Meet Our Leadership Team
Ascent Digital is a full-service digital marketing agency with over 50 years of combined marketing experience under our belts. We believe in going above and beyond for our clients in more than just digital marketing. We will do our best to help meet any need your business has.
Ben Sorensen
President / Owner
Ben Sorensen is the Founder and President of Ascent Digital, host of the Chasing Greatness podcast, 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, ultra runner, and keynote speaker. With a BA in Marketing and over 15 years of experience helping businesses grow through strategic digital marketing, Ben has a passion for empowering individuals and organizations. Ben has made a career out of leveraging the power of digital marketing to help small businesses achieve success. While chasing greatness, Ben is taking his expertise a step further - transforming the way people perceive leadership, authenticity, and personal growth. When he's not helping businesses grow he is enjoying raising his 3 kids on their Colorado ranch!
Ryan Tuggle
Director of Client Success
Ryan is a seasoned Account Manager and Project Leader with over 8 years of experience. He has a proven track record of driving successful software and website implementations, managing high-value client portfolios, and optimizing digital marketing strategies for organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.
Ryan's background in luxury hotels and as a small business owner gives him a unique ability to understand the needs of his clients and deliver tailored customer experiences. He is known for his professionalism, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.
Outside of work, Ryan enjoys exploring the surrounding areas on his mountain bike, snowboarding, building projects in his garage, and cooking. He is always looking for new challenges and is passionate about his love of Colorado and the Southwest.
Ashley Smith
Director of Business Operations
Ashley is a seasoned sales and marketing professional with over 15 years of experience working with businesses to achieve their long-term growth goals. Starting out as a scrappy cops and courts reporter, she rose throughout the media ranks working in print, radio and television before landing in Durango in 2012. A relationship-driven consultant through and through, Ashley focuses on creating long-term partnerships rooted in trust, accountability and an ever evolving admiration for the challenges business owners face in growing their brands.
Outside of her work at Ascent, Ashley is full-time mom and household CEO. Together with her husband Shaun, they are raising their two young kids while fixing up their 1900s farmhouse nestled at the base of the La Plata Mountains outside Durango.
Lu Hauger
Content Marketing Manager
Lu holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Political Science from CU Denver. She spent several years working in local government and federal policy before transitioning to teach Commercial Produce Safety at the University of Idaho. During the pandemic, she took a break from remote teaching by becoming a brickmaker for a climate action group. At one point, she also lived in a remote Buddhist monastery, working as a chef.
Throughout her diverse career, Lu found the most joy in the creative aspects of programmatic marketing and communications, which led her to pursue a full-time role as a creative professional. Today, she is our in-house Content Strategist.
Lu is a world traveler, artist, film photographer, dancer, amateur chef, gardener, and jeweler who also enjoys collecting and restoring knives. She loves rock shows, books, spending time with her family, her cat named Toby From The Office, and working on her car. Above all, Lu considers herself a lifelong student of Earth School, always eager to learn and explore.
Aaron Hime
Sr. Paid Media Manager
Aaron Hime drives the paid media engine at Ascent Digital. He's passionate about building profit machines for small & medium-sized companies through the power of direct-response, lead-generation advertising. He combines creativity and strategy to build high-performing digital ad campaigns that help businesses grow through platforms like Google, Meta, YouTube, and more. Aaron holds a BFA in Film & Digital Arts and a MBA from the University of New Mexico. Outside of the office, Aaron is a filmmaker & film lover. Catch him writing screenplays or working on Hime Films, a YouTube passion project.
Jimmy L.
Business Development Manager
Born and raised on the East Coast, Jimmy brings a unique blend of discipline, leadership, and hands-on industry experience to Ascent Digital. He spent over a decade in law enforcement on a street crimes task force just outside Washington, D.C., before transitioning into sales in the construction industry.
Jimmy quickly found success helping civil contractors, hardscape specialists, and structural wall installers grow their businesses through targeted marketing strategies and strong sales execution. His ability to bridge the gap between marketing and sales led to measurable growth for multiple companies, eventually earning him the role of Head of Sales and Marketing for a construction firm.
After seeing firsthand the impact of Ascent’s approach, Jimmy joined the team to help other service-based businesses unlock their growth potential. He has a passion for identifying companies with momentum and applying multi-channel marketing strategies that drive real results.
Outside of work, Jimmy enjoys hunting, golfing, staying active in the gym, ultra-marathon running, and spending time with his wife and three children on the water or at the beach.
Robel Taylor
Creative Director
Robel is Ascent Digital's Creative Director. He helps our clients to establish and strengthen consumer connection by creating an effective marketing/brand strategy to keep their brand consistent throughout all marketing aspects. He has excellent design skills in graphic, environmental, stage, product, web design and conceptual solutions by using the creative processes. Robel has over 20 years of design experience and has developed more than 100 brands. His creative work cuts through the noise online and helps our client's stand out from their competition.
Kory Samson
Senior Website Developer
For over 25 years Kory has been a sales and marketing professional and, for the last 10+ years, he has specialized in internet marketing, WordPress development, and website design. When he's not behind the keyboard, he can be found enjoying the outdoors with his family, river surfing, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, or otherwise trying to get outside to play in Durango. His favorite thing about his work with Ascent Digital is helping clients to take their business vision and marketing goals and bring them together in the form of a user friendly, hard working, and modern website.
Get in touch
We want to help your business grow! Contact us for more information on how we can elevate your marketing efforts.
Contact Us:
We can't wait to hear from you!
Addresses:
1485 Florida Rd. #C205
Durango, Colorado 81301
Email:
info@ascentdigitalagency.com
Phone:
(970) 445-6100