Elizabeth Rago is a word-loving, community-building powerhouse who’s just as comfortable wrangling RFPs as she is wrangling teenagers (which says a lot about her patience and project management skills).

 

By day, she's a Proposal Writer, crafting winning messaging for big business. When the workday ends, she trades deadlines for dinner duty and teenage debates — holding it all together with love, Earl Grey tea, and a well-honed sense of humor.

 

After walking through a rough season in her own life, Elizabeth saw firsthand how isolating it can be for women going through hard times. Instead of sitting in that shame, she founded MDW (The Modern Domestic Woman) — a warm, practical, and no-nonsense space where women can find resources, support, and a whole lot of real talk. From mental health referrals to interviews with therapists and lifestyle articles, MDW has become a haven for women who want community without the fluff.

 

Elizabeth has spent over 20 years writing for just about every industry under the sun — from luxury kitchen design and sustainable living to commercial insurance and mental health advocacy. She’s ghostwritten for executives, co-hosted a podcast about the hilarity and chaos of motherhood, and even helped spotlight fascinating local people and places through her syndicated column.

 

Equal parts strategy and soul, Elizabeth believes in the power of storytelling, the magic of a strong community, and never underestimates the therapeutic power of a well-placed meme. 

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Here is her story…

 

From 2010 - 2013, my family went through a series of events that left us broken, not only mentally, but physically and financially. This rough season had me embarrassed and feeling almost like an outcast as I looked for resources from mental health practitioners and lawyers to bankruptcy support and access to free food.

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Broken, I didn’t want to look for support using a Google search. My condition and circumstance needed a referral from someone I trusted rather than blindly picking a professional from a list my insurance carrier provided.

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When you fear daily how you are going to feed your kids, buy diapers,

and put gas in your car, life becomes daunting.

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Our family and a few friends were overwhelmingly kind and helped us in any way they could. But with their own families to provide for, guilt quickly set in that these wonderful people were scraping the bottom of their own barrels to help us.

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By day, I worked as a writer encouraging people to buy luxury handbags and remodel their kitchens with upscale appliances. At night, I faced my own mess of life battling hourly calls from credit agencies, an increasingly taxed relationship with my husband, chronic illness, and mounds of anxiety.

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I looked to self-help books to lift me out of my “funk." I listened to inspirational speakers that told me to “hustle” more and frankly, I was sick of hustling. I had no more hustle to give - the hustle was KILLING ME.

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I was looking for an element of support that nobody was really talking about in typical lifestyle publications. 

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Real-life support.

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I was desperate to find out if anyone else was feeling the way I was - drowning and weary. I reasoned if I was going through this hell in my seemingly delightful middle-class life, there had to be other women out there just like me, pretending to have it all together, yet drowning behind closed doors.

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At the time, The Modern Domestic Woman was a lifestyle platform that focused on DIYs, gardening hacks, beauty tips, and fashion trends. 

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As I came out of my rough season, I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way I felt, lost and full of fear and guilt. From then on I was on a mission to help women from all walks of life - no matter what they’ve been through. 

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Why? Because The Modern Domestic Woman is an extension of me. 

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I spent those years gathering positive referrals and discovered women who didn’t show up in the first few pages of an internet search. I reasoned other women needed to know about all the amazing local people who were also on a mission to help others.

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Supporting women from all walks of life, the Modern Domestic Woman (MDW) thrives on providing a local directory of practical resources for women in any capacity needed. From legal help and social services like temporary housing and food to positive female support groups and communities, mental health, and well-being organizations, MDW is on a mission to round up a list of services and support to get you started on a path to peaceful living.

MDW focuses on 3 pillars of living:
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Mental Health - MDW is a support community of women rooted in making mental health a priority instead of an afterthought. Because nobody can pour from an empty cup. 

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Lifestyle - MDW focuses on creating safe spaces; at home and in the body you call home. We encourage a healthy lifestyle that meets you where you're at. Not where someone else wants you to be.

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​Advocacy - At MDW, we go out into our communities and support women in crisis. Helping them create safe spaces to live and thrive. We actively partner with organizations that support the rights, recovery, and well-being of women.

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Of course, life continues to throw stress at me, but what’s changed is my response to the mania. And while I can’t make the insanity of life go away, I can encourage other women who are going through hell and give them a glimpse of hope through a launch pad of positive professional resources.

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In love,

Elizabeth Rago

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