The Mamalode Starter Series is an exciting opportunity for us to introduce you to some of the amazing people we get to meet. Starting something takes enormous amounts of work, faith, help and community. Every week we'll share another story of starting. So, community of Mamalode, read up, get inspired and check out these wonder-folk.
Tell us a little bit about your business and how you started it.
MomCave TV is a new online network of comedies for moms. MomCave began when three moms (one of them me!) and a dad noticed a lack of authentic programming for parents. Babies on TV shows sit silently. Moms on YouTube networks look like the stepped out of Real Housewives. And don’t even get us started on Pinterest Moms! We wanted to create shows about something we could really relate to—and that is the difficult and humorous moments of parenting. Because, in our opinion, those moms that seem to have it all together must be lying.
After my son's birth, I wasn't working (as an actor and shoe model) as much as I used to. I started writing during his naps about some of the ridiculous encounters I was having with the other moms in my neighborhood and called it “Slummy Mummy”. My friend Stephanie Scott invited me to have it read at the International Academy of Web Television Writer's Group. It was terrifying! But they loved it. And people started offering to work on it with me, including an amazing Director of Photography, Kahleem Poole and my uber-talented producer/art director Valisa Tate.
A subsequent reading of an episode of “Slummy Mummy” gave the group's leader, J. Sibley Law the idea for a web series about the awkward moments in nursing. He approached me and we shot five episodes in one day in Central Park. Both that show, “Double Leche” and “Slummy Mummy” were official selections of the Independent Film and TV Festival. We had a great reception at the festival and the idea of combining the shows into a mom-themed channel was born.
What do your kids think about your job?
To my son, it's the most natural thing in the world. I try to do most of my work while he is asleep, since so much of it is editing on the computer. Sometimes he “helps” me. He thinks it's magic that I can put real baby cries to an image of a fake baby.
He doesn't like when I'm away all day for a shoot, but he likes that I get to spend most days home with him. He gets to attend a lot of cool events that I'm invited to because of my work as a mommy blogger and with MomCave. And he LOVES when people send me products for review for MomCave LIVE because he gets to try them out.
Tell us about a total mom + biz fail?
Too many to name! For instance, I've been answering these questions one sentence at a time, sitting on a hotel bathroom floor (we're traveling for business) while my son is playing in the tub with plastic cups and water bottles. I've recorded voiceovers that are interrupted by “I have to poop!” Every business call I make is carefully timed to be during the one episode of Sesame Street my son is allowed per day. My son doesn't go to school yet and we don't have a nanny—because we can't afford one and I want to be his primary caregiver. I applaud any mom who can run a business. It's never easy. Let's not pretend it is and just laugh at it!
Share with us a total win (brag away!)
MomCave started with a bang! In just a little over a month, we've had about 14,000 views between YouTube and DailyMotion. We held screenings for mom groups and bloggers in Manhattan and Brooklyn. And Ogilvy's Working Parents Network hosted a screening. We just found out that Slummy Mummy is opening the Trenton Film Festival. During this time, all three of us moms have been working longer hours than ever at our “other” jobs too! Between the three of us, we've been potty training, traveling, and dealing with sick kids and husbands. We're tired, but encouraged and can't wait to see what comes next.
What's your relationship with Mamalode?
I just stumbled upon Mamalode when searching for fresh and genuine content for moms. I love it and hope to become a regular contributor.
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About the Author
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