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Moms reach out over the Net

Publication Date: Sunday, December 8, 2002
Category: Financial     By: Gretchen Fields

Stay-at-home mothers find career, hope to help others along the way.

By Gretchen Fields
The Hawk Eye

Their Web site won't change your child's diapers or quiet their cries, but Kristie Rimmele and Michelle Floyd say it will help mothers in a myriad of other ways.

The Mediapolis natives launched WebMomz in August. The site is an online community that offers ideas and support to women and mothers, in particular, who are or who would like to stay at home with their children while remaining active in the work force.

Best friends since childhood, Tamsevicius, 33, and Floyd, 34, came up with the Web site after becoming mothers.

When her first child was born seven years ago, Tamsevicius was a marketing executive for an information services company in downtown Chicago.

Two years after the birth of her first child, she had her second. She remained in the work force, working shifts opposite those of her husband so they could cut down on child-care costs.

"We were exhausted. We had no energy for the children, and everything we were working so hard for seemed to be crumbling at our feet," Tamsevicius said. "When we did the math, we weren't getting ahead financially by me working and paying a sitter. That was how I decided to start my own Web development business."

So, four years ago, Tamsevicius quit her job and became a successful Web developer. During her four years in the business, she also penned a soon-to-be-published book called "eBiz Moms: The Ultimate Guide to Home Based Business."

Meanwhile, Floyd was back in Burlington. Three years ago, after 10 years in marketing, the University of Iowa grad gave birth to her first child and decided to give up her job in favor of staying home with her daughter. That's when she too began to dabble in cyberspace.

"Being a new mom, I had a lot of questions and surfed the Internet to find answers," Floyd said. "I found a wealth of information, but it was difficult to keep track of it all ... that was the inspiration for me to start my first online venture, MyBabyConnection.com."

Both women were making a successful go of being working stay-at-home moms, but both still felt something was missing.

Tamsevicius started thinking about building an organization to help other mothers build their own home-based businesses. When she found out her childhood friend already had started a successful parenting community on the Web, Tamsevicius put two and two together and asked Floyd to partner with her in a new venture.

"When Kristie called me about WebMomz, I knew I wanted to help," Floyd said.

"I had the whole work-at-home mom thing and she had the parenting arena covered," Tamsevicius said. "The more we talked about it, the more excited we got."

That was in April. By August, the women had the site up and running. By November, they had 1,100 registered WebMomz members.

The site, with the motto "empowering women in work, family and life," offers work resources, family advice and self-care help for women. The site does not advertise any one specific work-at-home venture, but rather gives work-at-home ideas, free business tools and loads of advice on how to start a home business, whether it be cake decorating, crafting or Web design.

"I'm a firm believer in relationships first, so we really wanted to create a sense of community with our Web site," Tamsevicius said. "By offering work, family and self-care resources and ideas, we're really offering the whole triangle of who women today are trying to be."

"We just want moms to know it is possible to work and stay at home with their kids," Floyd said. "It's possible to have to whole package and be successful."

Since starting the Web site, both women have heard from other work-at-home moms who have benefited from it and local WebMomz chapters are popping up across the United States. Women who met online are becoming friends face-to-face and leaning on one another for advice and guidance in their business ventures.

Both Tamsevicius and Floyd said that is really all they ever hoped for.

"It's such a joy to have the opportunity to work with a good friend," Tamsevicius said. "It's an even greater joy to have a solid business partnership where you can depend on one another and work together toward success. If we've done it, anyone can."

"I'm just thrilled to be a part of WebMomz," Floyd said. "I knew this was the perfect way to reach moms who were dreaming about working from home, but just weren't sure how to go about it or who to go to for help and advice."

WebMomz Glancebox

Publication Date: Sunday, December 8,  2002
Category: Financial     By: Gretchen Fields

On the Net  

You can check out WebMomz by logging onto www.webmomz.com.

There you can get tips on working at home, parenting and taking care of you.

If you like what you see, you can also register for "WebMomz in the Windy City," a retreat for home-based business owners. The event, set for March 14 and 15, will offer top work-at-home experts teaming up to offer a weekend of education, motivation and fun.