Motherhood does not always need to be about the kids!
Carrie Pacini
Every so often, it behooves moms to ignore the crayon-stained walls and saliva-streaked bibs in guiltless lieu of tasting fine wines, exploring different cultures and traveling to unfamiliar locations, according to Opmom.com Co-Founder Carrie Pacini.
Not so easy to find a babysitter? Then stay local to recreate a Parisian recipe in you American kitchen or invite a melting pot of friends and family for an Eastern European-themed entertainment party, advised the married mother of two.
Experiencing life and culture is possible even when shouldering parenting, affirmed Pacini, who fell in love with life’s finest offerings after spending months in Italy as a child and coming back home to her family of wine enthusiasts.
In 2006, the Texas native launched OpMom.com to branch off the 2005 success of its sister site, OpMomblog.com. Both sites encourage women to remember that motherhood includes pursuing one’s life passions in order to define or redefine one’s identity.
Because without an assured identity, how can a mother effectively teach her children to develop their own hobbies, interests and personalities, Pacini wondered aloud during a recent interview.
“I know a lot of women, who when they become mothers, forget what it is to be themselves. They kind of get lost. What (the OpMom brand) is saying is that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. You can still be a mom and experience these other things in life, and that sets a good example for your kids,” explained Pacini.
So let the cookie crumbs decorate your floor (as long as they were inspired by the OpMom blog’s Italian wedding cookie recipe, for example.) And allow life and culture to inspire and enrich what otherwise can easily become a mommy-centric, self-forgetting situation, to paraphrase the OpMom.com creed.
The ingredients for OpMom came together in 2005 when Pacini, a computer programmer and self-admitted Star Wars fan, teamed with her creative firm co-worker, Marla Trevino, also of Texas, to attend the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. There, the summit fueled their curiosities with cutting-edge information on social networking communities geared towards larger entities, such as Google and Craig’s List, Pacini said.
Wanting to share that on a smaller scale, the Houston-based friends launched their own blog focused on their personal life interests, and agreed to temporarily name it the same way they named their projects at work –with a five-letter code name, Pacini said. Hence, Operation Mom, abbreviated OpMom, was born, Pacini noted, adding that the name stuck despite the co-founders’ stalled intention to one day change it.
At first, Pacini’s strict-minded computer science background caused her to hesitate exposing herself too much in her posts as she wanted to separate her blog from the stream of consciousness that other bloggers often rely on to fill their html code.
While she still avoids infusing too much subjectivity in her posts, Pacini said she eventually she found OpMom’s niche by dovetailing purposeful pieces with her passions for entertaining themes, decorating, culture, history, traveling and wine.
“From our perspective, we feel like we get labeled sometimes because we have the word ‘mom’ in our name and that we’re supposed to be blogging about being at home with our kids,” said Pacini, noting that OpMom doesn’t post live-blogs in favor of researching pieces that not only inspire readers, but also educate them to the world beyond their front doormat.
“Being a mom is more about a lifestyle,” she said.
To keep the OpMom brand’s voice and ideas fresh, Pacini said they alternate posts written by her, Trevino and another mom, Senior Editor Emily Shearer. Pacini also plans to introduce more theme-oriented editors as OpMom spends the next few months fine-tuning its platform, including making it “extremely user friendly.”
As of late, the team reinvigorated the site’s 500-600 daily visitors with a new travel series that allows OpMom to deconstruct their country of choice and first-hand experiences into user-friendly ideas for their readers to replicate back home (sans the travel expense).
“We’ll bring it to you,” said Pacini.
Her first experiment with these series, entitled Adventures in Paris, offers readers Parisian recipes, travel itineraries, cultural insights and ideas to hold their own OpMom Socials, or themed-based events in their hometowns, such as “A Night in Paris” that she’ll hold in Texas.
Pacini excitedly encouraged readers to tweak the OpMom Socials to their personal interests, such as a night centered on a French country wine tasting or one centered on French champagne and chocolate pairings.
Respect for culture can be found as long as one takes the time to appreciate it, said Pacini. That’s why the pretty brunette finds inspiration in Star Wars, for example.
“I think (George Lucas) is great!” she said, noting the Roman cultural resemblances in the Star Wars franchise. “He’s had to create these cultures by taking here and there from different cultures.”
Star Wars aside, Pacini’s ever-evolving creativity and tech-savvy background shows no signs of stopping at the keyboard.
She is also the co-founder of both the Mom 2.0 Summit and The Wine Conference.
In its second year, the Mom 2.0 Summit brings together moms, industry leaders and other interested parties to explore the upcoming technology trends and techniques, web-based marketing, and other best practices.
Unlike some other conferences, Pacini said the Mom 2.0 Summit shirks slide shows and presentations, per se, for more conversational, hands-on workshops geared toward both beginner and advanced users. This year’s summit, to occur from Feb. 28-21, 2010 in Houston, TX, will delve deeper into advanced techniques to still attract those who attended last year. This year also offer a third track dedicated to leisure offerings, like yoga.
The mission of Pacini and co-founders, Trevino and Laura Mayes of Kirtsy is to keep the close-knit feel of last year’s 250 attendees, Pacini said. This year will accept up to 350 attendees.
“Some of the best feedback and perspectives I gathered were in the hallways of conferences,” she said. Three-day tickets are currently offered with the Songbird Special through Aug. 31 for $349. Thereafter, the ticket will increase to $399 until Dec. 31.
As for following her passions while maintaining order in the household, Pacini also forged forward with her brainchild, The Wine Conference.
On September 26, 2009, Pacini and Co-founder, Geri Druckman, invite men, women and anyone in between with a flavor for wine to “Sip. Savor. Learn.”
“I’ve always been tied to the wine world from a consumer perspective and my family has been involved in wine for a long time. For me, this was easy. It’s like having everyone over to my house and having some good wines,” said Pacini of the Houston, Texas-based event.
The evening conference will pair wine makers and top chefs along with discussions on wine blogging, journaling, tasting techniques, modern wines, and other topics. Ticket prices are to be announced.
Speakers include Moody’s Wine Review Founder Denman Moody, Master Sommelier and Certified Wine Educator Guy Stout, Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) and Sommelier Shawn Dougherty, Israeli Wine Direct entrepreneur Richard Shaffer.
The keynote speaker is Wine Library TV star, Gary Vaynerchuk.
Whether one prefers OpMom, the Mom 2.0 Summit or The Wine Conference, Pacini said she and her colleagues desire no more then to be loyal to their personalities so that they truly experience life’s richest treasures.
“Hopefully, by leading by example we will encourage other folks to do the same.”
Post by Marissa Yaremich
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After curiosity and journalism lured Connecticut native Marissa Yaremich from city to city throughout the past decade, she shocked herself, as well as friends and family, by opting to leave her New York City television job to settle down with her future husband and their prospective children in quiet Pennsylvania. By returning to her writing roots and tending to the laundry pile sans loose change, the thirty something happily turned into her dreaded "D" word: domesticated. Well, sorta... Marissa.Yaremich@momswhoblog.com |
