Tiffany Ash, a Harvard University and Harvard Business School graduate, is vice president of leasing and real estate in the family business, Ashco Inc. led by her father, Ed. A Jacksonville native, she negotiates with tenants to lease in the company’s North Florida retail projects. Her office is in the San Marco Train Station, the renovated former City of South Jacksonville waterworks and electric building.
I realized I wanted to make a big impact on a global scale. One of the ways I’ve been able to do that is through real estate. It’s a great passion of mine. I feel like when you walk into a shopping center or a boutique center, like this one, you walk out with a shift in mind-set because it takes you to a different space. It’s not a cookie-cutter space. It’s almost a living art.
The market has moved from big-box retailers to a smaller boutique footprint. That’s because people can purchase everything online. People are now looking for the experience of going to a restaurant or a shopping center. You have to have a niche that I think didn’t exist 10 years ago. I believe we’re on the forefront of that. We have a program called the “Next Generation of Shopping Centers. “You’ll see in the development and design that they’re unique. They bring something different to the North Florida marketplace.
I enjoy travel. I definitely have the travel bug. Travel takes you outside of your element and exposes you to new cultures and new trends. I like to bring that back to the workplace, but it’s also a lot of fun to unwind with family.
Family is a big part of who I am. My mom and dad came to the United States at a very early age from the Middle East. Although their families were in real estate, Dad started everything from the ground up in Jacksonville. We have helped to shape Jacksonville. Mom is the company’s lead designer. My sister Nicole is vice president of design and my sister Morgan is the purchasing officer. My brother, Alan, is director of negotiations and real estate. I know that I definitely have a legacy to live up to and lots left to do, help and improve. I will carry on that legacy.
I feel like the trajectory over the next 10 years is going to show what youth in Jacksonville are going to be able to do here. I’m part of the JAX Chamber Hightower Emerging Leaders Fellowship. I think the opportunity to learn from what other people have done is huge and I’m a big believer. I love studying history because there’s so much we can learn. It stretches your mind that, “If these people were able to do this then, what can we do now?”