Meet Nina, An Incredible Resource For Moms
Today’s meet a mom is one of those bright shining lights we talk about in the pregnancy and postpartum space. One of those platforms that inspires, educates, and truly cares about women and about mothers. Nina Spears is the mama behind Baby Chick, a pregnancy to parenthood resource for the modern mom. Her platform caters to mothers during their pregnancy, birth, postpartum and parenting journeys and they believe in celebrating this time in a woman’s life and supporting her through conception to motherhood.
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Through their website and social media channels, they provide an empowering, educational and uplifting experience to expectant women and mothers by giving them helpful information so that they can make informed decisions for themselves and their families. They’ve got experts and contributors touching on topics that every mother can relate to from pregnancy tips, birth information, and postpartum support to parenting advice, product knowledge and so much more.
Nina says it’s simply her passion to educate, inspire, and uplift mothers. Featured on big platforms like Healthline, Motherly, to appearances on Houston Life, she continues to spread her message that women need our love and support during pregnancy and throughout motherhood. Her mission is one we got behind a long time ago and today we want to sing this mamas praises from the rooftop!
We sat down with Nina to talk about the inspiration for starting her platform, her hopes and dreams for this space for the future, and of course talk all things motherhood! Enjoy!
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in the Houston area?
I was born and raised in Harlingen, Texas down in the Rio Grande Valley. After high school, I moved to Austin and attended the University of Texas at Austin for college and then moved to Houston in January 2010. I’ve been here for 10 years so I consider Houston home. J
How many kiddos do you have and how old are they?
I have one little boy who is two years old!
Least favorite mom job? (i.e. packing lunches, dishes, bath time, etc.)
My least favorite mom job would be preparing meals. Some days he loves a certain type of food and the next day he’s insulted that I even offered it to him—“how disgusting, mom!” It’s always an interesting game of “what will my child eat today?”
Best mom hack that makes life easier?
I don’t really have any hacks. Sorry! I know that #momlife can be tough, but it’s easier for me when I plan ahead and make an effort to get enough sleep. Sleep is everything! I recommend going to bed early and waking up early. You’ll feel better rested and will be able to enjoy some hot coffee, fit in a little meditation, and maybe even a workout all before the kids wake up. It’s a great way to start the day.
What are your favorite local things to do? (with kiddos or just for mom!)
We love going to a good park like Levy Park to play and splash around. The Children’s Museum, Aquarium and Zoo are always a good time. And meeting up with mom friends at Lupe Tortilla or Willie’s Grill & Icehouse so the kids can play in the sandbox while us moms have a margarita or a burger is always a great treat.
We’re big on self-care for moms, as hard as it is to find the time, what’s something you do just or yourself?
I love getting away and spending time with a girl friend. There is nothing like meeting up with a friend at their house and enjoying a glass of wine or getting our nails done together or meeting up for lunch or coffee to decompress and laugh. I’m a true extrovert and love being around the people that I love. It recharges me, motivates me and makes me feel more like myself and a little less like “mom”.
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
I’m a twin! I have a twin brother and he’s awesome. He is 30 seconds older than me and we are the first successful babies born in Texas from our parents doing GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian Tube Transfer). We (and my mom) were on the Houston and Dallas news when we were born! (In vitro wasn’t as advanced in the mid 80’s.)
Tell us about Baby Chick! We just love your page! How did you become “The Baby Chick” and what was your inspiration behind starting your website and social media?
Thank you so much! I first started in the pregnancy and baby world in 2011 as a baby planner with my first company, Bassett Baby Planning. While helping women, I also became a DONA certified birth doula and postpartum doula. Then I received my license in massage therapy certifying in prenatal massage, labor induction massage and postpartum massage, and then became a certified infant massage instructor. I had a passion for helping women—especially mothers—and have had the pleasure of assisting over 250 births and supporting over 500 moms through their pregnancies, births and parenting journeys. Early in my career in the baby world, one of my clients called me “the baby chick” and the name has stuck ever since!
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Bassett Baby Planning grew into a doula agency and I had that company from 2011 till 2018—I closed it after I gave birth to my son. At one point BBP had 12 doulas, 2 massage therapists and multiple classes for expecting and new parents. In 2015 my husband and I started Baby Chick—named after my nickname “The Baby Chick”—to share all that I had learned on the field as an advocate and educator to mothers. We wanted to create a positive, non-biased resource for moms that would give them information about what to expect along the way, options that are available to them, and a space online they could trust. My husband, Brian, and I now work on Baby Chick fulltime and love what we do!
How has Baby Chick changed over the years?
Baby Chick has changed tremendously since inception! We first started off as a retail site selling graphic mom t-shirts and other products. Our blog was just on the side sharing my tips and tricks as a birth-worker and educator. In 2017 we pivoted our business and became a digital media company focused on everything from pregnancy to parenthood and dropped the retail! We now have an amazing team and an incredible audience of moms. J
What did you do before starting Baby Chick?
Once I graduated from college, I worked in sales at the Houston City Club. After working there for a bit, I realized that wasn’t my passion and that I needed to do something that helped others, especially helping women. I then became a certified baby planner, then birth doula, postpartum doula, childbirth educator, newborn care educator, massage therapist, infant massage instructor, Hypnobabies certified hypno-doula, and a prenatal fitness educator. I offered these services to the Greater Houston area for years then decided to start our Baby Chick website where I could share my knowledge and experience to moms all over the world. J
What is your main goal at Baby Chick and how do you hope to help moms?
Our main goal at Baby Chick is to empower mothers. We hope through our site that moms learn something new—maybe they have never heard of a doula, or a certain style of parenting, or seen the cool new breast pump, or learned about a helpful baby sleep tip. By visiting our site, we want moms to feel knowledgeable, which creates more confident and empowered moms during pregnancy and parenting.
We hope through our social platforms that moms can laugh (and sometimes cry) at the highs and lows of pregnancy, birth and motherhood and realize that they are not alone. They are not the only ones thinking those thoughts or feeling those feelings.
Overall, we hope that moms feel positivity and inclusivity when they come to Baby Chick.
How does being a mom yourself impact your business and your public platform?
I’ve been helping moms long before I was a mom myself, and, to be honest, I don’t think that becoming a mom changed that much for my business or platform. We didn’t notice that much of a difference. What it did do for me was it allowed me to empathize with our audience a lot more. I believe people respected me before I had a child because of my training and experience. But maybe people respect me a little more now that I’ve had to practice what I’ve preached. 😉
Future dreams and plans for Baby Chick?
If you talk to anyone that I’m close with you will learn that I am a big dreamer! (I’m a typical 3w2 on the enneagram. Haha!) The plan for this year is to continue producing more content for our audience (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.). I’m going to be a monthly guest on the Houston Life show this year so people can tune in for more tips and products there. And we plan on building our company with more staff and hopefully Baby Chick exclusive products!
My big dreams are to have our own TV show to empower more moms, share more mothers’ stories, give tips and resources so moms who are watching can feel educated and less alone.
For more information and to follow along with Nina, be sure to visit her website and social media channels!
Website: https://www.baby-chick.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teambabychick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebabychick/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TheBabyChick/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXUVzELvqEsWukMD3AvqoA
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chick-chat-the-baby-chick-podcast/id1437830902?mt=2
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