The Mom behind Macaroni Kid Clifton-Montclair

👋🏻Hi there! I’m Jessica Kline, Verona Mom of 3 under 8, working as your publisher and editor. In between motherhood and wife duties to keep you in the know of all things hyper local. It’s been a while since I shared about myself. I'd describe myself as passionate about connecting people, businesses, and local ideas. Some people are money driven, I’m driven by learning a problem and coming up with a solution. I love when a parent asks me questions about an upcoming important celebration in their lives, a simple “what should we do today”, and genuinely just meeting new people. Being a parent, especially during cold months and during a pandemic, I keep hearing people struggle with isolation, feeling frustrated with making decisions, and seeking connection. Macaroni Kid is my local business to facilitate some of your needs, but I wanted to share more about me and my journey to becoming your publisher.

Mac Kid and Me:

1) I LOVE research.

2) I LOVE recommending local resources for families and have always been the friend people ask.

3) My family will always come first; I consider our community members part of my family.

4) You will never see me bad mouth a business. My own experience may be different from yours and reputations are business’s livelihood. I may just leave them out of my recommendations :)

I have two goals:

1) I want to be the first local resource that comes to mind for all things you’d normally need to research. Camp? I’ve made you a full guide. Outdoor restaurants? I’ve made you a guide. And when you don’t see something you are looking for (always try using the search bar), I want you to think of me as your ‘best bud, Jess’ who you can email and get a quick response from. I know how challenging it is to research all of your options, while having your loving children claw at you when you are trying to process a thought.

2) I want you to feel connected to what is happening around you. There are so many Facebook groups and fliers in store windows, but I keep hearing how overwhelmed families are of where to go, what to do, and who to turn to. Macaroni Kid is here to be that support, and behind that is just a mom, just like you, living the same beautiful chaotic life!

About Me:

I grew up in Rochester, NY and spent summers either at sleepaway camp or on at our home on Canandaigua Lake (one of the Finger Lakes). I grew up skiing, raced throughout High School and I miss it. I attended Syracuse University School of Management with a major in marketing. I knew I wanted to move to NYC, work in fashion, and use guerilla marketing tactics in a business I’d run one day.

While living in NYC, I worked for Ralph Lauren in merchandising, sales and as a brand ambassador for their kid’s accessory line. I would travel to RL’s European showrooms quarterly and even then, learning the European culture and connection with our sales agents provided me excitement.

At 25, I met my husband Josh in NYC. We got married, had a baby girl and researched Westchester, CT and NJ for our next step. When our daughter was 5 months old we moved to Montclair and I quickly fell in love with how nice everyone was. We loved the walkability, the never ending restaurant choices, and the automatic sense of connection within our community. We are thankful to be surrounded by people like you who are offer advice and genuinely ask ‘how are you?’. We eventually moved to Verona which we absolutely love! Now, with three kids aged 2, 6 and almost 8, I feel blessed to give back to our community we call home using Macaroni Kid. I certainly don’t know everything there is to know about where we live - but what I do know I’ll continue to share! Make sure you subscribe to my weekly free e-newsletter to learn about local events and all of the researched resources. Check out the recent press on our Mom Scream and planned Mom Scream 2.0!

Signing off to hang with my fam for the night; please know you can always email me JessicaKline@macaronikid.com.

Interested in advertising or do you know about an amazing family-friendly resource? Email us at JessicaKline@macaronikid.com.