This week’s Up-and-Comer is Ashley Sorenson, a UI/UX — user interface/user experience — designer for MetaBank.

Name: Ashley Sorenson

Age: 33

Hometown: Sioux Falls

What brought you to Sioux Falls?

After getting through grad school at USD in Vermillion, my husband and I moved to a couple cities in Iowa for jobs, but coming back to Sioux Falls just made sense for us. This is where I was born and raised, and I can’t imagine “home” being anywhere else.

What keeps you in Sioux Falls?

Sioux Falls is the best little, big town. There are so many options for restaurants, shopping and entertainment, while not giving off an overwhelming big-city vibe. My husband and I both grew up in Sioux Falls, and now we have two little girls who love having grandparents and cousins just a quick car ride away.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

My favorite thing about Meta is the people and culture. Everyone is just genuinely nice and supportive of one another. I thrive in fast-paced environments, so the endless initiatives running at any given time creates an environment with steep challenges in designing better experiences and solving for complex problems, which is really rewarding. I love learning new things, so it’s great to be around a lot of really smart people, collaborating across projects.

How did you get connected to your industry?

I’m new to prepaid and payment services but not to technology and building digital products. I got into user experience because I have a curiosity for learning about people and a passion for designing meaningful experiences. After getting connected with a team member at Meta and hearing about the amazing people and culture, I knew this was a place I wanted to work. Financial technology can be challenging and frustrating for users at times, so being at Meta offers a huge opportunity to have an impact on products and tools that people depend on in their day-to-day. My goal is to make our products easier to use and work better for our partners and end users.

Describe MetaBank in three words.

Collaborative. Innovative. Dedicated.

What’s one business you’d like to see in Sioux Falls that isn’t here now?

The entrepreneurial spirit and support in Sioux Falls is strong, so I’d love to see some new startups take off. I’m not sure our market can support them, but IKEA and Trader Joe’s are places I can’t get enough of when traveling, so these would be great additions to the Sioux Falls area.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In this ever-evolving technology world, I see myself continuing to help businesses succeed and grow by better understanding their customers and end users. The need for creating amazing user experiences will always be there. I’m excited to keep educating myself on user experience design and research, so I can in turn educate those around me on ways to improve the quality of the experiences they are providing.

On a personal level, I want to travel more, live intentionally and enjoy the time spent with family, while watching my girls grow up.