About Us

Ashley brings over 15 years of experience in lifestyle and boutique hospitality, with a career spanning development, operations, and global brand leadership at the world’s largest hotel company, and now as the founder of AEP Consulting. Having sat on all sides of the table, she brings a rare combination of strategic insight, cross-disciplinary thinking, and industry relationships to the earliest and most critical stages of hospitality development.

Ashley’s work is rooted in guiding ownership through the decisions that define a project. She partners with hotel owners and developers from the outset, shaping vision, refining concepts, and establishing the strategic direction before design and construction begin. Her ability to bridge creative thinking with disciplined development strategy allows her to translate early ideas into clear, executable hospitality concepts.

Her approach is both strategic and deeply hands-on. She works across concept development, market positioning, brand affiliation, and team assembly, ensuring every decision supports a cohesive and differentiated outcome. Acting as a trusted advisor to ownership, she ensures alignment among stakeholders and maintains continuity from early vision through execution.

The projects she helps shape are not only well-positioned but purposeful. They are designed to resonate within their markets, create lasting value for ownership, and stand apart in an increasingly competitive hospitality landscape.

A recognized voice in the industry, Ashley speaks at leading hospitality conferences and contributes to top trade publications. Based in Memphis and working nationally, she partners with developers and ownership groups looking to build thoughtful, distinctive hospitality projects.

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Olivine Rooftop Restaurant

About
OPENED
November 2025
MARKET
Auburn, Alabama
PROJECT TYPE
New Build / Restaurant
CLIENT
RAM Hotels
The Opportunity
THE OPPORTUNITY
When the new AC Hotel opened in downtown Auburn, ownership saw the rooftop as something beyond a hotel amenity — a chance to build a true dining destination for the city. The brief was clear: attract locals, increase guest spend, and create a space Auburn would claim as its own.
The Vision
Campania, Italy meets Alabama. The team envisioned an upscale rooftop experience where Neapolitan wood-fired traditions merged with heirloom Southern ingredients — a smoldering, moody atmosphere that felt both transportive and entirely at home. The goal was to build Auburn’s premier rooftop destination from the ground up, with a sense of place so specific it could only exist here.
*Inspiration Imagery
Our Role
Services
From creative concepting through the realities of a rooftop build, AEP owned every layer, making sure the vision survived the hard parts intact.
  • Concept creation
  • Team selection, contract negotiation, and onboarding (including ID, procurement, branding, etc.)
  • Owner representation and creative direction
  • Brand creation, including naming, brand strategy, menu & beverage program oversight, website development, and training in partnership with The Saturday Crowd
  • OS&E specification
  • Interior and exterior signage direction
Our Role
Services
From creative concepting through the realities of a rooftop build, AEP owned every layer, making sure the vision survived the hard parts intact.
  • Concept creation
  • Team selection, contract negotiation, and onboarding (including ID, procurement, branding, etc.)
  • Owner representation and creative direction
  • Brand creation, including naming, brand strategy, menu & beverage program oversight, website development, and training in partnership with The Saturday Crowd
  • OS&E specification
  • Interior and exterior signage direction
The Outcome
Olivine has set a new standard for Auburn’s culinary scene. By blending sweeping city views with a char-driven, seasonally inspired menu, it has become the city’s premier rooftop destination. The project demonstrates that when a sense of place is meticulously built into every detail — from the olivine stone-inspired palette to the wood-fired program — the market responded with both critical acclaim and sustained demand. For the ownership group, it marked a significant step in establishing their reputation as a serious operator of destination food and beverage in the Southeast.
More Work