Bell Family Company Blog

Village for Parents – Q&A with Chris Winn

To continue with our recent Q&A blog posts, we are bringing you Chris Winn, Founder and President of Village for Parents, who works with a team on a mission to help parents live happier, simpler lives.

Q: What influential people or events in your life led you to the vision behind Village for Parents (providing ways to help parents live simpler lives)?

A: I was first inspired to build Village in 2012 when my wife and I were expecting boy/girl twins. Like all moms and dads to-be, we wanted to learn as much as we could about how to be great parents, so we spent a lot of time researching products and how-to’s online. With so much information out there and so little factual or scientific data to support anyone’s opinion, it was really difficult to fully trust anything we read.

After months of research and dozens of design sessions, Faye (Head of Product) and I came up with a solution to the problem – a platform for moms and dads to get advice ONLY from other parents who are (or just were) in the same stage of life. This way, all of the advice is empathetic and genuine. A little later, we realized that some of the tougher questions required an answer from an expert, so we now have a growing network of child development therapists, sleep consultants, lactation consultants and more.

Q: With three little ones of your own (3 1/2-year old twins, 1-year old), what advice would you give to first time parents on how to be as stress-free as possible?

A: First, give yourself and your kids a lot of grace. Life isn’t scripted and often times you’re just going to have to roll with it. Second, trust your gut. Village is a great place to get advice, guidance towards making a decision but at the end of the day you’re the only one who knows what’s best for your values and your family. Lastly, make a point to stop and smell the roses. There are so many special moments in parenthood that you have to appreciate and hold close in order to get through the tougher times.

Q: What is the most frequent question you’ve received on your app? How did you reply?

A: The most common questions we get relate to the most stressful milestones for parents: breastfeeding, sleeplessness, teething, potty training and the like. In the six short months since we launched, we’ve aggregated hundreds of answers to these questions and made them all searchable in our app. That’s actually the hidden beauty of Village for Parents – as more and more questions are asked and answered, the app has become a living, breathing guidebook on how to raise kids. Whatever challenge you’re facing, Village can provide you with a few thoughtful answers that are just right for your parenting style, your values and your baby.

Q: For those who do not use the app, what would you say to convince them that Village for Parents is the best resource?

A: As I mentioned above, parents should always trust their instincts when making decisions for their family. The problem most of us have is that parenthood often puts us in situations where we have little, if any, personal experience to fall back on. Village bridges that gap by presenting only the information that you need to solve a problem or make a decision. Our goal is to minimize the amount of time you have to spend on the app to get the information or validation you need to take action and then move on with your day.