Dr. Kathrin Hamm, founder and CEO of the sleep health company Bearabynever wanted to be an entrepreneur. After graduating with her Ph.D. in economics, she started as an economist at the World Bank. Her work took her all over the world and gave her an invaluable insight into small, medium and founded by women ventures she tried to convince banks to lend to – but she “learned firsthand how difficult it is, especially in developing countries, for women to access finance and start and grow their businesses.”
During her time in India and Bangladesh in particular, Hamm faced long, “exhausting” days of travel. She had “never been a good sleeper,” waking easily even as a child, and she developed a chronic case of insomnia. It started “at a more moderate level,” with difficulty falling and staying asleep, before periods of waking became longer and longer, motivating him to look at different solutions.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby. Kathryn Hamm.
She started by researching different mattress options, but when she dug deeper, she found an article discussing weighted blankets. The piece focused on helping children with sensory issues, Hamm recalled, but also mentioned that evenly distributed weight on an adult body can support better sleep. Hamm was immediately intrigued—as a potential customer.
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“Let me buy a product, sleep better and then continue my career.”
“I came from a consumerist background,” says Hamm, “and knowing how hard it is for women start a businessI was like, Yes, I'm fine here. I don't want to start a business or even think about becoming an entrepreneur. Let me buy a product, sleep better, and then get on with my career.”
However, the purchase process proved difficult. Unable to find options online, Hamm had to go to a pharmacy in Germany, where she is from, to place an order. Six weeks later, a “big batch” arrived. It was orange and blue and “very loud,” says Hamm. She was reluctant to even try it at first and wondered if she had made a mistake.
“But then I wore it during the day on a weekend and I just passed out after 10 minutes,” says Hamm. “And I woke up over two hours later, (after) a sound nap, completely passed out, and I'm like, Wow, this is magic. This thing works for me.“
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So Hamm continued to use the blanket at night, but there was a problem: Because the blanket was filled with plastic beads to add weight, it often overheated. Basic functionality works; the weight on my body works, Hamm recalls thinking, but how it's done doesn't work. After some explorativeHamm found that the technology, which basically consisted of bead-filled chambers between blanket layers, had been around for 30 years—“No one had innovate anything about this product.”
“Why can't you just use cotton strips?”
Hamm decided to experiment with alternative designs. She was inspired by her time in India, “where there is a culture of making rugs, weaving, crocheting,” but the ultimate breakthrough came from a conversation with her mother. Hamm had considered changing the material or adding holes for air flow when her mother said, “Why can't you just use cotton strips?” They would create a thick thread that could be woven together for natural airflow, eliminating the need for heavy artificial materials that move around and reduce comfort. that IDEA led to the development of Bearaby's first small blanket, made from a cut-up t-shirt.
Convinced she was on to something, Hamm opted to take a year off to focus on the business. “I didn't want to take too much a DANGERagain, knowing that it can get very difficult,” she admits. “(But) my boss was super supportive and she said, 'Look, if it doesn't work, we make a case study out of it.' “
Hamm withdrew $120,000 from it pension fund and raised just over $250,000 from one crowdfunding campaign to fund the prototypes for the first batch of blankets. She also looked into patents, but they were expensive, so she made the drawing herself, then had a lawyer put together a provisional PATENTS application, which entitles the applicant to 18 months before having to pay more money. This was only a few days before the launch in December 2018; the blanket sold out in two weeks and was the only product of its kind on the market for several years, Hamm says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby
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Despite early success, the more than 50 factories that Hamm approached were unwilling to commit to the product. They had never seen anything like it: it was not clothing, and it was not a bed. So, for that first year and a half, Hamm rented a small garage equipped with knitting and weaving machines to produce the first products. Strong sales helped the business continue finance the productionwhich was also a good thing – because people were still not that interested in investing in the first product of its kind.
“In hindsight, we should have learned to be profitable.”
Hamm leaned into the “bootstrap” mentality, which was a blessing in disguise. “Ultimately, we had to learn to be profitable,” she explains, “to become in tune with our production processes and marketing processes, to be efficient, which sometimes you didn't see it. at that time in the direct-to-consumer space. Everyone was saying, 'I've raised this much money and I'm putting this million into a marketing spend.' So we never had that, but now, in an environment where money doesn't flow (as) freely, we never had that money in the first place, so we're feeling pretty good right now.”
Bearaby saw another big advantage in the brand loyalty. Hamm notes that people seeking wellness and sleep tend to create an “emotional connection” to the blanket, “and that it's easy to fall in love with a brand that helps you sleep better. The significant interest also translates into an early retail presence. Just five months later, Bearaby was at West Elm, thanks to customers who came in and wanted to try the blanket. So did Nordstrom.
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As Bearaby considered expansion, it focused on functional products that would support its commitment to quality and ENDURANCE (The company is certified by third-party organizations, including the Global Organic Textile Standard, the Forest Stewardship Council and the Global Recycled Standard). Because anxiety so often goes hand in hand with insomnia, the company landed on its heating line; By having a weighted, heated neck wrap, bottle, and lap pillow, it “brings the nervous system to zero,” says Hamm.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby
Naturally, Bearaby products have become an integral part of Hamm itself sleep routine, and as she's grown, she's realized even more about how much sleep she really needs. “Now I sleep for a minimum eight hours“I'm training myself to get nine to 10 hours of sleep, obviously not every night, but definitely every weekend. Also, (it helps) whenever I get a chance to take a nap, like just a nap 20 minutes to reset it. (I make sure I have) these conscious breachwhether (it is) nodding or deep breathing because running a business it's a marathon, and if we don't take care of our bodies, we're not going to be able to do it for very long.”
“Just have tunnel vision for a year, and then reevaluate after those 365 days.”
Hamm's five-year marathon with Bearaby has led to over $20 million in sales and more than 10 patents—but it all started with a single, somewhat reluctant leap of faith. And according to the founder, that's exactly what it takes to be successful.
“Once you believe in a product, just take a chance and give yourself a year,” says Hamm. “It's much more manageable if (you have) a significant time frame where it's like, Well, in that year, I'm giving it everything I've got, 100%. Because sometimes we second guess yourself. After (a few) months or six weeks, we don't see success, (and) we start to doubt ourselves. You say (I have) a year, and I'm not asking if this works. Just have tunnel vision for a year, and then reevaluate after those 365 days.”