Alex Freyer and Ian Gardner are the co-founders of MilkWise, a maternal health company born from their own experience navigating pregnancy and the impossible task of assembling a holistic care team with nowhere to turn. Alex, a NICU mother who fought to breastfeed her firstborn, brings the lived experience of the mothers MilkWise serves; Ian brings five tech exits and the operational vision to build the clinical infrastructure maternal health has always been missing. Together they have built a platform that connects new parents with International Board Certified Lactation Consultants for insurance-covered, in-home and virtual care, nationwide. MilkWise is their answer to a system that has long asked mothers to figure it out alone.
← All profilesSuccess isn't a title or a company or a milestone. It's a mentality.
Alex Freyer, MilkWise
Read it the way it ran in print.
Their cover story runs in the August 2026 issue, starting page 8. Below is the actual spread, page for page, exactly as it appears in print.
Alexandra, your journey with MilkWise started in the most personal way possible: fighting to breastfeed your NICU baby when the system wasn't making it easy. What did that battle teach you about yourself that you didn't know before?
Alex: I labored for 56 hours before transferring to the hospital, and when my son was finally born, he was taken straight to the NICU. I didn't get to hold him. Those first days were some of the most heartbreaking of my life. Looking back, I realize birth taught me something much bigger than how to become a mother. It fundamentally changed how I think about control. Those practices don't prepare you to control birth. They prepare you to meet whatever birth asks of you.
Building a company together as a married couple is not for the faint of heart. How do you two actually make it work?
Ian: Building a successful company and building a successful marriage share certain things in common. You need a sober and realistic view of where you are and where you're going, and empathy and sensitivity to what's going on for the other person. Alex and I have different skills and swim lanes, and we don't try to go into the other person's world.
Alex: People are often surprised when we say we genuinely don't argue about the business. We've built a relationship where ideas aren't personal. One thing I love most is that our children get to witness that: two parents who genuinely enjoy working together and believe that meaningful work can be an act of service.
Read the full feature in the August 2026 issue.
Open the issue
