We recently had the chance to connect with Ash Serrano and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ash, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Energy. Every time. You can teach skills. You can refine ideas. But energy? That’s the pulse. That’s what moves things forward. I gravitate toward people who show up with spark, conviction, and some fire in their belly.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Ash Serrano, founder of Wild Lore, a strategic storytelling studio that helps founders and execs turn their voice into their superpower. I work at the intersection of brand, content, and influence, translating messy brilliance into clear, compelling narratives that actually move people.
Wild Lore exists for people with something to say and something to build. Whether it’s a sharp brand strategy, a bold thought leadership plan, or a creative concept that needs teeth, we bring it to life with a mix of heart, precision, and heat. Right now, I’m scaling our signature offers, launching digital products, and working on a book that’s basically a love letter to corporate influence done right. Stay tuned.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was the kid scribbling stories in spiral notebooks, choreographing performances no one asked for, and fast-forwarding in my head to the grown-up version of myself who had it all figured out. I didn’t know what she did yet, but I knew she was building something. Even then, I was constantly creating…naming things, giving them identities, imagining how they’d live in the world. I didn’t realize I was branding. I just thought I was playing.
I was curious, expressive, a little bossy, and deeply imaginative. I enjoyed making sense of everything. There was always a story to tell, a feeling to name, a future to dream into.
That version of me is still here. She’s just swapped the daydreams for deadlines, the markers for strategy decks, and the imaginary brands for ones that matter to real people. But the essence? Still intact. Still chasing ideas. Still trying to give them a name, a voice, and a place to belong.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I stopped every time I walked into a room and decided not to shrink. Every time I raised my voice, instead of swallowing it. Every time I made something honest, knowing it might make someone uncomfortable, I did it anyway.
For a long time, I learned to perform. Code-switch. Stay likable. Play the part. I knew how to read a room and become what it needed. That was survival. But it was also erasure. And somewhere along the way, I realized: if you keep editing yourself to stay in the room, eventually you forget the sound of your own voice.
What changed? I grew tired of hiding the parts of me shaped by struggle, because those are also the parts that make me creative. Sharp. Intuitive. Brave. Now, I use it to help others tell their truth. That voice starts when you stop apologizing for where you come from. When you stop polishing the pain into something pretty, and tell the story straight.
That’s when power begins. Not when you forget what broke you, but when you realize you built something from it anyway.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That louder is always better.
That storytelling is just a nice-to-have.
That strategy is only for big campaigns, and not the small, everyday moments where brand trust is actually built.
The creative industry loves to dress itself up in buzzwords and virality. But the truth is, most of the work that matters isn’t flashy. It’s foundational. It’s how you name something, how you speak, how you show up when no one’s watching. That’s brand. That’s influence.
There’s also this myth that brand strategy is somehow separate from business strategy. As if the way you position yourself doesn’t affect how people buy, partner, apply, invest, or remember you. At Wild Lore, I don’t separate those two things. The story is the strategy.
And maybe the biggest lie?
That vulnerability and polish can’t live in the same sentence. I disagree. I think the future belongs to brands that can do both…tell the truth and make it beautiful.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they say I was the kind of person who remembered the hard stuff and the fun stuff. Who held space when someone fell apart. Who celebrated wildly when things went right. Who told the truth even when it shook the room a little. Who didn’t shrink herself to be more digestible. Who made her people feel like they could be all of themselves without apology.
That I was full of heart, and not in a cute, soft-focus way, but in the real, gritty kind of way that means I gave a damn. That I left people feeling more seen, more known, and more human after being with me.
That I asked big questions and didn’t pretend to have it all figured out. That I kept showing up with curiosity, conviction, and care. That I laughed too loud and made people feel safe doing the same. That I didn’t perform easily, but I made hard things feel possible.
That I was generous with my words, my attention, and my presence.
That I built things that mattered. That I made people feel like they mattered, too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildlore.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildloreco
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashserrano/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ashserrano
Image Credits
Katya Vilchyk Photography
