Ashley Schmitt is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of The Tribal Dream-Stackers, a publication and podcast network hosted on Substack.
Professional Background
Ashley transitioned into independent publishing after a distinguished 35-year career in the professional and legal sectors. Now retired, her extensive expertise is rooted in:
Executive Paralegal Duties: Navigating complex legal information and documentation.
Grant Writing & Research: Helping organizations access resources from foundations to create community impact.
Consulting: Providing strategic guidance and research-driven perspectives.
Mission and Vision
Ashley describes her current work as developing a “Constellation,” a supportive ecosystem designed to elevate independent writers, small publications, and podcasters. Her primary goals include:
Breaking Barriers: Creating pathways for overlooked or underrepresented voices to be seen and heard.
Authentic Connection: Fostering a community based on collaboration rather than competition.
Empowerment: Sharing her writing and research knowledge to help others convert bold ideas into lasting impact.
Creative Work
Through The Tribal Dream-Stackers, Ashley produces weekly articles and several podcast series, including:
Winding Down: A podcast focused on relaxation, reflection, and real-life storytelling.
News-worthy Stories: Articles that highlight rising creators and talent often missed by mainstream media.
Driven by a philosophy of “Sharing is Caring,” Ashley focuses on building a “concrete foundation” for her community through authenticity, compassion, and inclusivity.
Talking Points: Building a Constellation
When you look up at the night sky, no single star is doing the work of holding the shape.
The constellation is the relationship between them. Each star sits where it sits. Some are brighter. Some are older. Some are barely visible to the naked eye. But the shape of the thing you can actually navigate by only exists because of how they sit together.
Most leaders have been taught to think of their careers as a star getting brighter.
Marginalized leaders cannot survive that way.
You were never meant to be a single star. You were meant to be inside a constellation and to build one, and eventually to become a star that someone coming behind you uses to find their way home.
That is what we are here to talk about tonight.
The Core Reframe
A star alone is just a point of light. A constellation is what people navigate by.
The Four Positions in Your Constellation
Anchor each part of the conversation here. These are not roles people earn through niceness. They are the functions a constellation requires.
Position #1: Who Lifts You Up
The people above you who use their position, voice, and capital on your behalf sometimes, without telling you they are doing it.
These are not mentors. Mentors give you advice. Sponsors and elders spend something on you. They put your name in rooms you have not yet entered. They tell other powerful people who you are. They take a risk that costs them in order for you to rise.
You cannot reach where you are going without at least two of these. One who already trusts you. One who is still being earned.
“I do not need more people who like me. I need people who will spend something on me.”
Who currently spends political or social capital on you when you are not in the room, and is it enough?
Position #2: Who Walks Beside You
Your peers. Your contemporaries. The other leaders are running the same race in different lanes.
This is the position most marginalized leaders are weakest in. You were taught that other women, other people of color, other queer leaders, other immigrants, other working-class leaders were your competition. That there was only one seat. That you had to outshine them to be taken seriously.
That was the lie that kept the constellation from forming.
The people running beside you are not your competition. They are the only ones who fully understand what you are running through. And they will be the ones who validate your reads, hold your standards, and tell you the truth when no one above or below you can.
“My peers are not the obstacle. They are the constellation.”
Who is running the race beside you that you have been keeping at arm’s length, and what would change if you closed the distance this month?
Position #3: Who You Build With
The people you are not just connected to you are creating something with them. A project. A policy. A pipeline. A campaign. A practice. A movement.
This is the position that turns relationships into infrastructure. A friendship is precious. A coalition is leverage. The constellation needs both.
These are the people whose names appear next to yours on something that did not exist before the two of you started. They share risk with you. They share credit with you. They show up when it matters and not just when it is comfortable.
Most leaders never build this position because building requires conflict, negotiation, disappointment, and repair, and most of us were taught to avoid all four.
“I do not just want connections. I want co-builders.”
Whose name should be next to yours on something that does not yet exist, and what is stopping you from starting that conversation this week?
Position #4: Who You Raise Behind You
The leaders coming after you are deliberately preparing to take more than you were given.
This is the position that turns a career into a legacy. And it is the position the system most counts on you to neglect, because if you do not raise the leaders behind you, the system gets to keep deciding who rises.
This is not mentoring out of charity. This is succession planning. Pipeline building. Door-opening on purpose, for specific people, before they have to ask.
The leaders you raise behind you are the only ones who will continue the work after you stop. If your constellation has no one in this position, your influence ends with you. If it has many, your influence becomes generational.
“My legacy is the names of the leaders who will say I made it possible.”
Who is coming behind you right now that you have not yet named, claimed, or committed to raising — and what changes if you do?
The Shape: what holds the constellation together
A constellation with only one position is not a constellation. It is a star.
A constellation with two is fragile.
A constellation with three is functional.
A constellation with all four is generational.
Most leaders try to operate with one or two. Then they wonder why their careers stall, their burnout climbs, and their impact has no successor.
The four positions do not have to be filled all at once.
But they all have to be on the map.
The Five Lies
The thinking that keeps constellations from forming. Name the lie that has been operating on you. That is the first move.
1. “I can do this on my own.” Said with pride. Lived as isolation. This is the foundational lie.
2. “They are too busy.” A story you tell yourself about people who would actually be honored if you asked.
3. “There is only one seat for someone like me.” The scarcity story the system planted in you. Untrue. Always was.
4. “I have to make it first, then I can help others.” A delay tactic that becomes a lifetime. You raise the next generation now, or you do not raise them at all.
5. “I don’t want to use people.” Confusing leverage with extraction. Constellations are mutual. You are not using anyone. You are belonging to each other.
The Pivot Questions
6. Which of the four positions is weakest in your constellation right now, and what has it cost you that you have not yet named?
7. Who would defend you in a room you are not in, and is that list long enough?
8. Whose name should be next to yours on something that does not yet exist?
9. Who is coming behind you that you have not yet committed to raising, and what is the cost of waiting?
10. If your constellation is incomplete, which position have you been most afraid to fill and what is the fear actually about?
If it has many, your influence becomes generational.
Thank you Florence Acosta, Ashleigh Alauren, Nabanita, Diane, Mandy Ohman, and many others for tuning into my live video with 💨Ashley Schmitt™️! Join me for my next live video in the app.
