Mom Advice: Collaboration Is Key

This past weekend I was able to attend the blogging conference Mom 2.0 Summit in New Orleans. Although there were dozens of panels and even more speakers, I was surprised by a theme I heard repeated throughout the conference: the importance of collaboration.

It’s true that sometimes we as moms feel the need to tackle our life’s projects or responsibilities on our own. Whether it’s about proving ourselves, or not wanting to release control, or the fear of whether or our goals will fall in line with others’, sometimes we keep our work and lives very close to us.

At Mom 2.0 Summit, brilliant women with a wealth of combined experience each related times when they opened up and either invited or allowed others in their networks and community to work with them. They shared the magic that can happen when people and ideas come together, the ways in which others can lift you up and fill in gaps of knowledge or experience, and the inspiration one can feel from knowing you are not alone.

While many of these experiences were related in terms of business or blogging, the same principles can hold true for the day-to-day life of any mom. I see this in groups of women who come together to make once-a-month freezer meals. Or moms who meet weekly to teach their children music or sign language or crafts. Or especially the moms who brainstorm together on fundraising ideas or community improvement projects.

Alone, we are each incredible individuals. But together, engaged with other moms and members of our respective communities, we can accomplish even greater things.