Frustrated when passed over for a promotion in favor of a man that she had trained, Ash retired in 1963 and intended to write a book to assist women in business.
At age 45, she was tired of being passed over for positions she was qualified for, and frustrated with training younger male employees who would later be promoted above her.
Though Ash's company culture was perceived as something of an oddity by the outside world, her instincts as a leader were in retrospect quite progressive.
By age 6, she was caring for her seriously ill father while her mother worked 14 hours a day at a restaurant.