Ash is one of the newest members of our team, commencing his role as Head of Professional Services in mid-2021. He leads the Professional Services Team to deliver IT projects and services, enhancing our clients’ business operations to achieve their IT strategies.
His favourite thing about working at Centrered is working with great people who are committed to adding a lot of value to what they do.
Away from work, Ash dedicates most of his time to his three children. He wants to be able to look back on their childhoods and know that he was there for as much of it as possible.
“I love watching them grow, playing games, reading with them, and getting out on the bikes to explore the suburbs and reserves.”
Ash enjoys reading a lot, especially books with modern history settings and political thrillers. The last book he read was The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. Ash found the book enjoyable and is now hunting down the sequel to add to his long reading list. Next up on his list is Troy by Stephen Fry.
On Netflix, Ash has just finished an Australian series called Rake. Although he hasn’t enjoyed many Australian programs in the past, he thought this one had a good balance of drama and humour. He’s just started watching Shadow and Bone, which he believes has potential, and Ash is still waiting patiently for the next season of Money Heist.
Ash is passionate about politics, economics, and humanity. He tends to have strong (but not fixed) views and he enjoys having healthy and robust discussions about big problems. He is quite centralist and makes sure to read and watch material from both the moderate left and right wings of thought to challenge his current thinking. Ashley is the sort of person to watch documentaries and debates in his down time, and he listens to the Freakonomics podcast while mowing the lawn.
Ash’s top IT tip is useful for anyone who wants to get more out of their digital experience:
“Information Technology comprises a plethora of tools and with any tool, people need training and practise to get the best outcomes. My tip is to invest time into IT and you’ll get greater rewards.”
Ash is a bit of a night owl and his last thought at night is usually, “Just one more chapter” of his book. He often pays for it, though, as his youngest is generally up at 5am demanding play time.
Ash is inspired by Jordan Peterson. While he doesn’t necessarily agree with everything he says – he isn’t an idealogue – what he finds inspirational is that Peterson is prepared to take a stand against popular opinion or supposition, and uses logic, reasoning, and scientific sources to support his views.
“That takes a lot of courage, and I’m inspired by that. In the digital age, speaking up can invite a lot of disruption to your life and the life of your family. He inspires me to question, ‘what will it take for me to make a stand?’.”
The four individuals he would like to invite around for dinner are: Ricky Gervais, Ewan McGregor, Bill Bailey, and Stephen K Amos.
“Let the red wine flow and give me some irreverent humour. I want to laugh until my sides hurt. Ewan needs to be there; he’s cheeky and I love riding motorbikes, so I want to hear him tell stories from his series of motorbike adventures, Long Way Round and Long Way Down.”
If he could visit anywhere in the world that he has never been to, Ash revealed that he would happily raise anchor and sail the seas for years on end, stopping at whichever ports he fancied along the way.
“I have a dream that I’ll work my way around the globe in a sail vessel and spend years doing it. Meandering up coastlines, stopping into ports for a week or two and exploring the seaside towns and cultures of the world. Pulling into Cape Town and seeing Lions Head and Table Mountain from the sea or pulling into Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro must be an amazing sight!”
If you want to get in touch with Ash or anyone else on the Centrered team, contacts us on (02) 6239 4222 or visit our website.