We were lucky to catch up with Amy Lundy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
After graduating from college shortly after 9/11 the job market was bleak, and that’s putting it mildly. I had studied communications, marketing, and history, and while I had worked some while in college and had summer internships, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do for my career. I was 22, and frankly, I was a bit clueless about the job market. I knew I wanted to do something in business and I was very fortunate to attend UW-Madison who had an amazing career center. The first interview on campus was with the luxury retailer Tiffany & Co. I had virtually no retail background and truth be told, very little interest in fashion and retail. I thought, what’s the worst that can happen? I get turned down for the job. So, I threw myself into the stacks of resumes for the job. I needed a job, I needed to gain skills, and I needed to be self-supporting, so I was going to do whatever it took to show them that I could and would be an asset to them in the new program they had created for selected graduates. I went through an intensive hiring process and was chosen as one of four Management Development Associates in the country. I was given about two weeks to move to NYC. None of my friends had secured jobs yet, and the only person I knew in the city was my older brother. It was the first time I really felt like an adult and I honestly felt scared and unsure of myself, but that didn’t stop me from going. Instead, I used the anxious energy to keep moving forward. I traveled to different stores to learn about every facet of the retailer, from sales to PR to management to human resources and more. I worked 10 hour days, on my feet almost the entire time (in a suit, tights and heels no less!); commuted around the Northeast on trains, buses and subways (thankful for those old school mp3 players); and ate pizza slices, packaged ramen and Chinese takeout almost everyday to afford my tiny ground floor 200 sq ft. studio. It was ALL worth it! It was an absolutely perfect fit for a young person eager to gain new skills, contribute to a team and grow professionally and personally. That experience of moving to a new city alone, working in a completely foreign industry for me, and throwing myself into every opportunity to learn about all aspects of a well-established, highly respected business ultimately gave me the confidence to take far bigger risks as time went on. After the program ended, I worked in professional and financial services companies, most notably American Express, managing their marketing, events and business development efforts. 10 years later I started my own business, The Mother of All Baby Showers (MOABS). MOABS is an adults-only night out I created in cities across the US as an opportunity for brands, resources and experts in the baby, maternity and juvenile industries to market and sell their products and services to expectant and new parents in a truly educational and celebratory format. More on that later. The early career decisions and risks I took helped me build the confidence, skill set and contacts to eventually leap head first into becoming an entrepreneur. I did the hard work and took calculated risks along the way, and still very much operate within that same mindset. And anyone who knows me and knows MOABS understands that service is my highest priority. And that focus on providing the highest level of service to my clients, consumers and event partners, came from my very first job at T & Co. I often think back to those early days in my career when I felt unsure of my abilities and somewhat unclear about my career in business, but I always bet on myself to find the right path and not let fear hinder me from going forward.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Born and raised in South Florida (Cooper City to be exact), I went away to UW-Madison and then began my career in DC and landed in NY in my 20s. In 2010, I became a first-time mom who had just left NYC to move to Florida to finally have a backyard and more space for my new baby. I had just come from working oftentimes excruciatingly long hours running the events for American Express and was eager to make my next career move…while going through all the motions as a new mom. While living in Tampa (where I started my business–MOABS) and exploring mommy and me options around the city with my daughter Alexandra, who is now almost 12, I quickly realized how overwhelming it was for parents to find classes, baby products and services, AND meet other new moms. Given my extensive marketing, events, and PR background, my gut instinct was screaming to me to create a program that would connect new families to resources that would help make parenting easier and frankly more enjoyable. But not just that, also provide new mothers the opportunity to socialize, commiserate and build support systems, while their babies were learning and playing (aka help moms build their village). I immediately started contacting local companies that targeted young families, such as Music Together, My Gym, Color Me Mine, Glazer Children’s Museum, and many more, plus local restaurants and retailers like buybuy BABY. Six months later the first term of small fry society (precursor to MOABS) began, a six-week program whereby every week you brought your child to a new activity, and once a term there was a Girls’ Night out entirely focused on laughter, food, fun and sometimes shopping (thanks to Nordstrom for hosting us all those years back!). The program grew and grew but I wasn’t done yet. I had an epiphany one day when a dad wrote me asking if I was hosting other events in the evening and on weekends for parents who worked and didn’t have as much flexibility. I knew I could build bigger, better, and even more inclusive events (dads love MOABS too!) with greater educational opportunities and more national brands involved, and well, that’s just what I did. Necessity is in fact the mother of invention because on that day 11 years ago I created The Mother of All Baby Showers (MOABS), an adults-only night out for ALL things pregnancy and parenting that guarantees learning, laughing, and leaving with confidence in cities around the US. With only about $600 in my business account and a baby in tow, I put all my money and time into MOABS. It all started in Tampa 2011 with a few moms and a few local businesses who took a risk on my concept and loved it, and a year later MOABS launched at Glazer Children’s Museum with over 700 expectant and new parents. Our first featured guest was Rosie Pope, NYC-based Bravolebrity, maternity concierge, and fashion designer. Then Heidi Murkoff who wrote the #1 best-selling book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” But I didn’t stop there, as we began receiving hundreds of messages following our first few events asking when we were coming to their city. There was nothing like MOABS in most cities around the US, and we made our focus not the hugest cities, rather the cities poised for growth of families. And while I was growing MOABS from South Florida to Houston to Salt Lake City to Pittsburgh and so on, I grew my family from one baby who inspired me to start MOABS to a boy (Jude, 9) and another girl (Daryn, 5). And yes, I’m THAT mom who was crazy enough to have 3 adorable maniacs. Since 2012 I have produced MOABS in 18+ cities around the US, partnered with some of the largest healthcare systems in the country (shoutout to Memorial Healthcare System for 10 years as my healthcare partner), and over 250 different unique maternity, baby, and family brands from HP to La Croix to Chicco to Florida Prepaid to Shake Shack. I am incredibly grateful to those brands and experts in their fields who have supported my vision of creating a truly fun night out to educate AND celebrate adults who are planning to get pregnant, currently pregnant, or have a baby from age 1 day to age 5. Together we have helped thousands choose the best products and services for their family, build registries, make friends and instill confidence around pregnancy and parenting. And maybe most importantly, celebrate the ups and downs of parenthood together. In 2020, Covid hit us hard in the events industry, but we have come back stronger in 2022 and we are truly BACK LIKE WE NEVER LEFT, and it feels amazing to be planning for the years ahead.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
MOABS’ reputation is built around being inclusive, non-judgmental, open-minded, engaging, and entertaining. With MOABS, I challenged the concept of education in the baby industry by proposing that events could and should be tailored to adults-only. While we are focused on educating and celebrating growing families, we are in fact a night out for expectant parents to learn, laugh and leave with confidence WITHOUT the kids for the night. And I make no apologies for creating the events in this fashion. I built the events this way for a purpose. The idea behind a parents and parents-to-be only night out is that the focus is on THEM and the attention is on them–their learning, their entertainment, their confidence-building, getting their questions answered, and even buying things for them, not always the baby (true story!) After attending events for years with my oldest daughter Alexandra, and then attending a few events on my own, I found that my attention span was far greater without her present. And she was a great baby, a really easy toddler too, but she needed my undivided attention, snacks, wanted to touch everything and wanted to be held, and I’d leave the events exhausted and wondering if I had actually learned anything to benefit either of us. And don’t me wrong, I’ve been to many events and still attend many with my now three kids that are tailored for children that are amazing, but I felt that there should also be events focused on preparing you for childbirth, postnatal mental health, financial planning, safety and so many other topics, that would be more beneficial for adults in a different format. I also believed that our exceptional expert speakers and brands would have a captive, excited, fully attentive and quality audience to speak to without interruptions. What helped me build this reputation as THE highest quality adults-only night out around pregnancy and parenting was sharing my own personal experiences as a parent. Also, I have been fortunate to have very loyal brands and generally very happy attendees who share their feedback and their experiences every day on our digital platforms, in the media and at the events themselves. Our event partners and attendees are always reiterating to me about the quality of the conversations taking place around testing out the perfect stroller, picking the right pediatrician and/or creating a registry on the spot. They’re smiling when they’re telling other people how much fun they’re having at our events. The best marketing is always word of mouth (also the least expensive!), and when I hear those first-hand stories, I know I went in the right direction with our business model and our reputation speaks for itself.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I am first a mother of three amazing children who teach me as much as I teach them. The journey of building MOABS and building my family happened simultaneously by design, to an extent. I started my business when my oldest child was only a few months old and scaled it considerably while having two more children, as well as having a miscarriage along that journey. As I mentioned earlier, I have had to face fears along the way, the biggest has and always will be, failing my children, but also, failing my clients. When Covid happened, my events paused. I was scared my business was over, for good. I became a full-time stay at home mom and their teacher seemingly overnight. I had no idea how I would keep my business afloat AND take care of my kids at home without help. But, everyday I got up, I got them dressed, I got them on their laptops, I fed them 12x a day (no joke!) AND I turned on my computer and kept thinking about other ways to do business without in-person events. I kept telling myself to think creatively, to stay connected to my clients online and to just keep it moving. And I did. And when the world opened back up in the years following, I was ready, and MOABS was still relevant because I had invested time and energy into virtual events and maintained my relationships within our communities and with our brands. I teach my kids I CAN AND I WILL, so I had no choice but to be resilient, to set the right example and to face my fears. I’ve learned through taking enough risks, and the successes and failures that followed, that it’s okay to be afraid, but don’t let it stop you from getting where you want to go. WE are all tougher than we think and taking calculated risks, even if you fall short sometimes, builds character and life experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.themotherofallbabyshowers,com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_moabs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMOABS/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amylundy/