Allyson Downey ’01: Entrepreneur and Author

“My English major from Colby helped train me to think analytically, to go deeper than what’s on the surface, and question assumptions. I also honed my writing skills there, specifically around making a persuasive, cogent, and concise argument.” -Allyson Downey

Allyson is an entrepreneur, MBA, writer, and parent who has built a career on the power of trusted advice. In 2013, she launched weeSpring, a Techstars-backed startup that helps new and expecting parents collect advice from their friends about what they need for their baby. As a first-time parent herself, she saw how overwhelming, intimidating, and expensive it is to prepare for a new baby, and she set out to solve the problem. weeSpring has received accolades from TechCrunch, Mashable, CNBC, and the Daily Mail, and it was heralded as “Yelp for baby products” by InStyle magazine.

She is also the author of Here’s the Plan: Your Practical, Tactical Guide to Advancing Your Career During Pregnancy and Parenthood (Seal Press, 2016). She’s written for publications like Time, Fast Company, and the Wall Street Journal and has been a featured speaker at the Central Bank of Hungary, the Experiential Marketing Summit, the Brand Innovators Summit, NYU Stern, Columbia Business School, and more. She has appeared on ABC World News Now, Power Pitch on CNBC, and other outlets.