Sharon Magliano Feliciano has been a geek since she could put on a costume. She spent her second Halloween as Spider Woman and celebrated her fifth birthday with a Pac-Man party. When she started a family, Feliciano decided to create a forum for other geeks-turned-parents and launched ParentingGeekly.com.
Originally from Philadelphia, Feliciano now lives in Seattle with her husband, a Systems Engineer for PopCap, and their two children. In addition to her parenting blog, she also works as Director of Marketing for transportation startup Joule and serves on the Board of Directors for GeekGirlCon.
Meet our new Geek of the Week, and continue reading for her answers to our questionnaire.
What do you do, and why do you do it? “I founded the blog 5 years ago after another parent asked me where he could go to learn if the upcoming superhero movies were appropriate for kids ‘like ours.’ I wanted to make a place where geeky parents could get realistic answers to questions like ‘Would it really be so bad to let me kid play Assassin’s Creed?’ (No, it’s educational!) and ‘At what age can I reasonably allow my child to watch Terminator 2?’ or ‘What’s the best smartphone for my 12 year old?’ I get an immense amount of happiness when a parent sends me an email, or meets me at an in-person event to tell me how happy they are that other parents are struggling with these questions.”
What’s the single most important thing people should know about your field? “The biggest misconception I deal with is that once you have kids you are no longer able to have fun or indulge in the geeky hobbies you once did. I love encouraging parents to involve their kids (when appropriate) or to carve out time to continue following their nerdy passions.”
Where do you find your inspiration? “Obviously, I am inspired a great deal by my own kids and our geeky life. I also develop a lot of the ideas for the blog by having conversations at my favorite geeky hang outs like Arcane Comics and Card Kingdom. I will strike up a conversation with anyone in earshot; (much to the embarrassment of my children).”
What’s the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without, and why? “GPS, and it’s even better now that it’s incorporated into my phone. My sense of direction is terrible. I didn’t learn to drive until I was 30 because I was so anxious about getting lost. I don’t even use it that frequently, but I’m much more comfortable navigating on my own knowing I have GPS to get me out of any sort of trouble.”
What’s your workspace like, and why does it work for you? “My work space is the very not-glamorous dining room table. Sure, I could move my laptop into the bedroom for a bit more quiet, but then how I would know what’s going on when it gets too quiet?”
Your best tip or trick for managing everyday work and life. (Help us out, we need it.) “A shared family calendar. If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not happening. My kids, my husband and my sister all know that if they need me somewhere they’d better make sure they’ve put it in the app.”
Mac, Windows or Linux? “Mostly windows for work, Linux for media.”
Kirk, Picard, or Janeway? “Picard all the way.”
Transporter, Time Machine or Cloak of Invisibility? “Transporter, I hate driving.”
If someone gave me $1 million to launch a startup, I would: “Create the ideal family management app. Calendars, home automation, contacts, instant messaging, all in one app.”
I once waited in line for: “The midnight release of the final Harry Potter book.”
Your role models: “My parents have always encouraged me to embrace my geeky self, even though they themselves were not super geeky. I hope that I’m raising my kids to embrace what they love, even if it doesn’t line up entirely with my interests.”
Greatest Game in History “Tetris.”
Best Gadget Ever: “Smartphone.”
First Computer: “A Windows 3.1 machine when I went to college in 1997. My dad was a computer programmer and didn’t ever want a computer in the house.”
Current Phone: “LG G4.”
Favorite App: “Cozi Calendar.”
Favorite Cause: “GeekGirlCon.”
Most important technology of 2015 “Wearables.”
Most important technology of 2017: “Autonomous Vehicles.”
Final words of advice for your fellow geeks: “I know we all sat alone in high school, and it’s hard to accept that the things we like are mainstream now. There’s room for everyone at this lunch table, though!”
Website: ParentingGeekly.com
Twitter: ParentingGeekly
LinkedIn: Sharon Feliciano
