We never thought this would be an issue until we started hearing folks say it the “wrong” way. We started the company to help neighbors… To be their ALLY (al-i, /ˈaˌlī,əˈlī/) like World War 2 allies. Allies in a war against apathy.
But we started in Chicago and just about every condo building had an alley (al-ee, /ˈalē/) behind their building so that pronunciation also worked and made sense. Then we felt dumb that we picked a confusing name, but it was too late to change, folks had started to recognize us and our name.
So when we’re talking, we say AL-I because we’re uniting for mutual benefit, but I won’t correct folks that pronounce it as alley. To add further confusion, we’ve met quite a few women whose name is spelled Aly or Ally, and they pronounce it alley, and that’s OK too because we’re just happy to be talked about! So an alley may live next to your building and be a beautiful female name, keep in mind we’re your ALLY in the war to unite neighbors.
