What is MamaCon? MamaCon is all about supporting and building your mama tribe. Last weekend they had their signature event, MamaCon, in Bellevue, Washington. I was invited to attend by LeAnne Kabat, CEO. I had no idea what to expect. With my friend Georgina Shaffer, owner of Azul SUP Yoga, we headed to Arlington to Bellevue.
OMG! You totally need to join the Facebook group and attend! If you don’t have a group like this one in your area, start one! I will tell you that I have attend a lot of different types of events for work and for me personally, but I have rarely attended something that made me laugh, made me cry, empowered myself and the women around me and made us feel special. Made us see that we are not in this alone. We are not the only ones feeling isolated, stressed or at moments insane.
“MamaCon is our place to support and be supported, to listen and to teach, and to share our struggles and successes with other amazing women. No mama should mama alone.” LeAnne Kabat
This statement just resonates with me as a woman and a mom. I would not have survived without the support of my mom tribe. I was blessed to make those connections. Not all moms do. We as a community need to reach out to that mom in the grocery store, at the gym, sitting waiting to pick up her kids. We need to introduce ourselves and put ourselves out there. For our sake as well as those other moms. We need to support each other and be aware of not only our own struggles, but those around us. We need to be there for our fellow moms.
MamaCon. The event began with a meet and greet time period where we could mix and mingle among the other moms and see some of the marketplace booths.
Then we all gathered for the Opening Ceremony and we laughed ourselves silly with Casey O’Roarty as MC. There were giveaways from vendors and we learned that these women really mean it when they say no mama should mama alone. They mean it and they live it. Don’t believe me? Read all about Leanne’s journey in 48 days before MamaCon in #Mama2Mama.
Breakout Roundtable. “Your issues + their expertise = a transformed Life” Next we broke out to attend our selected round table discussions with experts in their fields.
Georgina and I attended our first session. With Katie Thompson, life coach. We spoke about our goals, areas of concerns and how to make those changes happen and hold ourselves and each other accountable.
LearningRx. What is this? Cornell Atwater, of LearningRx, spoke to us about the Mommy Brain. I think I need a whole day with this amazing woman! We just touched the surface about how our brains work, how our children’s and spouses brains work and how to get them all learning, communicating and interacting.
Wine, Please. After we finished our sessions we picked up our complimentary glass of wine (or Dry Soda in my case) visited and met more moms. Now it was our turn to check out the marketplace. Georgina and I started in the Style room. We tried on 24 hour lip stain that seriously does not come off on anything. I put it on at 4pm and you can still see it the next day in pictures from my hike. Then I had fun trying on new glass frames. We looked at jewelry, learned about our personal color palette, tried on scarves and learned how to make a scarf into a vest. The best part of visiting the style room was having other moms stop and comment. We did the same thing. Everyone was encouraging and positive. No biting comment were heard. No funny looks. We were all there to have fun, learn and grow our tribe.
The rest of the marketplace included vendors with LuLaRoe, Smith Brothers, Osborne book many more. All were geared toward moms and families.
My favorite vendor? Jill Labberton of Jill Labberton Lifestyle Portraits. She had a portrait studio set up and took photos of us all. I am usually the one behind the camera. I can’t remember the last time I actually had a professional photo taken of myself. I was very comfortable with Jill and was very happy with the end result. Click on the link to connect with her! Like her on Facebook to check out all of her photos from the event.
Dinner. Our evening continued with a wonderful buffet dinner. Caprese salad, steamed broccoli, chicken piccata, steamed rock fish, rolls and chocolate cake. We enjoyed a glass of wine, water and coffee/tea. As we finished our meal, we had additional giveaways followed by our speakers.
Strength. Our keynote speaker was single mother of four and the genius behind the Dry Soda company, Sharelle Klaus. We learned about her journey and her struggles breaking through the big boys club to bring in a new innovative sparkling beverage with pure ingredients and amazing flavors. Have you tried the Vanilla Bean, yum! Sharelle did this while being a mom. I am always amazed at women entrepreneurs, let alone ones that start a business and thrive while a mom. She was so inspiring!
Laughter. Laughter is the best medicine. To keep our sanity, we moms really need to laugh more! Rebecca Gallagher, bestselling author and mom of two and author of the blog, Frugalista had us rolling in our seats. Powdered Cat Improv helped us look at the lighter side of motherhood.
The end. Our evening ended with a wrap-up from LeAnne. Encouraging, inspiring and supportive. That is what this entire night was. It went by so fast. I learned so much, but more importantly I felt support and gave support. We moms deserve nights like this. Places where you can find out ways to cope and deal with being a mom. I was definitely impacted in many little ways. I hope to continue to connect with the women I met this night outside of MamaCon. I also want to find a way to impact and support, encourage and inspire more women in my own community and in the world out there.
We were all embraced tonight. The new mom. The mom of littles. The mom with tweens and teens. The mom of high school and college bound. And the moms like me, those with an empty nest. We all contributed. We all shared. We opened our hearts. We opened our arms and we shared.
MamaCon’s next event is…Fall Taste of MamaCon on November 4th. I will be there, you should too! Check out the MamaCon website and their page on Facebook!
Here is a list of our experts for the evenings roundtable discussions. Check them out, you may find one that is the perfect fit!
Amy Lang – Birds & Bees & Kids (Is it time for the sex talk?)
Sheila Storrer – Happy Parent | Happy Teen (Tween and Teens Pushing Your Limits?)
Gina Fresquez – Women’s Side Hustle Society (Finding the Balance)
Cornell Atwater – Learning Rx (The Mommy Brain)
Jennifer Kennett – Eastside Family Counseling (Managing Mama Stress)
Casey O’Roarty – Joyful Courage (powerful Positive Discipline Strategies)
Yafa Luria – Blocked to Brilliant (Resources and Relief for ADHD Families)
Karen Whittier – Play & Grow (Grow Your Child’s Mind and Body Through Play)
Jill Goetz – Savvy Parents Safe Kids (Learn Tips to Keep Kids Safe)
Laren Watson – Organically Laren (Holistic Health Coach)
Audrey Godwin – Resilient Business Solutions (Be in Control of Your Cash Flow)
Sara Dean – The Shameless Mom Academy (Life Beyond Mom)
Katie Holmes Thompson – (Life Coach)
