Our Story
SheRecs exists because one woman believed that the best help you'll ever find comes from the people who already know, who are people you probably already know. And it shouldn't be so hard to find them.
What started as a vision scribbled into notebooks and researched across too many browser tabs became a real, living platform built by women, shaped by women, and designed for the moments when you need someone in your corner and aren't sure where to turn.
Our Founder
Hi, I'm Ashley! I'm a mom of three living in Washington, D.C. I love the color pink (my pink kitchen is my favorite room!), a good cocktail (especially while cooking to a good playlist in said kitchen), and my family. I try to create and share joy however I can (sometimes through overly festive and ridiculous outfits, sometimes through baking things with too many sprinkles). In fact, I love sharing everything: clothes with my sisters, shoes with my teen daughter, recipes with my friends, far too much of my life story with anyone who will listen (I can get very TMI very quickly, forever working on that!), and tips, tricks, and go-to local faves with my besties.
As a full-time mom, I work hard, but I've learned that sometimes it's ok to make life easier. If I'm being honest, I often wanted all the help, but was too proud to accept much of it, which was a disservice to my family and me. Once I finally said “F it, get the______” (fill in the blank with whatever support we needed at the time), I often had trouble finding a service provider I genuinely felt I could trust. (Blame my anxiety, maybe.) Even as more and more platforms have popped up to help me find the help I needed, I realized the only referrals I truly valued came from other women I trust. So, off to my group chats I went.
Then, when I was thinking about jobs to consider as I was planning to go back to work, I told my husband “I wish spreading joy could be a job.” He probably (and deservedly?) rolled his eyes. For me, helping women connect to find ease and simplicity while simultaneously spotlighting quality businesses feels kinda like baking funfetti blondies in a holiday onesie (protected by a pink apron) while sipping a cocktail and dancing (off-beat) to a throwback playlist. Joyful! So, I went to work creating SheRecs. I sincerely hope it makes your life a little bit easier and perhaps adds a sprinkle of joy along the way.
Built by Women. Naturally.
If SheRecs is about anything, it's about what happens when women connect with the right people at the right time. So it should come as no surprise that the platform itself exists because of exactly that.
Ashley had the vision for SheRecs long before she had any idea how to build it. In fact, she abandoned the idea for 8 years, in part because she didn't know how to do it. (Her background is in law and education, not, it turns out, website development. Shocking, we know.) But she kept coming back to it. She researched. She planned. She tried a few online tools that shall not be named. And when it came to hiring someone to actually build the thing, she found herself doing exactly what SheRecs was designed to prevent: staring at a screen full of anonymous professionals she had no real reason to trust.
She wasn't ready to leap. So she waited for a Rec.
- Ashley has the idea
Eight years of notebooks and too many browser tabs. She knew what to build, just not who she trusted to build it.
- A rec leads her to Avishi
A chance connection while volunteering at the University of Maryland leads Ashley to Avishi, her Engineering Lead.
- Avishi brings in Srinidhi
Avishi recs Srinidhi, and the two of them begin turning the vision into real, working software.
- Srinidhi brings in Akhila
Srinidhi recs Akhila for the summer, the team is four, and about a year later SheRecs is real.
It came the way the best things do, through community. A chance connection while volunteering with her beloved University of Maryland (go Terps 🐢) led her to Avishi Gupta. Avishi connected her to Srinidhi Gubba. And together they brought in Akhila Pasupunuri. Three talented female computer science students, each with her own superpower: Avishi with a gift for social networking architecture, Srinidhi bringing expertise in AI implementation, and Akhila with a sharp mind for algorithm design.
And just like that, Ashley had her dream team.
Together, over about a year, the four of them built SheRecs from the ground up. Ashley, a first-time founder, had a belief: that women deserve better tools and better access to the people who can help them. Three brilliant college coders bought into it, and together they rose to the challenge of building it. They were, in every sense, the first proof of concept.
Hi, I'm Avishi Gupta, the Engineering Lead behind SheRecs! I'm a senior studying Computer Science at the University of Maryland, and working with Ashley to bring her vision to life has been an absolute joy. Her energy is contagious, and turning her saying of “I wish spreading joy could be a job” into real, working software has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever built.
On the tech side, I love building things people actually use. I spent this past summer as a Software Engineering Intern at Uber working on their Real-Time Streaming Platform, and before that I interned at fusionSpan. On campus, I build software for nonprofits with Hack4Impact, work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at UMD's Institute of Health Computing, and am the co-founder on Team DefenX at UMD-XFoundry, where we took first place and $250K at the XFoundry competition.
When I'm not coding, you'll probably find me at a concert, reading a good book, painting, or out on a hiking trail. I'm also always on the hunt for the next great DC restaurant, so if you have a rec, you already know where to share it! Most of all, I love meeting new people, which makes a platform built on women helping women feel like the perfect fit. I hope SheRecs makes finding help you trust a little easier, and I can't wait to see this community grow.
Hi, I'm Srinidhi Gubba, and I'm an engineer on the SheRecs team! I'm a senior at the University of Maryland studying Computer Science and Sustainable Entrepreneurship. I've always believed technology is at its best when it's built for others, and SheRecs puts that belief into practice.
On campus, I build software for nonprofits as an engineer with Hack4Impact. I also serve as a Sponsorship Director for Technica, the world's largest hackathon for underrepresented genders. On the research side, I work as a Research Assistant in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I'm also the CEO and co-founder of DefenX, which has received over $250K in funding to support our development.
When I'm not working, you'll probably find me deep in an arts and crafts project or making jewelry. I'm a big foodie, and you'll often catch me snapping photos of my latest meal to share my food adventures online. I also love boxing and yoga to stay active and balanced. What drew me to SheRecs is that it's a space that supports creating, giving back to your community, and making resources and information accessible to everyone, which is exactly how I think tech should be used. I can't wait to see this community grow!
Hi! I'm Akhila and I was an Engineer on the SheRecs team.
SheRecs has also been fortunate to work with an all-female team of lawyers, designers, and marketers who believed in what we were building early and continue to help shape it. Survey respondents and early testers and users, largely female friends, neighbors, and family members of Ashley's, helped shape the platform too.
We couldn't have written a better origin story if we'd tried. But then again, we didn't have to. We just followed the recs.