A decade. It’s been 10 years since the day we sat around a table and decided that the Jewish world needed one website for the busy Jewish woman.
Happy Birthday Between Carpools! 10 years is a substantial number, yet it feels like yesterday when we first discussed our vision, what we wanted the still unnamed website to look like and feel like. Our goals were clear, and looking back, we are proud to say that we haven’t veered from the original plan. Our vision is still there.
Ten years of learning, adapting, and constantly improving (we overhauled our website 4 times, did you notice?) has taught us a lot. We sat together, and took a moment to think: What did we learn in these 10 years? What has Between Carpools taught us? Besides for the best way to cook sushi rice or how to stop fumbling through your passports at the airport.
Really, we asked ourselves, what have we learned from running BCP? We are not the same five women who sat around that table anymore. We have grown and learned so much.
Here are a few of of those things:
(scroll down to see all 10!)
Ten Years
of Between Carpools
A decade ago, five women sat around a table and decided the Jewish world needed one website for the busy Jewish woman. Here’s what running it has taught us along the way.
Lesson One
Everything is from Hashem.
He is the source of everything, and we see it daily. One of the most asked questions we get is “How do you keep coming up with content, after so many years?” Yes. We post daily. Sometimes twice daily. How? We do not know. More often than not, we are also amazed.
Inspiration comes to us from everywhere, but really, we know, it’s directly from the One Above. He knows what the women of Klal Yisroel need to hear, we are just a means.
Lesson Two
Women are incredible.
You, our readers, and not only our readers, women in general, inspire us daily. You do it all, with a smile. And you are always looking for that new dinner recipe that your family will appreciate, or the best way to deal with a hard teenager. You always want to do more.
Lesson Three
Community is everything.
It literally takes a village, and that village is right here. We help each other, we learn from each other and you have taught us the importance of sharing struggles so that you can get the help you need. If someone has a problem with, say pinworms, or perhaps, overbearing 11-year-old, there’s always someone out there willing to respond with advice and wisdom that comes only from experience.
Lesson Four
When the mission is clear, disagreements don’t have to divide you.
In all these years, we BH cannot recall one time that we had any argument. Of course, we have different opinions. And strong ones. We don’t see eye to eye on everything (and that is what keeps Between Carpools approachable) but we agree to disagree, or better yet, we agree to focus on what is best for the brand, and for our readers.
We agree to focus on what’s best for the brand, and for you.
Lesson Five
Listen. Really listen.
To each other. To you. It took some time, but we learned. Your emails, your messages, your DM’s… they all get read. Your feedback is how we keep our pulse on our community.
Lesson Six
A good team carries you through life.
A lot happens in 10 years. BH, a lot of life happens. Babies are born. Babies get sick, need stitches, casts, and sometimes just that little extra attention. They grow up and need to get into schools. Then come bar and bas mitzvahs, graduations, weddings or sitting shiva. Husbands change jobs, take on new responsibilities, need more from us, or sometimes just need us to be there for them. Parents come to stay with you. Parents need more help. Parents get older. Life never stands still.
Through all of it, we have been there for each other. We’ve covered for each other, picked up the slack, stepped in when someone needed a little extra help, and done it quietly and happily. Because we know that life comes first.
Our families have always been our priority. And somehow, for 10 years, we’ve managed to build and run Between Carpools without losing sight of that. We can do that because we are a team.
Lesson Seven
Celebrating is not wasting time.
In the beginning, we didn’t think it was important to stop and celebrate. To spend time together, marking a milestone. We thought it was better to use that time to get some work done. There was always another content meeting we needed to have, another project waiting. But, we soon realized, we were wrong. We learned to take the time to celebrate and be proud of what we have accomplished. Because there will always be more work to do, but taking the time to celebrate actually fuels us to do more, with more intention. Thank you for celebrating with us.
Lesson Eight
We are human, and therefore we need help.
In the beginning, we pushed ourselves to do it all. Quickly, we learned that asking for help is a secret strength. And others can teach us how to improve, if we just listened. So we hired help.
Lesson Nine
The people you hire can surpass your expectations.
We hired, we trained, and then we took a step back. Our employees and advisers are our new family, and we are so proud of them. Each one has a hidden talent that wasn’t on her resume. Each one goes above and beyond.
Lesson Ten
It has never been about running a business.
Between Carpools, to us, is a service to all women out there, no matter where you are at. You are seen, and we support you, as best as we can. Being a woman, a mother, a wife can be lonely sometimes. You’re expected to know the answer to everything: the little problems, the things you don’t know how to do, the things you wonder if everyone else knows except you. We wanted BCP to be the place you could come to and find an answer, a solution, or simply realize that you’re not the only one figuring it out. One recipe at a time. One laundry hack at a time.
We never set out to build
something successful.
We set out to be useful.
And ten years later, we’re still here — still learning from you, still looking for ways to improve, daily. Thank you for continuing to inspire us to build this community.
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