About Me

There are some basic things that separate people in this world. Here is where I fit:about me

Dog vs. cat

single tab vs. multi tab

air dry vs. blow dry

I started this site in 2017 to answer some of the questions I had as a new mom, teacher, and business owner. I’ve an avid reader and researcher, always seeking to find answers to both why and how. My computer always has at least five opened tabs, looking for answers and different angles to get to the heart of a question. A lifelong learner and educator, I wanted to create a community that provided straightforward solutions to women like myself and a lifestyle blog for real life.

About Me

I studied history in college. A bold choice: I hadn’t exactly planned what I wanted to do with this when I “grew up”. Naturally, I headed to a Ph.D. program after graduation. At my highly competitive university, professors audibly sighed when students came to office hours. Most professors wanted to be left alone to do their own work. Less than a year into the program, I realized that the “publish or perish” life of an academic was not for me. I also realized that a world-renowned expert was no good if they were not approachable.

I wondered a few years, trying to find myself. I left a long term relationship, one I had been in since my freshman year of college, and I had left the academic world, the only world I had ever really known or prepared myself for.

I had less than $300 in my checking account and six boxes of personal items, but I could learn. I ran the business end of a restaurant and bar. I bartended. I entered the brokerage world and racked up multiple financial licences (Series 7, 66, and 9/10). At the end of the day, however, I was unfulfilled. When the subprime financial melt down occurred, I knew it was time to make a permanent and positive change.

Learning Who I Was

Part of my exit strategy involved money. How could I self finance yet another change in my life? I went back to my academic roots and capitalized on my impressive educational resume to get a tutoring job at a local high-end, “boutique” tutoring agency. Focusing on top ranking students at our state’s highest ranking high schools, I quickly built up a loyal following. I parlayed that into a teaching job at a top-ranking high school and a lucrative tutoring agency. I taught talented and funny students.

Fertility, breastfeeding, and other undisclosed mom problemsabout me

After a brief round of fertility medication, my husband and I got pregnant! My infertility issues were minor compared to what some women face. I went back to my roots and read everything I could about pregnancy and babies. I decided to breastfeed, I read everything I could about breastfeeding. When I decided to do many things, I researched as much as I could.

When my daughter came home from the hospital, however, the perfect latching techniques I had read about and seen pictures, videos, and diagrams of, were unachievable. You can read more about our troubles and solution here. Beyond just resources and research, what I needed was a real-world troubleshooting guide.

In both cases, I felt that I was navigating these issues alone. The internet and online communities were only limited help because most sites existed as catharsis. When I would post something about fertility medication or finally successful breastfeeding on social media, I’d have friends privately message me about their own troubles.

TeacherMom

An idea was born. A well-researched website for mom’s, but backed by my own research and educational background. Present information in a fun and easy to understand way. Tackle issues that women want support on, but don’t always know where to get honest, straightforward, and reliable answers. I didn’t want to share my birth story (induced+2 failed epidurals+probably pooped on my doctor=baby), but create a place for people to come for insights to real world question.

My philosophy

  1. If you admire something in someone else, cultivate it in yourself. Don’t sit around jealous, envious, or covetous: work for it.
  2. Be creatively honest. If I told you that Teddy Roosevelt was a conservationist, would you About Meremember it? If I told you that Teddy Roosevelt stopped a hunting companion from shooting a bear, that he was concerned that the apparent mama-bear had a baby bear, that he knew that the baby bear would starve to death if the mama bear were killed, that this story inspired a toy company to name two stuffed bears after him, that this was the invention of the Teddy Bear, and that this story represents Teddy Roosevelt’s beliefs in the responsible use of resources, labeled “conservation”, would you remember it? You bet’cha.
  3. If I can’t be a good example, I might as well be a good warning. Not everything I do works out. Actually, a lot of things I do don’t work out. But I learn from my mistakes, and you can too!