Carolina means business and family for small-business owner

When Joanna Ashe (MBA ’20) walked through the halls of the new Steven D. Bell Hall — not as a staff member or student, but as the business owner responsible for installing every window treatment in the building — she felt something she didn’t expect: a quiet, powerful sense of coming home, a full‑circle moment years in the making.

“I’ve been a Tar Heel my whole life,” she says. “To return now as a business owner and help shape the physical space of UNC Kenan‑Flagler Business School — a place that shaped me — is incredibly meaningful.”

Ashe is president and co-owner of Contract Window Treatments, a 30‑year‑old commercial window treatment firm based in Greensboro that works primarily on commercial construction projects requiring roller shades, blinds and other related window coverings. Fellow Tar Heel Stan Park (BSBA ’89) invited her to join as co-owner and lead the company into its next chapter.

Her connection to UNC Kenan‑Flagler began long before she imagined owning a business. Ashe earned her BA in journalism from Carolina and later spent nearly eight years working at the Business School in roles that deepened her understanding of leadership, operations and the student experience.

“I learned about UNC Kenan-Flagler from the inside, as an employee rather than just a fan or student,” says Ashe. “That was my first real exposure to UNC as a professional home and I quickly fell in love with it from that vantage point as well.”

She served in several roles over the years that offered her a unique vantage point on the UNC Executive Development and Executive MBA programs. “I saw the student experience up close — their growth, how their careers evolved, the doors that opened for them. Little by little, my interest was piqued. I started thinking, ‘Maybe I want to experience that kind of transformation, too.’”

So when Ashe was presented with the opportunity to pursue an MBA as a sponsored employee, she jumped at the chance to join the Weekend Executive MBA Program.

The program format was a dream: Classmates and professors met in person about once a month.

“That cadence worked really well for my life and learning style,” says Ashe. “I’m someone who connects best in person, so having those consistent touch points with my classmates and professors was incredibly meaningful.”

Things changed in 2020 when the COVID pandemic shutdown the U.S. and UNC Kenan-Flagler shifted fully online, practically overnight.

“It wasn’t the ending we expected or hoped for, but the faculty and staff pivoted so well to Zoom-based learning that the academic experience remained strong,” she says. “And because of the solid relationships already formed with my classmates, we all got through it together.”

A leap into ownership

As her classes moved online, she also was navigating the first two weeks of her new role at Contract Window Treatments.

“The prior owner, in hopes of retirement, had been trying to sell the business for a few years but hadn’t found a trusted buyer,” says Ashe. “Her plan before we stepped in was to let her existing contracts wind down and then close the company. It became evident that I was taking on a true turnaround situation that needed to happen quickly. By June of that year, we would technically be bankrupt on paper.”

Taking on this challenge in a completely foreign, predominantly male-dominated, industry required a level of confidence she didn’t always have earlier in her career. That shift began during the MBA program, when a classmate — an aerospace executive — offered advice that stayed with her: “You need to care less about what people think and be more confident about what you bring to the table.”

“My classmates’ encouragement gave me the courage to leave what felt comfortable and step into something completely unknown,” Ashe says. “I knew absolutely nothing about window treatments or the construction industry. But I did have the training, critical-thinking skills and gained confidence from my MBA to know I could learn quickly and make it work.”

Her first major move was digitizing the company’s paper-based operations. Within days of her start, every active project file was scanned, organized and accessible virtually — a decision that proved critical as the world shifted to remote work.

“About a week later, the pandemic forced us to work from home but we had full access to our files,” says Ashe. “That one decision, made almost on instinct, saved us. I was commuting from Raleigh to Greensboro at the time, so having our operational backbone online became critical.”

From there, the company began to rebuild.

“What once felt like a big milestone — landing our first single six‑figure contract — has become our norm, with several six‑figure projects at any given moment. In a competitive, bid‑driven industry like ours, clients must trust your expertise — and the pricing also must be right for the work to land,” she says. “My MBA provided the strategic tools and the language to inspire that confidence even when I was still learning the details of the industry.”

Along with the significant growth, Ashe is most proud that she retained every employee who worked for the company before she joined — and they remain today.

“That speaks to trust, mutual respect and a deliberate effort to make sure the team feels valued, supported and included every step of the way,” says Ashe.

Her first new hire was former UNC Kenan-Flagler colleague Allison Wooten as project director. “I sometimes joke that I ‘stole her away’ from the School,” says Ashe. “I’m deeply grateful she chose to join us. She’s an exceptional asset to our team.”

Rooted in Carolina

Ashe and her husband Graham Ashe (BA ’09), also a UNC journalism graduate, live in Greensboro with their two daughters.

Her Carolina roots run deep. “I’ve been a Tar Heel my whole life: I grew up in western North Carolina in a family that never missed watching a Carolina basketball game,” she says. “My dad went to UNC, my brother went to UNC and my mom worked for UNC Hospitals, so I truly bleed Carolina blue,” she says.

What makes UNC Kenan-Flagler special is what she’s known all along: “It’s the people.”

“The relationships I formed in the Weekend Executive MBA program are truly exceptional. I know that if I reach out to a classmate for any reason, they’ll be there — no matter how much time has passed — and I’ll always show up for them.”

As Ashe continues to make big plans for the company, with her sights set on scaling beyond the Carolinas, the completion of her Bell Hall work will always represent something singular: the moment when her past, present and future converged.