She Built a Business Around a Simple Question: How Can I Help?

Ashlee Hollis has a habit of asking a simple question: How can I help?

For Hollis, founder of Helm Creative Studio and The Story Factory, giving back isn’t a side project. It’s part of her business model.

Growing up, she watched her parents serve their community through ministry. That commitment stayed with her as she and her husband built Helm Creative Studio in 2015. While Helm is a creative agency, philanthropy has been a core part of the company’s mission from day one, even before it turned a profit.

Every project helps support community initiatives, and the company commits not only money, but time, to causes across Philadelphia. Hollis believes the latter may be even more valuable.

“Some people say, ‘I’ll give back someday,'” Hollis said. “But it’s not easier to write bigger checks.”

That philosophy has guided the growth of Helm Creative Studio for the past decade and shaped the creation of the Story Factory in Fishtown.

The Story Factory is a creative production space Hollis launched in 2022. But, it’s more than a studio for photo shoots, productions, and creative projects, it’s a place designed around one guiding question: How can this space serve people?

Today, alongside being a hub for creative projects, The Story Factory also provides practical support to people through community-centered events and partnerships. At Thanksgiving, it transforms into a free grocery store, allowing families to choose food for their holiday meals while learning from local chefs. Throughout the year, it welcomes students for field trips, creative educational programming, and community partnerships that invest in the next generation.

Hollis believes strengthening Philadelphia starts with investing in the people who shape its future.

Sometimes that means supporting students through creative programming. Other times, it means supporting the teachers who spend every day caring for them.

One of the most visible examples is the annual Teacher Appreciation Dinner.

The event brings together educators from public, private, Catholic, and charter schools across the city for an evening of dinner, wellness services, classroom supplies, encouragement, and connection. Teachers can stock up on essentials they often purchase themselves while spending time with peers who understand the unique challenges of working in education.

But according to Hollis, supplies are only part of the story.

“I think even more than the actual monetary gift, it’s about being seen,” she says. “It’s saying, ‘I see you. I see what you have to do, and I want to meet you where you are.'”

That idea surfaced powerfully during the dinner’s first year, when a teacher approached Hollis at the end of the evening and shared that he had been considering leaving the profession.

“He felt like he was doing it alone,” Hollis remembers.

But after spending the evening connecting with other educators facing many of the same challenges, his perspective shifted. He told her he felt reinspired and wanted to keep teaching.

The following year, he returned.

And that is exactly why the dinner exists.

“If we empower teachers, we equip the next generation,” Hollis says.

Every educator who leaves feeling encouraged returns to a classroom filled with students whose lives they help shape. A single evening of support can create a ripple effect that extends far beyond the walls of the Story Factory.

For Hollis, success isn’t measured by the number of events she hosts or even the growth of Helm Creative Studio or the Story Factory. Growth simply creates more opportunities to serve.

“It is about making people feel seen, heard, and valued,” she says.

“I probably can’t change everything in the city, but I might be able to change somebody and their future. And that’s worth trying.”

For Hollis, that’s the true measure of success.

“The what might be growth,” she says. “The why is the impact.”

This article is part of The Caring Collective, presented by Independence Blue Cross, spotlighting the people, organizations, and everyday acts of kindness that help strengthen communities throughout Greater Philadelphia.