Bump Boxes is a monthly subscription service that curates fun, healthy products for pregnancy and beyond.
Founders/Management Team
Leland Deehring, COO, is a real estate entrepreneur and co-founder of Bump Boxes. He received his Bachelor of Science from Bradley University. Before founding his own companies, Leland worked for Caterpillar Inc. and Tenneco Inc. In addition, he currently serves on the boards of Build Peoria and AppsCo.
Christine Deehring, CEO, is a CPA and co-founder of Bump Boxes. She received her Master of Accountancy from Bradley University. Before founding Bump Boxes, Christine worked for Caterpillar Inc. in various accounting roles. She is currently on the board of March of Dimes for Central Illinois.
What makes your product unique or different from other solutions on the market?
We are the world’s largest pregnancy subscription service! Boxes are tailored to Mom’s due date and can continue until baby’s first birthday. We also have one-time trimester gift boxes available, along with an online store where you can create your own Bump Box.
We are unique because our Moms come first—which is evident in everything we do at Bump Boxes. From our website to their front doorstep, we make Mom our priority at every touchpoint in between.
What was the “aha” moment which led to your startup?
The birth of our daughter, Ainsley. When I was pregnant with her, I researched chemicals found in everyday products and the effect they can have on your developing baby. It was a stressful process for me, and I quickly realized there wasn’t a trusted source to find these products. That’s when we knew we had to create Bump Boxes… to take the stress off of other moms during their pregnancy and beyond.
We originally launched as an ecommerce store. We started the subscription after we had a meeting with the founder of Plum Organics in New York, before our first trade show. She gave us some great advice, and we switched our pitch and updated our website to accommodate the subscription in the hour between our meeting with her and the start of the show. It was an intense hour!
Did you have assistance from local entrepreneurial resources, or were there other key individuals who helped you launch?
We have been very active within the Peoria startup community. We’ve worked with Randon Gettys at the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council. In addition, we have a handful of amazing advisors and a great executive coach that have really helped us to scale as quickly as we have.
Bump Boxes co-founders Leland and Christine Deehring with daughter Ainsley
What key milestones has your company achieved so far?
- We have shipped over 200,000 Bump Boxes to date!
- Launching our own product lines: Glow Organics (gloworganics.co) and BumpLife (bumplife.co);
- Our first acquisition: Supplet (supplet.com);
- We currently have 23 employees.
What key milestones do you hope to achieve in 2018?
- Launching a newborn to 3yo subscription box, Bitsy Boxes, Q1 of 2018;
- Launching a pregnancy tea brand, Blush Teas, Q1 of 2018;
- Finalizing several strategic partnerships;
- Shipping 250,000 Bump Boxes in 2018!
What has been the biggest challenge so far on your startup journey?
Getting traction in the beginning… just because you build a website, doesn’t mean you’ll have instant traffic! You must work hard and learn fast! In the beginning, you can’t afford to hire experts, so you must be motivated, constantly learn and adjust quickly.
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
We would have moved more quickly in the beginning when we first had the idea. We didn’t actually start pursuing it until after our daughter was born.
What advice do you have for other prospective entrepreneurs?
Be patient, always try new things, and don’t be afraid to fail and pivot fast. iBi
For more information, visit bumpboxes.com.
