After six years of working at AOL, Lynette Meglio was burnt out. The South Riding mother of two realized she could no longer keep up the pace she was running.
"I was going a million miles a minute," she said. "I was a walking zombie."
So, Meglio decided to stay home with her children, Mallory, then 3, and Michael, then 18 months. But after two years as a stay-at-home mom, Meglio started to feel the pull of working again.
"I really struggled with how do I use my skills as a worker and still stay accessible to my kids?" the Bergen County, N.J., native said.
Her solution? TheMomLink.com, a Web site dedicated to helping South Riding stay-at-home moms connect with local businesses and with each other.
"I figured there must be other moms out there in the same boat as me," Meglio said.
PUTTING HER AOL marketing skills to work, Meglio created a Web site where local businesses could advertise and connect directly with some of the biggest consumers: mothers.
"This way they can get a local, loyal following," she said. "Moms do everything, from scheduling doctors appointments to buying blinds."
Meglio was surprised how eagerly local businesses responded when she started reaching out to them.
"They were very excited to see the different options out there for advertising," she said. "They didn’t even ask the normal questions, such as how many people came to the site, they just starting signing on."
TheMomLink.com’s connection to local businesses has been a great benefit to moms and local moms’ groups, such as the South Riding Moms Club, which is designed specifically for stay-at-home moms.
"We provide weekly activities for stay-at-home moms, things that they can do with their children," Christine Paul, treasurer and former president of the South Riding club, said. "I have used the site to help plan those and get ideas."
Paul said she has connected with different kinds of businesses through Meglio’s site, setting up activities like a photography session for children with a local photographer. Paul said she used to use more general resources to find activities and businesses and she appreciates the local aspect of TheMomLink.com.
"If I am contacting someone from her site, I know they are local," Paul said. "That’s important because a lot of moms don’t want to have to travel too far with their children."
IN ADDITION to providing information about local businesses, Meglio designed TheMomLink.com to address the reality of motherhood.
"I was so tired of that perfect image that was out there, that makes moms feel like they have to live up to," she said.
To that end, Meglio included fitness, health and beauty, shopping and home and garden sections on her site, directed toward giving moms an opportunity to take care of themselves as well.
"I didn’t want it to be a typical parent site," she said. "Many are more about how to make your child’s life better, not how to make your life better. You’re a woman first and you need to take care of yourself."
Paul said Meglio and TheMomLink.com are wonderfully different resources for moms because they reach out to moms as people.
"She is really good about letting us know where there is something new going on or something new on the site," Paul said. "That helps me both personally and for the club."
In addition, TheMomLink.com gives mothers a place where they can sell their stuff, such as old baby clothes, furniture and even pets, and a forum where they can discuss problems and seek help from other mothers.
"I knew there were other moms out there who were now feeling isolated," Meglio said. "I wanted it to be a place where local moms can bond together."
MORE THAN A year after launching her site, Meglio is looking toward the future and helping other mothers in her position.
"There are so many moms who are looking for the perfect stay-at-home job or business," she said. "They just don’t know how to go about it."
Meglio is in the process of trademarking TheMomLink.com in hopes that other moms from around the country could set up their own site for their community.
"This is a true stay-at-home business, all you need is a laptop and a cell phone," she said. "I have visions of a Mom Link for Fairfax or for Prince William."
While Meglio said she is still in the beginning stages of creating the infrastructure to franchise TheMomLink.com, she already has the vision of how it would work.
"A one-week training session," she said. "You’d bring the laptop you would be working on, we would set up your Web site and work with you for a week and then you’re off and running."
In January, Meglio went back to working full time, taking a job with Time Warner, but she said she is still able to commit herself to TheMomLink.com and the resources it brings to other Loudoun mothers.
"I just hope they get a chance to get out of their stressful lives for a minute and connect with other local moms," she said.