Polls for the Inspiring Mom Awards are open! Take a look at our candidates and cast your ballot for the mother you think best embodies the globetrotting, mompreneur, and making a difference qualities. Today, you can meet two of our mompreneur model citizens- Ali Wing and Liz Gumbinner.
Ali Wing is the guru behind Giggle- the one stop shop for mothers and fathers to be. Need tips on potty training? Want educational toys? Ali and her team have got you covered. In her spare time (if she has any), she wrote the Giggle Guide to Baby Gear and a column in The Bump. Check out Ali’s empire here: https://www.giggle.com/
Read Ali’s answers below:
1. How do you maintain a healthy work and home life balance?
I’m not sure I do! But the key for me is what I call the “bookends.” My morning routine is work out, shower & then have breakfast with and walk my son to school. I also end each day w/ family dinner at 7 pm and then reading time with my son. Starting and stopping each day as “mom” gives me – and my son – our balance.
2. What’s your favorite aspect about being a mom?
I like who I am as a mom compared to who I was before. I have more patience & acceptance, and credit my son for those improved qualities.
3. Do you have a piece of advice for moms everywhere?
Have fun with it! It goes SOOOO fast. “giggle” was named with that motto in mind; kids make you smile. Don’t miss out on it by focusing on laundry or clean-up!
4. What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Other than my son & husband? They top my list. But right behind them are my Cole Haan Aviators. I don’t sleep enough, and am thankful for my weekend uniform at soccer games with coffee – and sunglasses (ha).
5. Who inspires you?
My father does – and even gone, still does, every day. He was a kind, gentle, hardworking, dedicated man –and he made the most of every day. I wake up each morning with the goal of trying to be as good a person as he was.
Liz Gumbinner, a mother of two girls, started her empire by blogging. She is the Editor-in-Chief, co- founder of Mom- 101, and co founder of Cool Mom Picks. She’s a parenting expert but she doesn’t take herself too seriously. Many have called Cool Mom Picks the “arbiter of cool for the swingset crowd” (Parents Magazine). Discover some of Liz’s musings here: https://www.mom-101.com/ or here https://coolmompicks.com/
1. How do you maintain a healthy work and home life balance?
I think the idea of working parent “balance” is a bit of a myth. I don’t know if working mothers ever feel entirely balanced; we just do the best we can, switching priorities from day to day as we need to.
Barring emergencies, I make myself unplug after work until the kids go to bed. It’s a special time together even if it means staying up late to catch up on other responsibilities. But most importantly, I have the help of amazingly supportive family members, caregivers, friends and colleagues. I am so fortunate to have a strong village to lean on.
2. What’s your favorite aspect about being a mom?
The idea of living for something greater than yourself.
3. Do you have a piece of advice for moms everywhere?
The best advice I ever got is from my own mother: Accept that every decision you make as a parent is right, and that every decision you make as a parent is wrong.
4. What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Good cheese. Seriously, it’s a problem.
5. Who inspires you?
I don’t believe you have to do something grand or heroic or world-changing to be inspiring. Having recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia I greatly admired the mothers dedicated to raising healthy, educated children regardless of the obstacle they face. Like walking 8 miles, barefoot, to get their babies immunized. Or working all day in the fields with their babies on their backs so they can afford to send them to school later. It puts a lot in perspective.
I’m inspired by any mother who leads by positive example for her children, and is helping ensure the next generation is inspiring too. After all, we’re counting on them!
