Black Woman Entrepreneur, From the Stripper Pole to Owning a Million Dollar Trucking Business

This story originally appeared on Black Enterprise

Meet Ashley Thomas, a successful entrepreneur who has completely transformed from a life of stripping, pimping, and prostitution to founding the nation’s first Black woman-owned transportation call center to recruit truck drivers.

In her recently released book, Divorcing the Game, she reveals how she made it out “the game” and tells the story of her journey from the stripper pole to owning a million-dollar trucking business.

Her call center, which is called Supreme Drivers Recruiting, is now dominating the trucking industry by providing a solution during the national supply chain crisis and offering coaching programs to predictably find drivers to help solve the driver shortage. Her company also provides an entry-level platform for call center agents to gross $5,000 to $12,000 a month while getting truck drivers top-paying jobs.

Uncut and uncensored, Ashley holds nothing back to show others the other side of adversity. Dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, she quickly learned that if she wanted anything in life, she would have to work for it – and nothing was off-limits. At 13, she fell into the hands of a pimp. Lured by the false promises of a better life, Ashley ended up being influenced to have sex with multiple men. Realizing God had another purpose for her, she walked away from what was a hustle, sexually exploitive, and promiscuous lifestyle to one that would challenge everything she was taught to believe about making money – rechanneling that same hustle and go-getter energy. Now she is showing others how to make that shift.

Ashley wrote Divorcing The Game to be the blueprint for helping others get out of “the game” and transition into the $800 billion-dollar trucking industry without owning any trucks. In addition to her book, Ashley is also a no-filter, outspoken speaker and advocate for other young girls and women who feel they are trapped and have no way out. She frequently speaks out about the importance of breaking the stigma surrounding overcoming human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In a recent interview, Ashley discussed how her experience had given her a unique perspective on the issue.

“I think it’s so important that we break the silence around this issue,” she said.

Through her many trials and tribulations, Ashley has persevered and overcame the lifestyle in the streets that tried to kill her. She says that God had a different plan, and now her mission is to empower others and prevent them from falling into the trenches of the nightlife and street games. She comments, “My goal is to show them that God used transportation to save my life and that He can do it for them too.”