Kansas City Mom Collective

Hola! I’m Adriana Predmore. I was born in central Mexico and lived there for part of my childhood. Mexico will always hold a special place in my heart, but Kansas City is my home! I’ve been married to Mr. DIY himself and biggest supporter for five years. We have two high energy dogs, KC and Chief (can you tell I love Kansas City yet?) that require A LOT of attention. The newest addition is Jackson, our adorable rainbow baby. I’m a foreign language teacher and take full advantage of my position to promote the beauty in diversity. In my lack of spare time, you’ll find me running a photography business, chasing a toddler out of the pantry, and cleaning paw prints off my floors! My obsessions are TJ Maxx, romantic comedies, HGTV, and ice cream.

Amber loves jellybeans, morning snuggles, and new adventures. Personality tests peg her as 93% extroverted. She loves to write, but most of the time, you'll find her behind her camera lens. Amber left her teaching position in 2016 to turn her passion into a full time photography career. She now spends time photographing homes for real estate agents, updating headshots, freelancing for local magazines, and creating branding imagery for businesses by capturing their spaces, products, people, and processes. She also does portrait sessions for families, children, and high school seniors. Amber recently got married in a small pandemic friendly wedding. As mama to one and stepmama to four, she thrives on the happy chaos of a large, blended family. Amber lives with both Cystic Fibrosis and CF Related Diabetes and thanks God daily for His blessings and the medical advances that continue to keep her as healthy as possible.

Beth is mom to a high school sophomore and a first year college student. After fourteen years as a professional writer and editor, she earned graduate degrees in counseling and play therapy. Now she exercises her creativity as a school counselor. Beth loves reading, especially mysteries.

Hi! My name is Brittany Reinke. I'm a born-and-raised Olathe native. I graduated from Olathe North, received my Undergrad in Vocal Performance from William Jewell College, received my Master's in Mental Health Counseling from Mid-America Nazarene University and have now settled down in Southern Olathe. If you couldn't tell, just from that track record, I am beyond passionate about living, communing and raising my children in this area! I have been married to Keven, the love of my life, since 2013 and we have three beautiful boys together. Ben is 4, Leo is 2 and Miles is 7 months and, yes, I'm tired. However, I'm tired in the most glorious and fulfilling ways. I am a huge nerd. I love all things Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Trek... you name it. I absolutely love reading and would love to start my own book club once I master the art of getting through a book at a reasonable rate, something I'm not expecting quite yet at this life-stage. I am a chronic DIY-er. If there's a room in my house that I can renovate, I will figure out a way to put my special touches on it from the subfloor up! I live with Cerebral Palsy which has progressively taken its toll on my body, however, I'm an extremely determined gal and am set on making this journey through motherhood as fun, wild and exciting as it can be!

My name is Darin Wisner. No, my parents did not think they were having a boy, they just love unique gender-neutral names. I have been happily married to my Husband Greg for two years now, and we have a smiley, cuddly, and loving seven-month old girl. We also have two doggie daughters, Caroline and Shasta. My sisters and I are also the primary caretaker for our Dad. I am a born and raised Kansas City Metro girl, moved to Lawrence, KS for my first-ever teaching job, and moved back to the Lee’s Summit area once I got married. I am a proud high school teacher coming from a family of educators, as well as a high school softball coach. I love everything Kansas City has to offer!

Hi! I’m Denise; wife to Doug for 36 years, mom to Kate who lives in DC and works at NASA, Caroline who became our angel at four months old and Ryan who is a junior at KState majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Physics and two fantastic felines, Walter and Arthur. I love to take pictures, cook and bake, watch sports, dabble in most any type of crafting and hang out with my family. Mostly out of necessity, I have become fascinated with social media and have a false sense of pride that I am better at it than most people my age. I have a constantly changing bucket list, mostly revolving around things I can do with friends or family and that doesn’t require me to address my solid fear of heights!

Hello, I’m Jacque (pronounced Jackie!). I have been married to my high school sweetheart for nearly 23 years (we have 3 years of really bad prom pictures to prove it!). We have 4 children that keep us on our toes; Allie is 17, Caroline 15, Jane 13, and Wade is 9. After 12 years of being away from the full-time workforce, I returned just over a year ago as a small business coach for Mizzou’s Business Development Program. I also teach part-time for the UMKC Bloch School of Management. In the very early mornings, I am finishing up the final stretch of an Organizational Psychology PhD program; my dissertation research is the impact of mentorship on identity and self-efficacy in mothers returning to work after an extended child-rearing leave. I love being involved in this incredible community and especially love volunteering for educational initiatives. I am happy to be here and happy to meet each of you!  

Jen was born and raised in Overland Park. After going to Indiana University for college, then living in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, she grew exhausted of circling for a parking spot and headed back home to be near family. She and her husband Matt are parents to a 10 year-old boy and a 8 year-old girl. Jen teaches kindergarten and her husband teaches high school, so they wonder how they’ll relate to their kids during the middle school years. She spends her free time cheering on the Chiefs, Royals, and Hoosiers, hanging out with family, laughing with her teacher friends, and fostering a love/hate relationship with boxing. She also loves traveling, Target, coffee, wine, sunflowers and all things pop culture.

Hi there! I’m JiaoJiao Shen – wannabe world traveler, amateur chef, expert tiger mom. My little family of four consists of my husband (Jason), son (Henry), and daughter (Lucy). I’m a transplant to the Kansas City area after living in a number of different places including San Francisco, Denver, and Oklahoma City. I graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and spent more than a decade as a morning news anchor before deciding I didn't want to continue waking up at 2 a.m. every day. I am currently a PR director at Hallmark where I get the privilege of sharing stories of caring with the world. I am passionate about sharing all aspects of my Chinese culture with my children and their friends from our language to our holidays to, of course, our food! In what little spare time I have, I love to catch up on the latest popular TV shows (ahem Bridgerton), eating…I mean cooking… (but really eating), “exercising” outdoors (and by exercise, I mean walking at a leisurely pace), and reading (anything and everything but especially cheesy HEA romance novels – see Bridgerton reference above).  

I'm Julia, and I live in Olathe with my husband of 13 years, my 7 and 2.5 year old daughters, and a sweet old blind pug we call Boopers. I’m a social worker turned SAHM (at least til my youngest starts school). I love Dr. Pepper, thunderstorms, and talking to other adults. I hate coffee, diet culture, and washing dishes. I'll talk your ear off about the best local parks and which restaurants have wronged me by changing their long-standing menu items. I try to walk the line between knowing a lot of stuff and not being a know-it-all. Some days I'm better than others.

Hey! My name is Julie and I use too many exclamation points! My husband Grady and I are attempting to raise two wild women, Mia and Reese. We live in Shawnee where our faux bulldog Marge rules the roost. My hobbies include driveway drinking, going to parks and desperately trying to have date nights. My likes include the Jayhawks, coffee, craft beer and ChapStick. My dislikes include samesiders (people who sit on the same side of the booth when no one is on the other side), jerks and grocery shopping.

Hi! I’m Kelly! I was born in South Korea, grew up in Nebraska, went to college at Kansas State, and spent my 20s in Washington, D.C. I moved to the Kansas City area in 2012 (vowing never to complain about traffic again after commuting on the Beltway), where I met my husband who was then stationed with the Army at Fort Leavenworth. In addition to being busy with my job in digital advertising, I’m running around with our rescue dog and 1.5 year old daughter. I also love volunteering with various organizations in KC, finding new creative outlets, exploring new places and things to do, shopping a good sale, aiming to keep my plants alive, and spending time with friends and family. Someday I also hope to get back into something I did before having a baby – triathlons! My ideal afternoon involves a stop at Family Tree Nursery, listening to podcasts in my car with the windows down, and trying a new restaurant. The real treat of the day would be to actually witness my toddler eating her veggies!

Kristin is a Lee’s Summit suburb transplant, after living in the Brookside and Plaza areas for over eight years. Raising three young boys with her husband, Jake, has helped her to embrace the messy, wild side of life where love is expressed in bear hugs and body slams. Professionally, she can be found teaching classes as an adjunct professor in the areas of Business, Marketing and PR. She is able to provide her students with applicable, real-life knowledge as she draws from several years working in the corporate sector. “Free time” (ha!, what's that again?) is spent on an occasional date night to favorite local restaurants, reading blogs on everything from home design to politics, riding her sweet beach cruiser bike and thinking of ways to convince her husband to do yet another home improvement project.

Hi, I’m Mallory! I get to be a mom to my super active 3-year-old son, Jaden, and I also co-own a local fitness company called Flexy. We recently adopted a super loving and huge Doberman so, yeah, you could say my hands are full! Jaden and I love exploring all over the Kansas City area to discover new and different parks, find cost effective activities and learning opportunities for children, as well as creating simple and fun activities at home. To be transparent I wasn’t sure I would ever be a mom, I thought I would likely just be a woman pursuing business, but here I am doing both and I am so so thankful! I never could’ve imagined how incredible (and sometimes gross) being a mom could be. So here’s to making the most out of life and experiencing more love than I ever knew existed!

I’m Marsha, the devoted wife of a Nebraska Husker fan, mother to a sweet laid back 7-year-old boy named Kellen and a 5-year-old spunky know-it-all named Rowen. I am a Kansas City native, proud Northwest Bearcat Alumni, and enthusiastic 4th grade teacher! I enjoy stolen moments where I can read in peace, indulging in chocolate chip cookies whenever possible, tending to my vegetable garden and finding new ways to annoy my daughter! My goal in life is to be my authentic self, follow the motto of ‘She did what she could,’ and share that with other moms!

Hi, my name is Melanie Olson-Cox. I grew up in Lee’s Summit, MO & have chosen to raise my family here as well. I’m married to Andy, and we have 4 children, ranging in ages from 8-16. I currently work full-time for a local advertising & marketing agency. Prior to joining the agency full-time, I was a freelance social media manager & content creator while my children were younger.  I enjoy connecting with others and constantly learning how to be the best human I can be. Causes I am passionate about are: PTA & PTA legislative advocacy for public schools, Moms Demand Action, being an ally for LGBTQIA community & helping my kids learn that this world is a big place but they can make a difference - even in non-traditional ways. Raising kids is challenging - each age/phase brings new learnings and helps me grow as a person & as a parent. My hot take about parenting is “people (or our kids) often don’t want advice, but rather someone to listen and validate their feelings. After we do that, we can ask them if they want us to share experiences, struggles and emotions we went through with the hopes that it might help offer perspective.

I’m a follower of Christ and a passionate lover of Disney (a major understatement). I love writing, roller coasters, new adventures to far off places, my whimsical mug collection, Harry Potter, fashion, video games, the pumpkin patch, sushi, Marvel, getting lost in fictional worlds, cruising in my green Jurassic Park jeep wrangler, the sun peaking over the mountains on a chilly morning and most of all my sweet little family. I’m a SAHM living in Olathe. I’ve been married for 5 years to the love of my life and best friend Brian who is an electrical engineer at Burns & McDonnell and is part time with the Air National Guard. We met at our church back in 2012 and dated long distance for about 3 years after he moved to KC for his job. I moved to KC to be with him after our wedding and the rest is history! We LOVE being parents to our sweet, big-hearted, hilarious son Jude, who is almost 2, his baby brother on the way who is due in June and our aggressively friendly Golden Retriever, Cooper. I’m all about genuine connections, authenticity and sprinkling some magic into everyday life. Follow along at @kctothekingdom on Instagram and over on my blog kctothekingdom.com where faith, life and magic come together!

Hello! I'm Niko - a new mom living with my husband and infant son, Felix, in the Northland. I was born and raised in Kansas City, and though I've always found my way back home, everyday I miss the years I traveled and lived abroad in Asia. I hope soon to get back to exploring the world and traveling, but this time as a family! For now, there is so much to do and see together in KC that even I haven't experienced before. As a KCMC contributor, I hope to bring to the table my expertise in Googling, my obsession of planning, my experience in infertility treatments (Felix is here after 3 IVF cycles and 2 FETs), parenting after trauma, and travel, as well as my passion for culture and diversity. My latest hobby is panicking that Felix is allergic to a new food I introduced him to.

Approximately 1 day of her life, Rachel hiked on a glacier in Iceland. The other 99.9% of her days her hands are full doing creative strategy at Hallmark Cards, being a mom to Luna who is a five-year-old Queen of Sass, wife to Matt who is a sweet Google-a-holic, and dog mom to Rosie, whose sweetness is matched only by her smelliness. Her favorite ways to avoid cleaning the house are leisurely strolls through Target (pre-pandemic) listening to mostly crime podcasts, spending a small fortune on curly hair products, crafting Barbie schools out of Amazon boxes, making complicated recipes with too many ingredients, playing 1 million games of Zingo, and enjoying her Westside downtown neighborhood with her family.

Sierra is mama to a human boy and will soon be officially off the market, May of 2023! In the car you can catch me singing very loudly to various Disney Hits and at home it's pretty much the same. Learning, Living, and Loving Mom Life!

My name is Solissa (pronounced “So-Lisa”), and I live in Lees Summit, MO with my husband/best friend Adam and our two daughters Everly (6) and Mia (2). I was born & raised in San Diego but have called KC home for the last 18 years. Although I miss the warm weather & beaches, I LOVE raising my family here in the Midwest. I am a proud first-generation college graduate who attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City where I earned both my bachelors and master’s in education. I was once a brave soul who taught middle school but now, I have the privilege of serving the nonprofit community a program director for a local college access/scholarship program. My side hustle is teaching mindfulness to K-12 school communities. If you really knew me, you would also know that I am your typical introvert who would rather be at home on a Friday night, but I also appreciate the opportunities to meet new people and try new things. When I am not overly consumed by parenting and work life, I love the moments where I can get lost in a really good book, connect with nature on a local trail (Kansas City has so many great ones!) or binge watch the latest streaming sensation (you name it, I’ve probably watched it!). Being a mom is the best and hardest job I’ve ever had the privilege of holding and I’m so honored to be part of the Kansas City Mom Collective!

I’m Sybil Orman, and currently live in Leawood, Kansas, but have lived all throughout the metro area. I grew up in Olathe, and went on to attend Kansas State University and the University of Kansas where I finished my undergraduate and masters degree in education.Before having children, I spent my days as a high school Spanish teacher in Kansas City, Kansas. Now, I can be found loving on and figuring out life with my 6-year-old daughter, Imogen, 4-year-old daughter, Sigrid, and 8-month-old son, Rory, as well as my 3 dogs, feisty cat, and 3 fish. I’ve been married to my husband, Greg, for nearly nine years. We have experienced two statewide political campaigns and a pandemic together, and I am STILL so grateful we bumped into each other at the gym that summer day 12 years ago. My other true love and constant part of my adult life has been running. My “me time” is hitting the pavement all about town, with run clubs and at local races. You can find me in my craft room, outside trying to keep my garden alive, or researching ways to attract a variety of birds to my feeders.

Teresa is a transplant originally from Iowa and spent her twenties bouncing around the Midwest. She is expecting her first child in Summer 2022 after infertility, pregnancy loss, and IVF. Professionally, Teresa works in healthcare marketing at an advertising agency. When not at her laptop, you can find her enjoying the outdoors, putting her cats in tiny hats against their will, and watching copious amounts of reality TV.

Tiffany Hamlett is a boy mom, wife and adventurous homebody navigating the balance of parenting, working and entrepreneurship. As former Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleader, Tiffany is passionate about empowering the youth through dance. She founded Tiffany’s Dance Academy which offers affordable classes in her hometown of Grandview, MO. Professionally Tiffany has over 10 years of experience in corporate communications, elevating brands through storytelling. She received her B.A. from California State University-Sacramento, with a dance minor. Outside of the office and dance studio her time is filled with fun toddler activities with her 1-year-old and 4-year-old. She is a Gryffindor who enjoys watching Real Housewives of anywhere during her limited “me time”.

A firm believer that the Midwest is all that and a tator tot casserole, Valerie moved to KC after graduating from Mizzou in 2013. She’s been married to her husband Josh since 2015, and together they’re raising an adorable, tiny human firework named Finnian (1). Valerie spends her workdays making funny greeting cards while Josh wins at the stay-at-home-dad game by teaching Finn words like “yee-haw” and helping him style his Snapchat filters. When she isn’t tracking down a new place to drag her family to, you can find her blasting showtunes, sharing (very poorly) wine with friends, reading, listening to true crime podcasts, or near cheese. You can’t find her playing kickball, so don’t even try. Valerie, Josh, and Finn shoot for put-together, but settle for put-on-pants—and they love every second of their reasonably-chaotic life.

Hola! My name is Yani Vazquez-Cruz I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I moved to Kansas City 10 years ago and now I live in the Northland with my husband Jerry and my 6 year old daughter, Isabella. I have a Master’s Degree in Business Administration/Marketing from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and I received my undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Puerto Rico. Currently I work for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as the Director of Membership Services. My family and I love to travel and explore new places. Other things I enjoy are coffee, reading, baking, puzzles, Legos and writing. But there’s nothing I enjoy more than being Isabella’s momma and snuggling with her any opportunity I get.