After more than a decade of creating lasting memories for families through her roles as a Wedding Planner with St. Louis Wedding Consultants, co-founder of St. Louis Transplants, and event specialist for local hotels and event venues, McHugh dreamed up the vision for The Nest. Through her role as a working woman and mother to nine year old son Habi Baker, Christina realized there was a need to support women and mothers in a more authentic and community centered way and sought to create a safe, warm, and inviting space for women to do just that - Thus the birth of The Nest. Christina is an avid party planner, foodie, pretend photographer, adoption advocate, and dog lover. She resides in Webster Groves with her son, fiance Craig Ceranna, and dogs Buddy and Jack. Christina credits the amazing, talented, and creative women friendships for inspiring The Nest and believes that women can get nowhere without their flock of hens.
Christina’s favorite quote:
“Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous.” - Carrie Brashaw
A St. Louis native, Courtney grew up in University City, where, from an early age, she began sketching, designing, & creating the world around her. After graduating high school at Villa Duchesne, Courtney moved to New York City where she studied fashion design at the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Courtney remained in New York after receiving her BFA & spread her talents throughout the New York Fashion Scene, designing for labels such as J. Mendel, Yoana Baraschi, Brian Stanziale & Lucky Brand. Like most St Louisans, Courtney has a strong sense of family, & around July of 2011, decided to move back to St. Louis to be closer to her loved ones. Having always possessed an innate talent & enjoyment for working with children, Courtney decided to get her substitute-teaching certificate and set out to fulfill a bucket-list ambition of becoming an art teacher. It was by working as a freelance graphic designer as well as a substitute teacher for St. Louis Charter School that Courtney got in touch with Christina McHugh, who was in the beginning phases of developing an idea she had for a child-friendly restaurant and community center. After their first meeting, Courtney knew this was a project she had to be a part of. Having spent her life surrounded by strong women at home, at Villa Duchesne, & in the estrogen-heavy world of women’s fashion, Courtney has always believed in the amazing power of female support systems. She believes,“Women can be there for each other in a way that men simply never can be. It’s just not in their genetic makeup. If we, as women, are able to set aside judgment & competition, and truly support each other on a deeper level, then that beauty of spirit begins to spread to the world around us & to our loved ones. ” For Courtney, this is what The Nest is all about. Strong women, building even stronger lives for themselves through physical, mental, & spiritual health, creativity, &, most importantly, family.
Chris Vomund grew up in the burbs of O’Fallon, Missouri. It was after a small stretch at Mizzou,
where he studied broadcast Journalism, that Chris fell into the restaurant industry. What started as
a quick semester off, turned into a torrid love affair with food. Working with corporations like Buffalo
Wild Wings and Logans Roadhouse, he learned to manage all aspects of the business, but was always
drawn to the kitchen. In 2009, Chris went to work for PI Pizzeria while he attended culinary school at
Forest Park Community College. Add in another small stint working for Hard Rock Café and we come
to present day. Chris' belief in the The Nest's mission lends much needed male support to the idea of healthy living and the importance of family . “There is no better way to celebrate family than with food,” says Chris. “I am so stoked to be working for a place that shares the same ideas about food that I do. I will never regret my time at large corporate restaurants, I learned so much, but my heart was never in it. I want to feed people delicious and thoughtful plates that focus on bold, season flavors. I want to feed people food that is good for them. And I want to have fun doing it. I got lucky and found a group of ladies who wanted all of those things.
I had no choice but to join the gang.” Chris lives in south city with his rad roller derby/lawyer wife Courtney, and his two dogs Ellie and Sheena.
