Ask Ashley

Lacey Elliot spent a decade as a makeup artist before entering tech at 30, and she carries both worlds into her work. She is GTM Enablement & Strategy Leader at SoundHound AI, where she built out a pre-boarding customer experience team that saves a minimum of five thousand dollars a week on net new deals in North America and rolled out nearly four training courses in her first year. In this conversation with Ashley Russo she talks about a difficult divorce, learning to let herself fail, using Claude to scale her team's work, and why she still believes no robot can replace human touch.


Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and introductions

01:12 Growing up as the funny youngest of three

03:15 New York, makeup artistry, and a decade of deconstruction

05:30 Marrying an artist's background with a later start in tech

07:35 Building community and creating enablement tools

10:15 Where Lacey lands on AI and human connection

12:12 We don't let ourselves get bored anymore

13:01 Measuring results, ROI, and personal satisfaction

17:04 Honesty without kindness is cruelty

18:59 What suffering taught her about empathy

20:23 Gratitude in lack and in plenty

23:20 Creating space for vulnerability on a team

24:33 One thing she would tell her child self


You can follow Lacey Elliot here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceyelliot/


Learn more about SoundHound AI:

Website - https://soundhound.com

What is Ask Ashley?

In Ask Ashley, Founder, Thoughtleader and award-winning media personality Ashley Russo sits down with leaders who bring purpose and humanity to business.

Each episode explores how people navigate uncertainty, lead with empathy, and create meaningful change in their organizations and lives. Listeners gain practical insights on resilience, leadership, and financially confident decision-making amid disruption.

This podcast is brought to you by Ask Ashley. If you’re interested in building a confident, purpose-driven wealth plan, reach out to Ashley at ashley.russo@nm.com.

00;00;01;22 - 00;00;30;00
Ashley
Welcome to Ask Ashley, the podcast, where we shine a light on the unsung heroes of the workplace. I'm your host, Ashley Russo, financial AI board member, thought leader and wealth management advisor. Each week we sit down with inspiring leaders, exploring their journeys, motivations, and the real challenges they face, from job and security to the evolving role of AI in a world where many feel overlooked.

00;00;30;01 - 00;00;56;22
Ashley
These guests are building hope and connection for their colleagues. Join us as we uncover their stories and discover how they're making a difference, one conversation at a time. Hello, everybody. Ashley Russo here with just, someone you want to hang out with. At least I do. This is Lacey joining us today. And, Lacey, before I pepper you with all the questions I want to ask today.

00;00;56;23 - 00;00;58;23
Ashley
Please introduce yourself.

00;00;58;25 - 00;00;59;29
Lacey
Yeah, of course, I'm.

00;00;59;29 - 00;01;12;02
Lacey
Lacey Elliott. I work at Sandown. I'm a go to market enablement and strategist leader, and I'm so excited to be here today and talk with you and just have have a good conversation. Thanks for having me.

00;01;12;04 - 00;01;28;11
Ashley
Yes, yes. Well, I want to start at the beginning. Let's start with growing up as the youngest of three girls, you told me you settled into being the funny one. I'm curious how that influenced how you show up and carry yourself now.

00;01;28;17 - 00;01;51;29
Lacey
Yeah, I feel like those foundational moments play into adulthood a lot. Obviously the birth order comes into play a lot. My oldest sister was the smart one. Alisa was the pretty one. And then I just decided, you know what? If pretty is not in the cards? This is a very conscious thought for me in fifth grade. If pretty is not in the cards, I'm going to be funny and I'm going to make that work for me.

00;01;51;29 - 00;02;21;21
Lacey
So I think, I think up until, gosh, through college I really leaned on that a lot. I mean, I was even on a traveling improv team in college, so I definitely was in theater. So it's like I definitely, you know, really enjoyed that part of, I guess, who I was. And then I think later on in life, I really kind of settled into like my womanhood and femininity and found that, you know, I know feminine essence is a really popular term, you know, lately.

00;02;21;21 - 00;02;29;15
Lacey
But I think, I think in my 30s as realize where I really started to kind of settle into that womanhood more.

00;02;29;17 - 00;02;47;00
Ashley
Well, just for those of you who are listening and not necessarily watching, Lacey might be one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. So that that sort of there as well. And Second City improv girl myself. Very. You are very fun. Yes and yes. And I love that.

00;02;47;01 - 00;02;51;24
Lacey
Gilda Radner. Yes, yes. Okay.

00;02;51;26 - 00;03;15;16
Ashley
So speaking of New York, I in our previous conversation, you described that period of time around 30 as a deconstruction of everything that you had known. It sounds like a really good Taylor Swift song, by the way. Tell me how that time shaped the direction that you took next and what that time was.

00;03;15;19 - 00;03;45;10
Lacey
Yeah. So. So at the time, I was living and working as a makeup artist in New York City and did my training there at the Makeup Forever Academy. And that was just an all encompassing part of my life. I got a big break working on a movie in London called burnt, and so it was like a wonderful experience for me, but it also took me away from my then husband at the time and and created some difficulty coming out of that.

00;03;45;12 - 00;04;18;25
Lacey
And as a result, long story short, like a decade or so short, you know, I ended up getting divorced and going through a very difficult separation and just a lot of suffering and darkness. But also it allowed me to, you know, for someone who's very performance oriented, it's a whole nother experience and skill set, letting yourself not care and letting yourself fail or not perform at life.

00;04;18;25 - 00;04;48;02
Lacey
And so I think I just got really tired of it, and I, and I honestly couldn't keep it up anymore. Just like my mental health and my wellness. You know, I was in therapy to help me sustain just waking up and going to work every day, you know. So I think that that time period really taught me a lot just about acceptance of who I was as a human and my limitations.

00;04;48;02 - 00;04;58;25
Lacey
And it gave me an opportunity to just question the fundamental, like beliefs that I had grown up accepting without question.

00;04;58;27 - 00;05;30;24
Ashley
That is a term that the way you put that to not perform at life. How fascinating and interesting. And so many of us can relate to that at different moments in our, in our life. I appreciate that vulnerability and call out you. You also mentioned that you're really trying to make moves, and maybe it's stemming from, you know, all the experience that you've had making those moves, not just personally but professionally too, and that you, you know, maybe got a leader started that.

00;05;30;24 - 00;05;38;13
Ashley
So what does that look like and what does that potential later start give you in terms of perspective?

00;05;38;15 - 00;06;02;03
Lacey
Yeah. Well I think you know when I say later start. Yeah I mean I, you know, graduated college in 2007 and then shortly thereafter became a makeup artist and did that pretty pretty much full time consistency until 2017. So that was the first decade of, you know, like my 20s, adulthood, being an artist and then in 2017 entered the tech space.

00;06;02;03 - 00;06;36;22
Lacey
And so I think my hope is to marry the two somehow like to marry that that background and that experience, even though it could be seen through the lens of like, oh, you know, that's a that's a negative for you, you know, getting started in your career, you know, in your 30s or whatever. And I think I've had to counteract that a lot that, that limiting belief and just say, but that has informed everything I've brought into the corporate space, that has informed everything that I'm bringing and showing up with.

00;06;36;22 - 00;06;59;03
Lacey
And, you know, this women's networking group and in my, my current position. And so I think I have to acknowledge that and I've learned to accept that. But then I've also come to a place of evolution where I'm like, well, there's no reason the two can't come full circle, you know? And I don't know what that looks like right now, today.

00;06;59;05 - 00;07;08;14
Lacey
But, you know, I do have some areas that I'm pressing into to flesh that out. So that's that's current state.

00;07;08;16 - 00;07;15;24
Ashley
I love that the constant work in progress. Right. Progress not perfection. I love that mindset.

00;07;15;27 - 00;07;17;09
Lacey
Yeah a process.

00;07;17;11 - 00;07;35;00
Ashley
Yeah. The process. Yeah. So you mentioned this, but you're I know you're actively building that community inside of your company. What does that work look like day to day and what's made it worth all the effort? I mean, it's it's technically two jobs in one.

00;07;35;03 - 00;07;57;17
Lacey
Yeah. Yeah, I think the enablement side of my job has been a real gift. And that was one of the original reasons I left my previous company so that I could get paid to do this. And it's been a joy to be able to create and get paid for that, you know, create tools that my company can use and leverage and, and in fact, make money from.

00;07;57;22 - 00;08;29;06
Lacey
And so I think, I think as an artist that is a really great space, like for any artist whose thinking of transitioning into corporate America enablement is like a wonderful space that I think a lot of times people don't really think about or know about. But yeah, I think I think I'm informing, you know, the day to day with, I don't know, I think just trying to infuse that creativity into everything.

00;08;29;06 - 00;08;54;21
Lacey
Like even just today I updated I used Claude to update some of those resources that I had created in Canva, like a year ago. I just celebrated my one year at SoundHound on September 8th. Yay! And so that that has felt really good. But it's interesting how just in one year, I remember last year at this time everyone's like, yeah, get into AI.

00;08;54;22 - 00;09;24;09
Lacey
But not a lot of people were like, I know how to use it. Yeah. Like everyone was still kind of figuring it out how to use it in their day to day. And so now we're at a different place where, you know, Claude is fully integrated to our enterprises and it's doing amazing things. So I was able to just update the design to align with our new website that launched like a week or two ago, and make those resources just, like, really land, you know, in a in a different way, a more impactful way and valuable way.

00;09;24;11 - 00;09;44;17
Lacey
So I think for me, that's that's like the day to day of how that like background informs what I'm doing. But then also, I think there's a level of EQ that always comes into play to like you, I'm sure you know, like with improv, you know, we can be very quick on our feet. So I think that helps a lot to I can get a little spicy too.

00;09;44;18 - 00;09;51;14
Lacey
So I have to kind of watch it. Can't leave all. Yeah.

00;09;51;17 - 00;10;15;05
Ashley
You mentioned AI and and it sounds like the partnership between human and tech. I'm curious just your perspective, especially with your background. Do you are your feelings towards this integration positive or do you have any sense of concern? How do you feel about the current state of things with tech?

00;10;15;07 - 00;10;41;20
Lacey
I think there's a lot of player like polar emotions, right? Because it's like I think how we use it in our corporate positions can be just massive efficiency and scaling across, you know, hundreds and thousands of people in our workforce, like our workforce is going from like a thousand to like, I don't know, 1500 now. And so I think in that sense, I love it.

00;10;41;20 - 00;11;05;03
Lacey
I love that I'm not having to take out what was ours. And it's now just a matter of minutes with the consolidation of data and information that that Claude helps us with. On a personal note, I really believe in the power of touch and healing, and you cannot duplicate like you're never going to pay a robot to do your facial.

00;11;05;03 - 00;11;37;13
Lacey
You're just not like, you know, like, no, thank you. And the reason is, is because we are energy as humans. We are energy. We transfer that to one another or we detract that from one another, depending on, you know, the head space and vibrations wherein I won't get to woo hoo. But I think, I think as humans, there is going to come a time when that polarity, it could potentially be somewhat divisive because of how it impacts, like our day to day human lives and how we're interacting with one another.

00;11;37;14 - 00;12;01;01
Lacey
I think even just our phones have separated us from each other relationally a ton. And I think that's something that I strongly dislike in my life. And I'm trying to figure out how to get analog again and, and reconnect with, like, what we did with empty space. You know, with being bored. We don't let ourselves get bored anymore.

00;12;01;01 - 00;12;12;15
Lacey
And we're constantly stimulated by tech and everything. And I think that that actually negatively impacts our ability to create and be innovative. In many ways.

00;12;12;18 - 00;12;29;21
Ashley
That's a it's such an Oprah moment for me. We don't let ourselves get bored. That's really interesting. It's true. It's almost the fear of boredom or not doing something and how addictive of it is. That's a really interesting call out. Yeah, well, because.

00;12;29;21 - 00;12;34;23
Lacey
We're human beings, we're not human doings. We're human beings.

00;12;34;25 - 00;13;01;22
Ashley
You know, a t shirt, I love that. Maybe it's already, I don't know, all kinds of things here, I love that. True. That's true. Speaking of of energy, you know, you're involved in so many things from your group internally, book club, external groups. And I imagine you're seeing a good amount of results from all of these efforts, from what I gather, both internally and externally.

00;13;01;22 - 00;13;09;06
Ashley
So how do you measure that? How do you how do you ultimately become satisfied with the results that you're seeing?

00;13;09;08 - 00;13;15;07
Lacey
Yeah, yeah. Everyone always wants to know the ROI.

00;13;15;09 - 00;13;17;00
Ashley
It is important. That's true.

00;13;17;02 - 00;13;55;10
Lacey
I think in my job we started a new department, the pre boarding department, the customer experience team in January of this year. And we've been saving, you know, a minimum of five grand a week basically having having rolled that out to net new deals here in North America. And it's also really helped our our teams cross functionally to just have better alignment, to be able to depend on a solid source of truth throughout the whole customer journey, instead of asking the redundant questions which make us look dumb.

00;13;55;13 - 00;14;15;23
Lacey
And so I think that has been yeah, no one likes that. So, so really coming at it from the experience of like, what is the customer experiencing? Why aren't we talking about the customer and all of this. And I've, I've met some, you know, colleagues recently, some different leaders across the board that we've been talking about, that customer obsession.

00;14;15;23 - 00;14;37;18
Lacey
That's one of our OKRs at SoundHound right now too, is just that customer obsessed mindset. And of course you need to have the infrastructure to support that. But when you don't, you do get creative. You do get innovative on how to like scale with the limitations. And so that's where I really love AI because it helps us with that.

00;14;37;21 - 00;14;47;24
Lacey
But also I think, gosh, I forgot your original question. I was flowing actually.

00;14;47;26 - 00;15;11;09
Ashley
I learned a lot from that. And what was interesting when my brain was going was, so what are your personal how do you personally, you know, evaluate if something is successful? Because again, you're doing so many things right, both internally and externally for community, for society. So how do you find satisfaction when it always feels like there's more?

00;15;11;10 - 00;15;16;12
Ashley
Yet you have a very clear awareness that there's got to be balance.

00;15;16;14 - 00;15;50;16
Lacey
Yeah I think on the, I think on the work side. And then, and then I'll touch on the personal, I think on the work side I'm measuring it through like some pretty solid metrics with like you know cash burn previously compared to now you know compared to January or before January. And then there's a lot of data since the one, you know, the one year mark came around that my partner Lisa and I are able to look at and say, wow, look at the impact that we've made in just one year, and look at how much we've learned with our newest product, Oasis.

00;15;50;18 - 00;16;08;18
Lacey
You know, we're on the front lines of rolling that out to customers. And so we're putting together different SOPs to help teams understand what that looks like as we're kind of, you know, learning. So I think that has been a really solid way for us to see, like, okay, how are we doing? How's our progress on the enablement front?

00;16;08;18 - 00;16;38;03
Lacey
I've rolled out three, almost four courses now since I started to help train and scale across teams. So that feels that's like a solid, you know, put your stake in the sand, that milestone of like success. And then I would say like on a personal front. I'm measuring, you know, the success of that community and that investment in, I would say, like relationships and continuing to press into those.

00;16;38;03 - 00;17;04;26
Lacey
And then also, you know, when I'm chatting with other women, we're talking like currently, I'm talking to a gal that I met in my Alta group, and we're putting a working session together with other women in our group to figure out, how are you using AI? How are you? How is it helping you in your daily workflows? And like, what can we learn from each other in the community, like a workshop flow, you know.

00;17;04;27 - 00;17;33;29
Ashley
So I love that. And it it goes to my next question because all everything that you do has an element to meet of kindness that comes across. And you said to me that honesty without kindness is cruelty, which I think is such an interesting, just way of looking at it. So how does that play out in, you know, having a difficult conversation?

00;17;33;29 - 00;17;38;18
Ashley
How does that play out in practice? In real life?

00;17;38;20 - 00;18;10;00
Lacey
I don't always succeed at it. I'm in any a gram eight, so I'm the challenger, so I, I really do. It is a very conscious thing for me. I think there is a part of me that, you know, obviously just wants to treat others the way I would like to be treated, you know. But yeah, I think if to get something done, it starts to require, not being kind.

00;18;10;01 - 00;18;33;03
Lacey
Like, I don't know, I think that's where the line should be drawn of, like, is this really is this the best approach? Probably not. You know, are we like, still maintaining a level of dignity and how we're interacting with one another. And and is it is the goal really like the destination or is it the process. You know, like we talked about earlier.

00;18;33;03 - 00;18;36;18
Lacey
And I think it's the process.

00;18;36;20 - 00;18;59;07
Ashley
With that. You described despair and suffering as one of the greatest teachers. Speaking of process, you describe that the greatest teachers. You said it brought your empathy to a level you didn't know existed. What are some of the lessons that you now pull and take from that?

00;18;59;09 - 00;19;26;21
Lacey
I'm a lot less judgmental than I used to be. I think it can be easy. And this is not, you know, a slight to any demographic demographic, but my background being raised in like non-denominational, you know, Christian culture was you need to have an answer for everything. You know, you need to always know. And and that's actually I don't I don't believe fundamentally, I don't believe that anymore.

00;19;26;23 - 00;20;07;07
Lacey
And I think that makes all the difference in how I engage with other human beings and how I look at different, you know, experiences or choices and, yeah, I think there's a lot of ways that that suffering humbles us and causes us to course correct. And I think, I think I'm even today kind of figuring out, yeah, I think like on an interpersonal basis, like with my fiancee and how we interact and work through, you know, difficulty or wedding planning right now, you know, it's like that's on top of everything.

00;20;07;07 - 00;20;08;05
Ashley
So I.

00;20;08;05 - 00;20;23;25
Lacey
Think I have to really come back to that place of like, okay, is this is this kind is it true? And yeah, how do we maintain the, the human dignity and, and what we're trying to accomplish.

00;20;23;28 - 00;20;53;04
Ashley
Along those lines? Something else that really stuck with me that you said, you know what it is to be in lack, what it is to be in plenty, and that you're grateful for both. I love that, by the way, how do you find that gratitude as things change? And how do you make remembering that important statement when things are challenging?

00;20;53;06 - 00;21;23;25
Lacey
I think we would all be surprised what we can do with less. I'm not a maximalist. I'm a minimalist, for sure. And so I think our our culture definitely encourages maximalism and acquiring and stuff. And I always have to get out a posh mark when I, when I, I'm in that mindset. But I think truly there's yeah, I think the lack is I come back to that.

00;21;23;25 - 00;21;51;26
Lacey
I remember one time, you know, I was in New York and it was just hand to mouth, you know, every day during that dark season. And, I remember one time I did, I worked an odd job, you know, because you just get jobs through agencies and stuff. And I was helping a designer with, you know, clothes and samples, and I don't even remember, but she ended up giving me just bags and bags of sample clothes because she couldn't really do anything with them.

00;21;51;28 - 00;22;19;29
Lacey
And I took those straight to Buffalo Exchange and made like $500. And that's what paid my rent. And so I just it's moments like that that you that are core memories of, you know, just being grateful for every little thing. I think when we stop living with a sense of wonder, which is a very childlike quality, I think we kind of have a tendency to do that as adults.

00;22;19;29 - 00;22;52;07
Lacey
I was reminded of the childlike quality when I was hanging out with my niece and nephew this past week, and it was just so sweet, you know, everything so simple for them. And I think just being reminded of like that daily gratefulness and gratitude of, you know, whether I have, you know, more than I need or less than I need, like just giving thanks and having that be a consistent stabilizer, is a good thing to come back to, I think.

00;22;52;09 - 00;23;20;20
Ashley
What a beautiful call out and reminder for all of us who get caught up in the day to day in an AI. As we've talked about Instagram. Quick, perfect world, right? With all the photoshopping lens, being vulnerable is rare and I would describe you as vulnerable and honest. How do you create space for that type of honesty?

00;23;20;26 - 00;23;28;27
Ashley
Kindness, as we've talked about. But being that level vulnerable in a team environment?

00;23;28;29 - 00;23;41;14
Lacey
I think you I think you learn to ask a good questions and you probably listen more than you speak.

00;23;41;17 - 00;24;07;16
Lacey
I think if you're going into a meeting thinking I'm the smartest person in the meeting or in this room, I mean, I think that's just like a recipe for disappointment for everyone, but I think I have to remind myself of that. Just like that learning mindset and keeping that consistent, you know, in, in those environments.

00;24;07;18 - 00;24;33;17
Ashley
I'm going to ask you my final question, which happens to be my favorite question. And I'm very curious how you're going to answer it with all of your life experiences, both good and bad, with everything that you have learned, everything you've, you've been through. If you can tell one thing to your child self, what would you say?

00;24;33;21 - 00;24;55;21
Lacey
That's a tough question, my child self. I would probably just say, I would, I would probably say, don't study music, don't major in music in college, major in broadcast journalism. That's what I'd say.

00;24;55;24 - 00;24;57;02
Ashley
Okay, okay.

00;24;57;07 - 00;25;07;22
Lacey
That's great. I know that is not what you're expecting. You probably wanted something really deep and whatever, but that's literally where I feel like it would have been.

00;25;07;24 - 00;25;16;28
Ashley
That's right. Yeah, I love it, I love it, I love it. That is deep because that's going to your inner child, right. That's that's. Yeah. There.

00;25;17;04 - 00;25;38;29
Lacey
Yeah. Well and I feel like in college there's not a lot of great advisors. You're very lucky if you get a great advisor who like pieces together your skill, your hard, soft skill sets and says, okay, like this. This would be a solid direction for you. If I had had someone do that and say, like, wow, you're really good at writing, you're really good at performing and being in front of people.

00;25;39;02 - 00;26;10;14
Lacey
You know, you you like a challenge, you like to change. This would probably be a good, you know, area for you. I think. I, I think I could have done more with that coming out of college then kind of like the trajectory that I had otherwise. And, and I don't, I don't like I guess maybe sometimes people think it's bad to say you have regrets, but maybe, I don't know, sometimes I do feel like that is probably one for me, is that I do wish I had taken that path instead.

00;26;10;14 - 00;26;15;10
Lacey
So that's what I would tell fifth grade or senior. Lacey.

00;26;15;12 - 00;26;42;19
Ashley
Well, it goes back to my just feeling about you, which is you're honest and maybe people I think most people probably do ever grabs, but are the honest enough to say it. Are they vulnerable enough to say it? And I think that's what's so incredible about you and so wonderful. I know our listeners will appreciate that. The fact that, hey, we can be in progress mode, we don't have to be in perfection mode.

00;26;42;19 - 00;26;56;09
Ashley
We can be reflective. And that's all good, right? That's part of life. And I appreciate you for that kindness that you've given all of us. So thank you, Lacey, for your time today. This has been an inspiring conversation for me.

00;26;56;11 - 00;27;03;27
Lacey
Oh of course. Well, thank you for having me. And yeah, it's been a joy just talking about everything. So thank you for teasing it out.