About
Ashley Purdum is a communications and marketing consultant with a knack for building brands that people care about. With a background that spans spirits, advertising, music and entertainment, she specializes in earned media, brand storytelling, events, and talent-led campaigns - blending creativity with business strategy for impactful results.
Clients often call her a “Swiss Army Knife” for her ability to move seamlessly between strategy, creative, production and amplification. In 2022, she founded Exit 80, a consultancy built on a network of independent experts who thrive in fast-moving, multidisciplinary roles. By assembling the right talent for each project, Exit 80 delivers full-service results without traditional agencies' unnecessary overhead or red tape.
Ashley is also the Head of Brand Marketing and Communications for Four Walls Irish American Whiskey, the spirits brand co-founded by Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, and Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame. Since its inception, she’s helped turn Four Walls from an idea on the back of a bar napkin into a brand beloved by both trade and consumers.
Career Highlights & Past Work
Before launching Exit 80 and bringing Four Walls to market, Ashley led PR & Marketing at Night After Night, a creative agency known for shaping nightlife culture. There, she oversaw communications and cultural strategy for the agency itself while supporting initiatives for brands like Jägermeister, Pernod Ricard (Jameson, The Glenlivet, Avión, Altos), The Bronx Brewery, and Trojan Brand Condoms.
She also served as Brand Director for Barking Irons Spirits, overseeing the sales team while leading operations, compliance, and consumer and trade programming for the made-in-New-York line of craft apple brandies and gins.
Before that, Ashley oversaw the digital and field marketing departments at Cornerstone Agency / The FADER magazine, working on iconic brands like Converse, Diageo, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi/Mountain Dew while simultaneously overseeing promotions for hundreds of album releases and a handful of avant-garde Broadway shows and operas at The Met.
Professional highlights during her time as part of the ‘Fader Fam’ included helping Converse launch community recording studio Rubber Tracks, reinvigorating the 200-year-old Bushmills Irish Whiskey brand with ambassadors including Bon Iver, Elijah Wood and Aaron Paul and being a part of some unforgettable music moments at FADER Fort pop-ups during SXSW and CMJ.
Before joining Cornerstone and The FADER, Ashley got her start at just 20 years old at +1, a Brooklyn-based record label. From running the VIP door at the now iconic Jelly Pool Parties to collaborating with Playboy on the multi-year Rock the Rabbit charity t-shirt program shot by Mick Rock, she gained invaluable experience in grassroots brand building and creative problem-solving while helping countless bands launch their careers.
