About Ali
BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Ali started her career at Trane as a commercial sales account manager, managing 25 engineering and contracting firm accounts with over 100 individual customers. Within five years, Ali was selling and managing over $6mm worth of sales annually, from proposal through installation, across dozens of different projects. As a 100% commissioned salesperson, Ali became attuned to performing under pressure and working hard to deliver successful projects.
Ali went on to receive her MBA from Harvard Business School, focusing on general management, entrepreneurship, and acquisitions. Throughout her MBA, she worked on and advised early-stage start-ups.
After her MBA, Ali started Potomac View Partners, an investor-backed search fund built to buy and grow a small business. Throughout her two years, Ali analyzed hundreds of companies — their financials, their operations, and their future growth options. She ran financial models, conducted business valuations, and produced investment analyses. During that time, she realized she was extremely driven to help owners succeed and loved digging into the business analyses that underpinned important decisions.
In Richmond, Ali currently serves on the board of a local student-athlete mindfulness non-profit, advising on overall strategy and business operations.
WHY DOSWELL ADVISORY
Ali believes that small-to-midsize businesses have extraordinary potential and a deep ability to impact people and communities. She found in her search fund work that most owners were making potentially life-changing decisions about their business alone and either didn’t have the time or resources to evaluate the full business implications of the decisions they were making. Through Doswell Advisory, she hopes to be the business partner that owners need and help them continue growing great businesses.
Family
Ali grew up in Richmond, VA in a large, tight-knight family with three older sisters and a twin sister. Her father ran his own Periodontics practice for over 40 years and her mother held various executive leadership positions at a Fortune 200 energy company throughout her 35 year career. Her parents gave her an appreciation for small business, community involvement, and impact. They taught her invaluable lessons grounded in hard work, perseverance, and empathy.
LEADERSHIP & TEAMS
At Amherst College, Ali double majored in Physics and Psychology and played on the women’s basketball team with her twin sister. In their senior year, Ali and her twin co-captained the team to an undefeated season (33-0) and Division III National Championship. That experience continues to shape how Ali thinks about high performing teams, leading under pressure, and leveraging everyone’s strengths to pursue ambitious goals.
