this is us

A team of women from across the country, the City Mom Collective National Team works to lead our network, providing support and continuing education to our Sister Sites, working closely with our advertising clients, and ensuring that the mission of City Mom Collective is met and consumed by moms Nationwide.

who-we-are

meet the founder.

STEPHANIE FLIES

CEO, founder & member director
[email protected]

Steph is the CEO & Founder of City Mom Collective; growing the network after founding its original site, Scottsdale Moms Blog, in 2009. Now living in the greater Minneapolis area, she oversees the national network by spearheading growth strategies while shepherding and encouraging an ever-increasing number of moms managing individual hyper-local parenting websites. She is married to Alan and is the mom of three girls, Nora, Elsie, and Audrey. She loves throwing a great party, connecting people, and cooking with a glass of red wine in hand.

meet the support team.

ASHLEY ARINEZ

social media manager

ASHLEY RUETTIGER

finance manager

Ashley is the Finance Manager for City Mom Collective and has a professional background in business administration with a focus in taxation. She has a passion for helping others, whether it is through her work or in her personal life. Ashley currently lives in Illinois with her husband and four young daughters. She is an avid dance mom, coffee addict and loves all forms of cooking and baking as an outlet to relax.

LAUREN MILEWICZ

creative manager

Lauren is the Graphic Designer for City Mom Collective. Initially joining the CMC team in 2018, Lauren’s experience in visual communications provides the sisterhood with well thought-out, enthusiastic design. Her areas of expertise include print and digital art as well as the development and execution of installation builds for home and events. This curly-girl loves traveling, adventure, and new experiences. Lauren currently resides in South Florida with her husband and two young children, Sloan and Eliza.

LAUREN STOCKARD

business manager

Lauren is the Business Manager for City Mom Collective. Initially joining CMC’s National Sales team in 2020 and working in varying roles for the local sites including Fort Worth Moms, Dallas Moms, and Collin County Moms Lauren’s involvement in wearing various hats equips her to bring experience and skill to this role by providing high-level operational support to CMC. Lauren is a gardener, amateur chicken rancher, and true crime junkie who has mastered the art of reheating her morning coffee and evading the endless requests for snacks. Lauren currently resides in Texas with her husband and three young children.

meet the sales team.

JENNY-LYN YOON

senior national account manager 

Jenny-Lyn is a Senior National Account Manager with City Mom Collective, working directly with brands looking to reach specific markets with hyper-local messaging. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Jenny-Lyn’s introduction to City Mom Collective came as a co-founder of the site there. She has enjoyed taking her passion for working with clients on creative campaigns to the larger Network. Now living in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Jenny-Lyn enjoys crispy fall weather, cooking, and hanging out with her husband Soo-Young and two sons, Michael and Jonathan.

LIZ FERNANDEZ

senior national client coordinator

Liz is the Senior National Client Coordinator for City Mom Collective’s National Sales Team. With over a decade of experience in sales and marketing within the CPG and office product industries, Liz brings her extensive knowledge of brand campaigns & activations to the team. Liz resides in Northwest Arkansas with her husband and two girls where she enjoys being outdoors, volunteering within the school community and being a sport’s mom.

MEG SEXTON

national account manager

Meg is a wife, serial entrepreneur, mom to four boys, lover of long-distance running, writing, and heavy doses of sunshine. She is expecting her fifth (and final!) child this spring, a little sister to all those boys. She resides in Columbus, Ohio. She worked in non-profit development and university relations for almost a decade before founding her own consulting firm, Sexton Events & Marketing, where she focuses on event planning, brand partnerships and sponsorship development. Her most recent adventure is by joining the City Mom Collective team where she serves as a National Account Manager! Her full-time job is being a mom to her most precious gifts and she has been blessed to find clients who believe in this and in her.

TONYA JONES

senior national account manager

Tonya has been a National Account Manager for City Mom Collective since July 2017. After college, she moved to Colorado and fell in love, both with the state and with her husband, Ryan. They have two energetic boys, Landon (2009) and Kellan (2011). She also co-founded Co Springs Mom Collective in 2015.

meet our board of advisors.

BETH ZUSTIAK

advisor

Beth Zustiak was the Founder and Owner of Twin Cities Mom Collective for eight years. Additionally, she co-Founded Duluth Mom and helped get things off the ground. She is a wife, mother, marketing nerd and business coach. She and her husband live in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota and have three kids at home. She enjoys bringing women together to find community and a place to support one another and especially loves having the chance to coach and support other women as they find their place in business leadership.

KELLI BILLER

advisor

Kelli has worked to elevate the CMC voice and increase the reach of its sister sites through operations and strategic marketing initiatives for more than a decade. She currently lives outside Chicago with her husband, Garrett, and two kids, Dempsey and Ellis. She loves getting her fitness on, watching a good movie, and always appreciates a color-coded calendar.

MEGHAN BLOCK

advisor

Meghan is the proud mother of three and resides with her family in Boston, MA. She believes wholeheartedly in the mission of City Mom Collective and served as CMC’s Director of Sales for more than five years. Meghan enjoys ideating with the team on advertising proposals that not only serve CMC’s ad clients but also the mothers who have come to trust the information and recommendations that City Mom Collective Sister Sites provide. In addition to her role as Advisor to CMC, she is also the owner of Boston Moms.

MICHAEL PUHALA

advisor

Michael has been a part of the CMC journey since the beginning as a business adviser, sales trainer, and speaker at many of the City Mom Collective Sister Site Conference events. His background is in enterprise software sales, social media management, and entrepreneurship.