Moms Who Mean Business: The Summer Fun Edition

Ah, summer time. It’s full of potential, and, thanks to these moms, it can be a bit more spontaneous/organized/educational/playful/fun. A huge thank you to each of you for taking the time to be a part of this!

I hope you enjoy getting to know these ladies as much as I have. And, please, share any other mom-owned businesses that are making your summer more buzz-worthy in the comments.

 

Daisy Downs
Mother of Sophie (2)
Co-founder / Marketing – UrbanSitter
www.urbansitter.com

Amy’s intro:
Daisy reached out to introduce UrbanSitter to me and I thought it was the perfect business to highlight. (And now that one of my favorite people, Jessica, happens to work with them, I’m even more sure it’s fabulous!) This online service helps you find and book sitters in your area with reviews (some from people you know!), rates and you can even pay by credit card in some cases. Genius! Plan that date night, enjoy a morning to yourself…no more excuses that the kids are out of school and you can’t find a sitter. I just used UrbanSitter to book a local superstar so Lenny and I can go out for my birthday in a couple weeks. Whoo hoo!

How long have you been in business?
We launched UrbanSitter in July 2011 in San Francisco — so almost a year now!  Since then we’ve expanded to over 10 cities including the entire greater Bay Area, NYC, Chicago, LA, Boston, San Diego, Seattle, Denver, Boulder and St. Louis.

What inspired you to start your business?
A year after my daughter was born, I looked up and realized that I basically hadn’t been out in a year. My excuse: finding a sitter was too time consuming and overwhelming. So, I teamed up with my co-founders since we knew there had to be a better way!

For all of us, a friend’s recommendation is the ultimate stamp of approval when hiring a sitter, so a big part of UrbanSitter focuses on helping parents find sitters that they are connected to in some way. And, since we know how precious time is to parents, we strive to make the process of booking a sitter as easy and efficient as possible.

This week’s moms high:
When my daughter wakes up in the morning I ask my husband to pass me the “Sophie Show” aka: the baby monitor. This morning I heard her saying “Doggy, did you have a good night sleep? Are you thirsty?” Then I saw her give her animals a sip of water. What is it about watching 2-year olds talk to their stuffed animals that is just so darn cute? Even on a fuzzy, black and white monitor, it melts my heart.

Related question: When am I going to have to give up my baby monitor addiction? 3 yrs, 5 yrs? Or can I say to her, “While you’re living under my roof, there will be a monitor in your room!”

This week’s mom low:
What happened to my sweet baby who would just lie down and go to sleep when I put her in the crib? Now it’s: “Water, mommy. No, not COLD water, I need WARM water mommy. It’s too hot! Colder! Night night, mommy. Wait, I need a hug, mommy. Another hug. Family hug, get daddy. Rub my back. Moooommmy, RUB MY BACK. One more story. I need a book for doggy. No, a different book, a big book. No, a little book. Where’s big doggy? Doggy, where are you doggy? I neeeeed big doggy… and little doggy… and pink doggy… and chichuahuaaaaaaa.” (Yes, don’t ask, she has a stuffed chihuahua).

 

Tarah Smith Evans and Stacy Cooper Dent
Mothers of Jackson, 4 and Parker, 4 (Tarah) & Andrew, 4 and Wyatt, 4 (Stacy)
Co-founders, sugarSNAP Files
www.heysugarsnap.com

Amy’s intro:
My terrible sense organization drew me to sugarSNAP the second I “met” them on Twitter. Their diaper bag organization system is made up of small stylish bags, each clearly marked with a tab at the top, and all held together with a hook-and-ring system. I initiated mine (which they kindly gifted me for including them in this post—thank you!!) on our first summer day trip last week. It was a breath of fresh air being able to quickly find what I was looking for (no digging and emptying!) while my kids ran amok. I can’t wait to check out the car organizer they’re launching later this month!

How long have you been in business?
sugarSNAP has been a work in progress for over two years, and selling for three months!

What inspired you to start your business?
We’re both moms of twins. We serendipitously met during our hospital tour, where we learned we were both expecting on the exact same day and shared the same doctor. We’ve started a company called sugarSNAP and design innovative products that help parents get and stay organized. We found motherhood joyous and overwhelming. And we know that the more organized moms can be, the more fun life will be. Our mission is to put chaos in timeout and help revolutionize the way parents face the daunting task of gear management.

This week’s mom “high”:
Telling my four-year-old boys how exciting it was that a woman was racing in the Indy 500. And then realizing that they didn’t understand because why women would NOT be racing?!?! All they know know is gender equality, and I hope that is due in small part because of having a mom that believes everyone can do everything they put their mind to!

This week’s mom “low”:
Finding an unnamed four-year-old with his goggles on and his head deep inside the fish tank trying to pet “Stinky Underwear”. Laughing and then feeling bad that I let my kids name our fish “Stinky Underwear.”

 

Laura Overdeck
Mother of an 8-year-old girl, and two boys ages 6 and 3
Bedtime Math
www.bedtimemath.org

Amy’s intro:
My friend, Liz, sent me an article about Bedtime Math and I signed up to get their daily emails immediately. For the past few weeks, my boys wake up begging for a math problem (yes, even Little). I love that they think learning is fun and it’s a great way to keep their brains working over the summer. Laura outdoes herself coming up with great current events to tie into the problems as well.

How long have you been in business?
Just three months – I launched the website and daily email on February 27th this year.

What inspired you to start your business?
For years my husband and I have given our kids a fun math problem every night with their bedtime story…we all know to read to our kids, but what about math? Friends started telling me I should write a book, or at least post the math problems in a blog. And now here I am, several thousand followers later! It’s a bit of pressure, waking up every day knowing that by 4 pm I’ve got to be funny about math, but overall it’s a blast.

This week’s mom “high”:
Finding my two older ones timing how fast all their toys move, and writing up their findings in a “Diary of Moving Toys.” It was super cute, and obviously it warmed my heart!

This week’s mom “low”:
Finding out the girl at school who’s the best influence on my daughter is leaving the country…

Anything else you’d like to add?
For those out there who really don’t like math…please come check out Bedtime Math. I promise it won’t hurt. Our goal is to help parents who hate math to raise kids who love math, and maybe like it themselves — hey, if we can grow to like minivans, anything is possible. Hope to see you there!

 

Rebecca Levey
Mother of Sophia and Isabel, 10 (identical twins)
KidzVuz.com
http://kidzvuz.com

Amy’s intro:
I met Rebecca back when I hosted the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit and I was immediately impressed. She asked insightful questions, had actionable suggestions and just totally got it. Well, she mastered the tween audience too (ages 7-12). KidzVuz.com—a safe, interactive site highlighting video reviews by kids for kids—has taken off and my friends with tweens are loving it. What a great way to give your kids a voice this summer (and beyond).

How long have you been in business?
One year

What inspired you to start your business?
Being a mom and mom blogger was absolutely my inspiration for the business. I was frustrated that there was no safe space online where my girls could create and share videos, and their opinions, with other kids. I didn’t want them to have a blog because being a blogger myself I knew what kind of nasty comments could come their way. I also had no interest in reviewing products like video games, but I knew my daughters and their friends had a zillion opinions about games, books, movies, etc and loved to talk about them with each other. The idea for KidzVuz was born from that need to create a super safe space for tweens to create, comment and share with each other. The company became a reality when I told Nancy Friedman, a fellow NYC based blogger, about my idea since she also had tweenage twins. She immediately got it, expanded on it, and jumped in. We’ve been in business every since.

This week’s mom “high”:
Watching my girls in their year-end production of The Music Man. They played Pick-a-Little ladies, and they are total hams. They have a Lucille Ball gene that I just don’t have.

This week’s mom “low”:
Giving into my daughter in Payless because she insisted on buying shoes for her Ballroom Dancing presentation that don’t really fit. I really couldn’t deal with fighting and I hate that store, so I gave in so I could get out. Let’s hope the heel pads work!

 

Christine Egy Rose
Mother of “Scoot” daughter (8) and “Doodle” son (3)
Founder and CEO, Scoot & Doodle
www.scootdoodle.com/hangouts

Amy’s intro:
I discovered Scoot & Doodle in the world of social media. Since I’m new to Google+, this is the first Hangout app I’ve tried and it’s lots of fun. Now to introduce it to the kids…and hopefully their cousins. It seems like a really fun way to stay connected with family and friends from afar. Especially with a bit more time on our hands this summer.

How long have you been in business?
We officially launched on March 28, 2012, as one of the five “premier” apps on Google+ Hangouts. In our first 8 weeks, we’re excited to have more than 500,000 followers and growing!

What inspired you to start your business?
I wanted a way for my kids to play and grow closer to the important people in their lives, who may not be able to see them in person every day. Having grown up just blocks away from my extended family, I have incredible memories of our time together. I wanted to help recreate playful, memorable experiences for my kids to share with their loved ones, even though we’re spread across the country.

This week’s mom “high”:
My kids were in my brother-in-law’s wedding last weekend. Watching them walk down the aisle hand-in-hand, as flower girl and ring bearer was really cute.

This week’s mom “low”:
Strangely, I can’t think of one this week. However, a typical “low” involves some version of my 3-year-old son stepping on something disgusting on the ground, and then climbing into his car seat by first going over my driver’s seat.  In my haste to hop in the car, I sit down in the disgusting mush and then walk around all day without noticing it on my bum — not until a kind soul, taking pity on me, points out the mess.

Anything else you’d like to add?
We’re building Scoot & Doodle in a way that naturally promotes people using their creativity and imagination to invent their own meaningful experiences together. We love to see how people are using it.

Sarah Stone Waters
Mother of a car playing, hide-and-go-seeking, mud pie making three-year-old boy.
Co-founder, Scoot & Doodle

This week’s mom “high”:
I got to exercise and paint my toes in the same week.

This week’s mom “low”:
It was a little too quiet this morning while I was getting ready. I decided it would be a good idea to check on things. I slowly opened the bedroom door to see my little guy kneeling on the rug in the center of the room, with my handbag opened and the contents spilled out onto the floor next to him. He was wearing a huge smile holding my “retro red” lipstick. In a short amount of time, he had a “retro red” nose, cheeks, chin and shirt accents. Luckily, he was the only thing lipsticked.

Patty Chang
Mother of a 5-year-old boy, who makes our family funnier, more thoughtful, loving and patient every day.
Co-founder, Scoot & Doodle

This week’s mom “high”:
I got some lovely, undisturbed sleep this week and my son told me he loved me more than all the grass in our neighborhood. We have a lot of grass around here so; I take that to mean he’s got a lot of love for me.

This week’s mom “low”:
Summer has finally arrived in our neck of the woods to all of our delight. Except for the daily morning battle I have with my son to put on sunscreen before school. He runs away from me as soon as he sees the sunscreen come out. It’s maddening. I’ve explained the consequences, tried bribing with special prizes, and reminded him of the pain he and his best friend were in last summer from sunburn…to no avail. My low is, I am plum out of ideas and we have 3.5 months more of this battle ahead.

 

Stephanie S.
Mother of Reese (7), Erin (5), Thomas (4)
The New Generation Lunch Box
www.brightbin.com

Amy’s intro:
My good friend, Tiffany, introduced me to Stephanie. Since my friends and I were recently talking about how many plastic bags we’ve collectively wasted making our kids’ lunches (try as I might to only use reusable plastic containers), I thought summer picnics and camps just begged for these cool lunch boxes.

How long have you been in business?
Since November 2010.

What inspired you to start your business?
I became fed up with wasting plastic bags when packing my kids’ lunches daily. I tried using reusable food storage containers instead of plastic bags and they lost either the lid, the bottom container, of the entire thing.

This week’s mom “high”:
Having Back-to-School orders coming in from Whole Foods.

This week’s mom “low”:
Trying to figure out how I am going to make it to the second grade zoo field trip that I promised my daughter I’d go to which happens to be during the same time I am supposed to be presenting to a group of buyers.

 

Meet previously featured moms too:
Moms & A Dad Who Mean Business: The Baby Gift Edition
Moms Who Mean Business: The BlogHer Edition
Moms Who Mean Business: The Original