Max Gladwell

Sommer Poquette is the “sexy, sassy, and fun” blogger behind Green & Clean Mom.

It’s safe to say we’re in the midst of a mom blog revolution. Several months ago, this uprising inspired us to write Hell Hath No Fury Like a Mom with a Blog. The headline set the tone as somewhat, shall we say, confrontational. After all, the focus was about a mom taking on agribusiness giants, the FDA, and the Department of Agriculture (Go Robyn!).

We also featured 10 other mom blogs. One of them was the decidedly more whimsical Green & Clean Mom, where the emphasis is on the “sexy, sassy, and fun” aspects of green living and parenting. Sommer Pouquette was kind enough to give us this insightful interview about her experience in the world of green mom blogging.

Max Gladwell (MG): When did you realize you were a blogger? Is it something you became or did you always have it in you?

Sommer Poquette (SP): I’m not sure I ever really realized anything. I just did it. I don’t analyze too much, I just do and then I wait and see. I started a blog and then one thing led to the next. I mostly started it as an experiment, to see if I could really reach other moms like myself, moms trying to make a difference and go green. It was working on a small scale, which I was content with. Then there was the mention about eco moms in the New York Times and things changed drastically. That made me realize the blog worked and I could reach out to moms like myself and also to any individual. I really became engrossed in social media, social networking, marketing and blogging after this. It’s fascinating and very powerful.

Did I have it in me? Sure I did. I’ve always loved the Internet. I’m very social, love networking and trying new things, meeting new people and helping others. I’m also an entrepreneur at heart. Put all that together with some creative writing and boom, you have Green & Clean Mom!

MG: What’s your blogging context? Where do your blog posts come from?

SP: I blog about environmental issues that I feel parents would be concerned with. Issues I’m concerned with so the voice is very genuine and real. My posts come from my own research (I’m a research addict), my current and past experiences working with moms and just being a parent in general, emails I get from readers, my green mom community inspires me and from friends and family that ask me questions. Sometimes, yes, they are random but I have a running list of topics I want to write about and research. Products I want to purchase and try for my readers so they see what my experience was. If I want to find out if a product is good or bad, I go to mommy bloggers. I think the tides are changing and I’m not the only one.

MG: Tell us more about “Sassy, Sexy, and Fun”. Did you find that other green mom blogs were buttoned-up, dull, and boring?

SP: No, not at all! When I started blogging in September of 2007 and looked into this niche of blogs, I noticed they all had the do-it-all-or-nothing feel. That was my perception. They made me feel bad for not breast feeding, using cloth [diapers] or home schooling my children. It just wasn’t a niche I was falling into or could relate to. I thought of my friends and if they were to read my blog, how would they want to feel? How would I want to feel? I’d want to feel encouraged, inspired, motivated and supported. For any parent, it’s hard to raise children and the thought of saving the Earth and raising children, okay…wow! It’s overwhelming and I didn’t want to overwhelm my audience or myself. I wanted to give my audience ideas, tips, reviews, chances to win products, a community for support and best of all a realization that it is possible to go green.

I thought long and hard about what I would name my blog and the domain name but I also had to think of the search engines. I chose “Green & Clean Mom” because I wanted to have a site about moms going green but also using clean products without chemicals. To have a clean earth and environment and to eat clean food without pesticides.

When I thought about the tag line of my blog I came up with the sexy, sassy and fun for these reasons:

Sexy is feeling confident. I wanted moms going green to feel good about their decision, not doubt themselves or let naysayers give them a hard time. I wanted to project confidence and that to me is sexy.

Sassy is taking that confidence and projecting it with a positive, upbeat attitude.

The word fun comes into play because, shouldn’t we all have fun? Moms can sometimes take things too far and miss the point of life because they get wrapped up in as issue (me included).

MG: You started out on a hosted account and then made the switch over with a re-launch of sorts. Was there any other significance there? Did it become more of a business at that point? Is G&CM a business for you and your family?

SP: I started out on Blogger because it was free and I didn’t begin to blog with the intent of having a business so I couldn’t justify spending the money to host my own blog. I had many emails telling me to switch to WordPress and I tried the free version but it was more complicated then Blogger so I stayed put. Then the emails and requests for reviews and advertisements came in and even though many blogs that use Blogger advertise on them, the rules for Blogger say you can’t. I was fearful of having my account shut down and didn’t like not having any control.

This spurred the WordPress blog and design and then re-launch. My playing and hobby had turned into something bigger and was taking more time. The money I was spending for the re-launch, the PR firms I was dealing with, the requests for advertisements…it all made me realize that I should probably form a company and protect my family. There’s not a lot of legal precedent out there for blogs but I didn’t want to be an example down the road somehow so I took the caution side and formed Green & Clean Mom, LLC. My blog is indeed my business and I work it as such.

MG: You’ve had your share of controversy over the SUV confessional, which happened to be on your front page when we wrote “Hell Hath No Fury”. Do you think you’re in a position where you can sway moms who might not want to get hardcore about living in a yurt but want to live better?

SP: Controversy is great for a blogger! Blogging is a conversation and you can’t have a conversation with thousands of people and not have some disagreement and controversy. I love it because it shows how blogs can really reach people!

With that being said, yes I think I can reach moms. I don’t want to sway them. Moms need to come to a decision to do something when they’re ready. Maybe it’s a year of reading my blog that they decide to do something, great. I hope to inspire them and give them ideas. I know I do because of the comments, subscribers, and emails I receive and the growing community. This is what keeps me doing what I’m doing. I’m reaching moms and helping them, even just a little. Giving them a new idea, a product suggestion, my view on something or just a place to ask and not feel judged.

MG: The Web Strategist blog wrote about how mom bloggers could be manipulated or compromised by corporate America. Did you attend BlogHer? And what are your thoughts on the power mom bloggers have gained in terms of swaying consumers?

SP: This is a hot topic with me because PR firms, companies and yes, corporate America…some of them just have no respect for mom bloggers. This keeps happening to me in horrible PR pitches, terrible PR emails and companies not respecting my time or energy.

Mom bloggers can indeed sway consumers and they are! I read blogs and talk to other moms to find out what products to buy. It’s called word-of-mouth advertising. If I see it on a commercial or in a magazine, I’m probably not buying it. If a trusted blogger writes about it, loves it and has an advertisement on her blog about it, I’m probably going to buy it.

Blogging is a conversation and mom bloggers are talking, so my message to corporate America is this: listen up and wise up. Mom bloggers can help you figure out what’s wrong with your product, why moms like it or don’t like it, how to fix it, who will buy it and for how much. Can you get better market research? If corporate America would treat mom bloggers like professionals and use them for consulting and pay them for their time and energy, like some are beginning to do, then they would get even more out of it.

The reason mom bloggers are at risk of being taken advantage of is some of them act like they have won a prize when a PR firm sends them a pitch or they get a free product to try. I think they have to stop acting like they aren’t a business. The Queen of Spain Blog wrote about this and she’s right. If you take products to review, you have become a business and should act like it. You are marketing for companies so act like it and demand to be treated like it! Otherwise, yes you will be taken advantage of and corporate America will enjoy doing this if we let them because it’s cheaper than television or magazine advertising.

As for BlogHer, no I didn’t attend but next year I will. I am looking and hoping to sponsor my trip with tiered sponsorships (remember, I’m a business not just a mom) and sprinkle some green love all over BlogHer. With all the women and moms in attendance, there should be more advocating of earth-friendly products and companies.

MG: Have you thought far enough ahead about what happens when the kids grow up? Does the blog evolve with your kids’ ages right through adulthood?

SP: I’m very forward thinking and always have a plan for the future. I don’t analyze how it might work out but I have plans! Wink! Wink! I have many ideas for my site and other sites. As my children grow I’ll continue to still be a mom and there will still be environmental issues and green topics. The blog and my business will grow along with my family. Maybe I’ll have my blog built up enough to even someday sell it??? Hmmm? Blog real estate, another topic, eh?

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