Alyson’s Bio
Alyson Friedesnsohn is the CEO and Founder of Modern Health. Prior to founding Modern Health in 2017, Alyson led a product partnership team at Collective Health where she focused on developing an ecosystem of third-party digital solutions focused on a variety of use cases such as fertility, mental health, and primary care, among others. She had previously worked as a consultant in the healthcare and financial services sectors. Alyson graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University and has had a keen interest in expanding access to mental health since high school.
My biggest advice to aspiring female entrepreneurs, especially those without a STEM background, is to play to your strengths and focus on what you excel at, whether its operations, communications, marketing, or anything else.
WITH GROUPS CREATING PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO CONSIDER STEM, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENTRY THAT IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY?
I actually think that one of the greatest challenges of women breaking into the entrepreneurship and technology space is the constant emphasis of their lack of STEM skills. We need to support women to get into STEM fields by encouraging them to play to their strengths and the skills that are incredibly complementary to hard STEM skills. When you look at some of the greatest female leaders out there, many of them don’t have a technical background. Entrepreneurs like Katrina Lake from Stitch Fix , Emily Weiss from Glossier, and Julia Hartz from Eventbrite all lead some of the most innovative technology companies of our time despite not having a STEM background.
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU?
My mother, Dr. Patricia Hopkins. She taught me that if you love what you do -- the rest will fall into place. She followed her dream of becoming a physician, and at age 65, she still runs her own primary care private practice outside of Boston and is dedicated to taking care of thousands of patients. Throughout my entire life, I have never heard her complain once about the number of hours she works or the amount she gets paid. Her passion for what she does outweighs everything, and she has taught me the power of loving what you do means more than any amount of fame or money you will ever make.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT/ACCOMPLISHMENT?
I’m most proud of getting to walk into the office everyday to see our growing team of passionate people working to bring high quality mental health resources to our users and clients. It’s so humbling to see all the people who have committed their time and energy to our mission and it inspires me to work harder each and every day.