After graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in Comparative Literature, she built her foundation at IBM in hardware sales before moving into the home industry with a small countertops provider.
During the financial crisis, while competitors raced to the bottom on price, Ashley took a different approach, and she focused on understanding what customers actually wanted to achieve.
That shift changed everything.
By identifying both the functional and emotional drivers behind buying decisions, she consistently closed deals others couldn’t and realized those same patterns could be engineered upstream into marketing to make success repeatable.
Later, at a security software company acquired by Cisco, she saw a recurring problem: marketing and sales were speaking completely different languages. Marketing optimized for leads. Salespeople cared about closing. And the customer experience? Often an afterthought.
In 2012, Ashley relocated to London to lead channel sales across Northern and Central Europe. Navigating multiple cultures and markets only amplified the disconnect and forced her to take ownership of the entire revenue engine, from first touch to post-sale experience.
That’s where her philosophy took shape: Marketing and sales should both be accountable for revenue and the customer experience. When those two align, growth becomes predictable.
After returning to the U.S., Ashley led marketing for her former countertop company, driving 28% top-line revenue growth and helping position the business for a successful private equity acquisition.
In 2019, she founded New Start Revenue to bring that same alignment to other companies.
Headquartered in Atlanta, she works with both local and national companies, supporting clients across markets, including Birmingham, Alabama, and beyond.
When she’s not navigating the fast-paced world of marketing and sales, she enjoys life in Milton with her husband, Dave, her other half, and NSR partner, who leads all things tech.
Together, they’re raising their daughter, Mila, who is already making her mark in guitar, art, and soccer. Their home is rounded out by their energetic dogs, Billie Holiday and Duff McKagan.
Ashley Klanac didn’t start in marketing. She started in sales, where results aren’t theoretical; they’re measured.
We strive to be the anti-agency
"I like the impossible. There ,the competition is smaller." — Walt Disney
New Start Revenue is not a traditional marketing agency.
We exist to connect what most companies keep separate: marketing, sales, and customer experience.
Because when those three functions operate in silos, ROI suffers. When they work together, growth compounds.
We intentionally stay small, selective, and hands-on. We only work with companies where we know we can drive real impact, and we do the majority of our work in-house. When we bring in partners, they’re trusted specialists we’ve worked with for years.
No smoke and mirrors. No “agency magic.”
Here’s how we actually work:
Small, senior team, no layers, no handoffs
Majority of work done in-house for quality and speed
Long-term partners only when needed (no random outsourcing)
Clear priorities tied directly to revenue goals