Mom it Forward – Why Moms Matter

She is drive, determination and discipline personified.

She is motivated to make a difference in the world – any way she can.

It is this calm but focused spirit that drove Carissa Rogers to nominate Jyl Pattee as a Mom Who Matters.

“I can tell you first hand that she truly cares about people and not in that fake kind of way,” Carissa explained in her nomination. ” And Carissa should know – she and Jyl have partnered on a one-of-a-kind website and social media driven community – MomItForward.

Their goal is “to change the world one mom at a time by focusing on three pillars: me, mom, and my world.” Carissa and Jyl believe changing the world starts with you.  They contend your ability to impact the world is magnified by your desire to care for yourself.

But where does this passion to ‘change the world’ come from? “My parents instilled in me a love of serving and a sense….almost a duty…of being actively involved and doing my part, ” Jyl explains. Calling her mom the ‘rock’ of her family, Jyl credits her love, her commitment to her family and her ability to keep her chin up to the woman who raised her.

The lesson in ‘keeping her chin up’ has been especially handy.

Diagnosed with Epilepsy at age 14, Jyl spent years denying the disease.  It wasn’t until a very public seizure at the age of 23 forced her to come to terms with the condition. At that time,  she was able to truly embrace the notion that nothing could hold her back.  During that seizure, Jyl fell and broke her jaw in 3 places.  A mere three months later, a fall fractured her skull and left her with an epidural hematoma.  That hematoma could have killed her, but fast acting EMTs recognized the problem and likely saved her life.

Jyl’s epilepsy is completely controlled by medication, so she says she is not forced to deal with the day-to-day of the condition as many patients are. 

A mom to 2 beautiful, healthy boys – Chase is 8 and Connor is 6 – Jyl does not take her role lightly.  She was faced with an excruciating decision when she decided to have children – as she was not able to go off her medication during pregnancy. Jyl was very concerned about birth defects. Fortunately, both boys are perfect.

Jyl now works to balance an extremely full schedule – a family to take care of and a growing social community to oversee and expand.  With the help of her husband, they make sure they carve out both family time and couple time each week. And it is her mom who gets a little extra credit here too – for reminding her kids playing in a messy house is more important than having a clean house that isn’t conducive to play.

MomItForward is adding success after success to its resume – including a thriving social event – GNO or Girl’s Night Out – held every Tuesday evening on Twitter.  Each week the community exchange focuses on one topic.  As many as 500 people have joined in at one time. 

Also to their credit, Jyl and Carissa are proud of the ‘mom it forward’ events happening all over the United States: raising $15 Thousand  and a ton of awareness for http://yehu.org and http://basabody.comwhich will go towards helping mompreneurs have sustainable incomes in Mombasa, Kenya, raising $1500 for  FeedingAmerica.org to provide Thanksgiving dinners to hungry families, as well as a number of family oriented service projects.

Be sure to visit MomItForward to learn more.

Join us today (Friday!) on Why Moms Matter on BlogTalkRadio at 12:30PDT/2:30CDT to learn more about Jyl and her passion for MomItForward.

If you know a Mom Who Matters, nominate her!