Evanston Internet Entrepreneur Catches Eye of Ricki Lake

Evanston mom and Internet entrepreneur Elisa All realized that she was using her smart phone more often than her computer to get online. Yet there weren’t enough smart phone-enabled resources for busy mothers. That’s when a light bulb went off.

All founded 30Second Mom in October. The website and corresponding iPhone and Android apps offer parenting tips in 30 seconds or less on topics such as food, health, money and relationships.

Since then, her audience and contributors have grown steadily and ended up catching the eye of talk show host Ricki Lake, who is launching a new show this year along with a corresponding social media network called Friends of Ricki. A few weeks ago, Lake asked All to become one of 30 founding members of the community.

All became Lake’s first “friend of the week,” which meant she was the featured guest on Lake’s weekly Twitter chat. The chat reached 25 million people,  All said, about five times the people that 30Second Mom’s weekly chats reach.

“It was just amazing,” All said. “Ricki really brings an audience.”

30Second tips

All said that Lake has jumped into the 30Second Mom weekly chats and recorded a video tip for the site. In it, she advises moms to take notes on their smart phones as they’re on the go so as not to forget anything important.

“What I like about it is that she really gets the fact that your smart phone can be your ally,” All said. “I use mine all the time, which was the inspiration for 30Second Mom.”

Related: Tech savvy locals develop useful apps

Other tips from the site’s volunteer contributors include ideas like stashing a lightweight poncho in your kid’s backpack instead of worrying about remembering an umbrella on rainy days and mixing half nutritious cereal with sugared cereal to get your kids to eat at least partially healthy.

Growing the site

All, a lifelong Evanston resident who went to Evanston Township High School and Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism for her masters degree, previously founded iParenting Media, which was acquired by the Walt Disney Co.

She said that while she never anticipated the partnership with Lake when dreaming up 30Second Mom, she did have a goal of getting tips from celebrity mothers.

“I couldn’t have predicted that Ricki would have wanted me to be part of that community,” she said. “That is just so cool, so unexpected and such a great surprise.”

Despite the boost in exposure that Lake provided, All said she’s focused on growing the brand through social media exposure and word of mouth.

The goal, she said, is for “a mom to say, ‘oh my gosh, that’s really helpful. I’m going to tweet it or put it on my Facebook page.’”

Evanston Patch has great tips on our Facebook page, too.