Mother’s May Blog Series – The Founding Mommy Blogger Meet Jeannette Kaplun
By: Laura Hernandez, Executive Director for Product Marketing Management at AT&T
When the mommy blogger scene exploded, Jeannette Kaplun was ahead of the pack. She’s been blogging since 1999. The year “blog” came to our vocabularies. I recently spoke to Jeannette about spearheading the mommy blogger movement and becoming a resource to fellow “super moms”—even before she became a mom.
Q. What was your inspiration to begin blogging?
A. I actually created TodoBebe before I had kids. I created the site when I got married, and all my friends were having babies. They were trying to get pregnant and asking me all these questions.
I realized there was a need for Spanish resources for those trying to conceive, expecting or raising young children. I’m a journalist, so I could provide that. Then 3 1/2 years ago I saw there were not enough bilingual sites for modern women. Nobody was addressing the concept of the “Modern Latina.” So I created Hispana Global. It focuses on kids, career, social good, travel, food, tech and more.
Q. How do your children inspire your work?
A. My children inspire me every single day to try to be a better person. I really want them to be proud of their mom. I work hard to be a good role model for them. They bring meaning to everything I do.
Q. With more than 17 years of blogging under your belt, how have things changed in terms of business and blogging?
A. Things have definitely gotten a lot easier with technology. The content managing sites were very costly when I cofounded TodoBebe in 1999.
Coding was hard. It was a very complicated process to post to your blog. It’s so easy now because you can draft blogs, edit videos and pictures and facilitate the entire process from your smartphone. If you have a great idea and are willing to work hard for it, you can make it happen with minimal investment thanks to modern technology.
Things have changed quite a bit in the past 17 years. It’s great because so many people have been able to enter the space and generate amazing content. They can tell their amazing stories, which probably wouldn’t have been possible if technology didn’t make it so accessible.
Q. What piece of technology could you not live without?
A. My smartphone. I don’t think I’d be able to remember most things without it. With it, I take pictures, video, I edit, post on social media and communicate with my family in Chile.
Q. Do you have any favorite Mother’s Day memories?
A. Many! The best Mother’s Day was of course my first Mother’s Day in 2003. For me, it was very special. I went through a lot to become a mom. So once I was able to fully celebrate it, it was incredible. Just looking at my son and realizing that miracles do exist and prayers can be answered, that for me has been the most amazing feeling of all.
Head over to Hispana Global to read more of Jeannette’s tips on parenting and motherhood. Follow the conversation using #PowerLatinas. Next week I will talk to our very own Margarita Olivarez, workforce manager at AT&T, about her work-motherhood balance. Stay tune at espanol.att.com.
