10 / 26 / 2023

Dear Friends,

Someone recently asked us if with alley-oop so intently focusing on different relationships around the girls, if we weren't somewhat implying that girls were not 'empowered enough' to do it on their own. We thought about how we'd like to answer this question and here's where we landed:

We believe that NOBODY does anything of importance on their own. At least not anything of real magnitude, and certainly not if we’re talking about changing long-taught and ingrained behaviors. And mind you, we mean on all sides. We don't live in vacuums, independent of other people’s actions and ideas. And ultimately, that's the beauty of it all.

At alley-oop, we see the world around gender dynamics as one big ecosystem. When dealing with attitudes, expectations, perceptions, and behaviors, we recognize that it's a multi-player game. And it's the intersection and integration of these different perspectives that ultimately create bigger, better, and more innovative change.

So yes, in answer to that thoughtful question, at the crux of everything we do are relationships because we know that if leveraged appropriately, navigating these relationships between people (Dads & Daughters, for example) and modalities (technology + play) will be tremendously powerful for our girls.

Hello Sunshine held their first annual Shine Away event this past weekend and in her opening address, founder Reese Witherspoon said “If you want to fix a problem, you have to be part of the solution.” To us, that means ALL of us who care about these girls need to play a role. We have big plans . . . and we’re just getting started 😉.