Wendy Armbruster Bell is the founder and creative director of Snugabell Mom & Baby Gear and the inventor of PumpEase™ hands-free pumping supports. PumpEase™ are stylish, sexy, cheeky, fun and fabulous pumping supports that can be worn over any nursing kind of nursing attire, or over nothing at all. They accommodate all makes and sizes of pumping horns guaranteed. A couple of things I particularly appreciate about PumpEase™ is that they are made with your baby in mind. There is no velcro, which can be scratchy and irritating, come apart in the wash and wake up your baby with its noisiness. Also, PumpEase™ hands-free pumping supports come in bold designs that stimulate your baby’s vision and contribute to brain development. So cool!
When I was pregnant with my first daughter, a good friend of mine (who had had her first about a year previous) asked if I was going to pump. I asked her why I would need to. She told me that she pumped so that John (her husband) could take a feeding and bond with the baby as she was (and it also gave her a break). I discussed it with my husband and we decided that it sounded like a good idea. When my daughter was about six weeks old, we rented a hospital grade double electric and I started to pump just once daily. I was soon frustrated by how boring it was – I couldn’t do ANYthing except sit there and hold the flanges on my breasts. Aside from that, holding the horns for upwards of 40 minutes (my letdown was very slow) exasperated the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that I had developed postpartum. So I went online and googled “pump hands-free” and “hands-free pumping” and found one of my main competitors (Easy Expression) and a few other products. I’m a pretty savvy online shopper however, and wasn’t about to part with my hard-earned money for what I found. Armed with my (then) 11 years experience in the apparel industry, I mocked-up the first PumpEase™ prototype on my sewing machine. I used this for both my daughters (the second one was born in January 2007).
When did you start?
R&D started in December 2004. I officially launched on January 27, 2008.
Which print of fabric is your best seller and which one is your favourite?
Our best seller is Tuxedo (“black sells” even in pumping bras!) My favourite? Hmmm… I think if I was to order one, I would order the Verry Cherry. But I really do love them all!
How do you manage to balance running a business and being a mom?
This, I am still figuring out. Now that my daughters are 3-½ and 5-½ it is getting a bit easier, but for upwards of two years, I worked probably 80 hours a week which included almost every evening (7 days per week) and to the wee hours of the morning. My sister, who also does my QC and packaging, does daycare for me four days per week (it was fewer days when the girls were younger). I have just recently hired a part-time admin/shipper to help out two days per week and I can already see us needing her more than that!
What inspires you?
Helping moms.
What are three things you like to do for yourself in your spare time?
Gardening, hanging out with (girl)friends, relaxing with my family.
As well as being a busy mom and business owner Wendy finds ways to give back to her community. Two dollars from every PumpEase™ hands-free pumping support is given to Best For Babes, and she donates her factory seconds to her local community hospital for moms who need to pump their breast milk in the NICU. I love mompreneurs who give back so I am thrilled that such a great company and person is sponsoring me too!
For more information on Wendy, Snugabell and PumpEase™ hands-free pumping supports go to www.pumpease.com. You can also find Wendy at the PumpEase™ blog called Never a Dull Moment, on Twitter as @snugabell and on Facebook.
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Tags: hands free pumping supports, nursing apparel, PumpEase, pumping, Snugabell
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wendy!! She is awesome person and I love her products. I sell her PumpEase in my store and my best-selling color is the Galaxy Black followed by Tuxedo (both variations of black). Wendy ROCKS!!
Judy @MommyNews Blog´s last [type] ..Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump Giveaway
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Melodie Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Agreed. I actually think you both rock!
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Thank goodness someone is talking about breast feeding-I did breast feed all my children and somehow I do not understand why people are embarassed by a God given gift…I do not like people who put moms to shame coz’ they are breast feeding…Do they have children?
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