Member Spo
Each month ASC features four members doing big things in Atlanta!
Why did you join the ASC?
I joined ASC because I genuinely like meeting new
people and making new friends. I also love seeing
people find and reach their passions in life, so I network
a lot and try to connect people when the time is right.
ASC is a great balance of networking, friendship,
community service and health, and I feel like it’s helped
me meet women from diverse backgrounds who I
wouldn’t have otherwise found.
Aly Merritt
Aly Merritt is currently a product manager at SalesLoft, a
SaaS company in Buckhead. This is her fifth or sixth career
since making the initially alluring but ultimately ill-fated
choice of “newspaper journalism” for her first job (she’s also
been a graphic designer, marketing director, client success
manager and support team lead, to name a few). The biggest
things she’s learned so far are that she vastly prefers startup
culture to the corporate world, and that she loves helping
connect people when their wants and needs intersect. She
also really enjoys living in Atlanta, which combines the best
of big city life and small Southern towns.
Aly and her husband, Alex (who is an attorney and therefore
very aggravating to argue with) live in Midtown just so
they can get out of the house and walk somewhere when
it snows 2 inches and shuts down the city for a week. (She
says this has saved their marriage more than once in the
eight years they’ve lived in Atlanta.)
As a former copy editor, Aly is unable to reconcile herself
to the Oxford comma, because that is not AP Style. She is
cheerfully aware of how dorky that is, but feels she makes
up for it with mimosa brunches on trendy patios. She is
always excited to meet new friends for drinks, appetizers or
desserts (she likes all of those, too), and works daily to build
a network of strong women in business and tech in Atlanta.
Favorite place in Atlanta?
I love the BeltLine, and the way that it’s connecting
multiple neighborhoods in Atlanta with walkable routes.
Now that Ponce City Market has opened, the BeltLine
is truly starting to reach its potential, and it makes me
happy that so many people who wouldn’t normally
be outside walking are finding healthy, ecologically
responsible ways to get from Point A to Point B.
If you could choose to do anything for a day, what
would it be?
Hang out on the beach with friends and family. There’s
just something about everyone being able to relax
and enjoy each others’ company at the same time that
makes those moments really precious to me.
What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
I drove a NASCAR stock car 160 mph for eight minutes
around the track at Talladega Superspeedway. I even
passed another car! It was simultaneously the most
terrifying and most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done.
If you could spend a week anywhere in the world,
where would it be?
A week is tricky, since I’ve never been and it may only be
worth a few days, but I’d have to say Venice. I have an
art history minor from undergrad, and the artwork and
sculpture from and about Venice absolutely captivated
me. Plus, the city itself is actually sinking, so it won’t
be around forever. I’d love to see the palazzos and
gondolas, with enough time to truly take in the sights
and enjoy it.
Reveal | Summer 2016
22