The story of how we arrived here…
Who we are
I’m Kate, President of Mom and Pop Web Stuff Inc. I’m from Horseheads, NY – the Southern Tier of New York. However, I currently reside in Newfane, NY, a part of Western New York. When I tell people where I live I refer to it as Buffalo because it’s easier. It can cause some confusion because when Buffalo gets their annual blizzard, people seem to think I’m snowed in… when in reality I can still see green grass.
In my youth I was highly involved in my home church. I was part of the drama team, sign language ministry, administration for different departments, and ran the Worship Arts Department.
While I was busy volunteering my time, I attended Corning Community College where I was a Student Ambassador for the Admissions Office. I would represent the school through tours and events, write blogs, make vlogs, and assist the Admissions office in administrative tasks. I really loved my time at CCC and am thankful for the opportunities I had there!
I ended up taking a semester to jump south to Florida to the Disney College Program internship at Walt Disney World Resort. It was by far one of the coolest things I was able to participate in!
Due to my experience being in front of crowds, I landed an Attractions Hostess role. One of my favorite rides at Disney was Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and I had the privilege of working that ride, along with Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and the classic Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. In another blog post, I may discuss some of the shenanigans I was able to part-take in. 🙂
After my semester interning, I transferred to Buffalo State College for Communication Studies so I could live closer to this cute guy I met…I had messaged my now husband, Jeffrey, through OKcupid (a dating app). We were 99% match, had a 14 hour first date, and were married 10 months later!
Jeff is Vice President of Mom and Pop Web Stuff Inc. He began making websites in high school as a hobby. He was also involved in the Newfane Robotics Club, Circuit Stompers. The Robotics Club was part of US First. The club was sent to Walt Disney World to compete where they were top 16 out of all the United States and Canada!
After graduating highschool, Jeffrey attended Tech school and received his Associates Degree in Computer Information Management. He started his professional career at a company where he built software and websites for colleges and universities. (A software I actually used while working at my Community College.) He traveled the country training the schools in how to use what he built.
Since he’s been involved in coding for fields such as logistics, healthcare, emergency services, and bible software.
How we landed here
After I graduated from Buffalo State, I worked a few odd jobs but our goal was for me to be a Stay at Home Mom. I had my step-son, Logan (now 13), and had two more boys, Silas (now 5) and David (4).
The boys are all in school so I started looking for part-time work in the communications field. I started ghost writing and graphic designing for other companies so I could be available for my boys at home. At this time Jeff was working for a Bible Software company that was very successful.
Prior to starting our business I often suggested to Jeff, “You should just do a website for them.” “Them” refers to a small business that we enjoyed and wanted to showcase. But they lacked a web presence so they were not able to get as much foot traffic as we knew they were capable of!
On Smallbiztrends.com states why 1 in 4 businesses still don’t have a website, “Most customers not going online, not having enough staff, and having insufficient funds to build one, were also common reasons for small businesses being void of a website.”
Jeff and I’s conversation eventually turned into we should start a web company together. So, I decided to toy with the idea of making a logo for our potential company…
…The next day Jeff was unexpectedly laid off. In September 2022 the company cut 10% of their workforce in the middle of the post-covid recession.
I asked him to take a week off before job hunting.
That’s when we brainstormed what it would look like to start our company. And the more we talked, the more excited we were!
Our mission
As we began to develop our mission, we knew we wanted to focus on small businesses.
Our mission is simple:
Mom and Pop Web Stuff Inc. empowers small businesses to be self-sufficient with their web stuff. We will simplify your web needs, while saving you money and headaches. We do this through quality customer service while determining your individualized needs for your small business.
We have not been open long but it is so encouraging to see how our business has helped our customers showcase their services to their own customers.
If you’re a business owner reading this, can you comment with:
- How does your small business serve your customers?
- What is your business’ mission?
- What would you like to showcase to your customers?
If you think we’d be a good partner with your business, please contact me at (716) 791-7781 or Kate@momandpopwebstuff.com
We look forward to getting to know you.