Lisa Ackerman worked in real estate site selection for almost 20 years, before retiring from her full-time career to volunteer her time with Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) and the families served by the mission. In July 2008 Lisa accepted a staff position as Executive Director of TACA. She has two children; Lauren (age 29) and Jeff (age 15).

How do you do it all?
You don’t. You make sacrifices at work and as being a mom to make it all work.  With work, I travel less than before kids.  With kids, they have learned more about independence and sharing time with mom. When we spend time together, it truly is spending quality time together.   Both my children know me as a working mom.

What is one of your greatest challenges as a mom?
Time. Having the time to be there for my kids when they need me but also when they don’t.  I want them to know they are the most important thing in my life. Spending quality time with my husband and with my family as a whole is also extremely important to me.

How do you measure your success as a mom?

Success is defined by (at some point in time) they don’t need me (or their dad) anymore. They live their dreams to the fullest. But another success would be even after their independence that they then choose to spend time with me because they want to.

Enter Pretend City, a children’s museum in Orange County that caters to pretend fun for kids in this age group. We’ve been to Pretend City and my kids LOVE IT.

I really have to say, Pretend City saved the day for me in a major way. Their birthday celebration was sandwiched between two international trips for me, and I was stressing with a number of assignments and life in general. Pretend City took care of everything. They provided crafts for the party and didn’t bat an eye with the RSVP list of 35 kids I provided somehow morphed into a party of 60 kids.

That is correct. Between some obvious RSVP slip-ups and some siblings who tagged along, we had 60 children (and about as many adults) in that party room. I was a teensy bit stressed. Pretend City was not.

Their staff led the kids in a craft, led the singing, and cut the cake while I lay in a fetal position in the corner tried to socialize with the other parents.

Pretend City partnered with ___ on the cake, and I have to say, it went above and beyond my expectations. The kids loved the way it looked, and it was so big that it fed all of the kids and then our family for another 5 day.

I’m not gonna lie: Pretend City sent over the cake flavor possibilities and asked what the kids would like, and I did not even consult with them. All I saw was “red velvet” and “cream cheese frosting” and the deal was done. I chose wisely. It was a hit.

After our celebration in the private room, all of the kids got to play in the museum. This was great since we had such a large party, and it gave us room to spread out. I cannot imagine what would have happened if that many kids descended on a rented bouncehouse in the park.

The kids had a blast, pretending to plant a garden or work or listening to stories or man an emergency response center dressed as a lizard.

Pretend City has one room devote to rough-and-tumble play, and not surprisingly my boys spent mot of their time in this room.

It’s also no surprise that India spent most of the time in the art room. I loved that my twins both got to engage in their own version of fun at the same venue.

There is also a stage with dress-up clothes, and the kids put on many a show for the parents.

Everyone had a blast at Pretend City, and left with a goodie bag including a ticket back. If you are local, I would definitely recommend Pretend City for a birthday party!

For more information about planning a party at Pretend City, visit their website at www.PretendCity.org.

How long have you lived in Orange County?
I have lived in Orange County for 12 years.  I moved from the SF Bay Area.  My family still lives there so i go back often but Orange County feels like home to me now.  It’s nice to live by a beach you can actually swim at.  Nor Cal beaches are way too chilly!

What do you like best about living here.

I love the diversity.  There are so many great restaurants and so many entreprenuers.  There is always something exciting happening in Orange County.

Tell us about your family.

I met my husband the second day I moved here.  I transferred with my company and he was my mentor in my new branch.  It took us 8 years to marry and we had Marlise my daughter 3 years ago.  We call her our little halfer because she is half vietnamese (father) and half caucasion (me).  Our first baby was really Cleo, our hairless cat.

How did you get interested in fashion? Did you study it in school or was it a passion that ignited later?

My grandparents taught me to sew when I was about 7 or 8.  But I stoped sewing in my early teens.  When I was 3 months pregnant I was laid of from a high paying corporate job.  I had climbed the corporate ladder and was done with it.  I wanted to do something I loved so I took my sewing machine out of the closet dusted it off and started making baby blankets and outerwear.  I had no schooling so i learned thorugh trial and error and studying garments i liked and reading online.

How did you start your business?

Really it started itself.  I wasn’t sure how it would develop.  I started selling on Etsy and a company in Japan found me and placed and order for 80 of my faux fur reversible ponchos.  They are still my top client 3 years later.  I started designing more clothes and grew more popular on Etsy and in Spring 2011 i signed with 2 showrooms in LA and Chicago.  I now have my line in almost 50 retailers in addition to my Etsy Shop.

What are some of the unique aspects of running a fashion line from Orange County?

The huge plus is to be so close to LA.  It’s awesome having all my fabric and notion resources 45 minutes away.  Orange County also has quite a few unique boutiques that value and support small or new labels.

How do you balance work/family/play?

Um, not very well.  But I am working on it in the new year.  At the end of 2011 I ended the year burnt out and frustrated that I didn’t spend enough time with my family because I was working so many long hours.  But you have to do that in your first years.  I keep my eye on the prize.  If I put in the hours to grow my business now I can hire more employees down the line to relieve some of my load.

What advice would you give to aspiring designers?

Read my blog The Fashion Business Mentor. I started it to help budding designers.  This industry is very tight lipped and many people will take advantage of you if you don’t know what you are doing.  My blog tells some of my experiences and I teach on topics that I know will help small businesses in this industry succeed.  Also, unless you have a huge bank account of expendable funds then expect that you will spend 10% of your time designing and 90% of your time running the business in your first years.  You have to be dedicated.

If you are interested in checking out Kangacoo’s adorable line, you can visit the sites below.

website: www.kangacoo.com
shop: www.kangacoo.etsy.com

First, the Discovery Science Center will be hosting a New Year’s Event for the whole family.  Families can celebrate early (and without staying up past bedtime) with a count down and ginger ale toast at 12pm, and 2pm on  December 31st.  Guests can dress up with hats, beaded necklaces, and noisemakers to the ring in the New Year!  Show up early for special fun like building a seltzer rocket and creating your own personalized party popper.  Kids can learn the science of time zones as they count down New Years around the world.

Later in the day, Orange County’s Great Park will host an evening filled with live music and dance, food and fun for all ages in a safe, alcohol-free environment from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. A Great Park Family New Year’s Eve will count down to 2012 on East Coast time, culminating at 9:00 p.m. with the Great Park Balloon descending simultaneously with the Times Square ball drop in New York.   The event will reflect music and images of each decade from the 1940s to the present. Local dance groups will perform dances from each era, and everyone can get down as a DJ plays tunes from the disco era in the Hangar 244 Lounge.  Admission is free, and parking is $10.