By Lindsay Pinchuk, BCB Founder + CEO

Ten years ago this week I found out I was pregnant.

At the time, none of my close friends were expecting, and I craved support and community.  Beyond excited to start our little family, I wanted to talk about all of these changes, what was going on with my body (CRAZY things!), and I had SO many questions.  Keep in mind, this was ten years ago.  There were no business Facebook pages and neither Instagram nor Snapchat even existed.   I turned to the Internet and came up empty handed.

How could I make pregnant friends?

Bump Club and Beyond began as “Bump Club Chicago.”  I partnered with SALT Fitness (formerly The Daily Method) for a prenatal workout class and then with (the sadly, now closed) Preggers Maternity in the 900 North Michigan Avenue Shops, for a  maternity shopping extravaganza.  As a then executive in the advertising industry, I sent an email announcing BCC to all of my contacts….and I hoped that people would show up.

And they did.  With fanfare.  And then they asked what was next.  Like me, everyone wanted to connect with other expectant moms.  None of us wanted to wait until we actually had our babies to find one another.   We needed the support now, in that moment.  Like me, everyone had so many questions. What do you need to buy? How do you register?  Really, is this baby actually going to come out of me???

Within a few short months I created the community I once craved, not just for me, but for now hundreds of other moms-to-be in Chicago.  Our monthly dinners brought us together—sharing every last moment of pregnancy, while preparing for parenthood along the way.  And our workouts on the weekend allowed us to stay healthy and fit—while bringing us closer to one another.  When the original crew started having their babies we celebrated together.  All of the now moms wanted to keep coming to Bump Club….so we changed our name to Bump Club and Beyond and created new mom brunches.  Once a month on Sundays we continued to gather, to bond, and cultivate our own friendships while creating friendships amongst our  kids.

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As our needs as parents grew, so did our offerings from BCB.

From the baby and newborn stage, we continued to share the trusted, expert knowledge we are known for through every stage of parenthood.  We tackled tough toddler issues, the preschool process and today touch upon many topics and issues faced by our now school-age kids. In the last ten years I am SO proud of my incredible team for the growth and expansion of our amazing brand.  We’ve accomplished some serious feats:

• Hosted close to 2,000 events for hundreds and thousands of parents and parents-to-be across the country in 30+ cities.
• Brought Gearapalooza:  The Ultimate Baby Gear and Registry Event to life 100 times in 30 cities—preparing thousands of expectant parents for parenthood.
• Shared our amazing experts and their awesome information with thousands of you online through hundreds of FREE webinars.
• Disclosed our own wisdom and expertise on hundreds of TV shows across the country—bringing our favorite products and brands to life for millions of viewers.
• Surprised an audience filled with BCB original moms and our Chicago community, with the cast of “A Bad Moms Christmas.” Thousands of you watched with us online, celebrating motherhood with us!
• Been featured in dozens of articles in some of the most noted publications and websites (some which are sadly not around anymore): BabyCenter, Parents.com, The Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Business + MORE.
• We’ve met, interviewed and featured some of the most AMAZING women on our website including Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Susan Sarandon, Gail Simmons, Lisa Loeb, Ginger Zee, Marina Squarciati, Stephanie Izard + so many more.
• Given away too many strollers, car seats, baby carriers and gift bags to count.
• We are honored to be a part of your incredible journey to parenthood.

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BCB 2.0

As we move into our second decade, and BCB 2.0,  I am proud to share that we are doing it with incredible changes at BCB.   You asked for many of these, and we’ve of course listened.  Some of the highlights include:

• Our new website will bring the trusted content we are known for to the forefront—complete with even more expert advice and our Moms IRL profiles.  We will have more information, more videos and COMING SOON, Ratings and Reviews on our favorite products.
• We are launching the BCB COMMUNITY!  Join us for FREE and have access to exclusive discounts with our favorite brands, special offers from local partners across the country, FREE samples, webinars and more!
• In March 2020 we will be bringing our events to life with our largest event series to date.  Stay tuned for more information as we take over the baby department at one of our favorite retailers in 300 stores on March 21st.

As we get ready to celebrate ten years of the BCB community, those early days feel like eons ago, yet at the same time, they feel like yesterday.  So much has happened, so many memories have been made.  Our once babies are now big kids.  Really.  BIG KIDS.  They’re approaching age ten, and we as parents are about to embark on an entirely new wild ride.

Yet that doesn’t change what BCB does and continues to do for new generations of parents and their families.  We remain true to our core mission, which is to connect parents and parents-to-be with the best products, resources, information AND each other…both through thousands of premier events and through our online community. Despite the changes and enhancements,  this is something that I am proud to say, will never change.

Thank you for your continued support—yesterday, today and in the future.  I CANNOT wait to see what the next ten years holds for the amazing community we built.  I am beyond grateful that you are a part of it.

On behalf of the entire BCB team, thank you.  Without you, our amazing community, none of this would ever be possible.

Feel free to drop me a line at info@bumpclubandbeyond.com or on Instagram @lindsaypinchuk. 

You can find more from Lindsay Pinchuk, our Founder + CEO on our website. You can also follow Lindsay on Instagram and Twitter.

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