By Anne Keisman
Source: Loudoun Times-Mirror
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 2007

A few months ago, sticking up out of grassy traffic medians in eastern Loudoun's neighborhoods, small enigmatic signs asked a simple question of bystanders.

“What is Modern Mom?”

Ashburn resident Hulya Aksu, the culprit behind the mysterious signs, knew her strategy had worked after she walked outside wearing a T-Shirt with the words “Modern Mom” emblazoned on the front.

“I must have been stopped 30 times by women asking, 'What IS Modern Mom?'” Aksu said.

Modern Mom Media Corporation is Aksu’s new business venture, which has already connected about two dozen Loudoun mothers through an online chat room on Meetup.com.

On Oct. 27, Modern Mom Magazine will officially launch at a reception at Ashburn’s Nelligan Art Gallery. The Web site, ModernMomMagazine.com, launched three days before. Aksu hopes her company will eventually create a network of approximately 20,000 Loudoun mothers.

Sitting in her Broadlands home, the dark-haired mother of two said the idea for a locally focused magazine, just for mothers, took root six years ago, when her first child, Selim, was born.

“This idea has been brewing for awhile. I just felt so disconnected from the community and other moms,” said Aksu, who was living in Atlanta at the time. When she moved to Ashburn three years ago, the feeling persisted. She knew Loudoun was home to a growing number of educated, creative, energetic mothers, but there was no way of linking up with them.

So, when her second child, Jada, was five months old, the 35-year-old Aksu started the Modern Mom buzz -- with a few strategically placed signs.

Old and new media concepts come together in the Modern Mom concept, which follows the social media model pioneered by Wikipedia, YouTube and FaceBook.

All the content is generated by Aksu herself, or from the “modern moms” Aksu has connected with since posting her signs. Moms in the community Googled “modern mom Loudoun County” and found the MeetUp.com chat room. The women meet online and, once a month, in person at a local restaurant.

Moms can connect to one another and their community by reading the magazine, contributing to chat rooms, writing and responding to blogs and meeting in monthly, face-to-face events.

“Women really need this -- women need to feel connected to each other,” Aksu said. The magazine and Web site will “reflect the collective wisdom of the community,” she added.

Every issue of the glossy quarterly magazine will feature a Loudoun mom, articles on local businesses -- everything from toy stores to spas -- and provide information about family-friendly events in the area. The Web site will provide more content and opportunity for online interaction.

Aksu said she got sick of feeling like everything worthwhile for moms was in Arlington or Washington, D.C. She said, “How many times have I reached for the [magazine] Washington Parent and thought, 'Why do I live here?’" It’s got to be available within Loudoun County, Aksu added, if it is to get printed in her magazine.

You won’t find a lot of parenting tips from Modern Mom Magazine. “The last thing I want to read is another article about diapers,” Aksu said, with a laugh. Modern Mom gives women a social and creative outlet from their roles as mothers -- which in turn makes for happier and more fulfilled parents.

Aksu is from Istanbul but moved to Santa Monica, Calif. when she was 11. She journeyed to the east coast for college at Georgia State University, where she met her husband, Murat, and graduated cum laude.

Before having kids, Aksu has, at different times in her life, worked as a Clinique sales woman, a writer and researcher for CNN International, and a documentary filmmaker.

“Really everything I've done has led to this project,” she said. Even working at the Clinique counter gave her the insight to be a product tester for moms. She has tested light-weight strollers, baby shampoo and -- her personal favorite -- local spa treatments.

Aksu’s husband provides more than just moral support. He is vice-president of marketing for a software company, and he and his colleagues have helped shape the Modern Mom concept. Also, he is Modern Mom’s own local restaurant reviewer.

The magazines will be free and distributed at area businesses. The first issue has twelve advertisers, such as Jaguar, NOVA Pediatric Dentist and a local gift store called Zazou.

Aksu said she has several institutional and private investors, but declined to reveal the amount currently invested in the project. One backer is Heather Roper, a neighbor and mom on Aksu’s street in Broadlands. She has helped with planning the first issue.

Aksu said she has even turned down money, believing she can get more once people see the first product. The launch party, she said, will provide opportunity to hobnob with local venture capitalists.

And what’s next for Modern Mom, after launching in Loudoun?

“Fairfax County, baby,” Aksu said.

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