
Ashley Man didn’t expect to have a career in tech.
But after moving from New York to California for her fiancé’s job, she found herself exploring a career change while planning her wedding. During her downtime between jobs, she decided to design her wedding website as a personal project.
“That’s how I really got into web development and software engineering,” Ashley said. “I got obsessed learning the process.”
She watched YouTube videos and read blogs. She loved the “trial-and-error” aspect of tech, where if something doesn’t work, you just try something else; and if you make a mistake, you fix it and move on.
In 2018, Ashley signed up for a coding bootcamp to learn more in-depth skills and then worked for a few startups and smaller companies.
She joined Cox Automotive in July 2024 as a senior software engineer based in Irvine, CA, where she works on the homepages of the Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader websites.
Here, Ashley discusses how she transitioned into her tech career and her experience as a new hire at Cox.
An unconventional journey
Ashley started her career in investment banking. After earning a degree in economics from New York University, she went to work on Wall Street.
Next, she handled data analysis at another financial company. There, she learned to work with “massive databases” and write structured query language (SQL) to pull out the data she needed to create reports for clients.
The work didn’t feel meaningful, though. “I was lacking a sense of accomplishment,” Ashley said.
At the same time, she was offered a promotion to financial manager. But she said she couldn’t see herself working in finance for the next 20 years.
At this point, she and her now-husband were “burned out” living in New York City; so when he got a job opportunity in Irvine, they decided to move. As they were preparing for their wedding, she said, “I was taking some time to see what I wanted” career-wise.
That’s when she designed her wedding website, which led her to learn to code and enter the tech field.
A new hire’s experience
Cox’s interview and hiring process was so impressive that it almost seemed “too good to be true,” Ashley said.
It started when a manager at Cox messaged her on LinkedIn about an open role. She noticed that they had a connection in common: a woman she met during coding bootcamp who also works at Cox. She told Ashley that the manager was the best she’d ever worked with. A Cox HR team member that she met during hiring similarly praised the manager.
After applying for the role, Ashley went through two rounds of interviews. She appreciated that everyone on her interview panel was organized and seemed comfortable with one another, which she said is unusual for a large company like Cox.
“I felt like I was [already] part of the group, too, so I felt comfortable really opening up and telling them my story, telling them what I know,” Ashley said. She knew immediately that she wanted the job.
Transferable soft skills
Starting her career in finance and having an unconventional computer science background has given Ashley some unique soft skills, which are helping her excel in tech.
In finance, it’s crucial to pay attention to the market as a whole. She said understanding the big picture, including how Cox’s entire organization works, also helps her software engineering work.
“Knowing what’s going on in the background helps you prioritize your work,” she said.
Thriving in a tech career
Ashley said that her new team at Cox is “better than I could have imagined.”
While Cox is a very large company, she said it feels like a small organization with a close-knit mindset: “Everyone really knows each other. I really enjoy the teamwork.”
Coworkers and managers are always available and willing to answer questions and lift one another. Managers also have an open-door policy and regularly check in to see how she’s doing.
For anyone seeking a role at Cox, she said her best advice is to be yourself.
“I feel everyone is so genuine, and if you pretend to be someone you’re not just to get through the interview, you might have a hard time,” Ashley said. “It’s a very special place here.”