For my panel, I really wanted to give the moms there some courses of action. I wanted tangible takeaways. It was pure bliss to work with Karen, Gabby and Jessica. We had a quick call to work out the general flow for our talk. We mostly prepared independently, and through some Jedi mind trick all three of our presentations worked well together and had a seamless flow.

I loved all the positive feedback I got from my panel. I put in a lot of effort and I hope it showed. For me the point of sharing my triumphs and mistakes is to help other female entrepreneurs succeed. Why not use my wisdom to allow every women working in social media plan and execute better.

One of the lessons I took home came from Gabrielle Blair, aka designmom.com. She wanted to develop a show highlighting the joyfulness of her kids. Gabby’s grown tired of seeing kids on TV talking sassy and being disrespectful towards family.

The passionate and entrepreneurial blogger wanted to create content that shared togetherness, creativity and fun. What soon became her passion project, got underway quickly. Gabby was on the hunt for funding and didn’t have a ton of time to pull it together.

Gabrielle is based in Normandy France and had a US film crew lined up to come film the series before she landed a sponsor. With the clock ticking, she called up Pottery Barn Kids and told them they had about 5 minutes to make up their minds about coming on board before she went to her next sponsor option.

Well PBK (wisely) said yes. But that’s not the amazing part. The amazing part is that Gabrielle jumped in with both feet. PBK is only paying enough initially to cover the production costs. If the show is a success, the contract expires and renegotiations takes place. But here’s the thing, Gabby didn’t have to wait months and months for approval. Things happen quickly in social media and smart brands have the capacity to leap at these opportunities.

With conferences you get out what you put in. You’ve got to shake things up meet new people and extend yourself.

The very best part of Mom 2.0 Summit is the people. Mary Ann and Alicia from the Today Show had me in stitches with their book excerpts and videos from their new book Sh**ty Moms.

From hearing all the stories at Mom 2.0 Summit, I’ve learned that big successes come with sizeable risk. That keynote entrepreneur panel really stood out.

Another key takeaway is that every interaction counts. Liz Lange shared her business success story. For Liz, time and time again a connection she made and cultivated turned out to be pivotal in her success.

Years ago, Liz worked with Mindy Grossman on a Nike maternity project. Then after Grossman moved to HSN she offered Liz the chance to develop a women’s fashion line.

Pilar Guzman worked at Cookie Magazine, which folded a few years ago. Rather than dwell on the demise of Cookie she kept moving. Her next act is as an editor at Martha Stewart Living. Pilar talked as much about her failures, as she did her successes. What resonated was her vision—that mom’s could live full lives with babe in tow. Pilar talked about the struggles to sell ad space to aspirational brands. Here’s a quote that stuck with me. When Cartier declined to advertise with Cookie they offered this rationale: “No one aspires to be a mom.” Well they might be rethinking that.

Speaking at a conference isn’t easy. Well, it is easy if you do it often and repackage content. But these ladies, Liz, Lee and Pilar were sharp, funny and prepared.

My pool chat with Adam from Weber Shandwick (an advertising agency) was also memorable. It not often a blogger and decision maker have an hour poolside to discuss ways to work together with no HUGE agenda.

Being at the conference surrounded by smart, savvy women (and a few men) was a treat. No one was trying to come off as super mom, we all shared how we do our best but often fall short when it comes to growing a business and running a family. But it is so important to see other women striving for success and carving individual paths.

A glorious day in Miami and much to do, much to do. Waking up in a killer suite with ocean views—not bad. To kick into gear, I set off on a run and a moment of reflection—what a day full of awesome possibility.

The fine folks at Mom 2.0 Summit picked a very good spot. We gathered in the main meeting room to get the day’s agenda. My break-out session was early in the day (tweet me https://twitter.com/#!/momtrends if you want the full presentation). I was up there with the awesome Gabriel Blair @designmom and Karen Walrond @chookooloonks We talked about Setting your course in what’s next: How do you even do that?

At my presentation I talked about being the driving force. I shared 5 tips on how to maximize business potential. And I left off with a few quotes:

“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.”—Leonard Cohen
“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”—Will Rogers

From there it was lunch time and a keynote from Brene Brown who challenged us to set our goals wisely. When we take on a new project she asked: What would you be glad you did even if you failed?

She also made us take a good hard look at our friendships and figure out. Who are your move a body friends? You know the ones who wouldn’t judge a friend if he/she called and asked you to help move a body that you may or may not have slain.

Brene talked about the fears we all have as moms. And invited us to embrace discomfort—it is where we grow and change.

To connect with joy you must actively practice gratitude and to pay attention to the ordinary moments. Know this: Experiencing joy makes us intensely vulnerable it also makes us alive.

After lunch we enjoyed a bit of speed dating Mom 2.0 Summit Style

@verymissy shared an Edelman Study talked about the new state of the American family. Um, it’s not what you thing. Trend alert: 44% of families have a working mom AND a working dad it’s call Universal Parenting.

@kathybuckworth invited us to move from Sponsorship to Spokesperson. Here’s a tip: Be easy to work with!

Meredith Sinclair wants us to disconnect and play. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. The biggest thing that can squelch your playfulness embarrassment and fearfulness. Feed that playful spirit once a week. Play with playdoh but don’t take pictures of it because it’s all for you.

Gretchen Rubin instructs to find more happiness we need to give ourselves a quitting time and to give warm greetings and farewells to our families.

My favorite? Kathryn Tucker the Founder of Red Rover @kathryntucker brought us to tears as she shared her ‘ah-ha’ moment when she knew that working motherhood wasn’t ruining her children. Surprise, surprise the kids are watching and you know what, they are proud of us.

On March 19th we announced our grand prize winners; Speake School in Danville, AL and Dupont Elementary in Hopewell, VA. They will both receive brand new playgrounds from Playworld Systems and $30,000 in equipment and prizes from Sports Authority! The winning entry for Speake School came from first-year teacher Leslie Archer. Her principal, Tina Blankenship, spoke with us about her constant struggle with a lack of funding. Believe it or not, their playground equipment had not been updated since her daughter, now 21, was an early elementary student at the same school! Because of these financial constraints, Speake School relies heavily on grants. In fact, 83 different people entered our sweepstakes on behalf of Speake School! It is inspiring for us to see communities come together and work to make sure their children have a more active and healthy lifestyle.

We recognize everyone’s budget is restricted, but we noticed Title 1 schools are having an especially hard time. That is why we added a separate grand prize drawing just for those communities. Martha Staples, the kindergarten teacher at Dupont Elementary in Virginia with the winning entry, was on her way to pick up her students from PE class when she heard the news. “We are beyond excited about being a grand prize winner,” said Ms. Staples. “A new playground has been number one on our wish list for many years.” The Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes was a community effort for Dupont as well. 42 different people entered on behalf of the school!

We are thrilled to be able to provide resources to schools so that students can get the physical activity they need during the school day. We cannot wait to see the “after” effect of these makeovers!

Visit energybalance101.com and take advantage of all that’s available to you, your children and your community.

We recently hosted “Family Night” at the Friendship Academy at Cherry Hill in Maryland with our partners at Discovery Education. This school wellness fair was open to teachers, students and parents and underscored the importance of balancing “energy-in” with “energy-out”. We provided their community with the tools and resources they need to embrace lessons in the classroom and at home.

We had free dinner, interactive energy balance stations, pedometers for all participants, raffle giveaways, and even cooking demonstrations of healthy, well-balanced meals from Chef Donnell Long! We have found that it is key to have the nutrition conversation attached to the physical activity conversation. They are both critical to overall wellness. When our children understand how those pieces of the puzzle fit together, it makes it easier for them to make good choices.

Take the time this month to talk about energy balance with your kids during family meal time. And make sure to encourage teachers at your school to take advantage of our Energy Balance 101 curriculum – it’s free, standards based, and easy to use. Let March be the month you and your family rededicate yourselves to active and healthy lifestyles. Learn more and get the latest updates on Facebook.

• 85 Broads
• Catalyst Blog
• Alexandra Levit’s Water Cooler Wisdom
• Birds on the Blog: Business Women with Something to Say
• BlogHer: Career
• She Takes on the World
• The Glass Hammer
• Women on Business
• Flokka
• Women Grow Business
• The Boss of You
• Career Diva
• The Next Women Business Magazine
• Huffington Post Women

PepsiCo WIN 2012 Correspondent Search Winners Announced Today
Inspirational Women Bloggers to Report Live from Marquis Digital Events

Last August at the BlogHer 2011 Conference, PepsiCo put out the call inviting women from around the country to share their stories of inspiration for a chance to be selected to the elite team of digital correspondents for the PepsiCo Women’s Inspiration Network (PepsiCoWIN), the online interactive network offering global female perspective and idea sharing from leaders, innovators and a community of women around the world.

Today, PepsiCo WIN named the three women who will serve as national correspondents to go behind-the-scenes at key digital PepsiCo-sponsored events in 2012 – South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) Festival, Aspen Ideas Festival, and BlogHer. The bloggers will share their unique perspectives, insights from the events and spotlight “moments of inspiration” via PepsiCoWIN.com and PepsiCo.com.

“These women were stand-out choices among the compelling entries from a pool of remarkably talented and inspiring women,” said Jamie Stein, Director of Digital Platforms at PepsiCo. “This is a first for PepsiCo and expands on our efforts to support female digital entrepreneurs by giving them insider access. We look forward to reading and watching their coverage. ”

Each blogger brings a distinctive viewpoint based on her experiences and interests:

• Angela Chee is the Founder and Editor of TheZenMom.com. She is also a contributor to Lifetime Moms, Momversation, MomLogic.com, and several parenting sites.

“The Zen Mom’s mission is to enlighten through wisdom, inspiration and laughter. I believe through sharing stories we can inspire and empower each other. I’m excited to work with PepsiCo as a correspondent to bring stories, conversations, and different perspectives to life.” – Angela Chee

• Nicole Feliciano is Founder and Editor Momtrends.com.

“I’m thrilled to be working on this partnership with PepsiCo WIN. I entered the contest hoping to expand the reach of MomTrends and to be able to share some fresh, compelling content with our community of moms. PepsiCo WIN is giving me the chance to share my findings with my readers. And we all know how important sharing is! – Nicole Feliciano

• Tammy Tibbetts is Founder and President of She’s the First, a not-for-profit that sponsors girls’ education in the developing world, helping them become the first in their families to graduate, and nurtures the leadership of young women in the United States.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be a PepsiCo digital correspondent and thrilled to represent the non-profit community and millennial women! I truly believe with online and social media we can make a huge impact on the world, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can all achieve together with PepsiCo.” – Tammy Tibbetts

Come back to PepsiCo WIN to follow their reporting over the course of 2012, and share your comments with our network.

In the fall of 2010, St. Thomas More, an elementary school in Littleton, CO, had its playground equipment condemned by state officials. The children no longer had a place to play at recess. Alicia Berg, a parent at the school, decided to take matters into her own hands. She entered HWCF’s first annual Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes and won.

Describing her reaction to the news, Ms. Berg says, “I was in such disbelief. I began to cry in joy. Once it sunk in, I was very excited for the school.” The award was announced just before Christmas that year, and the school principal hailed it a “Christmas miracle.” The kids were going to have brand new playground equipment, free of cost.

We launched our 2nd annual Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes last September because we believe that obesity is best battled through an understanding of energy balance – balancing the calories we eat with the calories we expend – and because we know that the school is a powerful place for children to learn and implement that knowledge. We expanded the prizes to include two grand prize winners with a special drawing for Title I schools, and extended the entry window through January 31st. It’s not too late for you to enter and see if you can win a new playground for your school! You can enter up to once per day. And like Ms. Berg said, “Don’t give up. Someone has to win. This is the real thing.”

Visit www.energybalance101.com to enter the Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes.

Meet Andrea Alvares, General Manager – PepsiCo Beverages Brazil, as she shares how PepsiCo can make a difference in Brazil’s rapidly changing economy and environment, how she stays motivated, and her thoughts on work/life balance.

Meet Paula Santilli, general manager, Savory — PepsiCo Foods, Mexico. We caught up with her to learn more about her role within PepsiCo, what inspires her and her key to work/life balance.

The main driver behind our Together Counts TM campaign is the belief that accountability works. We are looking to encourage families to shift the way that they approach health and fitness, and a New Year’s resolution is a great way to begin. We are far more likely to stick with our New Year’s resolutions if we are doing it with someone. Exercise can be a fun family activity. And the dinner table is a great place for kids to learn about energy balance. Setting active and healthy goals as a family can be a great tool for preventing obesity. In fact, research has shown that kids who eat meals with their family are less likely to be obese adults.

This year, make a resolution as a family. Take our Together Counts pledge (www.togethercounts.com) and make a commitment to eat meals and get active together. You’ll not only see your family draw closer to one another, but you will join an entire online community that will help you reach your goals. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2012!