A love letter to Mom 2.0

TLDR: 15 years ago, I started volunteering at Mom 2.0 Summit, because it was in my backyard and some of the people I love most in the world were putting it on. Through that, I met some of the most amazing humans in the world, and it’s how I was adopted by a pack of the OG creators. It’s also how I met MMI Agency. Fast forward a decade, a pandemic and a major job change… and I got a call to attend, this time not as a volunteer, but as a speaker. It was an easy “yes.” Spend three days in deep conversation about the creator economy with creatives and brands from all walks? Sign me up.  I am more than glad I went, despite it being a busy season of my life.

Here is why. I learned just as much as I taught. When you follow what you love, it’s always the right thing. When you put good into the world, it will come back to you. When you find your people, you stick with them. When you are called to a need, you fill it. When you have an opportunity to connect, you do it. You say yes. That is what makes us so breathtakingly human.

While the lessons are simple, the story is actually a lot longer. So here’s the long version.

IMG_0865Cracks knuckles, opens notebook, and leans back to write… for herself. For the first time, in a long time.

In 2009, I was working at a tech startup in Houston, and I had the opportunity to volunteer for the first ever Mom 2.0 summit. That event – when Facebook was still relatively innocent, when we were tweeting from the TwitterBerry app on our BlackBerrys and blogs were the damn thing – was instrumental in my life. The purpose was to create a conversation between moms and marketers. Carrie, Laura, Marla, John and the rest of the crew had something special. It was one of the first events like this ever, and it really paved the way for an unwritten future of content creators. (Bonus reading: My recap of year one.)

Laura is actually my Glenda, but more on that in a thousand words or so.

Mom 2.0: the early years…

During the first few years, I met so many people I call friends and mentors. People who have cheered me on from near and afar. People like Katherine Center, who taught me that love stories are always worth telling. People like Karen Walrond who reminded me how fucking BIG AND BEAUTIFUL this world is. People like Guy Kawasaki (I had no idea who he was at the time) who laughed with me about my Texas- sized truck and taught me that you are NEVER too important to be kind. People like Gabrielle Blair, who showed me that having faith can be a beautiful thing. People like Rachel Matthews, who continues to show me every single day what it means to be a warrior for your family. I could go on and on.

There are a million conferences. What made this one so special? Laura, Carrie, they did something different. They captured lightning in a bottle. Yes, some people HAPPENED to be speakers. And some of us HAPPENED to be picking people up at the airport. But we will all there for a conversation to propel women creators forward. Everyone was equal. Everyone was on team mom.

What started out as something I did to spend time with some people I liked a whole lot, soon turned into something greater. You see, behind the scenes, there was a girl (me) who was deeply unhappy in her life. I have always been a person who is called to be a part of something bigger. It’s why I loved being a part of the military. I love service. At that time, I was searching so hard for my something bigger. Mom 2.0 gave me a taste of that.

A few years into Mom 2.0 Summit, I decided to leave my job. Some of you may remember my happiness project and closet cleaning party. Right when I was leaving my job, Laura was also leaving hers to run Mom 2.0 full time. And guess where Laura worked? MMI Agency. And guess who was hiring? Cindy Marion was looking for someone with a passion for social storytelling. I started as an account director on the PR team and found what I was looking for.

I could not be more thankful for Laura, Carrie, john, Marla, Laurie and Gabby for dreaming us this event and for Monica and Amber for asking me to help them the first year. Mom 2.0 is how I met MMI. These early days of social are the reason I’m so passionate about the world of Influencer and creator. Mom 2.0 made me fall more deeply in love with my city and the magic that was born here (after all, we had to sample 100 restaurants to decide where to host all the events).

Mom 2.0 gave me friends, cheerleaders, champions and warriors. Women can move mountains.

Fast forward about a decade.

IMG_0882That lightning that was bottled in Houston didn’t stay bottled for long. It lit a spark that would travel. Now that spark is a flame.
15 years after the original, Laura called to invite me to attend and to speak. I immediately said yes. Can we talk about how it’s moments like these that remind me I’m living my dream life? Come talk to amazing women who just want to create amazing things and help them do that? Yes, yes and yes please.

After I said yes, I let Laura know I needed to tell her some big news. She was one of the very first people I got to tell about MMI joining forces with renowned shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky and that I would be taking on the role of North America President charged with building this creative powerhouse. I told her how excited I was to be leaning into creativity and how magical all of the agencies were that we would be bringing together. I told her how our work is so good that sometimes it takes my breath away. I told her that I get up every day thinking about people and how we can better together and how we can do better work and that THIS was going to amazing. I talked so fast in my enthusiasm, I was tripping over myself. Before I even had time to let imposter syndrome sneak in, Laura said what I didn’t know I needed to hear, from someone who has loved me through so many versions of this life.

“You have got this. This job was made for you.”

And with that, I was lighter.

Scottsdale, Arizona

I decided to bring my mom to Mom 2.0 Summit. Something in me just said this weekend was going to be special, and I wanted her here for it. Because remember, the magic of Mom 2.0 is that while some of us HAPPEN to be speakers, everyone is there for the community.
When we walked in on night one, it was like coming home. I felt safe, I felt loved, I felt like I could let go. This community was exactly what I needed in the middle of a major career transition and everything that comes along with that. My mom and I spent the evening meeting women who are mental health advocates, women with fertility struggles, women who love fashion, women who write, women battling loneliness, single moms, married parents, everything in between.

Women who LIVE… Which is the most beautiful part of the human condition.

IMG_0834

It wouldn’t be a conference blog post about a few lessons learned, would it? I mentioned some at the top. But here is a bulleted list because we love those.

Here is the big secret. Everyone is a little damaged. Everyone is a little alone. Everyone is a little broken and bruised. Everyone has a story worth listening to.

As I listened to story after story, both individually and the speakers on stage, some simple things kept popping up over and over.

  • Truth telling, even when it is a MESS, is an invitation out of loneliness. Invite people in. And tell them your truth.
  • Connection is one of life’s great pleasures. It can dull the sharpest of edges.
  • Be relentless when it comes to protecting yourself
  • Just because you put something down, doesn’t mean it is gone forever.
  • However, sometimes, you need to set something (or someone) down to protect yourself. The courage it takes to leave something is that same courage that will help you find your way to where you need to be.
  • Where you see a need, fill it. – Tembi and Attica Locke (their keynote is playing on repeat in my head)

And finally…

Turn toward hope. – Jen Hatmaker

Something that was a common theme was the idea of embracing how you feel, and finding community for it.

We aren’t talking about toxic positivity. We aren’t talking about acting like everything is perfect when it just isn’t. It’s okay to feel scared, lonely, or afraid. Bad things happen that that is just how it is. Just because you are scared, doesn’t mean you can’t get through it. Hope is a guidepost. The only thing that gets you past being scared is the DOING IT. And hope can be the light you follow home.

PS, if you are looking for tips for creators who want to work with brands (my Mom 2.0 topic) check out my post here.

 

99 days.

That’s right. In 99 days, I will officially be Mrs. Malek. Crazy right? It seems like such a short time ago that Matt asked me to be his wife and we kicked off this adventure.

Since 8/10/12 (best engagement date ever, btw) there have been registry debacles, ribbons and declarations that we must “DO COOL STUFF.” And now we only have 99 days… which I imagine will fly by just as quickly as those legendary 99 beer bottles fell off of the wall.

Between now and the wedding there is sure to be more venue magic and chatter about gifts, but the thing I’m most excited about is the continued process of getting to know my amazing soon-to-be-husband. We are in the midst of For Better and For Ever marriage prep and it’s been enlightening, to say the least! But that is what all of this is about, right? The actual forever.

It’s not about flowers or photos or pins on Pinterest. It’s about joining two lives. It’s about making Matt my reason to be (even more officially than he already is). It’s about becoming man and wife. It’s about that forever.

And there are about 99 MILLION reasons why this excites me.

Holy moly. We’re getting married y’all.

 

a thousand words.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say.

While I understand that this saying actually derives it’s meaning from the value of data visualization versus a super long explanation (aka “Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.”) and NOT cheesy exclamations of love, it comes to mind when I look at our engagement photos.

Because there are so, so many THOUSANDS of things I wish I could say to this man every single day and feel like you can see it in every single one of these photos…

I love you. You are my best friend. You make me laugh. On that note, thank you for laughing with me. Thank you for not ever judging me. Thank you for letting me cry sometimes and be goofy others. Do you have any idea how handsome you are? Or how smart you are? Or how much you amaze me every day? Every. Single. DAY? You are a blessing and the greatest gift and just a little bit weird, sometimes. I like the way your ears are shaped and I like the way your hand feels in mine. It makes me smile when you call me in the morning right after you leave for work. I love you. Did I tell you that yet? I do. I love that way you love my mother and my sister. I love the way you love your family. I love the way you love me. You make me feel safe. You make me feel like it’s okay to be who I am, even when I don’t know exactly who that is all of the time. You are the meaning in my day. You are awesome. You are my favorite person in the whole wide world and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life knowing you. I love you. I love knowing you. You are my very best thing. 

And now… I get to spend the rest of my life saying these things. And I’m so blessed that I have these photos to help me remember. Thanks Holly. You rock.


Everyone needs a juicer.

Today, we are working on our wedding registry.

We are only one hour in, but I’ve already learned a few important lessons…

  1. The internet is totally overwhelming.
  2. Macy’s sells things I didn’t even know we needed.
  3. Matt is hilarious and has strong opinions about towels.
  4. Did I mention that there are things I’m supposed to register for that I don’t understand at all??
  5. Matt really dislikes red towels.
  6. We need a juicer.
  7. And an Empire Red KitchenAid mixer.
  8. Matt thinks the “pebble gray” towels are the best.

To make a long story short, we haven’t made a huge dent in our registry BUT we are having a lot of fun.

Which is what all of this should be about.

Grandpa’s Little Girls.

Growing up in the McDonald family meant growing up with girls. I’m sure the men in our lives felt like they couldn’t turn around without stepping on one of us. After all, girl cousins are known to travel in a herd.

But our McDonald men did an excellent job of handling it.

Cousin Rusty was always ready to carry one (or two) of us from place to place on his back. Uncle George brought us home books to read and Uncle Glenn taught us how to ride horses. My dad took us frog hunting on stormy nights… And Grandpa McDonald sang us the very best songs.

Whenever they visited Texas from Virginia, we would take Grandma and Grandpa on a trip to Lakewood Elementary for show-and-tell. With a single strum of his guitar (and a handful of baked goods from Grandma), an entire kindergarten class would go still. That big voice would sing through classics like “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and the “The Cat Came Back,” while his wife beamed proudly from his side.

Now matter how old we got, he always had room for his girls in his lap and in his heart.

And whenever he left a venue (be it one of our homes, or a packed elementary school class), Grandpa would always lead the group in singing our favorite songs “So Long…”

I’ve sung this song, but I’ll sing it again,
Of the place that I lived on the wild windy plains,
In the month called April, county called Gray,
And here’s what all of the people there say:

So long, it’s been good to know yuh;
So long, it’s been good to know yuh;
So long, it’s been good to know yuh.
This dusty old dust is a-gettin’ my home,
And I got to be driftin’ along.

Now. We are all grown up and we are getting ready to travel to Virginia to say goodbye to our Grandpa for the last time. But we will always be Grandpa’s Little Girls. And we will always remember his songs.

So Long, Grandpa McDonald. We love you.