Melissa will of course keep us moving along. She’s been researching venues for the next MomCom and coming up with some beautiful locations. The survey is out, so please help us by filling it out. We really do take all comments and suggestions to heart (almost to a fault) so know that this is very important to us.

And, don’t forget, we have a great deal going on for our alumni. Register by Sunday night and get 45 percent off MomCom Summer Camp. With all of the changes happening at MomCom, you just aren’t going to see this price again.

As always, thank you for your support as we continue to grow and change. Enjoy your weekend.

–Trish

Amy, MomCom scholarship recipient

Amy of McCrafty Gals, MomCom Scholarship Recipient

by Melissa Madole-Kopp

Today we’re featuring our first scholarship recipient. We hope to offer more scholarships as the scholarship fund grows.

Amy of McCrafty Gals, moved to Austin last year, leaving a successful business in New Mexico. Although very determined, she is finding it difficult to move to a new city, raise two kids and re-launch her business. She is thrilled to be able to attend MomCom and get those creative juices flowing!

MK: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Amy: I LOVE being a wife and mother! I’m super crafty too and enjoy late night jaunts to my craft room to be in my quiet space. Sometimes I create gobs of goods and sometimes I create nothing at all but, it’s my happy place. I love spending time with my girlfriends too, without the kiddos. It’s important to recharge my spirit with women that lift me up and that I adore.

MK: What personal accomplishment has given you the greatest satisfaction?

Amy: #1 My children, Savannah 4 years and Jameson 4 months. Before I had kiddos, I owned a Natural Bath Products store. I loved creating on a daily basis and coming up with new scents and blends. I was able to share my talents. I held classes and spa parties. It was so much fun! I met interesting people and networked regularly. It was my creative bliss. I still make bath goodies here and there but my creative interest has shifted and changed shape to paper crafting and teaching classes with paper. It brings me joy!

MK: Have you ever failed at something, and if so what did you learn from it?

Amy: I’ve failed at a lot but, each time I pick myself up, dust myself off and keep on truckin’. There’s always something to be learned from a failed attempt. No matter the depth, you can always come back from it
. I’m going to quote a song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (It’s my mantra and I’m a mommy so that’s what my motivational speaking boils down to) ‘Up from the ashes grow the roses of success.’ Brilliant!”

MK: What do you hope to take away from MomCom on January 26th?

Amy: New friendships and networking!  Sparks of inspiration, on how I can expand on using my talents as a business and blogger. I’m new to Austin so I’m looking forward to meeting fabulous local business women and moms.

MK: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Amy: Unlimited Pixie Dust! I would love to fly around and make things light as a feather to carry with me (my family). Oh, the places I would see and all the traffic I would avoid! It’s such a practical superpower.

Register today and meet Amy and other likeminded women at MomCom Austin on January 26th.

Kirsten Gillibrand at mock swear-in ceremony for family. Image: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

I love this picture. It’s inspiring to see a mom sworn in as Senator. I love that     she has young kids and she’s in such a “real life” situation. Granted, they do this mock ceremony for the families and the real swearing in happens on the Senate floor but this is so symbolic of how our lives as moms takes on so many forms.

Years ago I wrote down a list of specific goals, with dates of completion and posted it on my mirror. At one point, I took it down and filed it away. I didn’t look at it again until I moved to a new house in 2006. When I read my goals, I realized they had all been accomplished. I had traveled to Spain, I had gotten my MBA, I bought two houses, hiked the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the Superstition Mountains all by myself, and I had, for a time, given my time and energy to a church. There were more items on the list, and I had done them all. I was astounded but it proved what I had always been told. Writing down goals, not as a quick list, but as intentional well-thought-out goals that are attainable, works.

Acting and speaking as if is something else I have always heard works. For example, instead of saying, “I’m going to lose ten pounds by March,” you say, “I am ten pounds lighter. I am sleek and strong and fit.”

So last year I started MomCom. I started talking about it as if it was already happening. By doing so, I was almost forced into doing what I said I was going to do. I told enough people and therefore it happened. The power of thinking expressed in words gives you the power to follow through with action.

Most recently, I did both. I wrote down what kind of exhibitors I wanted and I spoke that wish out loud repeatedly. I said I wanted mom or women owned or managed businesses who fit with the MomCom mission of encouraging moms and letting them know they aren’t alone in “wanting more”. I wanted legitimate businesses that were moving forward, that had common interests with our attendees, and that respected women as a powerful force in the market. I wanted companies that get it.

June 2012 Exhibitor, Zeehive

And guess what? It happened! All the organizations exhibiting at MomCom are wonderful. I am PROUD to have them as exhibitors. I didn’t sell out by accepting companies that didn’t meet the standards I had set for the event, which can happen when you are trying to make money in the conference business. Seriously. When you are a start up, ALL money looks like good money.

Going forward I encourage you say what you want, act as if it’s already happening and write it down and post it where you look at it every day. Have faith in your abilities to get what you want and you probably will.

A huge thank you to our exhibitors and to the women who kept me inspired to stick to what is important to me. Because, as with everything in life, you can’t do it alone.

For six weeks, I’ve been in a PreAccelerate class and it has put a lot in perspective. It has been an informative and emotional time. I’ve realized how tied I am to MomCom and how it’s my other “baby”.

Tonight is the pitch to investors and potential sponsors. I need sponsors to keep MomCom going and to expand it to include an online community so we can all connect between conferences, more small conferences in other cities, and much much more that I have been able to flesh out over the last few weeks that will make MomCom a place for all of us to really come together, to create a real community and our very own supportive, inclusive village.

Wish me luck. I’ll be having one glass of wine before I get up in my 5 inch heeled black Prada boots in front of a mostly-male audience and represent all of us mamas as not only capable business women and mothers, but worth more of an investment than any other demographic in this country.

Remember this when you are pitching your own product, your service or yourself. YOU have the power. You control 85% of the spending in your household and YOU are a contributor to more than $2.3 TRILLION in spending in the US.

And, you are not alone. We mamas are 85 million strong in the US. We kick ass. We are worth it. We can do anything we want when we get together and realize our power.

Love,

Trish