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"A LOT with Audra" is the podcast for women juggling big dreams and full lives. Each episode, host, Audra Dinell, Midwestern wife, mom and neurodivergent multi-six figure entrepreneur encourages women to embrace their many roles holistically by living a values-based life with confidence and joy. Through candid discussions, practical strategies and inspiring stories, this podcast is your guide to designing and achieving success without losing yourself in the process.
Ep67
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Meet Ashley Bowen Cook
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[00:00:00]
Audra Dinell: [00:01:00] I am so excited for you to hear today's episode with Ashley Bowen Cook, who is the owner of Alpha Charlie, an aviation focused marketing firm based in the air capital of the world as principal and CEO Ashley leads the agency demands with the multitasking of an air traffic controller. The curiosity of an explorer and the personality as a diplomat.
She is a 2025 Wichita Business Journal, power 50 Honoree 2023 Exec of the Year, 2008 40 under 40, and the first female board chair of Wichita Aero Club. She and her husband Josh co-own Josh Cook Golf Academy, and when she's not in the office, you'll find her on the soccer field sidelines or fishing as a family with her son, Charlie.
Today, Ashley is walking with us as we peel back the layers of what it means to hold both motherhood and ambition and leadership simultaneously. I'm so [00:02:00] excited for you to hear this episode.
Okay. Welcome to the podcast, Ashley.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Hi Audrey. Thanks for having me.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Okay.
Second Act Ownership Leap
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Audra Dinell: You're in a big career transition and this year on the podcast we're talking all about second acts, and sometimes they come with different decades of life. Sometimes they come with career transitions. Tell us about yours.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Well, yes.
So in January of 2026, I became the owner of Greta Group, which is now known as Alpha Charlie. I purchased it from the founder, Sonia Greta, who I had worked for, for almost 23 years when we made the transition. And about three years ago we agreed to this transition. And so at that time I was.
Named president became partial owner, and then it was a gradual transition into the buyout and her. Not retiring, but rewiring. 'cause she is [00:03:00] still very, very active in this community.
Audra Dinell: I love that. Not retiring, rewiring, and if anyone is a poster child for that, Sonya totally is.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Absolutely.
Audra Dinell: So you had stepped into leadership, but with this purchase you were stepping into something a little bit more.
I see it as stepping into legacy when did that transition first feel real like you were gonna actually own this business and lead the agency?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Well, I'll let you know when it starts feeling real.
Audra Dinell: I love that.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Also maybe, you know, the first time I had to make payroll for everyone.
Audra Dinell: Right.
Ashley Bowen Cook: That pressure, that's a pretty real moment.
Audra Dinell: That pressure.
Three Year Transition Plan
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Audra Dinell: Uh, What did it feel like as you were building up into this? I'm thinking about someone who might be listening who sees a transition for their second act, and you talked about that three year runway. So what did that feel like starting those conversations?
Like, take us back.
Ashley Bowen Cook: So I had the [00:04:00] pleasure of working for Sonya for about 23 years before this transition happened, and as I've said before, to other people, her shoes were not any that could be filled. So it was more of a following the trail that she had blazed for us and how could we.
Follow in that legacy and and make sure that that continues within this community. So with that comes a certain level of responsibility.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: That may not come with other transitions for other people because she and I have such a close relationship, there is a level of personal investment of this must succeed.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: You know. The words of Eminem failure is not an option. So, having to make sure that we did the transition justice too.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Because three years, I don't know what a normal business transition looks like, [00:05:00] but three years there had to have been a lot of conversations and planning and decisions and.
Collaboration in that process.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Absolutely. Again, I was so fortunate to have her as a mentor and colleague, and so we'd had a lot of these conversations before, but really solidifying them and we spent dedicated time weekly so that I could ask all of the questions that I might have, just from little questions to big philosophical questions that.
Maybe we talked about before, but I hadn't really taken the time to write it down and really think about it. And so having a plan in place really made a difference.
Audra Dinell: I'm curious, what, if you don't mind sharing, were some of the little questions or a little question you asked and what was a big philosophical question?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Well, big philosophical questions, kind of those questions that most of us as business owners have. Like what keeps you up at night?
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: I don't [00:06:00] know that it was necessarily a smaller question, but I asked things like, if you could go back and change something, what would you change? If you could go back and, you know, maybe if I knew about, again, because I've been with the company as long as I have, I could say, oh, in this situation, and we know how it turned out, if you could have gone back and changed it, would you have or would you have just let it play out the way it did?
Audra Dinell: Oh, interesting.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm.
Alpha Charlie Rebrand Story
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Audra Dinell: So some big things have already happened since you have become owner, a relocation and a rebrand, the new name of your agency, alpha Charlie, has a deep meaning for you. You shared with the business journal here in Wichita, there are levels to the Alpha Charlie moniker, your own initials.
The abbreviation of the air capital that we live in. The word alpha takes a dominant position. It's about being a leader. It's a new beginning and also a nod to your faith. Plus my favorite part, the re, the [00:07:00] rebrand includes a nod to your 10-year-old son, Charlie, who you call the why behind your career.
Cover Photo With Charlie
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Audra Dinell: Can you share the story behind the day that the business Journal came to interview you, and you and Charlie ended up on the cover?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes, so I actually brought the photo with me so you can see. So sorry for listeners and you won't get to see it. But so the Business Journal has been a great media partner to us over the years, whether it be for our clients or for ourselves.
And so we agreed with them that we would give them the exclusive on the name change and the rebrand. And so the day came to take the photos. It was Monday after Snowmageddon, as we all remember. And so it's a Monday, it's a snow day. So Charlie, my fifth grader, is there at the office with me because that's what we do as working moms, right?
And Kirk Siminoff [00:08:00] with the business journal had asked if we could, if Charlie could get in a photo with me and I'm thinking, oh, this is just a snapshot. No big deal. Absolutely. So, you know, okay, where are we gonna position this? So, we had a photo that my dad, who is a well. Known aviation photographer some would say world renowned aviation photographer.
He took this photo of four steerman aircraft and I had it sitting on the floor. And so I just said to Kirk, Hey, we'll just sit here in front of this photo. It'd be kind of cool since my dad took the photo. We'll sit down. So you've got. Charlie on my right and I sit down and we just sit down, crisscross applesauce on the floor, casual, he's in sweats, you know, ball cap on.
And I'm thinking, oh, Kirk's just snapping this as a nice photo. And next thing I know it's in this spread.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And the [00:09:00] business journal. And then in addition to that, it's the main image on the online version. And so, you know. I thought, oh, this is so great. I'm so excited that Charlie got to be a part of this.
So, you know, just from a personal standpoint, I was very excited. And of course Charlie thought he was pretty cool too. But it was, what happened after that was so, exciting and unexpected for me. I don't have absolute confirmation of this from the Business journal, but I want to say he's probably one of the only children ever featured in the business journal.
So that was really exciting. The fact that it was, you know, with his mom, a female business owner is also incredibly exciting.
Permission To Be Whole
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Ashley Bowen Cook: And so the night after the issue came out was the Wichita Club Gala and. We had multiple [00:10:00] people come up to us at the gala who had seen the photo, particularly women saying thank you.
Thank you for that photo. Thank you for showing that being a mom and being a business owner are not these separate boxes. There's not this clear line to delineate like it's all together. And I thought, oh, you know, that makes you feel good to hear that. And so then it's like, then it just kind of snowballed from there. So I spoke at the Weeba luncheon a couple of days later. Later, and this woman, who I'd never met,
wrote the kindest post on LinkedIn. And so I'm gonna read it to you if you don't mind because it just encapsulates what took place. And this is after me holding up the photo. I felt the room exhale yesterday. Here's why. At the Wichita Independent Business Association Women's Luncheon, Ashley Bowen Cook [00:11:00] held up the Wichita Business Journal article announcing her role as owner of Alpha Charlie.
The photo included her son sweats as in on a snow day fully himself, and I could feel it, the sigh of relief from women around me. Why? Here was this leader recently named one of the top 50 power leaders by the Wichita Business Journal sitting next to her son in an impromptu photo op that ended up being the cover for announcing her new role as owner of Alpha Charlie, but it communicated so much more.
Permission to stop splitting ourselves in two. Permission to let family and purpose coexist with leadership. Thank you, Ashley, for reinforcing this new brand of leadership. And I just thought, you know, as leaders, most of us hope we have a positive impact on maybe one person if we're lucky. And so to have somebody say those things about you who doesn't [00:12:00] know you like it just.
It was a really special moment and it felt like, okay not that I'm the change, but I'm the opportunity to help shed light on how to change things.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. You're putting a new image on what motherhood and ambition and leadership can be. I just thought it was such a powerful moment when I got that business journal.
I was like. Hell yes.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Well, thanks. You know, I, I also jokingly said to the crowd, had I known that he was going to be in this photo, his hair would've been done. He would've been a, in a color coordinated outfit with me. Of course, we would've had the perfect background. You know, we sure wouldn't have been crisscross applesauce, like just hanging out.
But it's like, that's real. And that's pretty much us. Yep. And so why make it anything different than that?
Audra Dinell: But kudos also to the business journal for being so forward thinking, so innovative and it's [00:13:00] not even forward thinking and innovative. It's just willing to put that, put the reality of work and life for women Forefront, like I just love their heart, their passion, their their.
Ability to do that.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Absolutely. I think they've done such a great job with all of the programs for women that they have really pushed over the last several years. And this is just, you know, adds to that.
Audra Dinell: I agree. And it's honestly not even been over the last several years. It's been. Much, much longer if you look back.
True. They were one of the first.
Redefining Success As Mom
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Audra Dinell: So tell me, kind of shifting into this motherhood ambition narrative. This is a space where I just feel so excited and passionate and really grateful to have other examples to look at. How did becoming a Mom changed the way you thought about success? Because you were halfway through your tenure at then, Greta and Group.
[00:14:00] Mm-hmm. You weren't yet talking about ownership. You were in the messy middle of like building your career is what my assumption is.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes. So becoming a mom completely shifted my version of what success means to me. To me it's if I can raise a kind human being who contributes to society in a positive manner, I've done my job.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: That's really what it boils down to.
Audra Dinell: It put work sort of in its place.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: It sounds like.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think we all learn over time whether we like it or not. You know, we're all replaceable.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And what's the thing that I can, you know, have complete control? Well, as much control as we can as a parent.
Right. But it's definitely, [00:15:00] that's my measure of success.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Like the most important mm-hmm. Job.
Dropping The Instagram Myth
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Audra Dinell: Did you have any stories that you had to rewire or rewrite for yourself when you became a mom?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes. I think it, that's a great question. 'cause I think for better or for worse, we get our direction and expectations anymore from what we see on social media.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And that, that no matter what, in the back of our mind, those things are there gnawing at us. And it just, what do we need to do for our personal expectations of ourselves and. That my life is not Instagram worthy. 99.9% of the time. Yeah. You know, I mean, some days it's, it's a doggone dumpster fire.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Other days it's, it is Instagram worthy.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: But. Being okay with [00:16:00] the majority of the days, it's gonna be somewhere in the middle. Mm-hmm. And that I may be really knocking it out of the park, or I may be just feeling like I can't get anything. Right. And it's okay.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm. So human.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yeah.
Women Supporting Women Shift
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Audra Dinell: What about when you decided to take on business ownership?
Were there any stories there that you had to work through?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Oh, that's a great question too. I do think that if you look back, you know, I've been in the workforce for nearly 30 years. If you look back to late nineties, early two thousands, I feel like it was a little bit more of, in particularly for women, there was a little bit more.
There can only be one winner in the room. Whereas I feel like now it's very much a [00:17:00] let's all bond together as women and raise each other up because there's room for all of us in some way, shape, or form, which may actually be a positive part of social media. 'cause I do feel like that that's kind of encouraged that.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: So I like that part of. How we as women have evolved to cheer each other on a little bit more than maybe we did 20, 30 years ago.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Rising tides versus competition.
Yeah, and I've heard that shift many times. I feel like I was probably on the cusp of it. I mean, I am in elder millennials, how I like to describe myself.
And so I entered the workforce and there was still some of that, but it has largely, we've made a lot of progress.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Absolutely.
Audra Dinell: Do you think it's important for women to see both sides of the coin, you being a professional and a [00:18:00] business owner and a leader, and also you being a mother? And if you do, why?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes. I definitely think it's important. I think that it makes you more approachable as a leader. You can show both sides of that coin and it makes you more empathetic and your team feels like they can come to you with things that are going on with outside of work.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And that it's not just all business.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Men And Caregiving Culture
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Audra Dinell: Do you think it's different for men?
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes, I think it's different for men. I think that there's still this perception that there's probably a wife at home slash mom at home taking care of things and the man can just go do the business and do what he needs to do.
Now I say that I sure hope it's evolving [00:19:00] more. I do think it is better than it used to be. You know, with things like paternity leave and just. Hybrid schedules and recognizing that you've gotta have more balance for both men and women. We're in our household, we're fortunate in that my husband has his own business as well, and so we're able to have that flexibility.
And so he does take a large role in caring for our son when I can't, and so we have a good partnership in that sense.
Audra Dinell: We're talking about sort of like being an example as a mom, as a business owner.
So how do you think are, are there any male leaders in your world, in your network that you see doing this really well? They're showing up well as a leader and. Well, as a caregiver or a human outside of work, a father, what are they doing? What, what can men do to show up in [00:20:00] this way too? More human.
Ashley Bowen Cook: There is certainly an opportunity for men to keep this conversation going from their perspective too. It might look a little different than it does from our perspective as women and. Per conversations with my husband. I think some of that is because of the internal narrative that we tell ourselves of things that are expected.
I had a conversation with my husband the other day and said something about I'm, I'm sorry I let you guys down in X, Y, Z situation. And he said, I never said that. I never said that. You let us down in that situation. And so something, again, I was creating this internal narrative that was a false narrative.
Yeah, because I was just putting that on myself. I don't think, generally speaking, men tend to put those internal narratives on themselves the way we do. I don't think it makes them wanna be any less engaged though, as a parent [00:21:00] than we want to be. I think they want to be at the ball games. I think they wanna go and participate in the school activities when it makes sense.
Yeah. And when it's right for the situation.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. I know one situation my husband has been in is when we had one of our sons, his boss, who was actually. Lovely. And we both really enjoyed this leader. He was expected back at work, the next day because it wasn't his body that was having the baby.
And now he's a leader in a company and one of his guys is expecting his first son and his mindset around the time and space that employee will need is completely different than what he received. And that is not 20 years apart, right? This is within the last decade, the way my husband was led as an employee versus the way he is leading his team [00:22:00] members.
I just think that has been like a, a small, beautiful shift that hopefully sets that family up for success.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes, I think that's a wonderful shift.
Raising A Leader Son
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Audra Dinell: So what do you think your, what do you hope your son learns about women in leadership just by watching you?
Ashley Bowen Cook: We talk a lot about how women can do anything that men can do.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: We have that conversation a lot.
Audra Dinell: It's just so interesting being a boy mom, right? Yes. Because it's like you see inside the psyche of these little bros and they love you and you're their mom and, and you're, you're trying to shape their perspective. And I think conversations, yes, but then just also the way that we are being in our families and in our careers unapologetically, but also transparently and also.
With repair when needed. So I really enjoyed hearing that conversation between you and your husband and your son, where there was a narrative that [00:23:00] you were sharing that your husband just rebuked and said, that's not the case. But I think it's just such an interesting position being a woman with ambition and a boy mom and trying to.
Just navigate and do the best you can to be such a strong example and tender and have these conversations.
Grit Grace Gratitude Lessons
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Ashley Bowen Cook: So I hope that he takes away this key phrase that I use, which is grit, grace, and gratitude. And with having two business owners in our family, you can imagine there is a lot of talk about business around our house our son is a little entrepreneur in his own right. He has done quite well at the Wichita Children's Business Fair by Wonder the last few years.
And so he won an award three years in a row, and when we went for his fourth year in a row, he didn't win the award. [00:24:00] To which his response was, well, I'm done with the business fair. I don't wanna do this anymore. And that was fun. Let's move on. Type of attitude. And so my husband and I had to really talk with him about, Hey, this is not how we do things.
You can't just quit because you didn't win. Yeah. And so we went into the whole winning and business discussion. It was like, do you wanna know how often your dad and I don't win in business? Yeah. It's quite often.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: But to survive as a family, we have to keep on trying again. Right. And, and that you have to have that grit and that grit will serve you well.
Throughout your life, whether it's trying harder on the test at school or winning the competition, or as you get older, going after the job you want, whatever that [00:25:00] looks like, we want to instill grit in him and know that that is a critical part of. Being a business owner.
Audra Dinell: Yeah, we talk in my house about winning.
Well, but losing Well, yeah, because winning feels good. Everyone wants to win. There's art to winning well and holding like confidence in what you've done with humility. And so that's a big thing in our house right now. Humility, winning well, but also losing well is even more important and. It's so important to like your mindset and your ability to develop that resilience.
It's like, if all we do is things that we're going to win at, we are gonna limit ourselves so much. Mm-hmm. And I talk about it right now with my 7-year-old and Connect four because he's actually a very good Connect Four player. And when I win best out a five oh, we have to have a talk about losing well.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: So I, I, I get that. I love the grit, grace. [00:26:00] Gratitude.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Flexibility With Accountability
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Audra Dinell: How has motherhood influenced how you think about flexibility in the workplace?
Ashley Bowen Cook: It's critical to have flexibility in the workplace, especially for parents, but quite frankly, for anybody anymore. Especially, you know, post 2020, I think we've all discovered.
That we've gotta have a better balance in life and what each of us needs to get to that balance is a little bit different. But when it comes to parents, I think part of that is I believe in empowering our team. We're all adults, we're all responsible. We all know what we need to do to get the job done and get it done on the deadline that's expected.
And so it's about empowering people to do that. At the same time, knowing that people have to have flexibility for things like school events, maybe homeschooling [00:27:00] doctor's appointments. I don't want anybody on my team to feel like they had to miss out on something because they, you know, needed to get this project done by.
Before they left, or they had to be there in their desk from eight to five in order to get that project done is more like it. Instead, as long as it gets done by the deadline, it gets done by the deadline. So if you need to adjust your schedule to have that work-life balance, then do what you need to do.
Because I know ultimately too, it's gonna make happier employees.
Audra Dinell: Yeah,
Ashley Bowen Cook: a happier team. They're gonna feel. More empowered, and then oftentimes that translates into more drive in them too,
Audra Dinell: and creativity and innovation, which is very important in the work you do or any work.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: It sounds to me like that taps into your [00:28:00] grace piece with accountability.
Grit. We talked about that with Charlie Grace, with the flexibility that you're offering your team, that comes with accountability. I think sometimes Grace gets a little bit of a soft brand when yes, it is soft and forgiving and beautiful, but it's also coupled with accountability when it's really powerful.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Absolutely. I think Grace ties to that phrase of don't mistake. My kindness for weakness.
Audra Dinell: Yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
Ambitious Motherhood Toolkit
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Audra Dinell: So tell me as we wrap up our conversation, what does ambitious leadership look like in 2026? What does Ambitious motherhood require? What would you say to a woman who feels ambitious and deeply committed to our family?
Ashley Bowen Cook: There are so many layers to that question, but to me, some of the fundamentals are, [00:29:00] again, women cheering other women on.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: When it comes to being. An ambitious leader and not just other women cheering your team on collectively. Right. But as a business owner, cheering on other business owners when it comes to motherhood, having a supportive partner.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Ashley Bowen Cook: My husband is my biggest cheerleader. Mm-hmm. And I am so thankful for him and so thankful for the way we've created a balance. In order to take care of our son,
you know, when it gets down to like tactics, planning, making sure there's a like taking the time at the beginning of the week or on the weekend to set a plan for the week.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: It will just make life so much easier for everybody.
Audra Dinell: Yeah,
Ashley Bowen Cook: and it also gives you a chance. To communicate expectations?
Audra Dinell: Yeah, [00:30:00] yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Of everybody in the family.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yeah. Because again, as women, sometimes we create the narrative and don't maybe give the complete level of why we're expecting something to be done a certain way. We want it done. And so sometimes then it creates conflict with our partner. So taking the time to set the plan for the week helps.
I think also just letting go of mom guilt.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Ashley Bowen Cook: It can steal your joy.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Like no other.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And knowing that sometimes you may forget to sign up to take the napkins for the school party and it's okay. Yeah.
Audra Dinell: Kids don't use 'em anyways. Let's be real.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Right, exactly.
Audra Dinell: My kids don't. At least I'm like, why?
Mine's
Ashley Bowen Cook: shirt so
Audra Dinell: dirty.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yeah. Yeah. His sleeve is evidence of that. So just letting go [00:31:00] of those things that maybe don't matter, that aren't critical. Yes, they're nice to haves, but they're not must haves.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: I think that's important. And then kind of in that same context. Being a hundred percent on a yes and everything else needs to either be a no or not right now.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And that I think I've gotten there personally just between the time of my career and, you know, being a little bit older. I, you know, I was 37 when I had Charlie and so. I'd done a lot of giving to others prior to having him, and so it was a chance for me to be a little bit more selfish with my time and not feel as obligated as maybe someone younger in their career feels when they have a child.
So I had that luxury. But I'm very much a, it's either a hundred [00:32:00] percent yes. Or, sorry, I will have to get back to you on that.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Non Negotiables And Self Care
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Ashley Bowen Cook: And then also just having, you know, again, I think as an ambitious leader, mom, business owner, making some non-negotiables for yourself. Hmm.
Audra Dinell: What are your non-negotiables?
Ashley Bowen Cook: My non-negotiables are, church on Sunday is pretty much a non-negotiable because it.
Completely fills my cup and it sets the tone for the week. I have a group of moms I work out with at the gym that as much as I can is a non-negotiable. And then I have tried to be better about setting aside time for myself, whether that's reading a book or just VEing out and binge watching something or.
Going and strolling through Target aimlessly.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Whatever that needs to be to just kind of get away and give myself a little bit of time without having [00:33:00] a million things come at me.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: But I think we, especially whether it's because of scrolling or the way our the way our schedules are set up, what have you.
I feel like we as moms especially, have things just coming at us nonstop, and it just gets exhausting. And so to be a better mom, to be a better leader, to be a better business owner, we have to make time for ourselves
Audra Dinell: and we have to give ourselves permission.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Yes. I mean, it's kind of like, you know, on the airplane they tell you to put your mask on before the person next to you, there's a reason.
So you've gotta take care of yourself.
Audra Dinell: Funny you say that because we flew Southwest in our island twice, you know, from Wahoo, big island and back. And both times on Southwest, this is just in March of 2026, the flight attendants went up to every [00:34:00] mother with children or every, they came up to me because I was sitting with my children and my husband was on the other aisle right across from me, but they came up to every, at least.
Parent with children and looked us in the eye, each one and said, remember to put your mask on first. And I was just like, I wanna cry because you are making at first on the fly over. I just thought, oh, this flight attendant is so wonderful. He's reminding me to put my mask on first. He's reminding me to take care of myself so I can take care of everyone else.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: Then it happened on the way back with a, you know, obviously totally different flight attendant, and I just thought, go Southwest. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Put your mask on first.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Mm-hmm. The reality is, if we don't take care of ourselves, our body, whether it be physically or mentally, will at some point make us stop and say, I've had enough.
Audra Dinell: Oh, yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And so. [00:35:00] You don't wanna get to that point, if you can keep yourself from it.
Audra Dinell: Yep.
Final Leadership Wisdom
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Audra Dinell: Final words, final words of wisdom.
Ashley Bowen Cook: It's such. A joy and privilege to get to be a leader. That being said, you don't have to be a business owner to be a leader. You can lead from anywhere I think it's John Maxwell, that it's something to the effect of leadership is impacting others, not managing others. And so how can we as mothers, as women, as leaders, impact those around us?
And we can do that through our actions. We can do that through how we treat others and. Going back to the treat others the way you wanna be treated.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Ashley Bowen Cook: And taking a moment [00:36:00] to take a breath and think about that before you jump the gun on anything. And so that you've really thought through how you wanna treat someone.
Closing Thanks And Goodbye
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Audra Dinell: Thank you so much. You're such an example and I appreciate you being here.
Ashley Bowen Cook: Thank you for having me.
Audra Dinell: You're welcome.
Ashley Bowen Cook: I adore you.
Audra Dinell: Mm. Same. Same.