“Encouraging moms to connect with one another is a huge part of my heart,” Stephanie Flies says.
Shortly after Flies had her first daughter, Nora, in 2009, she was desperate to find a community of moms to do life alongside. Living in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the time, she wasn’t finding the resources she desired, so Flies and her friend Joy Cherrick created Scottsdale Moms Blog to gather and connect moms by providing hyperlocal resources and support, as well as hosting events in partnership with local businesses.
Now, Flies and her husband, Alan, are raising their daughters Nora, Elsie and Audrey, in Plymouth. As CEO, she rebranded and built the site into City Mom Collective (CMC), a network of 75 hyperlocal sister sites reaching moms in various stages of motherhood across the U.S. Now, there are more than 100 mom entrepreneur site owners and 20 national employees.
For example, momcollective.com is the national website and Twin Cities Mom Collective (twincitiesmom.com) is a local resource for directories, events and content written and provided by area moms. You’ll find articles and editorials ranging from a mom’s struggle with breastfeeding or tackling the preschool conundrum to top 10 date night locations, Halloween events, Twin Cities guide to holiday lights and tickets to Donuts with Santa.
“I have a passion for ensuring that moms are connected to their communities, and sometimes that means being brave and stepping out and attending an event where you don’t know anybody,” Flies says. “Motherhood isn’t meant to be alone. We are meant to do life and community.”
Hitting all parenting interests, CMC also covers topics like monthly mom must-have roundups from favorite gift idea for toddlers to skin health and subscription boxes. Celebrating motherhood in a podcast, CMC publishes new episodes of Just Add Sprinkles every two weeks.
Since each market has its own sister site, social media accounts and newsletters, it’s not only helpful locally, but also useful when planning travels to cities with a local CMC site.
Her entrepreneurship journey began early. In sixth grade, Flies started a club of friends that walked to the drug store on Main Street to buy Little Debbie treats and walk home to sit and talk in their secret hangout spot.
“I can tell you from multiple times in my childhood and early adolescent years that I have always been a gatherer of people,” she says. “I believe life is meant to [be done] alongside other people … motherhood can be so lonely and isolating, even if you have little people around you or big people around you all the time. There are so many moms I know that just feel so alone. The blood that goes through my veins pumps with this desire to gather people.”
Twin Cities Mom Collective
Facebook: Twin Cities Mom Collective
Instagram: @twincitiesmomcollective
Pinterest: Twin Cities Mom Collective
Twitter: @TwinCitiesMomCo
Podcast: Just Add Sprinkles: Celebrating Motherhood
City Mom Collective
Faecbook: City Mom Collective
Instagram: @citymomcollective
Pinterest: City Mom Collective
Twitter: @CityMom_Co
