Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Lawlor.
Hi Lindsay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Developedia really grew out of the intersection of our two experiences (Lindsay Lawlor and Ali Groden). Lindsay has spent almost 20 years working in autism and developmental disabilities as a psychologist, BCBA, school psychologist, and director of an ABA company. Throughout her career, she repeatedly saw how difficult it was for families to find and coordinate the right support for their children. Parents were often spending hours Googling providers, making calls, navigating insurance and waitlists, and trying to determine which professionals were actually the right fit.
Ali came to the problem from a completely different perspective. As a nurse anesthetist and a mother of a child with developmental needs, she experienced firsthand how overwhelming it can be to navigate the system as a parent, even with a medical background. We realized that we were seeing the same problem from opposite sides: Lindsay had spent years helping families navigate it professionally, while Ali had experienced it personally.
That’s what led us to ask, Why isn’t there one place where parents can go to find the people and resources they need?
We created The Developedia to be that place. We intentionally started locally, focusing on New Jersey, New York City, and Philadelphia, rather than trying to create another massive national directory. We wanted to build something that was genuinely useful to the communities we know and understand, and we wanted providers themselves to be part of building the resource.
We started with just a handful of providers, and today we’ve grown into a community of hundreds of providers across the region. Along the way, The Developedia has evolved beyond simply being a directory. We’re building a broader community where parents can discover providers, learn about different types of support, find resources, and connect with professionals who understand what families are navigating.
At its core, The Developedia was created around a very simple idea: finding support for your child shouldn’t feel like a second full-time job.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road, and I think that’s probably true of any new business. One of our biggest challenges has been building something that people didn’t necessarily realize they needed yet. We knew the problem existed because we had both experienced it, but we had to build awareness and convince providers and parents to invest their time in something new.
Thus far, we’ve done A LOT of outreach ourselves. We sent hundreds of emails to providers, introduced ourselves, explained what The Developedia was, and asked them to join. There were plenty of unanswered emails and plenty of “not right now” responses. It was definitely humbling, especially when you’re putting something you believe in out into the world and waiting for people to see the vision.
Another challenge has been figuring out how to grow intentionally. We’ve been very deliberate about starting locally rather than trying to become a massive national directory overnight. That means growth can sometimes feel slower than it would if we simply opened the platform up to everyone, everywhere. But we’ve stayed committed to building a strong network in the communities we serve before expanding further.
We’ve also had to learn a lot along the way that neither of us had experience with. From technology and website development to marketing, social media, partnerships, and figuring out what parents and providers actually want from the platform. There have been plenty of things we’ve tried that didn’t work as well as we hoped, and we’ve had to be willing to adjust.
Probably the biggest lesson has been that building a business is much more iterative than we initially imagined. We started with an idea and a vision, but The Developedia has continued to evolve based on feedback from providers and families. We’re still very much in that process, but seeing the community grow from just a handful of providers to hundreds has made all of those challenges feel worthwhile.
We’ve been impressed with The Developedia, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Developedia is a free, community-driven resource built by moms, for families, to make finding developmental, educational, and therapeutic support easier and much less overwhelming. We currently serve families across New Jersey, New York City, and Philadelphia, with the goal of creating strong, local communities where parents can quickly find the resources they need.
At its core, The Developedia is a provider directory, but we think of it as much more than that. Parents can search for a wide range of professionals and services, from ABA, occupational, physical, and speech therapy to developmental testing, developmental pediatricians, educational advocates and attorneys, specialized tutors, and other resources. Our filters make it easy for parents to quickly narrow down what they’re looking for based on things like location, specialty, age group, language, and other important factors. The goal is to eliminate the endless Googling and make it possible to find relevant options quickly.
We’re intentionally local rather than trying to create one enormous national directory. We want a parent to be able to search for support and actually find meaningful options in their community. We’re also different in that providers create and manage their own listings, so the people who are part of the community have a direct role in building and maintaining the resource.
Being built by moms is a huge part of our perspective and our brand. We understand that parents are busy and often navigating these systems while juggling work, school, siblings, appointments, and everything else that comes with family life. We’ve designed The Developedia to be approachable and easy to use.
Our Instagram has also become an important extension of the brand. Through @thedevelopedia, we highlight providers, resources, events, classes, developmental tools and products, and other things we think parents will find useful. We want to provide value even when someone isn’t actively searching for a provider.
What we’re most proud of brand-wise is the community we’re building. We want The Developedia to feel approachable, trustworthy, and genuinely useful, not just for families who already have a diagnosis or know exactly what services they need, but for any parent who has ever thought, “Something is going on with my child, and I don’t know where to start.”
Ultimately, our goal is simple: support shouldn’t be hard to find. We’re creating a one-stop resource that helps parents find providers, discover resources, learn about their options, and feel a little less alone in the process.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Our husbands deserve a tremendous amount of credit. They’ve been incredibly supportive of the idea from the beginning, encouraged us to take the leap, listened to endless conversations about the platform, and stepped in at home when we needed the extra time to work on The Developedia. They’ve encouraged us through the moments when things felt uncertain, celebrated the milestones with us, and reminded us to keep going.
We’re also incredibly grateful for the providers who took a chance on us early on. When The Developedia was brand new, there was no established track record or large audience to point to. The providers who believed in the vision, created listings, shared us with their own communities, gave us feedback, and continued to spread the word were instrumental in helping us build the directory.
And, of course, our biggest source of motivation is the families we’re building this for. Every time a parent tells us they found a provider, resource, or piece of information through The Developedia that made their life a little easier, it reinforces why we started it in the first place.
So while the two of us may be the faces behind The Developedia, it really has been a team effort. Our husbands, families, providers, and the growing community around The Developedia have all played a meaningful role in helping us turn an idea into something real.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thedevelopedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevelopedia
