Having lived in 6 cities in less than five years, it became challenging to move up in my career. My dreams of climbing the corporate ladder were put on hold as my husband and I bounced around the US and were further put on hold when we welcomed our first baby to our family in August of 2012. It was a new chapter for us and my dreams shifted so to speak. My new role as a doting mama was a dream come true. With a husband who tends to work crazy (and unpredictable) hours, I decided not to go back to work. Fast forward four months (to December 2012) and we were suddenly making our sixth move in less than five years. We were packing up our lives and moving to Madison, Wisconsin. I was devastated to leave our friends and family behind. I felt lost, I felt lonely, I felt isolated… I didn’t know a soul in Madison. We were moving in the coldest month of the year with a 4 month old baby. It was hard – or to be more accurate, it felt like more than I could handle. Then something amazing happened.
Somewhere throughout our fertility journey a friend shared with me a post about infertility (on Quad City Moms Blog). Since that day I had been following the City Moms Blog Network. CMBN is a nationwide network of sister sites, they are present in 35+ cities throughout the US. I followed them in the Phoenix area, they were there for me when we lived in Florida, I loved being part of their network in Des Moines… they were present everywhere I had lived prior to moving to Madison. A friend who was a contributor for the Quad City Moms Blog suggested to me that I should start a Madison Moms Blog. I was SO excited at the suggestion, but also apprehensive – how would I start a community in a city where I literally have zero network of friends and family?! (Not to mention absolutely no prior ‘blogging’ experience!) I played around with the idea for several months before finally recruiting a friend to start it with me! All of the stars aligned and my good friend, Jamie, and I brought the City Moms Blog Network to Madison on August 5, 2013.
It has been a true labor of love. It has been more rewarding than I ever could have imagined. I went from stay-at-home mom to a work from home mom literally overnight. I never could have dreamed that I could do everything I love (all at once). I am able to combine my love of community with my love of being social – I mean really… who knew that attending Moms Night Out would ever be part of my job description?! 😉 I am able to create my own schedule and most importantly, I am able to do this while hanging out with my kids. Sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head as a work at home mom of three kids 2 and under… but at the end of the day – my heart is fuller than I ever could have dreamed and I love what I do.
Moving to Madison is the best thing that could have happened for me and for my family. I absolutely LOVE it here. I cherish the friendships that I have built. I love the culture, the value put on community, the friendly people, the amazing parks and activities for children. I love that I am able to connect with so many women who are experiencing the same joys, struggles and ups and downs that I am. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end!”
I am only a small piece of the Madison Moms Blog, but this opportunity has truly been life changing. From starting MMB with one of my closest friends and building a team of amazing women to bringing moms together and building a community of moms in the Madison area -this has been an incredible year! Thank you to everyone who has joined us on this journey – we have a lot of exciting things in store for the upcoming year!
Are you ready to make an impact on your local mom community? Are you ready to join a passionate Network of moms?
If you or someone you know might be interested in connecting moms in your community with us, jump at this opportunity to join CMBN with your own Sister Site by filling out our Start a Sister Site Information Form.
We are having tons of fun making a difference in our local mom communities and would love to share this experience with more moms around the country!
We LOVE having you in our network Alisa!