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Statement of Purpose

Mothering celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value of parenthood and family life in the development of the full human potential. As a readers' magazine, we recognize parents as the experts and wish to provide truly helpful information upon which parents can base informed choices.

Mothering is like no other publication. We are an original. Born in 1976 out of the need for the natural family community to learn about raising healthy children, Mothering was the birthplace of the natural family lifestyle.

Read in more than 65 countries, Mothering is the only independently owned, family living magazine in the world. We address contemporary health, personal, environmental, medical, and lifestyle issues in an upbeat, intelligent, compassionate, and courageous way.

Each issue contains philosophical inspiration and practical advice about family living. Topics are as diverse as circumcision, vaccinations, organic foods, childhood illnesses, home birth, ear infections, parenting teens, web site information, midwifery, and homeopathy.

Mothering is a family. We have an independent editorial spirit unmatched in the industry and a readership that is unmatched in responsiveness. Readers who read Mothering share many of the same values. Nowhere else will you find such proactive, passionate, and highly educated readers. In the pages of Mothering you will find an environment of credibility, trust, and authority.

Staff

Peggy O’Mara, Publisher and Editor, is the mother of four grown children. She has gained international celebrity as publisher, editor and owner of Mothering Magazine. She is also the author of two books: Having a Baby Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth and Natural Family Living: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Parenting. A dynamic speaker, she has lectured and conducted workshops in conjunction with organizations such as the Omega Institute, Esalen, La Leche International, and Bioneers. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and has been featured in national publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Mother Earth News, and Utne Reader.

Ashisha, Editor-at-Large, has been part of the Mothering family for 25 years. Semi-retired now, she continues to be active with the editorial functions of the magazine—and is regarded by her coworkers as the magazine's historian. She initially came to Santa Fe from California where she was a high school English and art teacher. Ashisha was also a member of the Peace Corps. Her special focus these days is playing and teaching the marimba, running with five grandchildren, and being walked by her malamute, Molly.

John McMahon, General Manager of Mothering, has worked at the magazine on and off for 29 years. Born in Elma, NY, outside of Buffalo, John headed west in 1971 as an elementary school teacher. Teaching gave way to a desire for a home business and the 1980 purchase of the small magazine called Mothering with Peggy O'Mara. John left Mothering in 1989 and continued to work in the magazine industry. Always wanting to align work and career with the needs of the heart and the desire to help others, John returned to Mothering in 2001 to work in circulation, and now also oversees the general operation of the business. He has five children, all living in New Mexico and Colorado, with a fifteen year old still at home. John spends lunch hours (and often the weekends) at a swimming pool, keeping the joints loose and the mind flexible.

Lally O'Mara McMahon, Associate Publisher, has worked on and off at the magazine for over 20 years. She started as the librarian at age 13 and has fulfilled many roles including Photo Editor, Office Manager and Circulation and Newsstand Manager.Lally is the eldest of four children born to Peggy O'Mara and John McMahon.She was homeschooled until high school and got her B.S. in Environmental Science from The College of Santa Fe, graduating Summa Cum Laude at the top of her class. After college, Lally lived for a year on Kauai at an organic farm, then went on to work for the environmental group Forest Guardians for several years, protecting old-growth trees from timber interests. She returned full-time to Mothering in 2003. Lally feels blessed to work in a family business, doing such important work for families, the planet and the future. She is also proud to have been almost born at home, unvaccinated, raised on alternative healthcare, homeschooled and breastfed for 3 1/2 years.

Elizabeth Carovillano, Marketing Director, joined the Mothering team in May, 2008. Prior to that she spent thirteen years in the natural foods industry, most recently as the west coast marketing director for Whole Foods. She adores being a mama to her 3 1/2 year old joy buddy, Noelani and is grateful that she can bring her to the Mothering office when needed! She co-founded a company called Bless You Mom and designed their first product, a deck of affirmation cards for mothers, www.blessyoumom.com. Originally a midwest girl from Ohio she has done her best explore the world and has traveled to Tibet, Nepal, Italy, Guatamala and taught for a year in Thailand. One of her favorite jobs was as VIDA volunteer in a small Colorado town in 1985. She started a youth center there that still keeps kids off the streets today.

Melissa Chianta, Managing Editor, first began working at Mothering 11 years ago in the customer service department. She was shortly promoted to the editorial department where she became first, the associate editor, and then, the managing editor. In her off time, she studies Eastern mysticism and the philosophy of Carl Jung, sings with various professional and amateur choirs, and indulges in watching foreign and indie flicks. She is also a certifiable chocolate addict—especially when working on deadline.

Candace Walsh, Articles Editor, Product Review Editor and Poetry Editor hails from New York, and has lived in Santa Fe for five years. She studied English Lit, Journalism, Poetry, and Women's Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and worked on staff and freelance for a variety of Manhattan publications including German Vogue, GQ, AD, Blender, Newsday, Details, and New York magazine. She also wrote the book Moving to New York (Running Press) and just finished up two collaborative coffee table books for Gibbs Smith: American Atelier and Stone Design for the Home. Candace joined the Mothering staff in March of 2005. In her spare time (hahaha) she enjoys going to to Nia dance classes, chanting and meditation, doing art projects with her daughter and son (seven and four years of age, respectively), and treasure hunting at yard sales.

Shirl Ervin, Accounts Manager, is originally from Indianapolis but has called Santa Fe home since 2000.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana  University in Liberal Arts.  She joined the Mothering team in 2005 and found a work family that has added to her family at home.  Shirl has two grown children: daughter Micki also an Indiana University graduate preparing for Midwifery school and a son David in college in California.  She shares her life with a wonderful man also named David and their two Jack Russell Terriers, Scout and Dewey..

Laura Egley Taylor, Art Director, landed at Mothering in early 2004, delighted to find herself in an environment where her inabilty to grasp the concept of linear time was not a liability. Born a tarheel and raised in the Mississippi Delta, Laura came to Santa Fe by way of, amongother places, NYC—where she lost much of her Southernness (except for a residual appreciation for grits and the way co-worker Todd McCoy calls people "Hon") and found her lifelong love, Tim. She and Tim, much to their amazement, had a baby boy, Reeve, who miraculously grew up (linear or not, time flies!) and will be going off to study voice in Scotland in the fall. When not intuiting magazine production, Laura road-trips with Tim and Reeve to places no one's heard of, experiments with photography, makes a collage aday, and goes on long walks with Tim. She's grateful every day for the opportunity to work for an organization with real integrity andappreciates the committed creative people with whom she works.

Melyssa Holik, Production Manager, was born in Kansas, then lived on the east coast—but she considers herself to be from New Mexico since she has lived here for her entire adulthood. She received bachelor's degrees in journalism and fine arts from New Mexico State University before beginning her career in graphic design. Melyssa moved to Santa Fe about a year ago and loves it! Melyssa loves animals, art, and travel and in her free time she likes to go hiking and camping.

Simone Snyder, administrative assistant, product/resources fulfillment manager, and street team coordinator joined the Mothering staff in September 2008.  She received her degree in Anthropology, Women’s studies and Religious studies from New York University.  Originally a Jersey girl she moved to Santa Fe with her family in 2005.  Since moving to Santa Fe she has become a licensed massage therapist (specializing in prenatal and postpartum), a certified doula and childbirth educator.  She is the proud mother of Jadyn (8) and Dian who was born at home in May 2009.  Simone is an avid reader of all subjects, loves to travel, take photos, and tries to spend as much time outside as possible.  Some day soon she plans to go back to school to study childbirth and the healing arts in other cultures-Indonesia specifically. PhD? Two little boys? She is confident she can do it!  Simone is so grateful to have found the Mothering family and a work environment that not only allows her to bring Dian to work with her but is supportive of all her other endeavors.

Micki Garcia, Fulfillment Manager, recently graduated from Indiana University with her degree in biology and is currently pursuing a career in midwifery. She began working with Mothering in May, 2009 and enjoys having unlimited learning resources right at her fingertips! Micki grew up in Indianapolis and doesn’t care for green chile the way most people do but it doesn’t change the fact that she loves Santa Fe and has enjoyed her four years in the crisp New Mexican air. In her free time, Micki enjoys a good movie, a good book, and she’ll never be ashamed to admit that the only good meals she eats are the ones that are home-cooked by her mother.

Mothering.com

Cynthia Mosher, Webmaster, is the mother of seven children and wife of her college sweetheart from Arabia. She travels between the Middle East and America for work and pleasure. Cynthia began her career at Mothering as a moderator in 1999 when the discussion forum first opened. She took over as Mothering's board administrator in 2001 and served in that position for five years. In 2003, she became Mothering's webmaster and is a member of the International Webmasters Association. She continues her informal education in internet technology and speaks to mothers in her community on a variety of topics including natural family living and being a work-at-home-mom. Committed to being at home with her family, Cynthia works not only for Mothering, but also her own website: www.vegfamily.com.

Melanie Mayo, Web Editor, lives off-grid in the north woods of Minnesota with her unschooled five year old daughter, her soon-to-be-born son, and her techie husband. Melanie is the former Editor-in-Chief of MotherVerse Magazine and Mothering Out Loud and holds a degree in Women's Studies with a focus on women writers and global women's issues. She also acts as the assistant webmaster and small business advertising executive for Mothering.

Amy Briggs, MotheringDotCommunity Board Administrator, first moderated for Mothering in 2000. She returned to moderating in 2005 and was honored to join the administrative staff in 2008. She loves helping others learn about Natural Family Living and has yet to have an uneventful day working at MDC! Originally from Texas, she and her partner, Trent, have called Georgia home since 1993. They've been best friends for almost twenty years and have three children ages 9, 7 and 5. An eternal student, Amy holds undergraduate degrees in Journalism, Studio Arts and Ceramics. In her elusive spare time, she loves reading and quilting (and reading about quilting!) and finds great happiness in doing small things well.

Jessica Weeks Smith, Assistant Board Administrator, lives in Kansas City with her husband, six year old daughter, infant son, and two rabbits. Jessica first joined the moderating team for the Mothering boards in 2001. Originally an Oklahoma Native, she attended the University of Oklahoma for a brief time before moving to Kansas. Jessica is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the Kansas Delaware Tribe of Indians. She enjoys soapmaking, long baths, attempting (failing) gardening, big fat books and general nerd-dom. She (almost) always knows where her towel is.

Advertising

Bob Rosen is president of KQ&R, Mothering's New York City-based advertising sales company. He has over 30 years experience in the media business. Bob and his wife, author Marcia Golub, have one child, Zack, now a freshman at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Among Bob's passions are hiking, skiing, playing guitar, and listening to live music.

Bridget Looram, Senior Advertising Account Executive, is a Jersey Girl through and through (with the exception a nine year stint in Brooklyn and NYC). She has a BA from Drew University and has been with Mothering for about four and a half years. Though it is not part of the job requirement, in the last four and a half years, she has had three children: Gavin, Graham, and Sage (due to this fact, her favored personal activities—including walking, reading and oh yes, sleeping—are relatively rare and cherished events these days).

Dave Peters, Senior Advertising Account Executive, is originally from the Pacific Northwest. He grew up on a small farm in Washington where his family lived the organic and green lifestyle before it was a big deal. Dave has a BA from Whitman College and has been in advertising for more than 20 years. He came to Mothering in 2005. Dave lives in northern California with his wife Stefanie and their son Bradley whom they home school. He enjoys hiking with his family, baking, running (the baking necessitates the running!) and travel.