Growing your team gets to be fun AND easy. Promise!

Hi, I’m Ashley!

I’m a certified HR professional with over 17 years of experience and have worked with a lot of different business owners – from local brick and mortars to online agencies to multi-million dollar national & international companies.

Back in my corporate days, I was a leadership expert and top recruiter for J.Crew and Kroger where I hired and developed everyone from the newest hourly employees to C-suite level executives. I've led teams from 1 to 400 employees and have been on teams developing massive corporate-wide trainings for $100B companies employing over 350k employees.

I have my own team and business now and know how different it feels from the safety net of corporate. I understand the feeling of everything falling on your shoulders, the pressure to make budget, to hit revenue goals, and to keep the boat afloat.

That’s why I’m on an absolute mission to teach women that not only is it ok to ask for help, but that we can hire you amazing help.

I wrote my first book, Transform Your Stories, to guide women to overcome the stories that hold us back so we can become confident and courageous leaders who create resounding impact in the world.

In 2022, I launched my podcast, The Impact Ripple to bring simple, doable, and FUN hiring and leadership advice right to your earbuds. My goal is to show you that you’re not alone and that you are meant to be a great leader!

Hiring and leading the right people the right way will scale your business and electrify your bottom line – so you and your people thrive.

I make HR accessible and fun for visionary small business owners just like YOU and this is exactly what sets me apart!

Hiring and leading your team is one of the most rewarding experiences you have when growing your business!

Women Owned, Women Run (With One Very Cute Exception) – Meet The SproutHR Team

Ashley Cox, PHR, SHRM-CP
Founder + CEO

(she/her)

Maura Messer
Director of Operations

(she/her)

Reece Cox
Chief Joy Officer

(he/him)

The SproutHR Story

Sprout HR was born from a major need for HR services in the small business world.

After many years in corporate HR, my first foray into small business ownership was as a brand and product photographer. (Surprise!)

As I networked & built relationships in multiple online business groups, it became really obvious really quickly how much women needed HR support.

I kept seeing post after post of HR-related questions that I’d answer and provide resources for while letting people know I was an HR expert for the past 10 years in corporate.

Eventually, people were like, “You should provide this as a service!”

Women needed access to something that felt very big-business-only. I’d hear “Oh, only big companies have HR departments. I don’t need an HR department.” Then they would encounter issues they needed support with but didn't have the knowledge, expertise, tools, or resources for and didn’t know what questions to ask.

I knew they had a problem that needed a solution, so I started Sprout HR and did what I do – made HR accessible, approachable, and fun!

OUR Mission & Vision

We’re on an absolute mission to help small businesses create 10,000 new jobs for women & historically marginalized and excluded people – and have FUN doing it!

We are passionate about women seeing how powerful, capable, & amazing we really are – especially in business.

We witness over & over that when women create qualified, talented, invested teams, we make MORE MONEY. And when women have more money, we make HUGE positive impact ripples in the world.

We believe that when one of us wins, we all win together!

Our Core Values

You Belong Here

Diversity isn’t a buzzword to us. There is always a seat at the table for you. We want to hear your unique voice, ideas, and brilliance. We’re committed to actively building an anti-racist company and believe that Black Lives Matter, love is love, a woman’s body is her own, and LGBTQIA+ alliship saves lives.

Grace Under Pressure

Too many times we put way too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect or to execute at astronomical speeds. When times get tough, we extend grace to ourselves, our co-workers, and our clients. There’s nothing we can’t get through together. We’re grace-filled love muffins over here.

Embrace the Adventure

We are curious, ask for help, and are willing to learn and grow from our mistakes. That means we’re in motion taking action. We are always up for a good adventure – learning from doing, figuring something out, and exploring new and better ways for doing anything. We remain optimistic and hopeful – even when shit hits the fan and everything’s going sideways!

Joyful Creativity

We believe that creativity is essential and helps us serve our clients in new and exciting ways. So tell a joke, sing, draw, share a unique talent, don’t take yourself too seriously, and remember – there’s no such thing as “too many GIFs!”

Work-Life Harmony

We don’t believe in the teetering act of work-life balance, but wholeheartedly embrace work-life harmony – where ebb & flow happen naturally. We believe in caring for ourselves and our families, spending time doing things we love, and intentional, restful time away from work.

We All Lead

We all make decisions, hold ourselves and each other accountable, take ownership of problems, and work together to resolve them. We use our creativity, genius, and feet-on-the-ground experience to create solutions. Curiosity and creative ownership is powerful. We support one another and cheer each other on because a win for one is a win for all.

The GROW + GIVE PROGRAM

Grow & Give is SproutHR’s philanthropic program – as we help you grow, we give back to causes that are important to us.

Every year, we donate a portion of our profits to organizations that work to support social and racial justice, women’s rights and empowerment, LGBTQIA+ rights, mental health and wellbeing, and environmental and animal welfare.

Our goal is to continue growing so we can provide even more support to meaningful causes, leading to a better world for us all.

We believe deeply in the power women hold and the amazing things women do when we have more money. Know that every purchase of one of our products or services ripples well beyond your small business – and ours.

We truly are in this together.

CARE | The Trevor Project | NAPAWF | YWCA | National Brain Tumor Society

Clients Are Saying

Service Testimonials

“Ashley Cox was an amazing guest speaker for our mentorship program. Her presentation was educational, clear, and actionable while also providing much-needed foundational resources for our group of growing business owners. If you're looking for a highly knowledgeable HR professional, look no further! Ashley's approach to hiring and growing a team is simple and smart. I can't wait to bring her back to speak in my program again soon!”

Andréa Jones, Online Drea

“Ashley Cox has provided tailored workshops for the Emerge Women’s Professional Development Series over the past several years.

She has a passion for female professional development, assisting business owners in building a strong team to get desired results, and using her creativity to develop training that is sure to provide immediate takeaways for the attendees to utilize both professionally and personally.

Ashley is a very personable presenter, full of positive energy, and you will feel like you are sitting in the same room with her during her virtual programs. I recommend Ashley Cox for all your business needs for one-on-one coaching, building a strong team in your workplace, and making presentations for your events or workshops!”

Tammy Alls, Director of Mission Advancement
YWCA Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia

“I was drowning trying to do everything myself in my company. I had hit a plateau, and I knew that the way I was doing business wasn't sustainable, but I wasn't sure how to pull myself up to that next level.

Ashley is so knowledgeable and organized, but she's also SO good at talking you down when you're spiraling over all the decisions you have to make (and worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong).

We've worked with a TON of contractors: Ashley is one of the very rare people who clearly cares about your mission, understands the quirks of entrepreneurship, and really feels like she's a part of your team.

So often, we feel like we have to do EVERY SINGLE THING all on our own with our companies - but you don't. You can't. Stop trying to learn to be your own HR expert. Hire SproutHR and go back to doing the work you're best at. ”

Jessie Johnson, Life as a Strawberry

“Ashley really helped us formalize our hiring activities. Before we worked with her we were doing our best, but there was so much that we just didn't know. It was overwhelming. She was a wonderful resource and helped us learn what we needed to best serve our employees, stay compliant with government policies, and function better as a business.”

Brittany Jorgenson, Storybrook Farm

“I felt much more prepared on a legal level to grow my team. Ashley made the overwhelming process easy!”

Serena Waller, Delegate + Elevate

“I hear your voice in my head as I’m going through my day. I needed someone like you in my corner and I didn’t know where to find you. Thank you so much for your encouraging words – you don’t know how much I needed them!”

Jennifer Dixon

“I looked around the other day and had so much free time, I worried I wasn’t making as much money - but I was! I just wasn’t doing it all myself.”

Keila Hill-Trawick, Little Fish Accounting

“I’ve gotten so much time back in my week and I’m able to work on higher-level tasks that are driving my business growth!”

Arianne Foulks, Aeolidia

“More small businesses should know the importance of hiring HR support in avoiding costly mistakes. The experience, strategies, and resources Ashley shared to help me grow and lead my team better have been invaluable!”

Cheri Tinney, Riverside Taphouse

“Ashley made it so easy! She helped me figure out exactly what I needed from an employee. She wrote the job description for me within an hour of our first call. She helped me figure out exactly what I needed in an employee. She helped me with how to interview and how to determine who went on to the second round. Then she helped me with ALL things onboarding. I couldn't have done it without Ashley, amazing experience!”

Abby Herman, Content Strategist

"Ashley was such an enthusiastic and supportive resource for me, from helping me get in the right mindset to clearing lower level tasks off my plate. I feel more poised, professional, and confident about leading my team!"

Arianne Foulks, Aeolidia

“Ashley has been such a tremendous help to my wife and I as our small business has grown and evolved. Her professionalism and ability to address our specific HR needs are unparalleled and we won't be looking elsewhere for help as we move forward. She is always available in a pinch and has shown us grace and dignity during trying times. From advisory calls to training materials, you will not regret reaching out to Ashley for your HR needs!”

Michael Howell, Riverside Taphouse