And, of course, I’d just finished this week’s feature article on www.MomsOutLoud.com called Four Steps to Summer Water Safety for Kids, during which I’d learned of the new research study published in March that says swim lessons in children ages 1-4 years significantly reduces drowning risk.  Not to mention fear of the water.  So for all those 20 minutes – and several hours following – I kicked myself for not starting him in lessons earlier.

But as a good friend (and great mother) once told me:  “Don’t beat yourself up on your parenting decisions.  Your kids will blame you for all their problems later in life no matter what you do.”  Ahhhh – that takes the pressure off!

Name: Dawn

City: Richardson

Marital Status: married

Mom to: Two sons, 6 and 4 years old.

Occupation: Owner, Dawn Michelle Photography (www.DawnMichellePhoto.com)

What was the last movie you saw and what did you think about it?
*Vicky Christina Barcelona, the latest Woody Allen film.  Lots of beautiful people to look at, for sure.  I enjoyed the movie.  Great dialogue and interesting story.

What is sitting on your bedside table right now?
*I read a lot, so there are many books on my bedside table.  I alternate between current fiction and classics.  The Count of Monte Cristo has been sitting there for a few months, though.  It’s on my “read before I die” list but it’s over 1000 pages so is a bit intimidating.  I intend to read it, but I’ve read about 5 other books since I bought it. I’ll get there!

What was the last meal you cooked from scratch and when?
*Turkey Swedish Meatballs in the crock pot (bonus!) three days ago.

What was the best piece of parenting advice you got?  Who gave it to you?
*The best advice I ever got was to say about a billion positive things to my children to every one negative thing.

What are three products that you could not live without (e.g., your journal, your Blackberry, your facial moisturizer – anything you use constantly!)
*My camera, bike, and computer.

If you could put one product on the market that doesn’t exist today, what would it be?
*My younger child asked me if I want to have a robot that is just like me and I told him “absolutely!”  I would have this mom robot do all the housework (especially laundry) so I wouldn’t have to.

Has your definition of success changed since you became a Mom?  If so, how?
*I used to work in the corporate world where success was measured in yearly performance appraisals, so I had a decent idea of how I was doing.  As a mom, you don’t get that, of course.  I know I’m successful at being a mom is when my children kiss me and tell me they love me, when I can give them good choices so we can avoid power struggles, when we have family time that involves riding bikes together or going for a walk in the woods.  And I see success in the little triumphs in life more than I did before.

What do you do in your “me”-time?  How do you protect it?
*3 words: Mother’s Day Out.  For my me-time, I visit with friends, get a pedicure, go to the gym, take photos just for fun, or read.

How are you different today than you thought you’d be at this point in your life?
*I was a software engineer for 12 years.  I never in a million years thought I’d be a photographer and own my own business.  I love being an entrepreneur, though.  So much to learn, but it’s great to be my own boss.  Also, I had always envisioned having children at a younger age than I did (at 34 and 37).  There are pros and cons to both. My younger child was born at 34 weeks gestation and was in the NICU for 10 weeks.  He was just 13 ½” long and 2 lbs., 2 oz.  He is doing so great now, though.  But I get a little teary eyed when he learns something new, like reading, for example, because he had such a rough start.

If an expectant mother asked you “what it’s like to be a Mom”, what would you tell her?
*I would tell her that I never knew this kind of love before.  It’s something I just can’t put into words, to have a bond with them like I do.  Also, I’d tell her it’s one of the hardest jobs in the world, requiring tons of patience, self-restraint, creativity, and energy. I can’t imagine life without my two boys.  What a blessing they are!

I asked these Moms – a 50/50 mix of working and stay-at-home – several questions about their satisfaction with their ability to find information about local services and activities for their families and themselves.  The big findings?

First, 67% of Moms were generally satisfied with their ability to find information about the existence of businesses they needed (most using directory listings on the web, Google searches, etc.) — BUT:

ONLY 33% of Moms were satisfied with their ability to find information about the quality of different service providers.

So, in light of this dissatisfaction on quality ratings/reviews of different businesses, how did these Moms find out how good a particular business is?  The most common way was word of mouth, i.e., recommendations from friends — used by almost all Moms (95%).  This made total sense to me, as it is my most trusted source of advice.  But then, I was very disappointed (but not surprised) to find that:

54% of Moms used trial and error to figure out if a particular business was good quality or not.

This dissatisfaction with the ability to find information about the quality of a business, evidenced by the reliance on trial and error, made me realize there was a market need for Moms to share their recommendations with each other.

And that, my Mom friends, is the background for why one of the main features of the site, MomsReview, was built.  It is a place where you can do one of two things:

1)  Search our directory of local kid- and Mom-focused businesses, which has over 1000 businesses in the Dallas/north Dallas suburban area.  When you search for providers (which you can do by category or by keyword), you’ll see the list of the companies in our database.  This list will be longer or shorter depending on how many miles from your home zip code you chose to search, or if you limited the search to companies with a certain minimum review score.  On the list, the name of the company, its address, and if it provides a coupon to MOL Moms will be shown, along with its average review score (based on the reports that have been submitted to MomsOutLoud.com).  From the company name in that list, you can click to that businesses profile to read more about it (if they’ve chosen to provide their information to MomsOutLoud.com).

2)  Submit a report on a local kid- or mom-business.  This is where you can tell other Moms about your experiences with different businesses around our area.  This is where the true power of MomsOutLoud.com exists.  By submitting a review of a great business, giving them a high score, and telling other Moms why they’re great, you can reward the businesses that give great customer service, have a great product, and go “above and beyond” expectations.  Rewarding businesses that are truly great gives them more business (because other Moms will try them out), and it also raises the bar for competing businesses.  This way, our collective voices can help improve the quality of service we as Moms are given.

On the flip side, if you know a business that does not live up to expectations, you can also share that opinion.  However, as the saying goes, “you catch more flies with honey”…. and rants are not productive for anyone.  But constructive feedback is essential to our local businesses because it will help them better succeed, so MomsOutLoud.com does encourage solution-oriented feedback where needed.

Given that we’re launching in two weeks, what should you expect when you go to MomsReview on the site?  Our directory has been loaded, and we will be working with a very small user group over the next two weeks to user-test the site by entering reports on many of these businesses.  But, for the most part, the ratings on these businesses will be few and often-times not there.  YET.

This is where all of the Moms in our community come in.  We’ll be giving away prizes to all the Moms who enter reports into the site in these early months as a way to generate action.  However, we hope that many of you (like the woman who came up to me at the Baby Loves Disco event), are happy to share your opinions just because you like to help other Moms.  For MomsOutLoud.com to be truly useful and helpful to all local Moms, every Mom in the community needs to share their experiences and opinions on the site.

We look forward to hearing what you think about the local businesses in our community – and to help provide an avenue for you to share your views with the other Moms in the MomsOutLoud.com community!

I’ve kiddingly called “Moms Out Loud” my third child, so I find it coincidental that it has taken me nine months of “incubation” to get to this point.

I’ve traded in my suits, briefcase, expense account (and corporate paycheck) to build something I felt was needed as a Plano mom of two small boys (3 yrs and 1 yr old).  It’s been a journey of self-discovery and growth, that has only reinforced my belief in the promise that a forum like the one we’re building at MomsOutLoud.com holds.  In this blog post – “What is Moms Out Loud – Part One?”, I’ll talk about the features specifically of MomsOutLoud.com.  Next week, I’ll talk more about the community-building activities we’re doing (Mom’s Nights, etc.).  And then in the week before go-live, I’ll write about my long-term vision for the business and what it will give back to Moms.

MomsOutLoud.com is a web community that allows local Moms to get information, connect with one another, and celebrate being mothers.  Research shows that Moms have 30% more “word of mouth” conversations per day than the general population, where they ask questions of each other, share advice, and recommend products and services to each other.  The MomsOutLoud.com website provides a forum for sharing these word-of-mouth conversations on the web — in effect, amplifying them beyond a typically sized playdate or Moms group.

How exactly will MomsOutLoud.com provide this avenue for sharing experiences between local Moms?  Through our user-interactive web-site.  Here is a quick screen shot from our beta test site, to give you a quick idea of the “look and feel”.

We’ve built six sections into the site, listed under the names we’ve selected that will appear in the site header for easy navigation:  MomsReview, MomsPlan, MomsKnow, MomsSupport, MomsShare, and MomsInspire.  Each week – on Thursday (get the pattern?) – we will update the home page to highlight what’s new on the site, from a tally of the number of new reviews to what Moms have shared with us on MomsKnow topics for the week.  Here is a quick sample of the home page (text and graphics haven’t been filled in yet):

MomsReview:

Share your opinions and see what other Moms think when you read and submit reports on kid- and Mom-focused businesses.  We have built a database of over 1000 local businesses that provide services to families – pediatricians, birthday party places, dentists, spas, hair salons, etc.  These businesses, and their reviews that other Moms have submitted, are totally searchable by category, by distance from your zip code, and by keyword.  And the other great thing is – if we missed a business (say, your favorite activity place), you can easily add it to our database to make sure other Moms know about it.

MomsPlan:

This is our calendar feature.  We’ll contineu to highlight what we consider to be “can’t miss” events, but you will have the ability to search our entire database of events by date range, event type, distance from your zip code, free events only, and age appropriateness.

MomsKnow:

MomsKnow will be one of our two main “content” areas.  Here’s where you’ll find articles like those we’ve been putting in the newsletter (e.g., “The Best Skin Care Products”, “Your Guide to Fall Sports”, and “25 Free (or Cheap!) Things to Do with Your Kids This Summer”).  You’ll also find our Tip of the Week here, as well as articles from local experts we have lined up to contribute to the site on parenting topics.

MomsSupport:

This area will provide a directory of local Mom’s and women’s groups, searchable by city and by category (e.g., Moms Groups, Women’s professional organizations, etc.).  We will highlight different groups and fundraisers on this page as well, to provide these incredibly rich resources and networks more visibility to local Moms.

MomsShare:

MomsShare will be our discussion forum area.  We have created a few topic groups we’ve heard that Moms care about (e.g., “Moms of Multiples”, “ADHD/ADD Support”, “Families Seeking Babysitters/Nannies”, “Nannies/Babysitters Seeking Families”).  Groups can be set up by users, so if you have other topics that aren’t already covered in our initial topic areas, like “Argyle Moms”, you can create a new group.  As a member of a group, you can post comments and read the coments posted on the discussion board already.

MomsInspire:

Our second of the content areas, here is where you’ll see our weekly “MOMumental Moms”, as well as have the chance to read some personal essays written by Moms like yourselves on issues in their life.

***

We can’t wait to have the site go live, and to get all of your feedback and comments on it as you play with it, search on it, and share your opinions on it!!

Name: Marie

City: Lantana

Marital Status: married for 17 years

Mom to: 12 year old son, Stefon, 9 year old daughter, Autumn, 8 year old son, Cristian, and 6 year old daughter, Imani.

Occupation: Children’s party planner and owner of Butterfly Princess Glamour (Lewisville)

What was the last movie you saw and what did you think about it?
The last movie I saw was Sex In the City. It was awesome to finally see Carrie marry Mr Big.(lol)

What is the last thing you told your children that your own mother told you when you were a kid?
“M.O.M” does not spell “My Own Maid”

What are three products that you could not live without (e.g., your journal, your Blackberry, your facial moisturizer – anything you use constantly!)
Weaving hair, my housekeeper, and my cellphone.

If you could put one product on the market that doesn’t exist today, what would it be?
A car that folds up and goes in your pocket so you never have to worry about parking.

Has your definition of success changed since you became a Mom? If so, how?
Yes, it has changed. I use to measure success by the amount of money I was climbing to make, but after my children I realized I wasn’t successful until I gave birth to them because they belong to the Lord and he entrusted me to take care and guide them, and I feel that is the most rewarding accomplishment Icould ever achieve.

What do you do in your “me”-time? How do you protect it?
I sometimes watch a good movie, or read. My “me” time is protected by my husband. He makes sure I get it and I do the same for him.

If an expectant mother asked you “what it’s like to be a Mom”, what would you tell her?
I would tell her that everyone experiences motherhood differently and that sometimes it will challenge you, but as mothers we are the first to teach them, the first to show them how to love others, the first to protect them so our role is full of adventure and some surprises along the way, but “Motherhood is PRICELESS”.

Thanks, Marie, for sharing a bit about yourself with our Mom readers! If anyone else would like to get a copy of our MOMumental Mom Questionnaire, please email us at MOMumentalMom@momsoutloud.com!

A big thank you to Joy and her staff of The Joy of Pottery, who were fabulous hostesses, as well as our giveaway donors: Pam at WeeFolks Photography, Landon Winery, Celeta at ABK Couture (handmade diaper bag), and Trisha at Bright Eyed Designs (handmade photo jewelry).

Below are pictures of the event. Thanks to all the Moms who came out for a fun evening! We hope to see you again soon!

You can’t tell this from the photo here, but this entire piece was painted in about 15 minutes, with big brush strokes and free hand lines. It is based on an example Joy had already done in the store, with the same fast strokes and simple design. This was painted by my sister who is very “big picture”, who follows the 80% rule to the letter (or fraction), and who moves so fast sometimes she forgets (or doesn’t know how) to slow down.

This sugar bowl (bottom right) is intricate and detailed, and took about 1.5 hours to paint (after 45 min of reading through all the idea books to find just the right example). It was painted by my sister who approaches things methodically, who is the best houseguest because she leaves the house cleaner when she leaves than when she arrived (she voluntarily scrubs grout with a toothbrush), who was once told by a boss that it took her longer to do her job than he expected – but that he didn’t care because she did the job better than he expected.

And this is me. I began the process of painting this platter with the MomsOutLoud logo – which meant I had Joy enlarge a logo and print it out for me to trace it onto the plate – but soon got busy with other things for the evening. What does this say about me? Well, you could say my dreams are bigger than what I can execute. Or you could say I am a good prioritizer, and it was more important for me to meet people and make sure they were having a good time that evening than to paint. I choose to believe the latter – and in fact, have now formally commissioned Joy to paint the platter for me, which demonstrates my belief in surrounding yourself with others who possess different talents.

Just like MomsOutLoud, in fact. The premise is that all moms have something unique to share, something special to give back to the Moms community at large. I just know my personal gift to give is NOT pottery painting.

Name: Michelle

City: Frisco

Marital Status: married

Mom to: Seven year old daughter, Presley and one year old son, Camden.

Occupation: Mommy, wife, and volunteer/founder of Chloe Duyck Memorial Fund, a fund we started in memory of our second daughter who passed away during open heart surgery.

What was the best piece of parenting advice you got? Who gave it to you?
Choose your battles wisely and remember that you want your children to grow up to think for themselves. One day the persistence that drives you crazy will pay off in their career and future success. Advice from my parents! I think they are the greatest parents.

What are three products that you could not live without (e.g., your journal, your Blackberry, your facial moisturizer – anything you use constantly!)
my laptop, my lotion – I have super dry skin and love Johnson’s Soothing Naturals (from the baby section — It’s clean and fresh and very light. Great for sensitive skin!), and my bottled waters (with Lipton Green Tea (Lemon and Honey) when I need a little variety.) Another product I LOVE is Lash Injection mascara by Too Faced. It forms tubes on your eyelashes and makes them long and voluminous…The best part is that when you wash it off, it comes off in tubes and you don’t have the big black smears underneath your eyes (the ones that cause you to pull and tug as you try to wipe them off!) No more black underneath the eyes…It’s wonderful!!

If you could put one product on the market that doesn’t exist today, what would it be?
Cups or bottled waters with a scratchable label to say who the bottle belongs to. (You would etch your name or initials on to it with any handy object or even a fingernail.)

Has your definition of success changed since you became a Mom? If so, how?
Definitely! Before becoming a mom, my sense of success was based on how much recognition I received at work and how high I could climb the corporate ladder. Now, my definition of success has nothing to do with status or career…It has everything to do with how happy and content my family is. It’s about having a balanced life and making time to give of yourself.

What do you do in your “me”-time? How do you protect it?
I need to work on this one…I have very little “me” time with a baby that is high maintenance, my daughter, and planning our yearly event in memory of our daughter to raise funding for CHD research.

How are you different today than you thought you’d be at this point in your life?
I definitely did not plan to be a grieving mother…I planned to have 3 children all of which I would get the opportunity to mother and raise. I didn’t plan to be so involved in a charity or cause. I have always supported a number of causes, but I didn’t plan to be so involved in a fight against a specific disease or issue.

If an expectant mother asked you “what it’s like to be a Mom”, what would you tell her?
It’s the most amazing gift that anyone could receive…It can also be the most heartbreaking and stressful job you will have, but on the flip side the rewards are far beyond what I can put into words.

Thanks, Michelle, for sharing a bit about yourself with our Mom readers! If anyone else would like to get a copy of our MOMumental Mom Questionnaire, please email us at MOMumentalMom@momsoutloud.com!

Congratulations to the winners of our business-sponsored giveaways: Laura (Gift certificate for a custom Painted Piggies piece), Heather (a beautiful Murano glass necklace from Provare Designs), and Lisa (Gift card for Lone Star Babies & Kids). These ladies did a great job playing our Mom’s Mixer game (which was sooo complicated) and got to meet several new Moms during the evening.

In addition, we gave away Moms Out Loud gear to other Moms who completed difficult tasks like guessing a number between 1-10 closest to what Rebekah was thinking. (Gee, we’re a tough crowd.) Congratulations to: Stacey, Timla, and Adonia.

We also want to say a big Thank You to Premier Wines, who hosted the event for us. Their staff was extremely helpful in every way – unloading/loading our cars, arranging the rooms per our request at a moment’s notice (hey, we’re women, we change our minds!), and making sure no glass was ever empty the entire evening. And, unbelievably, they offered to comp us for the event, to which we said a big NO. Karma is a powerful thing, and we only hope we tipped the staff enough because they were wonderful. Definitely will be going back.

We’ve posted a few of the pictures below. Hope you all can make it to our next Mom’s Night Out in Coppell on August 7 and/or McKinney on August 14. We promise it will be fun!

How did this happen? Well, I have to thank Marta Frey, the Director of the Small Business Development Center at the Collin County Community College District. When Moms Out Loud was but a speck of an idea (and I was still employed, which must not have conveyed into the article), I met with Marta and “pitched it” to her for her reaction. She very politely told me that it sounded like a great idea, but that I may be a tad too aggressive in my assumptions on how fast it could launch and take hold. (Me? Expectations too high? Strange, I’ve never heard that before.) Anyway, she, and the SBDC, have remained a great resource as I’ve gotten my business going. On her recommendation, Kim called me for an interview.

So, I met with Kim Nguyen over a Starbuck’s blended lemonade last week (a great reason to go to Starbuck’s…like I need another reason to go to Starbuck’s) and had a wonderful discussion. She wove it into a nice article profiling the trend of Moms (like so many I now know) opting out of corporate life and into something they are passionate about that provides them more flexibility to balance their family and career. Overall, I think she nailed it, even though there was some appropriate “poetic license” used (on my part, at least). And now I feel like I have four more comrades on this entrpreneurial ride I’m on, which is great. (Check out the Teacher Depot in Frisco, Dawn Michelle Photography, Homemaker CEO, and The Executive Organizer.)

There is only one place I feel like I really have to correct the article, which says MOL is targeted to Moms who stay at home. In fact, Moms Out Loud is targeted to all Moms, not just those who stay home. One of the great things about the way we’ve scoped Moms Out Loud is that any Mom can find something useful in it, whether it be the reviews of local businesses, the local events calendar, the Mom/parenting content, or the social networking. And every mom as an individual will probably use it differently than other Moms. So, I hope every Mom from every walk of life will use it and find it helps solve some of the hassles in her life.

And thanks again, Kim, for a great discussion and for spotlighting some of the great Mom-owned businesses here locally.