Loving where you live and where you work is what many of us strive for daily. For local resident Lindsay Valerio, her love for all things family and being a mom led her to create a community for like-minded folks. Valerio is a mom of two and a former Marketing Director, who turned her creation into reality, creating Kidizona. “When I had my first child, I felt like I was searching Google and Yelp for hours on end looking for activities for us to do together. I craved a website where I could one stop shop for all kids’ activities and the idea for kidizona.com was born,” shares Valerio. “I started posting on socials around the time I started building the first website and it has grown ever since.”
The kidizona community consists of local caregivers in & around Phoenix looking for things to do with kids. It brings together people from all over the valley and gives them an opportunity to find stuff to do with their kids and families. “I built the website so that families in the community could have an easy and convenient way to find fun parks and local activities."
Valerio also likes to collaborate with other local businesses and entrepreneurs such as Diana Ochoa who has an Instagram page called Littles and Lattes, where she also shares local events, family friendly fun, restaurants, and local coffee shops. She is also a mom of two and when she became a first-time mom, she began to follow pages such as kidizona, and ended up meeting Valerio. “Lindsay actually encouraged me to start my own page after we met and started talking, and long story short, I was encouraged to go for it and start my own page. Here we are a year later, and I feel very grateful to be a part of this community,” shares Ochoa.
In the spirit of collaboration, Valerio is also excited to share that she and Kidizona have recently teamed up with State Forty Eight for a special offering. This collaboration is called the Explorer Pass, and it helps showcase cool spots in and around Gilbert. Folks can participate by purchasing a kidizona t-shirt at the State Forty Eight location in Downtown Gilbert. With every shirt purchased, people receive a pass that grants discounts to local play places, coffee shops, and more. Uses are unlimited until the expiration date. Valerio says she was shocked and humbled by the collaboration at first. “It's funny, when State Forty Eight approached me about creating the shirt, I thought it was by mistake, it was definitely a "who me?" reaction. When they told me what they had in mind, I thought it was the perfect collaboration. Together we are now helping local families save money on everyday activities! And the shirt is pretty cool too.”
Kidizona is available for all locals and all you need to do to get involved is follow them on social media and online. “The website is a great spot to browse fun spots by location or activity type,” says Valerio. “I also love working with local, kid-focused businesses to promote their services to our community.” For other moms such as Ochoa, she is just happy to be a part of this growing community. “Not only have I met amazing mothers, but I have also had the pleasure of meeting so many local business owners who have become friends. The fact that I can help in a small way just by sharing our experiences at some places or reminding people of cool events coming up, deals, or freebies, is such a good feeling.”
At the end of the day, Valerio simply wants to bring her community together, helping people to find ways to enjoy the valley. “All parents and caregivers who want ideas, inspiration, and helpful hints, are the audience for kidizona. My passion is seeing kids having fun with the people in their lives that love them.
“I built the website so that families in the community could have an easy and convenient way to find fun parks and local activities."
The kidizona community consists of local caregivers in & around Phoenix looking for things to do with kids. It brings together people from all over the valley and gives them an opportunity to find stuff to do with their kids and families.
