Ashley Craft is a strategic communications consultant and founder of Crafted Communications. She works with clients across the Midwest and currently serves as NAFB's Allied Industry Council Representative.
Growing up in Topeka, Kansas, Craft did not have traditional ties to agriculture. Instead, she once imagined herself working in fashion journalism.
"I originally went off to the University of Missouri thinking that I was going to one day work in New York for a magazine," Craft said.
That changed after a visit to her friend’s family farm in Marceline, Missouri.
"It was quite a whirlwind of an experience for me," she said. "I was asking a million and one questions about their sow operation."
She changed her major from journalism to science and agricultural journalism after that visit. From ag ethics courses to AFA programs, Craft said she "seized every opportunity" in college to learn more about agriculture and share what she was learning with others. That same curiosity has continued to guide her throughout her career.
Craft's connection to NAFB dates back to her college years as a student member. Since then, she has been involved as both a broadcaster and an allied industry member.
After earning her degree in 2014, Craft began building a career in agricultural communications. She worked as a public relations specialist for National Crop Insurance Services, returned to Mizzou to earn a master's degree in agricultural education, communications and leadership, and gained experience in broadcasting as farm director with KMZU in Carrollton, Missouri.
"Working with KMZU opened my eyes to what life is like for broadcasters," Craft said. "You're the boots on the ground out there getting to know everybody in the area. It was an amazing experience."
Craft later went on to serve in communications roles at the University of Missouri, including working with the Agriculture and Environment Extension office.
She then moved to the agency side, working with Woodruff as a content and public relations manager. After layoffs affected the agency in 2023, Craft faced an unexpected career shift. While applying for full-time jobs, she began building her own business. Her client work grew and the business took off before she settled into a new full-time role.
"I took some lemons and made some lemonade, as I like to say," she said.
Today, Craft operates Crafted Communications, providing strategic planning, public relations, social media management and writing services for agricultural clients. Most recently, she helped facilitate and write the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) strategic plan.
In the fall of 2025, she created Crafted Connections, a networking community for current and aspiring freelancers.
"It's a place that we can lift each other up and help each other grow," she said.
No matter where her career leads, Craft remains committed to the mission that first drew her to agriculture.
"I still hold on to that same mission of really wanting to help consumers understand where their food comes from," Craft said, "and give back to the farmers and ranchers who give so much to make this world go around."
