Do It All Mamas (& Papas): The mom founder of ZiggityZoom.com

October 4, 11:54 AMEarly Childhood Parenting ExaminerAngele Sionna

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Kristin and her sons

In today's Do It All Mamas (& Papas) feature (find out more about this series below)...

Meet Kristin Pierce Fitch, the mom behind ZiggityZoom.com, and mama to three boys.

Examiner: Tell me something unique/interesting about yourself.

Kristin: I find it interesting, the path our life takes and how it changes over time.  I am currently focused on business and online ventures, yet I also have other, very different, interests and I look forward to seeing how those will weave into my life in a bigger way one day.
I love food and have already started publishing recipes.  I also take tons of photos and hope to buy a nice camera and equipment in the next year and I fully expect I will teach ethics sometime in my life, but for now I am fully engrossed in my online ventures and my family.

Examiner: What is your business all about? 

Kristin: My partner and mom, Sharon Pierce McCullough, and I started Ziggity Zoom, LLC in order to launch several websites geared to kids, parents, and moms.  The first site to launch was  ZiggityZoom.com, a website geared to preschool and early elementary school children and their parents.  This was in mid-May 2008. 
Our goals at ZiggityZoom.com are simple: to provide a safe, visually engaging website to early computer users, where they can be creative and have fun through online and printable activities that introduce them to art, fun characters, and educational, imaginative and get-fit activities.  We believe a well-rounded child is important and each aspect of a child’s life is as well.  ZiggityZoom.com offers a sectional of educational materials, including Alphabet tracing worksheets, story and writing worksheet, and money saving chart, counting, matching and Spanish-English beginner worksheets.

Examiner: What is your favorite product that you make or sell and why do you like or recommend it?

Kristin: We do not sell or make a specific product, instead we offer parents and kids a wonderful website to explore, have fun with, be imaginative and learn about their world.
Even though I will be launching several other websites this year including Mommie911.com, I believe ZiggityZoom.com will always be the site I am the most passionate about. When my partner and I decided to launch a kids’ preschool and early elementary website a year ago, we knew that there was a great opportunity to offer parents and children a wonderful site that is compelling, yet simple and easy for young children to navigate because many of the kids’ sites are complicated, difficult for young users to navigate and many are out-dated.
I probably would tell kids and parents to check out the site because all of the art, characters and cool worksheets have been created by my business partner and mom and, heck, who wouldn’t be super proud of their mom!

Examiner: Why did you start your business?

Kristin: After each of my first two sons were born, I returned to work full-time as a Site-Operations manager for HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com, a subsidiary of the Virginian-Pilot.  After working for a year after my second son was born, I realized that the path I was on, although career-wise was good, needed to change for my family and myself.  I became a stay-at-home mom while trying to fit in time to work on my small licensing business.
During the first year of being home, I tried out a few other small business ideas. Shortly after I had my third son, I finally realized that there was an opportunity to build a preschool/kids website that could be a top 20, maybe even top 15 kids website destination because many sites for kids are either difficult for young users, or are old, unimaginative, or too complicated. My mom, who I had worked with for many years as her licensing agent in the art, game and toy business with limited success, and I discussed creating a website and decided to move forward.  Soon after we started developing the website, we realized that everything I had been doing the past 8 years (working in technology, marketing, licensing and being a parent) and everything my mom had been doing was finally coming together and finally made sense.  We were finally going to be directly responsible for the amount of success we have. 

Examiner: What secret do you have to share with other parents about "having it all" with your family and business?

Kristin: I am a stay-at-home mom and a career professional/ working mom.  I am both, but better.  I am available for my children most of the time, yet I am still able to pursue a professional career and work to build a successful business around a schedule that works for my family.  And I am building my business around the things I love: technology, healthy living, parenting, creativity, and helping others.
I have realized I can have it all- time with my kids, a career and time off.  Maybe not all of the time, but I can have a successful career and a successful and happy family life.
I would not say it is easy every moment.  At times it does seem overwhelming, but it is worth it.  For instance, I may have to work late in the evening to get work done or on the weekend, yet I am working from home so I am here and I get to spend the best hours with my kids and I am still able to set my own schedule.
I believe it important to find your own personal meaning and your own happiness and life balance.  It is learning about yourself and what you want, not what society or others have told you to want or what you should do.  It is finding a new path, one that takes your passion and priorities and allows you to feel fulfilled as a parent, spouse, and career professional.
Also, if you are working and know you plan to stay at home once you have children or if you have recently made the choice to stay at home to raise your children, I would tell you to look into ways to stay connected with colleagues through linkedin.com (a free business networking site) or other means and see if you can find small freelance jobs or work that you can do that fits your schedule and abilities and interests before you stop working full-time.  

Examiner: What is the number one piece of advice you have for other parents?

Kristin: Enjoy the time you have with your family, especially your children.  They learn from you every day.  Teach them to be curious, inquisitive, thankful, and have fun with everything they do.
When you are with your kids, make time for them.  Be present and put away your cell phone, blackberry, do not answer emails.  Get down to their level and talk to them, ask them what they want to do or suggest something a little different.  Play a game with them or go throw or kick a ball around with them.
I find we are constantly being bombarded with work, and electronic messages that we often forget we are not taking time out to be a part of our family.  For those of you that work from home, I would advise you to set a schedule for work hours and set time for your kids and that way you can do both and meet your business needs and the needs of your family.

Examiner: What is your (and your kids) favorite family activity?

Kristin: My family enjoys adventures.  Whether it is going to the beach, the zoo, a park, or pool, we love to make each outing a real adventure.  We make up stories and play games, or search for hidden treasure.  We just love to be outside. 
My kids also love to do science experiments and make pretend potions.  I love it because my kids get so excited and are learning about science, nature and math at the same time.
I also enjoy cooking and getting my kids involved- they love to stir the batter and taste the finished muffins and other food we’ve prepared together.

Examiner: Anything else you want to add?

Kristin: Dream Big.  If you do not have any big dreams for yourself and your life, then reach down deep to find them.  Follow your dreams, and take a leap of faith to follow those dreams.  Of course, we have to provide for our families, but there are so many ways to realize our dreams by working on a side business after work hours, or starting a home based business or doing freelance work or going back to school while still working outside the home or working as a stay-at-home parent.