I am Ashlynn (Casey) Marquez. I am running for the Washington County School District Board Seat 1.
Since some of you may not know me, I want to tell you a little bit about me, my background, and my connections to this beautiful county.
My grandparents are people from this area that you probably already know. My Granddaddy and Mimi, Eddie and Jo Davis owned the Chuck Wagon in Chipley for many years. They opened it when I was 3 years old and sold it well after I became an adult. To say I grew up in that restaurant would be an accurate description.
Because I spent so much time there, by the time I was about 7, there was not one job that I didn’t know how to do, or learned on the fly, to help “run” the restaurant. I continued to work and learn the business until I could actually work and get paid.
Those days were long and the nights were busy, especially when groups of entire baseball teams would show up at right at closing (about 9 pm)!
Most of the staff, including me, would roll our eyes when they came in and ask if they could still eat. My Grand-daddy would jump in and say “How many y’all got? Come on in!” We would push tables together, take their orders, fire up the grills, and do it with a smile – or else.
Working in the service industry for so long, and from such a young age, I watched and learned how to treat people. I also got to know the people of this community (I probably took your order before I could write) and I learned how much I loved the people of this community.
I also learned at a young age that I don’t like sitting around when there are things to be done. In fact, that’s now one of my biggest pet peeves!
I have taken the service rules I learned into my own business as a local business owner. I transitioned into the hair business naturally, as my grand-mommy, mom, and aunt were all hairdressers. When I wasn’t in the restaurant, I was in the salon.
What I noticed is that no matter what services were provided, success is found when you follow a few simple rules: be nice to people, care about what they want, listen to their needs, and do your best to help them.
I guess you can say I’ve spent my whole life wanting to serve in some way. I have an internal desire to just to be around the good people of this community, be nice, care, listen, and do my best to solve your problems.
I’m not going to lie- I won’t have all the answers, and I may not know everything to do, or “how” to do it, but I love working to find the answers and create solutions to help folks I meet along the way.
I want to help this county by serving on the school board so that I can help you, your kids, and ultimately this community. I would love to see those kids who are little today, look back and appreciate their connections to this county the way I do.
