Ashley Johnson has faced the kind of days most parents never have to imagine. Both of his children began life in neonatal intensive care, and his son went on to cardiac intensive care, where the odds were anything but kind. Ashley refused to be flattened by it. Today he splits his time between running his own companies, raising his family, and making sure the next frightened parent does not feel as alone as he once did, whether through the tool he built for other dads, his talks on men's mental health, or the quiet way he lifts up everyone around him.
Leaving certainty for a calling
After everything his family had been through, Ashley wanted work that let him stay close to them, so he built it. He runs his own companies, Haijahr, an AI and software engineering firm, alongside Veribred, on his own terms, shaped so the work can sit next to family life rather than swallow it. It supports his household, but it also does something he cares about just as much: it lets him build genuinely useful things and put them into the hands of the people who need them.
The tool he wished he'd had
When Ashley was living the NICU experience, there was nothing made for dads like him, no plain guide to what he could actually do while his child fought. So he built one. Cotside is a free companion for fathers whose babies are in neonatal care. It explains the medical language in plain English, points to mental health and crisis support, and gives dads a private place to note the milestones and the hard days. No sign-ups, no paywall, nothing stored anywhere but their own phone. He made it free on purpose.
When my family needed this, I couldn't have paid for it, and I wouldn't want the next dad to have to either.Ashley on why Cotside is free
Round-the-clock giving
Between the businesses and the school run, Ashley still finds the hours to show up for people. He speaks openly about men's mental health at a time when most men still will not, he is a familiar face in communities like HelpBnk, and he is the sort of person who checks in on the quiet ones and celebrates everyone else loudly. His giving is not loud or performative. It is a steady hand on a shoulder, and a real question asked of a mate who keeps saying "yeah, all good."
Full-carer, full-driver, full-smiler
Beneath the companies and the talks, Ashley is first and foremost a dad. He has walked his two children through more than most families ever face, and he will tell you that nothing he has built matters more than them. The same warmth he brings to his own kitchen table is the one people meet everywhere else, on a call, in a comment, across a hospital corridor. He gives people his full attention, whoever they are.
The book and the beyond
Ashley is also a published author with two books out, and a series called Above the Chip Shop, so he has plenty of pages still unwritten. He wants to keep growing what he has built, keep writing, and keep widening the circle of people who feel a little less alone because of something he made or something he said. Whatever the next chapter looks like, the thread is already clear, taking what he went through and turning it into something useful for the next person.