We had the good fortune of connecting with Courtney Self and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Courtney, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
For every order, HuddyBearCo donates a blanket to babies and families in the NICU.

When you find out you are expecting, the joy and excitement to bring a baby into the world is overwhelming! The thought of holding your baby for the first time is so exciting and is something you can’t wait for. When you have your baby early, and most times unexpectedly, it can be scary, shocking, and traumatic. It can leave you feeling anxious and riddled with guilt for not having your baby full term or how you planned.

Our son was born unexpectedly 7 weeks early and went through a 3 week NICU stay before we were able to bring him home.

When we started our business in July of 2022, we knew we wanted to help those who would have to experience a stay in the NICU like we did.

Some journeys in the NICU may be shorter or even longer, but no matter what, it can be a scary place full of unanswered questions and unknowns. It can be emotionally draining and can leave you feeling anxious and full of grief for watching your baby go through unexpected medical hurdles and not having the birth experience you were hoping for.

In a place where you are surrounded by wires and monitors and sometimes having to ask permission to hold your baby, we want to provide comfort along their NICU journey. NICU babies are strong and resilient and so are their families.

We chose a blanket to provide comfort, support, promote bonding time, add color to a stark and sterile room, and be a keepsake memory to remind them how strong they really are.

Our mission to to provide comfort to as many families as possible. One blanket at a time.

What should our readers know about your business?
HuddyBearCo is an online baby clothing and goods shop based out of the pacific northwest.

We sell neutral baby clothing and accessories and donate a blanket to the NICU for every order we receive. When we found out we were expecting a boy, we found it very difficult to find cute neutral boy clothing. So we decided to open a shop where we had a neutral mix of boy and girl clothing and accessory options. We carry sizes newborn through 6T.

We are growing very quickly are are excited about our new label collection that just launched and is 100% organic cotton. We have our summer collection that will be arriving and available soon!

Being a small business comes with many challenges and learning curves along the way. Growth is something that takes a lot of time, energy and planning! We make sure to be thoughtful and caring about the options we provide in our shop. Everything we sell is handpicked and carefully created to ensure comfort for babies and piece of mind for parents.

We donate a blanket for every order, but we also support as many other organizations as we can. We donate 10% for the day on World Down Syndrome day and donated those to Ruby’s Rainbow. An organization that provides scholarships to adults with down syndrome.

We try to do as much as we can and support as many people as we can.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We have some of the most beautiful scenery and hiking in Washington state. If I had a friend coming to town, we would definitely go for a hike in the gorge and spend the afternoon eating lunch down on the waterfront. There are so many fun wineries, eateries, and small boutique shopping here locally. We are also surrounded by great mountains for snowshoeing in the winter, and have great golf courses to play at in the spring, summer and fall. Beautiful lakes for paddle boarding and kayaking. We are close to really cute beach towns with shopping, coffee shops and taking our dog to run on the beach.

So a very outdoorsy place to live full of activities and adventures. We love taking our son and our dog Maverick on all of our adventures together.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our son Hudson’s story being born so early and his NICU journey is really our motivation and inspiration for helping others who are going through a similar experience.

He is almost 2 years old now and is full of love and energy and is such a positive light in our eyes. He has motivated us to help as many babies and families who are on a similar journey.

My husband Ryan (Co-Owner) is also my biggest support system and fan. He is always encouraging me to just go for it. We have a great relationship and are really great visionaries together when it comes to the business. He is thoughtful, caring, and always encourages me when I have ideas and want to try new things.

Website: www.huddybearco.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huddybearco_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuddyBearCo/

Image Credits
Olivia Matia Photography For the following photos: Initial family photo Hudson in denim t shirt Hudson in gray stripe set Hudson with cream sweater Product photo with dress, 2 jumpers, and hair bows

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.