Erica DeSpain is the founder and editor of All Things Madison. She grew up in Madison, attended Madison City Schools (c/o 2006), received a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama (c/o 2010), and married an Army officer (2011). After calling three different states home, their family eventually returned to Madison by choice in 2018 to raise their three daughters and plant roots. She has a background in journalism, public speaking, content creation, and education and enjoys applying her experiences to the content she creates for All Things Madison. When she’s not checking out the latest restaurant or running her daughters to all of their many activities, she can be found taking an early morning fitness class, volunteering at church or with other community groups, planning a far-off vacation, or lounging on an outdoor patio with friends and family.
The wheels began turning for All Things Madison in January 2020. On March 6th, 2020 Erica went public with All Things Madison for the first time by sharing the official logo and giving community members a heads-up that website content would begin on May 1st. One week later, the world began shutting down. All Things Madison continued to move forward though to still launch on May 1st 2020 and use the website, social media platforms, and email newsletter to help keep the city informed and businesses alive during a confusing, unprecedented time.
All Things Madison exploded right out of the gate and has helped keep residents and visitors to Madison informed, entertained, and connected ever since. We utilize our website for evergreen content, social media for timely content as well as human interest stories, and our weekly email newsletter as a round-up of it all. No matter how you use the internet or what platforms you prefer to scroll, we hope to reach you right where you are with content that makes your everyday life a little bit easier and more enjoyable.
Since 2020, All Things Madison has donated thousands of dollars to local schools, sports teams, and community drives. Erica served as an ambassador with the Madison Chamber of Commerce in 2021 and 2022 and led the Business Showcase with the Madison Street Festival in 2022. She is also a founding committee member of Women In Tech.
Erica has also been featured on many podcasts and appeared as the featured speaker or panelist at more than 15 events.
In 2023, All Things Madison received the Silver Award for Start-Up Business of the Year with the Madison Chamber of Commerce. All Things Madison was also nominated for numerous awards via The Catalyst Center’s annual Entrepreneur Awards in 2021, 2022, and 2023.