflows. I look for the broken handoff, scattered data, unclear process, or missing structure underneath — then translate it into something usable.

Ashlee Herken seated for the StormyOps about page

Systems thinking

The request is rarely the real problem.

The visible request is usually only the starting point. The real value comes from finding the system problem underneath it.

HEM Automotive

Asked for

More marketing

Found underneath

No structured follow-up, retention, or shop communication system

Connected acquisition, call tracking, customer behavior, internal communication gaps, and operational follow-through into one larger systems problem.

Vehicle Inventory System

Asked for

A way to list vehicles online

Found underneath

A need for structured inventory data, admin workflows, and ownership logic

Built an inventory workflow around VINs, vehicle details, tenant ownership, dynamic fields, timestamps, and soft-delete logic.

Dreiling Chiropractic

Asked for

A simple website

Found underneath

Patient confusion around the walk-in model and business transition

Created a focused site that clarified walk-in-only care, location expectations, and brand continuity after a name change.

Skynetrix

Asked for

Automotive SaaS workflows

Found underneath

Multi-role operational complexity across customers, shops, vehicles, payments, and usage

Designed around tenant isolation, role-based access, vehicle ownership, quote-to-payment logic, and usage-based billing.

The pattern

I kept seeing the same failure points.

The problem was almost never just the surface request. It was the system underneath it: communication that depended on memory, data that did not create clarity, workflows that broke at handoffs, and tools that made sense in theory but failed in real use.

Workflows depended on memory

If a process only works because one person remembers what happens next, it is fragile. I look for the places where steps, statuses, ownership, and follow-up need to become visible and repeatable.

Data existed but did not guide action

Information only matters when it helps someone decide, validate, follow up, or move work forward. I care about how data is structured, who can use it, and what decision it supports.

Users were working around the system

When people avoid the tool, duplicate work, chase answers manually, or rely on side conversations, the implementation has not actually landed.

Background

My background is nontraditional. That is the point.

Science taught me to observe before assuming. Statistics taught me to make data tell the correct story. Marketing taught me to understand behavior, friction, trust, and decision-making. Software gave me the tools to turn those observations into systems people can actually use.

Science

Observe carefully. Test assumptions. Find weak points.

Statistics

Use data to tell the correct story, not just any story.

Marketing

Understand behavior, trust, decision-making, and friction.

Software

Turn messy workflows into structured tools and systems.

Implementation loop

How I move from ambiguity to something usable

01

Watch the real workflow

What people say matters. What they do when the system breaks matters more. I look at how work actually happens before deciding what should be built or configured.

02

Find the failure point

I look for broken handoffs, unclear ownership, missing validation, scattered data, role confusion, and places where users lose trust.

03

Translate it into structure

I turn messy processes into requirements, workflows, statuses, permissions, data relationships, API logic, validation rules, and user flows.

04

Test it against reality

A system is not done when it works once. It is done when it holds up through real users, real data, edge cases, and pressure.

Proof

The case studies are the receipts.

This portfolio is not just a gallery of finished projects. It is a record of how I think through requirements, workflows, architecture, implementation, and delivery.

View all work

Marketing request → operational systems insight

HEM Automotive

HEM showed me how often a visible marketing problem is connected to deeper operational gaps. I worked across website strategy, inventory workflows, paid acquisition, call tracking, customer behavior, and revenue analysis while identifying issues around communication, retention, and customer follow-up.

Read case study →

Manual listings → structured inventory workflow

Vehicle Inventory System

I built a vehicle inventory system that turned informal listing management into a structured workflow with VIN, make, model, year, trim, mileage, drivetrain, engine, fuel type, colors, features, tenant ownership, organizational relationships, dynamic fields, timestamps, and soft-delete logic.

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Automotive operations → role-aware SaaS architecture

Skynetrix

Skynetrix reflects my broader systems thinking: tenant isolation, customer records, vehicle ownership, quote-to-payment workflows, usage-based billing, Redis/BullMQ tracking, role-based permissions, and multi-role automotive operations.

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Static portfolio → content operations system

StormyOps CMS

StormyOps CMS is the admin system behind this portfolio, designed to manage posts, media, previews, comments, settings, profile data, SEO fields, and publishing workflows so the site can operate as a living proof system.

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Limited direction → patient-facing clarity

Dreiling Chiropractic

Dreiling Chiropractic required turning limited direction into a clear public-facing site that explained the walk-in-only model, reduced patient confusion, and preserved trust during a business name transition.

Read case study →

Technical lane

I sit between business requirements and technical execution.

I am strongest in the space where customer workflows, product logic, data, APIs, and implementation decisions meet. I map workflows, structure data, reason through integrations, define validation logic, test edge cases, troubleshoot system behavior, and communicate what needs to happen across product, engineering, and customer-facing teams.

End-user lens

I care about the people stuck using the system after launch.

The business may buy the software, but the end user decides whether it actually works. I naturally advocate for the people expected to use, trust, or be affected by the system — customers, staff, patients, technicians, advisors, admins, and anyone else dealing with the workflow after implementation. If the system makes their life harder, it is not done.

Current focus

The work I am built for

I am focused on technical implementation, solutions, onboarding, and product delivery roles where I can own the path from discovery to go-live. I want to be close enough to customers to understand the real workflow, technical enough to structure the solution, and cross-functional enough to help product, engineering, and customer teams move in the same direction.

The right fit is not pure support, pure data cleanup, or pure development in isolation. The right fit is implementation work with complexity: APIs, workflows, configuration, validation, customer context, and enough ownership to turn ambiguity into something usable.

Technical ImplementationSolutions ConsultingSaaS OnboardingProduct DeliveryWorkflow SystemsAPI/Data Validation

Want to see how I think through systems?

The About page explains the lens. The case studies show the work — how I identify the real problem, structure the system, and connect implementation decisions to real outcomes.