Just for moms: Plymouth woman shares how she launched a national brand by blogging as a new mom

It was about six months after her first child was born and before blogging was a “normal vernacular.” Flies recalled sharing her idea with a friend who responded: “What is a blog?”

“So, we kind of consider ourselves the OGs in the blogging world,” Flies said.

At that time, she was living in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her husband, Alan, a 2001 Wayzata High School alum, who she met while attending college in her home state of Iowa.

As one who is open to taking chances and trying something new, Flies and her friend launched what would become the City Mom Collective network.

“And honestly, the heart behind it was that we were like, ‘Hey, we’re moms. We don’t want to feel so alone. And we want to know what to do with our kids out in the community. And maybe there’s other moms that feel that way, too,” she said.

The site quickly became very successful in terms of page views with moms who we’re coming to the site for encouragement and connection, she said. It was also successful from a revenue standpoint with sponsors seeking to target moms in the city.

“So the business grew pretty organically at that time,” she said.

Her Scottsdale-based blog created the blueprint for what would become 80 additional sister sites across the country, providing hyper-local content for moms, created by moms.

“I knew enough about intellectual property to know that what we had created was worth something,” Flies said. “I had no idea ... how to build a licensing business, but we took a chance and we signed on our first sister site in Dallas in 2011.”

Now, City Mom Collective is in 80 cities across the country, including the Twin Cities, Duluth and Mankato.

As a licensing company, they provide technology, sales and marketing support, along with networking opportunities to the sister sites, each of which are supported by a team of 15-40 volunteer writers who are wanting to share their stories and provide useful resources for local moms, Flies explained.

“The writers are incentivized with various perks for being a part of the team,” she said. “And honestly, many of them are just looking for a way to contribute to their community.”

A majority of the content that’s done well on City Mom Collective is content that’s authentic and transparent - “a mom truly sharing her heart on what she’s walking through, whether it’s her personal story, or just something that she’s working through herself,” she said.

“We’re finding the content that most moms are looking for in the Twin Cities and beyond are hyper-local resources for parents,” she said.

For example, moms may be looking for what they can do in the winter to keep their kids entertained and happy, such as the top sledding hills in the Twin Cities or top five places to go skiing as a family. There is also a guide to Black-owned businesses to check out across the Twin Cities for Black History Month.

The idea is to bring relevant content and resources moms are looking for, as well as providing encouragement and community, she said.

Another way to do that is through podcasts celebrating motherhood, while also tackling personal and sometimes challenging topics, Flies explained.

Currently, there are 15 podcasts across the sister sites, including a national podcast, “Just Add Sprinkles: Celebrating Moms,” hosted by Flies every other week.

Recent topics have included how to stay connected with your spouse, which coincided with Valentine’s Day, and one airing Thursday, Feb. 24 on life as a mom of Black kids in America in 2022, in honor of Black History Month.

“Video is becoming a pretty big thing too,” she said, whether it’s through Facebook Live or IGTV.

“I’m so proud of the fact that our sites are quick to pivot as the industry constantly changes, and really wanting to serve moms in the way that they’re best served,” she said.

Flies wants moms to come to the social media accounts and websites and feel the content was created for them.

Some of the feedback she’s received from moms is how the site helps them so they don’t feel so alone.

“Motherhood can be incredibly isolating,” she said. “It’s weird to say ... because you have little people around you all the time. ... But I think, across the board, most moms will say that there are seasons in their life that they just felt so alone.”

Additionally, City Mom Collective is always looking to grow their network of sister sites, she said, by adding working with moms all across the country who have a passion for their communities and for connecting moms.

“Our site owners are entrepreneurs and business owners themselves. And in a time where so many moms are leaving the workforce due to what the pandemic has brought on, I’m just so proud that we’ve been able to offer these opportunities to over 100 moms to own their own business, to have a flexible career, but to do something that really is impacting their community in a positive way,” she said.

For more information about the network, visit www.momcollective.com. For Twin Cities Mom Collective, visit twincitiesmom.com. Also, stay up-to-date on the latest content on Instagram and Facebook, as well as Apple Podcast for “Just Add Sprinkles.”

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