Alumni Alum’s Company Nourishes Babies’ Brains through Science-Backed Play Stories You May Like Professional Reinventions Can Be Hard—But Also Very Rewarding Why Supporting New Parents Is the Epitome of ‘Hospitality’ Feeding Babies Can Be Complicated—But an Alum’s Firm Can Help With Lovevery, Jessica Crolick Rolph ’97, MBA ’04, has tapped a global market for early childhood learning and enrichment By Joe Wilensky Jessica Crolick Rolph ’97, MBA ’04, had already conquered the organic baby food market when she began wondering about nourishing not only young children’s bodies, but also their minds. The Boise, ID-based mother of three had read a doctoral dissertation on the neurological development of infants that described how the brain’s intricate communication network is largely formed by experiences in the first three years of life. “It revealed that the more you expose babies to how the world works,” she says, “the richer their neural networks become.” A Lovevery kit for two-year-olds promotes independent play. Rolph recalls watching where and how her toddler son was playing—usually in one spot in the corner where his toys were, with many of them lighting up and making sounds at the touch of a button. “I found myself questioning what we surround our babies with,” she says, “wondering if we’re giving them the opportunities they’re seeking.” The more you expose babies to how the world works, the richer their neural networks become. The dissertation had described how activities like bringing babies around the house—showing them how to turn lights on and off or how faucets work, for example—could help create more meaningful, and lasting, early development opportunities. “He would just light up,” she says of incorporating the interactive sessions into her son’s playtime. “He was so focused and interested, and I felt really connected to him.” With husband Decker and their three children. The experience gave Rolph the idea for a line of no-tech, early childhood toys—grounded in science on early childhood development—that would promote more interactive play. In 2017, Rolph and a co-founder launched Lovevery (pronounced “Love-every”). Its first product: the award-winning Play Gym, which targets development during a baby’s first year. Rolph recalls the challenges of entering a crowded product space with something fresh—and at a price point three times higher than the average competitor. Another kit targets coordination and finger strength. “Our products were intentionally designed to support more nuanced developmental stages,” she says of Lovevery's early offerings, “from a newborn seeking high contrast for visual development through rolling over and sitting up.” Stories You May Like Professional Reinventions Can Be Hard—But Also Very Rewarding Why Supporting New Parents Is the Epitome of ‘Hospitality’ The company grew quickly, with sales surging from $7 million to $22 million in the first two years. Our products were intentionally designed to support more nuanced developmental stages. The brand is now best known for its subscription Play Kits: curated boxes of toys and activities sent every few months, keyed to stages of brain development. For example, one of the first boxes contains a set of black-and-white patterned cards suited for newborns’ developing vision; later ones include stacking translucent cups, puzzles, board books, and a peekaboo blanket designed to teach object permanence. Kits range from $80–120; other products, such as books-only subscriptions, are offered at lower price points. (Selected items are available beyond the Lovevery site, at retailers like Amazon, Target, and Pottery Barn Kids.) And the company recently launched a secondhand marketplace, dubbed “Pre-Loved,” so parents can resell or donate gently used items their babies have outgrown. The brand has garnered awards from Parent’s Choice and Red Dot, and the Play Kits landed a spot on Time’s 2018 “Best Inventions” list. Lovevery has also developed a celebrity following, with famous moms like Jessica Alba, Gigi Hadid, Rebecca Minkoff, and Allyson Felix offering rave reviews. With her mom at her MBA graduation. “Parents tend to look for these big, gross-motor milestones: when are they going to roll over, crawl, walk, or say their first word?” Rolph observes. “But at Lovevery, we often talk about all the input that a child receives before these moments—the development that happens between the milestones.” The company's Play Kits landed a spot on Time’s 2018 'Best Inventions' list. An anthropology major in Arts & Sciences, Rolph worked at a political consulting firm and a digital ad agency before returning to the Hill for an MBA—then co-founding the organic baby food company Happy Family. Its products were originally packaged as frozen meals, but sales took off after production shifted to ready-to-use pouches. Within a few years, it became the nation’s top organic baby food company; she sold a majority stake to the Paris-based Danone in 2013. Lovevery's offerings include an early-reader program. (While at Happy Family, Rolph and fellow alum Lara Jackie Dickinson, MBA ’94, co-founded a nonprofit consortium of natural-food companies, the Climate Collaborative, that seeks solutions to address climate change.) Rolph was named Cornell’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021; three years later, Fast Company named Lovevery one of its Most Innovative Companies in the education sector. “I had a dream of becoming a true social entrepreneur,” Rolph says, reflecting on her goals as an MBA student. “I wanted to build companies, and do it with a lot of purpose and meaning.” (All images provided.) Published August 22, 2025 Comments Sally Weisberg Goldberg, Class of 1969 14 Sep, 2025 Hi Jessica, How fun to have another “alum” supporting the amazing benefits of “Birth to Three.” My 2018 book published by Gryphon House is one of the few books available, really the only one, that describes development in five areas for all eight stages of development from birth to age three. Best is that it also provides 25 “science-backed” sample activities for each age and stage. With five in each area–COGNITIVE MOTOR SOCIAL LANGUAGE and SELF-ESTEEM for each stage, a parent gets 200 altogether for those years. Without “flashing lights” or silly sounds,” parent love is what carries the ball.”Hands-on interaction is the key! How well your toys fit with all this guidance! As a professor of early childhood education, I have been teaching and writing about this subject for many years. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond Studying How Tech Can Be Used to Track Our Daily Lives Alumni From Player to Head Coach: Alum Leads Big Red Men’s Lacrosse Quizzes & Puzzles How Much Do You Know about Cornell Commencement?