Melanie Notkin is America’s premier Savvy Auntie, empowering the
nearly 50% of American women who are not moms to celebrate all they do
for the children in their lives, while living their own lives to the
fullest. She launched SavvyAuntie.com, the first online community for
aunts and godmothers, in the summer of 2008 to wide-acclaim. The website
includes expert content designed specifically for aunts, activities,
community and trendy gift ideas.
Melanie identified this influential segment of women, which she has
dubbed PANKs (Professional Aunts No Kids), when she herself became an
aunt. In February 2009, she guest posted for Lisa Belkin’s parenting
blog in The New York Times to explain the value of aunts and godmothers
in family life. The term has also appeared in More Magazine, Washington
Post, The Star Ledger, and on NPR among others. On July 26, 2009, she
launched Auntie’s Day(R), the first national holiday to honor aunts and
aunt-hood. The third annual Auntie's Day took place on Sunday, July 24,
2011.
As child lifestyle expert and tastemaker, Auntie Melanie has been
featured numerous times on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, CW, FOX News and Better
TV showcasing the coolest kid trends of the season. She was also
contributing editor at Toy Wishes Magazine and serves on the Toy
Industry Association Toy of the Year Nomination Committee.
She has worked with leading kid brands like Hasbro, Disney, Hallmark,
Yoplait, Sprout, Scholastic, and brands for women including Warner
Brothers Sex and the City Movie, Turner Networks/TNT, JCPenney,
Tropicana, BeyondTheRack.com and BareNecessities.com. Her groundbreaking
and effective advertising campaigns have been featured in Mashable.com,
The New York Times, Advertising Age and The Wall Street Journal where
she’s been lauded as a ‘trusted source’ and spokesperson for America’s
top brands.
SavvyAuntie.com was 2009 Webby Award nominee for Best
Family/Parenting site and is a Springwise.com Top 10 Lifestyle and
Leisure Business Idea for 2008. In 2011 it was named a Forbes Top 100
Sites for Women. Melanie was featured on Mashable.com’s list of top 5
start ups in New York City’s social media hub. Her first book: SAVVY AUNTIE: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers and All Women Who Love Kids (HarperCollins) debuted on April 26, 2011 and is a Wall Street Journal national best-seller.
As a successful business woman, she was a regular panelist on FOX
News’ Strategy Room Business Hour. She also lectures at various
conferences inspiring women, students and entrepreneurs on launching the
business of their dreams. She’s been featured on First30Days.com,
Business Week and Huffington Post for her leveraging of social media to
launch and grow her business. She's now a regular contributor to the
Huffington Post and PsychologyToday.com.
Before developing Savvy Auntie, Melanie was an interactive marketing
and communications executive for global Fortune 500 companies, including
New York Times Digital and American Express, as well as L'Oréal. She is
a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada where she was born.
She is a Savvy Auntie and Auntie by Relation (ABR) to a number of
wonderful children who are the loves of her life. She is also an Auntie
By Choice (ABC) to all of her friends’ kids, who come in a very close
second. Melanie resides in New York where she is surrounded by the very
best the City has to offer.
You can find Melanie at Twitter.com/SavvyAuntie, Facebook.com/SavvyAuntie ,Youtube.com/SavvyAuntie and of course SavvyAuntie.com.
Photo by Ana Schechter / Anaphoto.net
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