Celeb Shot: Ally Meyers, Scoop Saratoga
From Patron Saint of Local Small Biz during COVID, to current Mood Director of the social set, Ally's leadership is always a sign of the times.
A sea of vino-loving couples sat at perfectly symmetrical two-tops along the back wall of Salt & Char during its most recent wine dinner. And in the far corner? Ally Meyers held court at a table of eight (somewhat raucous) women, including the writer of this post. Fast friends because of her impeccable ability to curate a table of strangers (a natural Social Chair), the laughter and story-telling ceased only when the wines were being presented. Ally herself kept the conversation moving along (Mood Director), the first to tell you how great it feels being out and about again.
But she also rose to the occasion back when COVID hit, immediately creating a blog, the now-beloved Scoop Saratoga, to highlight and boost local businesses during lockdown (Patron Saint of Local Small Biz). And now that life’s gone from 0 to 60, she’s expanded her brand to cover intentional living and other areas that perfectly fit the post-COVID zeitgeist of Saratoga while throwing herself into work at the Y, spreading the word of its wellness services for everyone, despite one’s ability to pay (Head Health Coach).
The titles are tongue and cheek of course, but the innate ability to recognize what needs to be done exactly when (during these wildly changing times no less), and the leadership capability to act on it, is serious and true. So SLAH sat down with Ally to find out how she gets it all done while raising four sons, ask how the Clifton Park native came to love Saratoga, and of course to get the scoop on The Scoop.
—Abby
After growing up in Clifton Park, how did you end up a die-hard Saratogian?
I left Clifton Park and lived in Wilmington, Delaware working for Dupont working as a chemical engineer. I ended up in Boston and thought I would never leave. I loved where I was living in Brookline. I was the only Christian though; everybody else was Jewish. So what did I do? I came home for Christmas and met a Jewish husband. I ended up eventually leaving Brookline to move in with this bachelor in Saratoga. That was 17 years ago now.
You started The Scoop in the spring of 2020, when we first went into lockdown. Was that by design?
I started it literally just as COVID was starting, very purposefully. I had wanted to highlight local small businesses for some time, and then there was this heightened urgency. One thing that made me terribly sad was the negativity coming out of social media, and everyone was home with those feeds. So I tried to refocus that on local, which is something everybody can stand behind in a time of need.
A lot of other parents can relate to being home with the kids while trying to get work done. How old are your four sons?
The oldest is now 13, so I have a teenager, which I have a hard time handling (laughs). Then 11, 9 and 5. Yes, all boys. I always say God knew I wouldn’t be able to handle a girl.
Really? You’re such a fashion plate! It’d be easy to see you with a mini-me.
I’m one of five, and my mother always said to me, I’m sure it was when I was giving her a hard time about something, she’d say, “you’d better hope that if you have a child someday you have all boys.” So I had this thing in my head that every time I was pregnant, “I feel like this is going to be a boy.” and it was always a boy. David so badly wanted a girl, and he didn’t get one. So be it.
So how do you do it? You’re famous in certain circles for your “Ally-isms” your house rules.
I run a pretty tight ship. Part of that was survival when my oldest, who has special needs, was in his toughest of years. If I didn’t get relief at 7pm, I would melt down. We live in a world where we let kids rule the roost, and I’m old-fashioned. Although I can absolutely have fun with my kids and I’m the biggest goofy mom, they have the clearest understanding of what the rules are. I didn’t want kids in my bedroom until they were 4 years old—not because there was anything crazy going on in the bedroom. But I always say, “You have taken over every other space in this house. Give me this one room, ok?” I’ve also always been certifiably crazy about bedtime, just because it was time for me to have a break. As the boys get older, I’m a tiny bit more lenient, but the kids understand that we have rules and expectations. Kids crave that, especially a child with a disability. We were recently in Lake Placid, and the first things my kids said to me was, “Mom, what are the morning rules?” Meaning, What time can I leave my room? What time can I turn on my iPad? And until what time? They want to know. They thrive on boundaries.
And what do you do personally to stay sane?
David is the most conservative person on earth, and I am definitely woo woo. For a while I had four kids home while working more than 40 hours a week for my clients for The Scoop. I started meditating. I turned into a hippie. I want to do a silent retreat at Kripalu and not talk to anybody!
When you started the Scoop, its base was videos on local businesses (including a holiday gift guide series as a partner with Saratoga Living). How has that changed?
I’m a chemical engineer who never really got the opportunity to write. And when you love to do something it produces a better product. So I started focusing more on women and started doing more writing. My focus now is women between the ages of 30 and 55. I niched it down to four general categories about four months ago, the first being “Life” and intentional living. I want to talk about how we rule our own days, not the other way around.
The second pillar is “Food.” Everybody loves food, I love food. I’m not the wine snob; my husband is. We have faithfully since our first was born had the same two babysitters two nights a week so we can continue to go out. We love going out; we love supporting our friends who own businesses.
Then there’s “Style.” I love choosing my favorite picks in town as a way to get people into the shops. I’ve found that if a store showed me something on social media that I loved, I called them right up and said, “I want that.” So now that’s what I do.
The last category is the catch-all “Local.” That’s anything from a great story from a not-for-profit to my inspiring women series. One of my most read stories was about the Slice Girls—a group of women who got together later in life and started their own YMCA tennis league. They were beginners, worked their way up and competed in sectionals. I did a fun little thing where I interviewed them all and asked them what they liked about each of the other teammates, and then I created a profile of each teammate, what they bring to the team. It was a feel-good story without being specific to one business.
Speaking of the Y, that’s a huge passion of yours.
People assume the Y is just the gym, like Planet Fitness, but it’s so much more. Anybody can be healthy in mind and body if you contact the Y, regardless of your ability to pay. Especially coming out of Covid, with the current obesity rates, depression and suicide rates among children…anything we can do as a community to proactively solve some of these issues. I’m helping with the upcoming 2022-2023 campaign of the expansion of the West Ave. It’s going to be expanded and transformed into a center for generational health, where we’ll be bringing the Senior Center under our roof. Part of the building will be focused on preventative health; part of it will be the expansion of the wellness and childcare space with a new adventure center for the kids, with the whole focus being healthy mind, body and spirit. Again, regardless of your ability to pay. We’re incredibly excited.
I’ve taken on a leadership role with the Y board to help with that campaign. So that’s been a huge time commitment, but I drank the Kool-Aid, and I’m so into what the Y does. It’s an absolutely amazing organization.
Quote of the Week
“If we had only women leaders, we’d have no wars, just countries not talking to each other.”
—Overheard in Saratoga
Celeb Sighting
British journo Piers Morgan this week popped into Saratoga for a quick stay—and a hush-hush prison interview, presumably for his TV show, Confessions of a Serial Killer with Piers Morgan.
Saratoga in the News
Tom Davis, an internationally known dog trainer who lives right here in Saratoga, hit the Today show Wednesday morning for a National Puppy Day segment with Hoda Kotb. If you forgot to tune in, catch up on his segment here.
Saratoga in Pop Culture
“What’s wrong with Saratoga Springs?”
—Christine Baranski’s character in HBO’s The Guilded Age, after being told the weekend’s party would be in Newport, RI. Christina herself hails from Buffalo, and much of The Guilded Age was filmed in Troy.
ICYMI: This week in Saratoga Living After Hours
Game Time: (Monday) With the Oscars rolling out the red carpet tomorrow, we rolled out our very first local trivia quiz, with an Academy Awards theme.
(Tuesday) It’s a Spa City urban myth that just won’t go away: Does Saratoga actually have more bars per capita than any other city? The answer will surprise you. PLUS: answers to Monday’s Oscars trivia, including a first-ever SLAH slip-up.
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