I was the Healthy Living editor and writer for CafeMom‘s website shortly after the company launched their popular blog, now called The Stir. While there in 2009, I was trained on basic HTML, CMS and SEO best practices. I was responsible for pitching timely ideas at our weekly meetings, and I wrote five blog posts per weekday plus one on the weekend. I tracked trends on Google, Twitter and all the news outlets and parenting blogs around the clock. Bonus: I got to meet Nicole Kidman and received free water bottles.

In August, 2008, I created a hyperlocal parenting blog called Barista Kids because I was new to town, and I was not in the know. I longed for a resource to learn about preschools, pools and to connect with other parents. I imagined a website that could be the suburban family’s one-stop shop for all kid- and parent-related news.

Barista Kids has grown by leaps and bounds since it was created. We became partners with the successful town blog called Baristanet, and I was lucky to take on my own business partner, Georgette Gilmore. Most recently, we’ve expanded our website into other nearby towns.

We post five stories a day–news, advice, announcements, events and a bit of gossip–so our readers know exactly what’s going on in our neighborhoods. Working on Barista Kids has been a rewarding, exciting and growing adventure. I can’t wait to see where hyperlocal blogging takes us next.