Bios
ANN IMIG National Director, Director/Producer Madison–A stay-at-home humorist, Ann began inflicting herself upon your internet with her blog Ann’s Rants in 2008. Her writing appears on numerous sites including McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and College Humor. Babble recently named her their 2011 funniest Top 50 Twitter Mom, BlogHer named her a 2010-2012 Voice Of The Year, and her 5 and 8 year old boys deemed her The Most Annoying Boss of Everything. Ann founded the live-reading series Listen To Your Mother, spurring a national movement giving Mother’s Day a Microphone. Ann also serves on the Board of Directors for Violence Unsilenced.com.
KATE COVENY HOOD Producer–Mother to three children (four if you count her husband), Kate wages a daily battle against feet on furniture, wrinkles, dust, a lack of personal time, the ever widening chasm between now and “when she used to work,” and the constant arrows that having a special needs child shoots directly into one’s heart. In June of 2008 she chose to risk the unknown and start her own blog, The Big Piece of Cake. In April 2013, she will have her first essay published in print for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Kids on the Spectrum. Since starting The Big Piece of Cake, the opportunities – both personal and professional – have been overwhelming, making Kate’s answer to almost any life crisis or quandary, “you should start a blog.” Since bringing LTYM to DC, Kate’s new piece of advice to people is “you should produce a Listen to Your Mother Show.”
STEPHANIE STEARNS DULLI Director–spent her formative years shilling on TV for products like Swiffer, Shout, Southwest…a lot of products that start with S; as well as portraying the moral compass Sister Mary Immaculata on the long running and extremely ‘creative’ soap Passions. She starred in and produced over 20 award winning theatre shows in Los Angeles and her sketch troupe Lester McFwap served as the house comedy troupe for The Comedy Store. Her claim to fame is that she once made Jerry Seinfeld shoot milk out of his nose at Jerry’s Famous Deli. After a long slew of ‘B’ movies, she and her husband decided to get out of dodge to raise their son Max, who now asks every single day to be on television. Their plan backfired. Stephanie is now a stay at home mom to the previously mentioned smartypants and his younger brother, Huck. She fills her days writing for her personal humor blog A Belle Reve, as well as The DCMoms, BabyZone and Just Be Enough. She is an on camera reporter for iVoices on iVillage and spends way too much time thrifting.
KRISTIN ALEXANDER–A native of Richmond, Virginia, and self-proclaimed “city girl,” Kristin Alexander now lives a decidedly more rural life with her husband, daughter, and a black cat named Boo in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle – or as she likes to spin it, the far western suburbs of D.C. She is a regular contributor to online publications RichmondMom.com and In the Powder Room, and her writing as been syndicated on BlogHer. Kristin has also been published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Greater Richmond Grid Magazine, as well as in regional holiday anthologies A Very Virginia Christmas (Parke Press) and Legendary Santa: Stories from the Chair. Her personal blog What She Said offers up an irreverent blend of family, life, and humor – because if she didn’t laugh, she’d cry. Talk to Kristin on Twitter or Facebook, where she’s made it her life’s mission to outsmart Mark Zuckerberg and his mysterious EdgeRank algorithm.
LAUREN BOSTON–When she isn’t working as a staff writer for an association magazine, Lauren spends her time caring for her two young sons—a stuffed prairie dog named Señor Peepers and a vertically challenged, one-inch plastic baby affectionately known as ‘D Money’—and playing the “How Long Has This Been in the Refrigerator?” game. Her first big break came in 1995 when she was named “Most Creative” in Mrs. Sharpe’s third-grade class. Since then, Lauren has ghost-blogged, written for Living Social and is currently working on her first book—a collection of personal humor essays. (Think David Sedaris, but taller.) You can find her on Twitter as @lauren_a_boston or check out her blog, At Least It’s a Good Story. According to her Nana, she is the next Barbara Walters. (But taller.)
DIANE COOPER-GOULD–In her previous life before children (B.C.), Diane spent a decade working as a full-time starving artist. She was a professional actress and stage-combat/ movement choreographer in Washington DC. However, upon the birth of her first child, eight years ago, she started a new life as a harried, hopeful and hysterical mom. Recently, Dianeʼs 5 year-old daughter informed her that she was “Soooo embarrassing and reeeeeeally WEIRD,” which has convinced her that she must finally be doing something right with this whole “parenting gig.” Being cast in LTYM among so many other talented people has inspired her to start her own blog, The Upsidedown Compassionate.
JANICE D’ARCY–Janice is a DC-based journalist and essayist. She’s written and reported for The Washington Post, PBS and The Baltimore Sun. Most recently she wrote The Washington Post’s popular On Parenting blog. Her work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the Pushcart Award. She is now working on a book about secrets and memory. Read more about Janice on her new blog, JaniceDarcy.com
LARA DIPAOLA–Lara has deemed herself a humorist at the behest of the voices in her head, who happen to find her simply hilarious. She is also the mother of five. Two of whom are teens (which may account for her tenuous grip on sanity) followed by two under ten. Her fifth child is her personal blog, Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom. A writer-by-trade-caffeine-addict-by-necessity, Lara is prone to serious bouts of cabin fever, for which she self-medicates through writing about travel for 10Best/USA Today and Traveling Mom. Oh yeah, she has a real job too; Director of Marketing and Creative Development for DC-based CertifKid.
MICKIE GELLING–Mickie “Danger Sass” Gelling is a Stay-At-Home Mama and Fun Ruiner extraordinaire to Riley and Everett, and the green pea to husband Graham’s diced carrot. As a child, she aspired to be “either a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader or an archaeologist.” Neither path was meant to be. However, her distinguished career has included the lofty highlights of working retail at Christmas and waiting tables at 4 AM. But her time in the trenches has enabled a deep sense of entitlement, so now she makes Art almost every single day. Between writing, baking, knitting, sewing, traveling, overseeing Lego construction and finger painting, Mickie’s creative cup runneth over. Having traded in her urban spurs for a rural retreat, Mickie and her men now call Warrenton, VA home, where the kids have room to run amok, pants are optional, and the neighbors are too far away to judge. It’s truly a charmed life! To get a more intimate sense of Mickie’s dynamic world view, you can check out her blog Mickie Made. She is also the gifted curator, collecting the best of the web on Pinterest. Her own work is available at her Mickie Made Etsy shop.
ARNEBYA HERNDON–A native Washingtonian and current DC resident, Arnebya is a writer, blogger, and speaker. In 2006 she was a recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Larry Neal Writers’ Award (Adult Fiction) and in 2012 was named a BlogHer Voice of the Year (Op-Ed). Her work is featured in The _Washington City Paper’s_ 2013 fiction issue and as a guest writer on multiple parenting blogs. Because she’s funny. And she’s a parent. Her three children love to listen to her sing Prince’s “Adore” in the car, her husband worships her, and her coworkers clap when she calls out on days with scheduled meetings. That sentence is entirely true except for the parts that aren’t. Arnebya is known for making light of everything you think is serious business (breastfeeding vs formula, natural vs medicated birth, stay at home vs work outside the home, Democrat vs Republican, Duncan Hines vs Betty Crocker! White after Labor Day!) She writes to keep from killing at What Now and Why. You can also find her being lazy on Twitter and not obnoxious enough on Facebook.
JODI “JODIFUR”–Jodi is one of the few native Washingtonians actually living in Washington. She works part time as an attorney and lives with her husband, Doug, her son, Michael, as well as a dog, Foster, who has many, many issues. She started Jodifur because her husband kept telling her she reads so many blogs so might as well write one, and hasn’t stopped for six plus years. She is also the entertainment editor for thedcmoms.com because she might as well do something with her love for terrible television.
TAYA DUNN JOHNSON–Taya calls herself a Native New Yorker since she was born and raised there; however the DC metro area has been home since 1991. As a bossy child and cool nerd, Taya loved escaping into the short stories that she created. Writing is her passion. After attending the University of Virginia, she began a career as a meeting and events planner since it allowed her to be bossy and nerdy at the same time. She is the widowed mother of an amazing 4 year old on the autism spectrum. Although most days her grip on reality is fragile at best, she maintains her sanity by working on a fiction novel and blogging at Just Another Day with MrsTDJ.
ADRIAN KULP–Adrian is a full-time stay-at-home dad for two toddlers, Ava & Charlie. He writes the blog Dad or Alive as well as for The Huffington Post. Circle of Moms ranked him #4 on their Top 25 Daddy Blogs of 2011. His blog has been optioned for Television by Sony Pictures/ Happy Madison Prods and Adrian’s first book with Penguin Publishing debuts in bookstores May 7th, but is currently on sale as a pre-order. He is also the former VP of TV Development for both Adam Sandler & Chelsea Handler, as well as a comic booker for “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on CBS. He currently lives in Rockville, MD with his family.
JENIFER JOY MADDEN–A bike-riding, creek-splashing, “durable human” in her own right, Jenifer Joy Madden (J.J.) is a science, environment, and relationship communicator extraordinaire. Over the course of her wide-ranging career, J.J. has put words in the mouths of broadcast luminaries, crafted network-style coverage of global conventions, and blazed new trails of asphalt and attitude in Northern Virginia. J. J.’s news writing has informed millions watching ABC, PBS, Discovery Health Channel and readers of The Washington Post. Her skills as a gifted videographer are also on display in her blog, The Durable Human. Locally, J.J. is an award-winning community advocate on a constant campaign to promote sustainable, active and healthy lifestyles. She is a well-known guest blogger and frequent speaker in the Nation’s Capital where she literally and figuratively builds bridges to greater well-being. But J.J.’s most cherished job is Mom to three outstanding children, two of whom are already durable adults, with their little brother on his way.
AMY O’CONNELL–Amy lives in Springfield, VA. Originally from Ohio she has spent the last 16 years of married life living where the Navy tells her. She is a former self-proclaimed “boy mom”. That title changed in July 2009, when her Sweet Baby Girl, Madeline graced their lives on earth for a beautiful 16 months. She is mom to Richie, John and Tim (13, 11, and 9) and wife to “The Captain.” They keep her going but not necessarily sane. She has frequently been described the following way… “you know who she is… the one with all the boys.” Repeatedly asked if she was writing this stuff down, she started her blog, Life According to John. There she chronicles her adventures in autism, the chaotic, the funny, as well as her life after loss. Her writing has also been featured in the online literary magazines, Exhale and Still Standing; and on April 16, she was interviewed by Tara Kennedy-Kline on the Stop Raising Einstein show.
DEB WERRLEIN–A former college English instructor and current literacy advocate, Deb tutors dyslexic learners by day and freelance edits/writes by night. Her writing has appeared in various scholarly journals, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and online at The Broadside, and Opinionista. She’s also finishing a memoir about the adventures of her past academic life. Meanwhile, as a mom with a mission to change the world one household at a time, she blogs about intersections of politics and home on her personal website, small house, big picture. When not tutoring or writing, she’s gardening, canning, baking and juggling the lives of her two busy teens. Occasionally, she goes AWOL. When she does, you can find her out on her bike chasing hopefully after the wind.
