Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany Nettles.
Hi Tiffany, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I didn’t realize how much motherhood would change me. I worked in a corporate environment where women had babies and returned to work after three months of maternity leave, ready to tackle the business world. There was never a doubt in my mind I would do the same. When my little one arrived, my husband and I had daycare all set up. And we went through with it as planned. But I wasn’t prepared for how sad my heart would be leaving my son each day for eight hours, only to spend my time in a small office behind a keyboard, attending meetings, and counting down the minutes until I could hold my baby again. My husband noticed how much my job and time away from my son was wearing on me, and after 10 months, we decided to make a plan for me to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom. But after 15 years at the same job in an established career, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about being just a mom. After all, so much of my identity was tied to who I was at my job. Plus, I worried about losing my skill set when it was time to re-enter the workforce. Around this same time, an old high school friend reached out to tell me about City Mom Collective (formerly known as City Moms Blog). It sounded like a great fit to still do something that spoke to my talents – writing, editing, graphic design – that I had worked so hard to hone in my career while focusing the content on motherhood, babies, and my city, something I was passionate about in my new stage of life. Columbia Mom took off more than eight years ago and has been going strong since! I’m proud to have grown our following to more than 20,000 on social media and consistently averaged close to 1 million page views on our website annually. And to build a tribe of women in our community sharing their stories and supporting each other in this same stage of life has been so rewarding! After owning Columbia Mom for about four years, I was approached by the Charleston Moms owner about taking over their site. I was thrilled to find a co-owner to help me on this journey who was local to the Charleston area. This allowed me to have someone hands-on in that market while lending me the opportunity to work more behind the scenes and help build that site with the knowledge and expertise I learned establishing Columbia Mom. I’m proud that we’ve more than tripled Charleston Moms following, page views, and so much more. Today I manage both sites while my son is in school, and it allows me the flexibility to attend his activities, events, appointments, and school drop off. It’s truly the best of both worlds!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. I don’t think anyone’s journey ever is. For me, one of the biggest struggles was work/life balance. When you own your own business, especially an online one, it’s hard to turn off the switch at 5 p.m. like an office job. There are always ideas flowing and tasks that need to be completed. I could honestly work 24 hours a day if I allowed myself. And when people email you after hours, you feel the need to respond right away. And I used to. But I realized it was affecting my relationship with my family, time with my son, and it was allowing me time to recharge and focus on outside activities that make me a better me. Now, I’m good about setting working hours and sticking to them.
Another struggle is, you have to have a tough skin. People aren’t always going to love what you do, and they are quick to voice dislike rather than praise, but realizing that is only a small percent of the population. I remember my why. Why I started the sites in the first place. And that is to help make motherhood in our local communities easier … whether that’s reading how someone soothed a teething baby, where the best playgrounds are in the area are, or how motherhood is sometimes draining and hard and messy (and that’s okay). When the negative talk comes in, I truly listen to what they have to say and determine if it’s valid and something we can improve on. If not, I realize we all are entitled to our opinions and that’s okay.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Columbia Mom and Charleston Moms are part of City Mom Collective. City Mom Collective has more than 90+ Sister Site locations across the country, and is an incredible business opportunity for moms in any phase of motherhood, looking to take control of their work and family lives while leading their local mom-community.
Columbia Mom and Charleston Moms are communities – online and off – of women raising kids in the local area. We are an online parenting resource written by and for local moms with daily posts on things to do around town, ways to get involved in the community, parenting solutions, personal essays from local moms, local business spotlights, giveaways, and more! We know it’s difficult to get out and meet other moms when naps and eating and potty-training are calling your attention – especially if you’re new to town, new to motherhood, or both. This is our attempt to make the world feel smaller and encourage you that you’re not alone.
What sets us apart is we are moms just like you, living in your community, sharing our stories. We’re your next-door neighbor, your school librarian, your local volunteer, the mom at soccer practice … we are YOU. And that’s why our readers trust us. If we tell you the top five playgrounds in the area, it’s because we’ve been there. If we tell you what helped with our baby’s colic, it’s because we lived through it. If we are telling you about a local business or product, it’s because we tried it firsthand and are sharing our honest thoughts. This is what I’m most proud of … our authenticity and hyperlocal focus.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Hopefully I covered it all!
Pricing:
- All our content is free to the public
- If businesses would like to connect with local moms in our market, they are welcome to email us at info@thecolumbiamom.com and/or info@charlestonmoms.com for more information.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@thecolumbiamom.com and info@charlestonmoms.com
- Website: www.thecolumbiamom.com and www.charlestonmoms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/columbiascmom/ and https://www.instagram.com/thecharlestonmoms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/columbiamom and https://www.facebook.com/TheCharlestonMoms
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheColumbiaMom and https://twitter.com/TheCHSMoms
Image Credits
Jennifer Lavelle Photography
