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A mom, 24/7

Trisha Novotny helps other moms connect through website, social media

by Joan Cronk -

Special to the Gateway

Published: 03:58PM July 7th, 2010

Trisha Novotny’s website, 247moms.blogspot.com, provides coupons, free downloads, forums and discussion groups. She also said it is the No. 1 live mom webcast in the country.

Trisha Novotny said she’s been doing the mom thing for a long time. A state coordinator for MOPS for years, the Gig Harbor mom felt others needed to continue the connection with each other after their children have started school.

Novotny, who has five kids, started 24/7 Moms on a whim.

A group of moms met for the first time at a Mom Conference at the Best Western Wesley Inn in Gig Harbor.

The meeting went well, but the group grew. And when Novotny began to look for a larger facility, she found the cost to be prohibitive.

“I knew moms would spend $700 to send their kids to cheer camp,” she said, “but not $100 on themselves.”

After she viewed a livestream on Twitter, Novotny said, “I just went, ‘Ah ha!’ We can bring the conference to moms every single week. People thought I was crazy, but we were the very first-ever mom webcast.”

Since then, 24/7 Moms has changed the way moms connect with each other. Its website, http://247moms.blogspot.com, offers a multitude of resources, including the live weekly webcast that takes place every Tuesday at 7 p.m. That webcast, which Novotny hosts, features guests and discussions.

Novothy said 24/7 Moms is the No. 1 live mom webcast in the country. Also available on the website are coupons, free downloads, forums and discussion groups.

There are no membership fees, and the website is available all day, every day.

Jeanie Cullip, a 24/7 Mom contributor, has been involved with the group since February.

“The community of the women is wonderful,” she said, “but it is also great to be able to share with the women along their journey.”

Cullip, who lives in Gig Harbor and has five children, is the Inspirational Editor for 24/7 Moms, which encourages all moms, not just those who stay at home, to stay in touch and make important connections with each other.

Keeping the website going is a huge job, Novotny said.

“It takes full days Monday and Tuesday,” she said. “I try to blog at night, updating the website then after the kids go to bed.”

Novotny receives no pay for her endeavor.

“I have a passion to inspire moms, because I believe that moms need that network,” Novotny said. “We need to be encouraged that what we do really matters.”

She credits the success of 24/7 Moms to the fact that, “We are the only ones who know what we are doing,” Novotny said.

Other websites don’t bring guests in, she said. Novotny thinks the variety of 24/7 Moms is incredible.

And she does have a team of volunteers.

“I do not consider myself a Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray,” Novotny said, “but we try to show moms that if I can do it, they can do it.”

A recent post helped moms come up with ideas for teacher gifts and an inexpensive way to celebrate the end of the school year.

“Just simple things, like putting up a banner, make every moment count with your kids,” Novotny said.

Companies contact 24/7 Moms every day. A UPS truck is a common sight in Novotny’s neighborhood, delivering free merchandise.

“We feature products every week, and we have giveaways every day,” she said. “Companies want us to use our mom influence to promote their products.”

In May, Novotny was selected as a delegate to represent Washington State at the Inaugural Mom Congress on Education and Learning at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

“It was amazing to be with over 50 other moms passionate about education,” she said.

When she came home, Novotny said she realized how we have it with the Peninsula School District.

“We have an outstanding superintendent (Terry Bouck), and people need to appreciate him,” she said.

While she was in Washington, D.C., the moms worked on a plan to help parents become advocates for their children.

The October issue of “Parenting Magazine” will carry an article that the moms worked on while they were in Washington, D.C.

Because Novotny was chosen as a delegate from Washington state, Leapfrog donated $2,000 worth of its products to Discovery Elementary School in Gig Harbor, and KinderCare donated a book station to the school in the district that was most in need.

Novotny said she still can’t believe the popularity of the website.

“We have thousands of moms who are subscribers, and every night at 7 p.m., they get an e-mail sent to them about whatever I have posted,” she said. “It makes you realize how much of a need moms have for community.”

24/7 Moms boasts 25,000 followers on Twitter, and Novotny credits the fact that moms can access the website any time, watch a past show, have a discussion or ask a question to the website’s popularity.

On Tuesdays, she closes each webcast by reminding moms to keep it simple and make every moment count.