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.
SpecialGlobe was conceived out of my extraordinary passion for travel and my desire for my children to explore the world including my daughter, Eliza, who has special needs. SpecialGlobe will be an online community and content rich resource for families traveling with special needs children. We will provide the ability to book flights and hotels via the Expedia Affiliate Network and provide comprehensive destination guides specifically for special needs travelers. We will also provide a community forum where our members can obtain trusted advice from other special needs families, write their own reviews. In addition, we will provide expert content on our site from special needs organizations and business around the globe. It is our hope that through reliable resources and reviews, each family will feel empowered, safe and welcome to travel the globe with their families intact.
What do you kids think of your job?
They think it is so cool! My kids are really excited about traveling the world for SpecialGlobe and to have the opportunity to share their experiences with other children.
Tell us about a total mom and biz fail.
Creating a new company is an amazingly time consuming venture. I try to do my best to divide my time and work on SpecialGlobe before they are awake, while they’re in school and after they go to sleep in the evenings. Inevitably, there are times when I am with them that I also need to follow-up with something related to SpecialGlobe. The impact of this hit home recently when I had an especially busy day of emails and calls when finally my daughter, who has special needs, said to me as I headed over to my computer “NO WORK MOMMY”. This is a child whom the doctors told me would never talk. It made me feel awful to hear her say that but I was also so proud of her for sharing her feelings. I ended up turning off my phone and computer for the day and we went outdoors to play. Balance can be so tricky!
Share with us a total win (Brag away!)
In my attempts to help find a cure for my daughter Eliza and all of the other little girls affected by Rett Syndrome, I have raised and donated over $50,000 to the world-renowned Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. With this money, The Jackson laboratory has cultivated a mouse model engineered with Eliza's exact DNA. The “Eliza” mouse was born in the spring of 2013 and is now being shared with the global scientific community to research and to advance the scientific community’s understanding of Rett Syndrome.
What's your relationship with Mamalode?
I was introduced to Mamalode through a wonderful and dear old friend of mine—Kiff Gallagher, the creator or musiciancorps.
About the Author
