EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of features on young professionals in the Ashland business community. Part II was on Jake Coffy. Part I was on Ashland Young Professionals.
ASHLAND – Angela Ringler never set out to own her own business.
When she was studying advertising and marketing at Kent State after graduating from Ashland High School in 2006, she figured she would work as a media buyer at an ad agency.
But since graduating college in 2009, Ringler has been saying “yes” to opportunities that come her way. Through a combination of skill, hard work and luck, the 29-year-old has found herself at the helm of Advantage Marketing.
The downtown Ashland firm has 12 employees and specializes in printed promotional materials — swag, as it’s known in the industry — and also offers full service marketing and advertising for clients all over the country.
The agency was started in Asheville, North Carolina in 1994 by Kim Spreng, who brought the company to Ashland and ran it until she retired earlier this year.
Ringler began working for Spreng in 2010 and worked her way up from an entry level position in internal marketing to sales and office manager, a role she took on in 2015.
From there, Ringler had a choice to make.
“I spent the next couple years considering whether this was what I wanted to do for sure and whether I wanted to stick around in Ashland,” Ringler said.
During that time, Ringler got her feet wet managing the agency in Spreng’s absence as Spreng was splitting time between Ohio and Florida. Ringler enjoyed the work and loved the team at Advantage, so she decided to make the leap and buy the company upon Spreng’s retirement.
“I feel like to stay in Ashland I can make a difference here,” Ringler said. “If you move to a bigger city, you can get lost. It seems like it would be harder to have an impact, and I enjoy running the business.”
When she’s not at work, Ringler likes to hike, mountain bike and visit national parks with her husband, Brock. She’s also committed herself to making Ashland a better place to live and work.
Because her business has a stake in downtown, Ringler joined the board of Ashland Main Street and joined the image and events committees. She joined the Rotary Club of Ashland, and she will start on the board of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce in 2018.
Ringler is also part of the core team that is starting an Ashland Young Professionals group to connect, attract, retain, educate and inspire young people in the community. The group can be found on Facebook as well as online at www.ashlandyoungprofessionals.com.
“I want to be involved and I want to be able to serve and volunteer and help the community where we need it,” Ringler said. “I feel like I’ve had a lot of opportunity, and I want to give back to those that may not have had the opportunities I had … I’ve also worked hard, but I want to give back because of the chances I’ve been given.”
Especially exciting for Ringler is knowing that she’s not alone. She’s watched as other young business owners have set up shop downtown and other young professionals have signed up for leadership roles with service clubs like Rotary and groups like AYP.
“I think there are a lot of us that are younger that are stepping up and wanting to invest and stay in Ashland and see Ashland grow and continue to improve,” Ringler said. “That brings a new energy, which I think reinvigorates everybody.”
