Alison Prato Didn’t Let Rejection Stop Her and Launched Infertile AF Podcast
Entrepreneur: Alison Prato
Biz: Infertile AF podcast and Fertility Rally
Tilt: Families working through infertility and assisted reproductive technology
Snack Bites:
Alison realized her personal experience was more common than she thought but rarely discussed.
The response to her article for Health magazine triggered her lightbulb moment to start a creator business.
With her book proposal rejected, Alison launched the Infertile AF podcast to tell the stories of women and men who experience infertility.
Alison co-founded a membership-based community to provide a space for safe conversations and learning.
Why We Stan: Alison didn’t stop when traditional media said no. She became an entrepreneur who built a media brand around her content tilt.
The Story of Alison Prato
A professional writer, Alison Prato shared her personal story about experiencing secondary infertility to the audience of Health magazine. The response eventually led her to become a content entrepreneur.
“I started getting all this feedback from women, and from some men, who were just like, ‘Wow, nobody talks about this,’” she tells People magazine.
Recognizing an opportunity to talk about a topic that few others did, Alison first turned to what she did best – writing. However, traditional publishers rejected her book proposal.
So, she opted to take her interviewing skills to the air and launched the Infertile AF podcast. Several years later, she’s aired over 225 episodes and earned a rating of 4.9 out of five stars. She talks to “women – and some men – about the messy, frustrating, painful, heartbreaking, absurd, and sometimes hilarious journey to have a baby – or in some cases, to not have a baby.”
As the podcast’s Apple description notes, “Ali covers all of the outcomes in this safe, non-judgment zone: the happy endings, the soul-crushingly sad ones, and the ones still in limbo.”
Alison also co-founded Fertility Rally, a community for people experiencing the roller coaster of infertility or building modern families through assisted reproductive technology.
Its membership program costs $19.99 a month or $199 a year. Members have access to a Weekly Rally Together Support groups, three private Facebook groups, weekly newsletters, access to virtual and IRL events, 24/7 support by email or DMs, and access to one-on-one calls. They also offer a plethora of resources in their content hub.
Growing a creator business
As she’s built the business, Alison tells Entrepreneur she turned down angel funding. “I wasn’t sure what shape the business would take or what the vision was.
“But now that we’ve been growing for four years and have a longer-term strategic plan, I’m starting to consider different forms of funding and partnerships.”
Though she hasn’t sought investors, she has monetized the podcast and their events with sponsors, such as Extend Fertility, Cicero Diagnostics, Progyny, and more. All successful startups in their own right, Alison seeks advice and connections from them to grow her own businesses.
Advice for content entrepreneurs
Alison suggests creators who come from the writing side should grow their business skills. “If you can find trustworthy partners who understand the various nuances of business and are willing to learn yourself, I say go for it,” she tells Entrepreneur.
Alison also shares her quote and personal motivation – and it’s advice that all creators can benefit from: “A quote I love is, ‘Why shouldn’t it be you?’ So many of us have imposter syndrome, especially when it comes to business or starting something new. But I’ve realized, meeting so many other women entrepreneurs through HeyMama, a business group that I’m a part of, that I am just as smart and capable and hard-working as so many others. If you have a great idea, then why shouldn’t it be you who starts it?”
As for Alison’s next business step? She’s expanding her business and going back to the very thing that got her started – writing a series of books with stories about modern family building.