Interview with The Rookie Moms – BFFs who Wanted to Have More Fun with their Babies

When you find yourself on a maternity leave with a young baby and no idea what to do with the baby or yourself, what do you do? You start a blog with your best friend and share, with millions of moms, ideas on how to make your motherhood more fun and fulfilling. Or at least that is what Whitney Moss and Heather Flett of The Rookie Moms did.

What started as a way to brainstorm new and fun ideas about what to do with their newborns, with time turned into a valuable resource on parenting for newbie and veteran moms alike. They have published two books (a perfect gift for any expecting parent!) and can be often seen sharing their blogging experiences on conferences.

I got to interview them and share their story and blogging advice:

How did you two meet?

Heather: We met right after college through our boyfriends at the time, who were best friends. Nearly twenty years later and Whitney married that guy and I’ve long since moved on. Whitney was a pregnant bridesmaid at my wedding, but I quickly caught up, and we had our first babies the same year. A little more about that story here.

What was your main motivator behind starting blogging? And how did you get to an idea to start a blog together?

Whitney: We had been friends for about eight years before we started our blog together. When our sons were both infants, we decided to create a website to share fun ideas for things to do for ME but with a baby in tow. It started out as a shared brainstorm of fun activities and then turned into a little business as more and more advertisers got interested in reaching our readers.

What are the advantages and disadvantages (if any) of sharing a blog? 

Heather: I love sharing a blog because I always have someone I can turn to when I need a backup or if I start to wonder if I’m keeping it real.

Would you say that your blogging style changed as you as moms matured? If you could change anything regarding your writing, would you and what would you change?

Heather: Our writing has changed a lot since those early days. We used to write exclusively about activities to do for moms of babies but we’ve broadened our perspective a lot. Now, we cover tips, tricks, activities, and stuff we love.

Whitney: I think we’re influenced by the current climate. We were brave to confess that being at home with a baby was boring, but more and more writers are digging deep and sharing their authentic experiences, which hadn’t been done in literature about motherhood before. It’s an exciting change to be a part of.

Many bloggers say that the most challenging thing about blogging, for them, is finding inspiration for writing. Is it the same with you? If not, what do you find most challenging?

Whitney: Knowing who our audience is is the biggest challenge. People read because they feel connected to us, but also they just find us via Google and don’t know us at all. It’s hard to gauge how much back-story to keep telling.

You are well-respected parent bloggers – your blog has a strong following, you have published two books and are invited as speakers to conferences like Dad 2.0 Summit. How did you go to here from blogging as a hobby? What do you think distinguished your blog from others that targeted new moms?

Whitney: We try to be useful to a new mom who lands on our blog from search. While others were telling their personal stories, we created more of a resource. I think that lent itself well to becoming a business because while we do maintain an approachable, down-to-earth voice, we don’t expect people to care what we had for breakfast or how many diapers we changed on a given day.

What advice would you give to bloggers that are trying to expand their reach and make blogging their full time job?

Whitney: Producing original content is the only thing that will allow you to establish relationships – with readers and/or with brands.

Advice for new parent bloggers: Many parent bloggers say that they have trouble finding that silver line between sharing and over-sharing when it comes to privacy protection for their families? Did you manage to find your line?

Heather: We avoid writing anything that will embarrass our children or our husbands. We’re thinking of starting a podcast where we can do that…

You can learn more about The Rookie Moms by checking out their blog and Twitter account. Also, for ideas on fun family activities in the East Bay, check out their newest project – {510} families!