Ashton Songer Ferguson

IMD Business School, Lausanne

“Anchored in intuition, addicted to exploration, nourished by nature. Mama building a more equitable world.”

Hometown: Denver, CO US

Fun Fact About Yourself: I completed a winter ascent of one of Colorado’s “14ers” – the 14,265 ft (4,348 m) Quandary Peak – to announce my first pregnancy at 13 weeks. I was 35 weeks pregnant with my second baby when I took the GMAT.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA in Journalism and Mass Communication with minor in Athletic Coaching

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: No Single Individual (a female-led freelance firm that pioneered the “teamlancing” model) – Senior Strategist.

What has been the best part of being in a small class with this group of classmates? Getting to know so many different people on a deeper level. You genuinely have the opportunity to know each member of the cohort really well. Being a close-knit group translates to a powerful network of lasting friendships that’s both deep and wide.

Aside from classmates, what part of IMD’s MBA programming led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? First, it was the focus on leadership development. You can pick up the hard skills of business almost anywhere – but no other school offers tailored tweaks to your leadership journey. I wanted a program that would not only give me impressive credentials, but develop me into the leader I want to become.

Second, it was the focus on experiential learning. While it’s true that we spend a lot of hours in the classroom, we also spend a lot of time doing work that translates to real-world experience – helping real companies solve real problems will be invaluable in the job market.

Finally, location, location, location. I came with a package deal: my partner, our two children, and our dog. We wanted to land in a place where each member of our family could thrive, and Switzerland fits the bill perfectly. We love the outdoors and spend our time hiking, biking, camping, and skiing, so the access to and emphasis on outdoor activities all year round makes us feel right at home. I tell folks it’s like Colorado on a lake!

IMD is known for academic rigor. What is one strategy you used that would help a future IMD MBA better adapt to the workload early on? Know what’s important to you and prioritize that. Strategy is about making choices, and you can’t choose it all. You’ll have an easier time managing if you figure out your non-negotiables and your main priority or objective during the year. I’m also a big believer in balance and boundaries – if you don’t set and respect your own boundaries, no one else will either. Having a partner or family along is a natural anchor that helps clarify some of this, but it can be difficult to cope with when others have more freedom to choose. Pace yourself and focus on what matters most to you.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I developed the brand strategy for a $10M manufacturing SaaS company, resulting in 26% YOY growth and achieving the status as a global leader within category. At a previous agency, I also pioneered a breakthrough new business playbook for team members at every level and across functions that standardized processes; freed up space for a strategy to win new business; and was recognized for saving countless hours and being the single most impactful work in our business that year.

Describe your biggest accomplishment at IMD so far: During the last two days of our Future Lab experience in Singapore, our teams had the opportunity to build an ecosystem prototype. I had ideas that I planned to use as a mental exercise on my own and didn’t try to sell them to my team initially. But when we found out that other groups were taking a similar route, I pitched an idea that combined a hands-free breast pump company and another early-stage women’s health startup.

My team gave me the green light, and we built something that was both exciting and potentially viable. I got to pitch it, field questions, and receive feedback several times in a row. I felt proud to have conceived the idea, pitched it well enough to achieve buy-in, worked on it collaboratively, and taken it through the iteration process. It’s now a workable tool that I can use both in interviews and in conversations with the real companies that inspired my idea.

In addition, I co-lead the Women in Business Club with two women who have quickly become two of my best friends and partners in crime. This was one of the few things I really knew I wanted to do before I started at IMD, so it is a real privilege to have been selected. Not only have we hosted inspiring speakers in traditional formats, like a fireside chat, but we also created a “speed mentoring” event where our members had lightning round small-group discussions with multiple female leaders—it was a huge hit! No matter what I do, I want to always be working on creating a more equitable world, and Women in Business is a platform that helps do just that.

Where is your favorite hang-out in Lausanne? Why do you (and your classmates) gravitate there? Le Montriond is a tiny outdoor bar/café near our flat, just up from IMD. It reminds me of our backyard and neighborhood bar in Denver, with trees and twinkly lights, dogs and friends and families gathering at almost any time of day. It’s been the perfect tucked-away spot for impromptu picnics and parties and mommy dates with my kids. They also serve up my favorite harder-to-find treat: orange wine.

What has been your best memory at IMD thus far? We’ve just returned from our month-long Future Lab in Singapore. While I’m thrilled to be reunited with my family and enjoying the much cooler, less humid weather of Switzerland, I’m having memory-making withdrawal. Singapore was a blank canvas, and I set out to paint my experience arm-in-arm with my best mates. We would traipse around the city, beginning with one destination (or one treat) in mind and wandering from place to place, some on a map, some just hidden gems. Back at our hotel, it was all about experiencing life with friends-turned-family: rooftop workouts, sharing daily kid content, pulling pranks, being held when things felt hard, sharing meals, and laundry loads. Rather than a single memory, the most powerful experience I’ll take with me is that of feeling love and support, camaraderie, and belonging.

DON’T MISS: MEET IMD BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2025

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