julie ryals

Back in 1995 I had quite the decision to make.  I  was getting ready to give birth to my first son, my second child.  I worked at a major retailer in upper management, something that took me years to earn so leaving my job while I gave birth was like leaving part of my family at that time.  Juggling motherhood with one child while having a career  was much easier than two (or more) and I was about to find that out.  Together, my husband and I made the bittersweet decision to turn down a lucrative offer for me to return to work after my maternity leave and stay at home with our children.  I remember it taking me quite some time to adjust to that change which was life altering to me.  I wondered if I could fulfill my natural desires to succeed at everything I do.  I wondered if I would get bored.  I wondered how I would feel about the loss of substantial added income and technically giving up my financial independence to my husband.  Those were all questions quietly dancing around in my head. 

I poured myself into motherhood and I absorbed absolutely every living moment of my children's lives and without a doubt, I loved being a Mom.  I felt that I was precisely in the very place that I was supposed to be.  Shortly into that first year of my "new life", my husband purchased me my first computer and I started playing around online teaching myself what the internet was all about.  Before I knew it, I was buying my first domain name and learning web site design while my little ones nursed in my lap or while taking a nap. 

Fast forward a few years and I opened my own web design and hosting company after starting as just a reseller and moved into my own web servers.  Word of mouth along with some really talented freelance designers has worked wonders for my company and I look forward to many years to come.  In 2006 we branched out to create DIY Shoppes as a sister site where we offer an all-in-one storefront program that can be used for any domain online.  All this while building Mom Pack from 400 members in the beginning to well over 9700 members.  The growth has been substantial and the loyalty amongst our members has surpassed what I had ever expected.  It's a great feeling knowing that by providing a place for moms in business to network and grow, I may be giving other moms the same opportunity to be able to work at home while raising their families. I'll be forever grateful to the Mom Pack staff who continue to pour their hearts so generously into this community.

Here on my blog, I plan to share a little of what I've learned not only in life and love, but also some of the things I've experienced online.  Please have patience with me when it comes time to update things! I do hope that by sharing some of my experiences online and offline, my visitors may learn a little something from me.    Thanks for the visit!

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