This story appears in the February 2026 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
Melanie Alder typically stays away from the spotlight. As the co-founder and chief strategy officer at e-commerce accelerator Pattern, she prefers to stay backstage, refining operations, solving complex problems and hitting targets so the show can go on. That’s where her passion lies — and Pattern’s continued success is proof she is wicked good at her job. Alder’s co-founder and husband, Dave Wright — Pattern’s CEO — is often the go-to interviewee.
While Alder prefers to stay behind the curtain, it’s impossible to hide the milestones she has set for Utah women. Alder led the largest IPO with a female co-founder in Utah history. She is also the first female co-founder in Utah to take a Utah company public since Nu Skin IPO’d in 1996.
On Sept. 19, 2025, she celebrated with her team by taking center stage at the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell. Pattern achieved a $2.2 billion valuation with its $300 million capital raise. As Alder and Wright rang the bell together, confetti fell and rows of proud employees clapped and fist-pumped behind them. Alder visibly beamed with pride, knowing everything it took to get to that moment.
While Alder has made Utah history, she says she struggles with the idea of having gender tied to any of her achievements.
“I want to be treated equally, and I want to be given a fair chance. No more. No less,” she says. “I’m not looking for a handout, and I wouldn’t accept one, because success only has meaning when it’s earned through hard work and merit.”
While Alder believes women are hungry for opportunities to demonstrate their value and win, data shows the U.S. still has work to do to give female entrepreneurs a fighting chance at going public. According to the 2025 “Women in VC & Startup Funding: Statistics & Trends” report by Founders Forum Group, 2.3% of global venture capital deployment went to female-only founding teams in 2024-2025. About 83.6% of that capital went to all-male founding teams. Lastly, 14.1% went to mixed-gender founding teams, the category Alder and Wright fall into.
Wright says he and Alder were at an event when a man approached him and commended him on starting a company with a woman, calling it a “great move.” Wright found the comment odd, because the reality was that he never considered whether a male or female partner would be more advantageous, but he clearly knew Alder was someone he could win with.
“I said, ‘Do you actually think that when you start a company in your garage, you’re thinking about what it’s going to look like five years from now?’” Wright said. “All you’re trying to do is survive.”
Alder and Wright certainly had moments of survival. Alder recalled a particularly bad day when Pattern almost fell apart. She was working in their freezing garage, where they originally stored product, and Wright announced he was going to quit. Keeping a level head, Alder held strong and encouraged Wright to push forward with her.
Their “dance,” as they call it, works just as well at home as in the office, which is essential considering they have 10 combined children in their blended family. Being life partners and business partners has its perks. Wright says it has given them the opportunity to problem-solve during pillow talk and tag-team on family needs at work. Alder’s children have watched Pattern’s story unfold over more than a decade, and she appreciates that her kids have seen her continually challenge herself.
All of the challenges Alder has faced head-on are not only for the sake of winning, but for the sake of not losing. “We’re not very good losers,” she says, but above all enjoys winning with Pattern’s team. Many women have “won” on the Pattern team, and Wright says their pipeline of female employees who will continue winning at Pattern is strong.
“In Utah, we end up attracting a lot of women because they want to win, too,” Wright says. “And they’re hella good.”
Alder’s dedication to “quality, fairness and earned respect” can be seen throughout Pattern’s operations. It’s seen in the wide net the company casts to attract diverse talent and in its commitment to merit-based hiring.
“[When they’re hired,] they’ll know that not only are they qualified for that position, but they’re exceptionally talented, because our bar is so high, and I want them to feel that,” Alder says. “I want them to look at each other and know no one’s here to fill a quota, and everyone’s here because they deserve it.”
That belief in earned opportunity is clear in the way Alder conducts her everyday life. She puts her money where her mouth is. She doesn’t like to talk about growth, Wright says; she likes to make growth happen. Alder’s focus on prioritizing the most critical tasks at hand has, over time, made her a winner. To her, it’s about delivering consistently.
“I didn’t focus on breaking a glass ceiling,” she says. “I just kept showing up and working every day, and I focused more on the present moment and what problems we’re solving for our partners. I remember waking up the morning of the IPO and [thinking], this is surreal. We’ve woken up every day and kept driving forward, not necessarily toward an IPO, but to partner with more brands.”
Alder may resist the language of ceilings and firsts, but the path she has carved is now unmistakably there. Her story sends a clear message: excellence compounds. With many female founders in Utah striving for excellence, the business community would welcome a similar growth milestone in the next few years, rather than waiting another 30. Alder says she encourages Utah’s women to simply engage, start building and work hard.
“I am really grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate what’s possible,” Alder says. “We didn’t envision ourselves as these great leaders. We just came together to build.”
