SPEAKER INTERVIEW: Jo-Lynne Shane

This is a series of interviews with the speakers of Digital Family Summit, June 29-July 1.
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Jo-Lynne Shane is a former teacher turned digital mom. She discovered a morbid addiction to fonts and vector graphics and launched DCR Design in 2007 as a way to justify a monthly subscription to iStockphoto. You can find her designs gracing blogs across 46 states. She retired from design in 2010 and now focuses her time on her lifestyle blog, Musings of a Housewife. She is also a co-founder of Philly Social Media Moms as well as a brand ambassador, freelance writer, social media consultant, and coffee addict with a penchant for colorful handbags. Jo-Lynne is a happily married mother of three living in a rural suburb of Philadelphia.

twitter: @JoLynneS
website: Musings of a Housewife
session: Secrets of Professional Blog Design, Saturday, 6/30/12 4pm-5:15pm

What blogs do you read regularly?
I subscribe via email to Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Blackbelt Oma, Metropolitan Mama, Kitchen Stewardship and several others. These bloggers challenge me to be a better person, a better wife and mom. 

What’s your favorite technology to help you create blog posts?
I write right in the WordPress dashboard. It is the easiest way to get my posts formatted correctly.

If you could travel back in time and send your teen self a message, what would it be?
Don’t take yourself so seriously!!!! 🙂

Any advice for young bloggers?
The internet is an awesome place to hang out, but just remember that anything you put out there is permanent. Think carefully about what you say and how you present yourself because you can never take it back. Be true to yourself, but be careful with what you say.  Everything that is put out there is public and permanent. Silly mistakes can cost you future job opportunities or mortal embarrassment. Respect the internet and use it wisely. Think before you press that enter key, and trust your instincts. If you aren’t sure if you should put it out there, you probably shouldn’t. 

What are you going to talk about at the conference? 
I’m going to speak on blog design. No matter what your age or stage in blogging, everyone should have an intentional, clean, well laid-out blog design.

What’s next for you after the Digital Family Summit?
I will continue to grow my brand at Musings of a Housewife, writing about fashion, food, fitness, family travel and much more. I will continue to facilitate our local mom blogger network, the Philly Social Media Moms, and I’ll pursue social media consulting jobs and freelance writing opportunities that are a good fit for my passions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Adam Gertsacov is the co-founder and co-organizer of Digital Family Summit.  He wears many hats, including those of a professional clown, an author and publisher, an artist/educator, a non-profit administrator, a P.T. Barnum impersonator, a flea circus impresario, and the esteemed hat of the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland.