June 28, 2025 • 30 mins
What happens when a burned-out marketing executive takes a leap of faith to Bali and discovers a product that transforms sleep? Elizabeth Grojean, founder of Baloo Living, shares her remarkable journey from corporate dissatisfaction to purpose-driven entrepreneurship centered around weighted blankets.
After feeling like a "round peg in a square hole" despite working with prestigious companies, Elizabeth quit her job, took her savings, and headed to Bali. What began as a personal reset became the foundation for a life-changing business. She discovered weighted blankets through market research, experiencing their profound calming effects firsthand. When she tried one, a 20-minute nap left her feeling deeply refreshed – a sensation she knew others would benefit from experiencing.
The science behind weighted blankets connects to deep pressure touch, activating the same comfort mechanisms as hugs or massages. In a study using Baloo's blankets, 78% of users reported improved sleep quality, with measurable improvements in deep sleep duration, falling asleep 27% faster, and better sleep efficiency. These aren't just numbers – they translate to life-changing results, from helping someone sleep after losing a loved one to reducing bedtime struggles for children with sensory needs.
Elizabeth's commitment to quality shines through her product decisions: all-natural Oeko-Tex certified cotton, glass microbeads for weight, and plastic-free packaging. The company extends its mission through nonprofit partnerships with organizations like the Pajama Program, helping children in foster care establish healthy sleep routines.
Whether you struggle with sleep issues or simply want to enhance your rest quality, Elizabeth's story reminds us that sometimes the most effective wellness solutions come from unexpected journeys. Tune in to discover how weighted blankets might transform your sleep experience – and perhaps inspire your own leap of faith toward better wellbeing.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome back to the Healthy Living
Podcast.
I'm your host, joe Grumbine,and today we have a very special
guest.
Her name is Elizabeth Grojanand you know Elizabeth comes to
us with an interesting story.
She came out of, you know, theworld of business, and it turns
(00:24):
out she was out on a littlebreak in Bali and discovered an
amazing thing that we're goingto get talking about.
And, elizabeth, welcome to theshow.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hi Joe, I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
I'm calling in from Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Oh, nice, nice.
What's Texas like right now?
I know you guys get hot andhumid about this time of year.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh my God, we get so hot here, but it's June right
now.
It hasn't, it hasn't hit, sowe're still we're still at a
nice 90s in the 90s.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
All right, fair enough.
Well, I'm Southern California,in the Inland Empire, so we get
really bad as well, but we don'tget the humidity that you guys
get.
So we've had a pretty easy June, so I'm really I'm grateful for
it.
Hopefully it'll just carry on.
It never does.
So.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience.
I didn't want to break thestory entirely.
(01:20):
I wanted you to be able tobring that, but you know you're
coming out of a corporate lifeand we've had a number of guests
that have had a sort of asimilar transformation.
I want you to take us back towhen that all happened.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So the year was 2017, 2018.
So we've been in business nowfor about seven, going on eight
years, which is really hard tobelieve, but it started.
It all started in Bali and youknow, I don't know if it's just
me, but now that I've beenthrough this experience, I hear
a lot of other people sayingthat they also started
(01:55):
businesses out of being in Bali.
So there's something about thatisland that really creativity
and creation.
So, yeah, it's a gorgeous place.
But, yes, I had been up untilthat time working in marketing
and was living in New York andkind of done a lot of job,
(02:16):
switching, I'd say, like a lotof lateral moves.
I did marketing forarchitecture, tequila, small
children's books Wow, that'squite a diverse group, right,
always like with these amazingcompanies, you know, like ones
that you would recognize, likeBlackRock and BBDO and
(02:36):
Scholastic, and it was all likereally good exposure.
But I just always felt like Iwas a round peg in a square hole
and I didn't feel like I wasfinding like quote, unquote it,
until finally, kind of in amoment of last resort, I'd say I
just gave notice and had takenmy savings and decided I was
going to travel and Bali was theplace, because I did keep
(03:00):
hearing all these stories ofcreativity and you know,
regenesis, regenesis coming fromthere, not to mention Eat, pray
, love.
That was part of it, sure.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Absolutely.
That's a great show and youknow, any place that just is
wild and natural and beautifultakes you away from all the city
stuff.
That's the opposite of all that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, and so that was kind of part of what I found was
just like you know, the livedexperience of reconnecting to
nature and the sun, you knowcircadian rhythms and bugs and
lizards and flowers and allthose things.
It was kind of like a spiritual, emotional and probably
somewhat physical detox.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
To be there.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So how long were you there?
There's generally like thisfirst week you just kind of
decompress, and then after thatyou begin to relax, and then
things happen.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, I would say my story.
It took a bit longer than Iexpected because I was this
A-type New Yorker with a list ofthings to do to maximize my
spiritual experience.
And so a few weeks afterchecking things off the list, I
was like, oh my God, I'mstressed out again and I'm doing
the same thing in paradise thatI did before I left.
And I kind of went hard theother way, which was have no
(04:23):
list and wake up and see whatfeels like.
What does today feel like?
And it might be nothing, or itmight be coffee or yoga or
whatever.
So I was kind of just doing alot of exploring and that was
really great.
And then I felt so good.
I was there for three monthsand I would say for that period
of time every week I felt morerelaxed.
Nice, it was kind of like arealization that none of us ever
(04:48):
take enough time really torelax.
Two weeks or a month is notenough, and I get it Like you
know how, how do we do that?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
But yeah, right, yeah , maybe at the end of your life
if you got a good savings andyou can truly retire, but for
the most part, Well, that wasone of the TED talks I saw that
I found so inspiring.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Was this guy talking about?
Instead of saving all your timeoff for the end of your life,
you should take a year off everyseven years, agreed.
And he did a year in Bali, andhe was a designer, of course,
and so, you know, I thought thatwas a great idea.
It's been seven years now, soI'm due for my year.
A great idea.
(05:28):
It's been seven years now, soI'm due for my year.
Okay.
So then after three months, Icame back to New York feeling
fully rested, recovered.
I thought, you know, I'd quoteunquote, like found the secret
to my happiness, or whatever.
And then it turns out it wasjust a vacation high, and I
smacked into the concrete jungleand said, oh no, it's, you know
, it's not within me, it wasexternal change or whatever.
So that was the turning pointin my life and my journey was
(05:48):
the question of okay, well, doyou jump back into the survival
set mindset or go back into theexploration of the unknown?
And I didn't have any moresavings left.
So at this point it was a realjump.
And I took the jump and Ithought follow what my body
tells me which is what feelsgood in my body Trust, and I had
(06:10):
an intention of this time goingback, of starting a business,
which I think is very important,because I see a lot of people
do this that also kind of end upbeing drifters for a long time.
The journey is the destination,but I think it's very helpful
to have a destination thatenriches the journey.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Right, Someone's got to pay for all the all the
coconuts and the yoga.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I had a very clear intention of going back and
establishing a business.
That would be something I couldrun remotely, and so I started
going.
I went back and it's amazingwhen you do things in alignment
because then the road started tobuild build itself as I was
walking.
I got freelance work through myprior employer, so now I had
enough income to live on thereand I took an online course
about product research andthat's how I discovered weighted
blankets.
(06:57):
It actually had nothing to dowith Bali, but being in Bali
made it possible for me to havethe bandwidth to explore.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Nice.
So tell me about your discoveryof weighted blankets.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
So you know it's not very sexy.
I was doing the work, I waslooking at data on Amazon to see
what people were looking forand what had an opportunity in
terms of competition, and therewas this massive amount of
searches for weighted blanketsand then there was almost
nothing being offered except forstuff that was gray polyester
and it just all looked likecheap knockoff stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Right Teemo stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Exactly, and so I got a sample and I tried one, and
as soon as I tried that, I fellasleep very deeply in the middle
of the day for 20 minutes, andwhen I woke up I felt like I had
gone, been transported.
I felt so relaxed and peaceful,I felt so good that it really
(07:53):
became.
That was something that was afinancial opportunity, of course
, but something that I was veryexcited to share with people,
and to do it in a way that wasmore quality and uplifting than
what was currently being offered.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, I think the idea of weighted blankets, I
mean they've been actually usingit in the animal world forever,
you know, they actually theyuse it for cattle, they, you
know, put them in like thissqueeze, where they kind of make
them feel like they're being.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
The squeeze box.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, yeah, and it makes them feel comforted by
their mom or whatever they'rejust like, okay, or even dogs,
they do these sort of samethings and it sort of brings you
back to when you're beingsnuggled, and I think there's
some kind of a connection inyour brain that you know goes
back to that time where youdidn't have anything to worry
(08:49):
about, you could just let go andeverything was going to be OK.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, I thought that was just such a beautiful
experience that you know whodoesn't want to feel that way,
right yeah, not to feel that way, right yeah.
Not to mention that they dohelp with sleep, which is also
another benefit.
I've always been a greatsleeper.
Sleep's my superpower, but youknow, on those days when sleep
(09:17):
is a struggle, it's reallyreally tough.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I couldn't agree more .
I've got the same blessing.
As you know, my wife's alwayswhacking me in the head.
She's like you can't fallasleep that fast.
I'm like, yeah, I can, but butevery once in a while, when
something gets nagging in yourbrain and you can't sleep or
whatever you're dealing with aphysical issue, you realize how
important it is, because if Idon't get my sleep, I'm lost,
(09:40):
and I think most people that Icome in contact with and I come
in contact with a lot of peoplestruggle with sleep.
I think it's not we, we're notnormal people, and I think most
people struggle to get to sleep,they struggle to stay asleep
and they struggle to get good,deep, REM sleep.
So that seems like this wouldbe maybe a big answer, and I
(10:05):
think sleep is one of theprimary pillars of health.
I don't know how you gethealthy if you're not sleeping,
when your body repairs itself.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Totally, all your cells are doing their work and
it's, it's cumulative, like yeah, I mean, I think that it's
possible to wake up not feelingtired too.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Agreed Again, my wife would get set because I jump up
out of bed bright eyed, bushytailed, ready to go.
And again, most people it'slike oh you know, you take your
hour to drink a cup of coffee orwhatever and get yourself
waking up.
But you're right, good sleep is, it's a superpower.
And if you can, if you can dosomething to make that easier,
(10:47):
that seems like it'd be worththe investment.
No matter what, it would bethat easier, that seems like
it'd be worth the investment, nomatter what.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
It would be Totally Well, I can just jump straight
over to talking about a study wedid using our blankets to tell
us the story of how impactfulthey were on sleep.
And there have been some studiesdone on weighted blankets, but
they've all been pretty smalland one was done using chain
(11:12):
mail blankets like 30 poundchain mail.
There has been a lot of researchand a lot of scientific you
know peer reviewed journals doneon deep pressure touch, which
is the mechanism that weightedblankets use, and so that that
is the same thing as beingmassaged, held hugged.
(11:32):
You know, we know all of thebenefits of that, but way to
blanket specifically, there'snot that much research on.
So we did our own studypartnering up with a wearable
tech device called the friendsbrain band, and they have an 88
percent accuracy as composed, ascompared to a sleep lab study.
(11:52):
But this is the benefit is thatwe could do this with people
sleeping at home in their ownbeds to get data, and the
results were were reallypositive.
So we had 78% of users reportthat they had a positive effect
on their sleep quality using theblanket.
Yeah, that was.
That was the qualitative report, and another qualitative piece
(12:15):
was that people's readinessscores improved by 10%, and so
that was the feeling of physicalrecovery and readiness to start
the day.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh wow, that's fantastic yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And the two pieces of data that we got back or three,
I should say that we got backusing the biometric measurements
were an increase in deep sleepduration by 10% and an
improvement on sleep onsetlatency which is how long it
takes you to fall asleep of 27%.
So getting faster, getting morequality sleep, and then an
(12:48):
improvement in sleep efficiency.
So that's how often you wake upin the middle of the night.
So sleep efficiency improved to92%.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Wow.
So that number was huge.
The dropping off to sleep wasstill remarkable.
It's almost 30%, it's almost athird, and but the quality of
sleep that seems like just abouteverybody benefited from that.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, and so I thought this was really nice to
hear, because if you can makethese, you know they're
incremental improvements in yoursleep quality, but that's
impacting everything across yourwhole spectrum of health and
well-being.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
One good night of sleep, you feel it.
I mean you could restore fouror five bad nights of sleep with
one good night pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Right.
And so what I think is so coolabout weighted blankets?
Not only do they feel sowonderful and they help your
sleep, but you know you buy oneonce and you can use it for the
rest of your life At least ours.
We have a lifetime qualityguarantee, and I also do a lot.
You know.
I see a functional medicinedoctor and I take supplements
and I do other things for myhealth as an investment, but
(13:55):
I'll spend a lot more onsupplements over my time.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
That's the thing too.
A lot of times people, anytimeyou can look at it the
difference between a device or aconsumable, whether it's a
supplement or even food, youknow.
You go when people are like Idon't know, that's expensive and
if it's going to last you morethan a month.
I just look at what you'respending on your vegetables.
If you're buying good, fullquality produce, or your coffee
(14:22):
or whatever it is, you know, orsupplements or vitamins,
whatever, it's like crazy.
And if you got got something inthis situation where you say
it's a lifetime product, I mean,I mean, even if it was that
last year for a year, you thinkabout how many.
What do I spend in any one ofthese categories in a year?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
And you're just like I could have bought a bunch of
those what would be like worthfor good sleep.
So it's really.
It's really a fun business tobe in because we hear the
feedback from customers of justyou know, sometimes they make me
want to cry, like like beingable to sleep for the first time
after losing a loved one, butyears ago.
So solid sleep, you know it's,it's life changing sometimes.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So tell me about you know, you just decided to start
this business, and a lot ofpeople you know that are
connected to health basedbusinesses are maybe not have
never done that before.
Like you know, I'm anentrepreneur.
I've started dozens ofbusinesses, but I failed at many
of them and I, you know, took awhile to start figuring out.
(15:30):
You know how to do that.
Well, it's not a skill thatjust generally comes to people.
So tell me about your processwith that.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, well, I was really scared to start.
Actually, I had a businesspartner for a minute, someone I
met in Bali, another girl fromAustralia who had left corporate
and she had a big fund that shewas really ready to invest in
starting up a business.
And we were working on thistogether for a couple of months,
like I had the idea, and thenshe was looking for products and
(15:59):
couldn't find an idea.
So she said, hey, let's partner.
And I said, yes, two months in,a friend of mine goes, you know
, you used to be really happy,but you seem kind of down, like
what happened.
And I said, oh my gosh, it's,it's.
Having a partner like this ismeant to be a solo endeavor.
And I call, I rode my motorbikehome, I called her, I told her
like this isn't me, this is theuniverse, this is just true.
(16:22):
I just have to tell you this iswhat's happening.
Um, I paid her back everythingshe put in and I had no, I had
no money.
I had no money to buy inventoryto get started.
And my dad was like you reallymessed that one up, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I said no.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I know that I didn't, because it would not have
succeeded that way.
If you, if you, try to makeyour decisions based on control
or scarcity or lack or anything.
It just wasn't right.
And he said and I don't have afamily, this is not a situation
where you think, oh yeah, so herdad just gave her money.
Okay, that's not normal.
But my dad said I would like tohelp you get started.
And I said no, I said I reallywant to do this on my own, like
(16:59):
part of my motivation is I wantto be able to support my family,
my larger family.
I'm the oldest child, so Ithink that's a common I'm the
eldest too.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, that feeling.
But then I went into abreathwork meditation session
with a healer, as you do in Bali, and in that session I could
feel my dad's presence and Ifelt the light.
I'm going to cry, yeah.
It was like this feeling of himwanting to support me out of
unconditional love, not for anyother reason.
(17:29):
So I came out and I said yes, Iwill accept your gift, I will
allow you to contribute to me inthat way.
And he said you know, when Iwas your age which I was 37,
when I was your exact same age,my dad supported my business and
that was a pivotal moment forme in understanding what it
means to be a father.
So it was like a thread, it wasbeautiful.
And then he said you want me towire money to China?
(17:51):
Was like a thread, it wasbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And then he said you want me to wire money to China.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I was like I think that's what we're supposed to do
now.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And so that's how we bought the first order of
inventory and that was only 500blankets and we sold out in a
month and a half.
I was very, very nervousbecause it just looked like this
amazing opportunity.
I was like this looks like itjust looked like this amazing
opportunity.
I was like this looks like sucha no brainer.
I just don't know why, if I seeit, no one else is seeing this.
Like, how can I must be missingsomething.
But also, what am I going to do?
Not do it.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Right.
Why would you not continueRight?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, so we did it and you know, I really thought
this was going to be a sidehustle, something I could do on
the side to help me withmultiple streams of income or
kind of maybe be able tocontinue to live a little bit
more freely.
And it turned into a majorbusiness in the first year and
by the second year, I think, orthird year, I hired my sister
full time and she got hercorporate job and now she's the
(18:49):
CO, the COO and everyone I laughbecause she went to Princeton
and so I went to state school.
But we love working together andwe're still a small business,
but you know we've been aroundnow for seven going on eight
years and really love, love,being able to do things the way
(19:13):
that we want to do them, makechoices that are aligned with
the best quality and the bestservice and the best, the best
product for people.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So tell me about the blanket itself.
I know that you're talkingabout.
You know the quality and all ofthat.
Now, when you were firstsetting this thing up, you know
you're dealing with.
You know contract manufacturers.
You have to set the specs ofwhat you want, and they probably
had some kind of a product thatthey started with to say we can
(19:43):
do this.
Tell me about that a little bit.
What caused you to make yourblanket the way you made it?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, I wanted it to be all natural materials, so we
use cotton, and then the defaultwas to use a polyester lining
inside, so we've taken that outand it's all cotton.
And then the glass microbeadsare what makes the weight.
And the first question I alwaysget is is the weight of blanket
going to make me hot?
Because I get that naturally asa thought.
But with just cotton and reallyhigh quality, premium and clean
(20:14):
cotton, we use Ocotex certifiedcotton, so there's no chemicals
on the cotton from processing.
It's very cool and breathable.
And that was first and foremostin my mind because I was living
in Bali at the time and I wasthinking about people going
through menopause orperimenopause, and being able to
(20:37):
sleep is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
You know, a lot of us just are hot blooded sleep.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Hot sleepers.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So this is an all-year tool and all-weather
tool.
It's not seasonal at all andcool and breathable and there's
really not too much that you cando from a tech point of view or
create a moat around a weightedblanket, since it's a pretty
simple tool which I think ispart of what makes it so elegant
and wonderful but just reallyhigh-quality materials.
(21:06):
And then we have plastic freepackaging, so everything comes
in canvas bag and we use papertape instead of plastic tape and
that's more expensive andeverything just being very
thoughtful about those details.
And then from the first daywe've been partnered with a
nonprofit called the PajamaProgram which helps children get
better sleep, and the founderof that organization started off
(21:27):
working with kids in fostercare and homeless shelters who
actually didn't know.
Like she met a child who didn'tknow what pajamas were Wow Her
heart.
And so they first got theirstart by raising funds and
donations to give kids books andpajamas so they could have a
reassuring bedtime routine andan otherwise chaotic life
pajamas so they could have areassuring bedtime routine and
an otherwise chaotic life.
And so I love this organizationand we partner with them.
(21:48):
And then we also work withanother one called Sea Trees to
offset our carbon footprint andthen double the offset to pay it
forward.
And they're doing veryinspiring work in reforesting
kelp and mangrove forests, whichsequester five times more
carbon than the rainforest fromthe atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
So I like that.
Actually, I'm well aware ofwhat kelp and mangrove can do,
so I think that's that's reallythat's good work there.
Tell me about this partnershipwith the nonprofit.
I like hearing business.
I run a nonprofit as well, so Ilike hearing when businesses do
do partner with that.
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
In the beginning, when we were getting started, we
would do a donation to themanytime someone would leave a
review or tag us on social media.
But then it felt a little bittoo, you know, I don't know,
bribey, or something.
Sure, we stopped that and nowwe just do a financial
contribution to them every yearand they're very reliant on
(22:45):
their two corporate partners,which are Scholastic and
Carter's Pajamas.
Even though we're a very smallpartner for them, I think it's
nice that we can help spread theword a bit more.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Trust me as a nonprofit.
Anytime somebody comes in andsays I support what you're doing
and you can count on something,it makes all the difference in
the world.
It's good stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, so we try to talk about them a lot.
Yeah, definitely, it's.
A big item on my list this yearis to figure out how to
structure that in a more I don'tknow stronger way so we can do
more for them.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's good stuff.
So you probably have a lot ofstories about you, know the
impact that you've made, how youknow you're you're a
distributor or you're awholesaler or you're a retailer
how does your business function?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I don't really know which category we fit into.
We still contract ourmanufacturing out.
It's still made in China.
We have an amazing factory.
We're not working with theoriginal factory anymore.
I've been there and visited,but they have a stellar product.
We buy the inventory and thenwe sell it direct to consumers
through our website and throughAmazon.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
So Amazon is your other website.
Okay, fair enough, those areour two.
And through Amazon Okay, soAmazon is your other website,
okay fair enough.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Those are our two core sales channels, and then
we're partnered up with someother online stores so we'll
drop ship for them.
One of those is Goop, anotheris like Zola for wedding
registries.
A handful of other onlinestores.
Something I'm really trying toexplore further this year is
getting into hotels and spas,because it's such an
experiential product.
(24:27):
I think if someone had thechance to try it out then they
would know like what it feelslike.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
What's the price point on these things?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Our bestseller is the 12-pound throw, and that one
retails for $2.18 full price,and then we have free shipping.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Nice and, as you, as you said, you know you can spend
that on a couple of monthsworth of vitamins really easy.
You know, fast, good qualityherbal supplements and you're
spending 30 to 60 bucks for abottle of you know 60 capsules
just like that, and uh, so it itseems like a number, but, man,
(25:04):
if, if you really pay attention,it's nothing, so I like all
that.
You've probably had a lot offeedback from clients political
(25:26):
stuff going on and tariffs andissues with China.
Has that impacted you or do youthink it's going to?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
It definitely has.
You know, we're paying a 35percent duty rate now, which is
a pretty significant increase inour cost of product now, which
is a pretty significant increasein our cost of product.
So we are exploringmanufacturing in other countries
, but I don't think it'srealistic for us to manufacture
in the United States,unfortunately.
What would be ideal to me is ifwe could find something in
(25:54):
Latin America in our time zonewhere we could easily.
It just makes everything a loteasier.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Oh yeah, working with China is rough because you're
dealing with them at midnightjust to have a conversation.
I've done some business withthem and it's not good for
sleeping people, right?
So back to the question that Ihad.
I always like to hear sort ofthat one personal story or a
(26:18):
couple of anecdotes.
It just says where somebody youtold me about the one lady who
slept for the first time afterlosing a loved one.
But is there anything else thatstands out as a significant
impact that your product hasmade?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
When I always think about it, maybe because there's
a personal connection.
Here was one of our customerservice people her first name is
Emma has a son on the spectrumand he was, I think, eight or
nine at the time, and shestarted using our weighted
blanket with him and said thatit took an hour off of the time
it took for him to fall asleep.
(26:54):
So I just I get emotional,thinking about how hard it is to
be a kid with that challenge.
I think that it was stilltaking him an hour to get to
sleep, but man like better thantwo right.
Right.
And another thing is that hehad started a new medication
which was like an ADD type ofmedication, which you know,
(27:16):
those are stimulants at the sametime and his sleep I guess she
was using a sleep tracker on him, I don't know, but his sleep
score improved at the same time.
So that was pretty, prettyincredible and just you know, as
a mom, thinking about that withyour child, like you're really
trying to help them out and tofind something that that helps,
is great.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Well, that's fantastic.
Well, Elizabeth, we always cometo this bewitching hour and I'd
like to give you a chance togive your elevator pitch and a
way that everybody can get ahold of you.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Amazing.
Well, I don't know if I havemuch more to say about Baloo
Living, but we make weightedblankets.
We also make weighted sleepmask, which I didn't mention.
That's made out of silk, and wehave a super luxe linen sheets.
If you're into linen, linensheets.
(28:08):
If you're into linen, come tosee our store at baloolivingcom
and that's spelled b-a-l-o-o,and we have a discount for your
listeners, which is let me findout what it's called healthy
living for 10 off storewide, um,or you can find it in the show
notes, so everybody can find itperfect excellent.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
well, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking with
you and I wish you always thevery best success.
It sounds like you're helping alot of people find health in
their life.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was great to be here.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
You bet.
All right, this has been theHealthy Living Podcast.
I'm your host, joe Grumbine.
We thank you for your support.
Hello and welcome back to the Healthy Living
Podcast.
I'm your host, joe Grumbine,and today we have a very special
guest.
Her name is Elizabeth Grojanand you know Elizabeth comes to
us with an interesting story.
She came out of, you know, theworld of business, and it turns
(00:24):
out she was out on a littlebreak in Bali and discovered an
amazing thing that we're goingto get talking about.
And, elizabeth, welcome to theshow.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hi Joe, I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
I'm calling in from Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Oh, nice, nice.
What's Texas like right now?
I know you guys get hot andhumid about this time of year.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh my God, we get so hot here, but it's June right
now.
It hasn't, it hasn't hit, sowe're still we're still at a
nice 90s in the 90s.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
All right, fair enough.
Well, I'm Southern California,in the Inland Empire, so we get
really bad as well, but we don'tget the humidity that you guys
get.
So we've had a pretty easy June, so I'm really I'm grateful for
it.
Hopefully it'll just carry on.
It never does.
So.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience.
I didn't want to break thestory entirely.
(01:20):
I wanted you to be able tobring that, but you know you're
coming out of a corporate lifeand we've had a number of guests
that have had a sort of asimilar transformation.
I want you to take us back towhen that all happened.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So the year was 2017, 2018.
So we've been in business nowfor about seven, going on eight
years, which is really hard tobelieve, but it started.
It all started in Bali and youknow, I don't know if it's just
me, but now that I've beenthrough this experience, I hear
a lot of other people sayingthat they also started
(01:55):
businesses out of being in Bali.
So there's something about thatisland that really creativity
and creation.
So, yeah, it's a gorgeous place.
But, yes, I had been up untilthat time working in marketing
and was living in New York andkind of done a lot of job,
(02:16):
switching, I'd say, like a lotof lateral moves.
I did marketing forarchitecture, tequila, small
children's books Wow, that'squite a diverse group, right,
always like with these amazingcompanies, you know, like ones
that you would recognize, likeBlackRock and BBDO and
(02:36):
Scholastic, and it was all likereally good exposure.
But I just always felt like Iwas a round peg in a square hole
and I didn't feel like I wasfinding like quote, unquote it,
until finally, kind of in amoment of last resort, I'd say I
just gave notice and had takenmy savings and decided I was
going to travel and Bali was theplace, because I did keep
(03:00):
hearing all these stories ofcreativity and you know,
regenesis, regenesis coming fromthere, not to mention Eat, pray
, love.
That was part of it, sure.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Absolutely.
That's a great show and youknow, any place that just is
wild and natural and beautifultakes you away from all the city
stuff.
That's the opposite of all that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, and so that was kind of part of what I found was
just like you know, the livedexperience of reconnecting to
nature and the sun, you knowcircadian rhythms and bugs and
lizards and flowers and allthose things.
It was kind of like a spiritual, emotional and probably
somewhat physical detox.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
To be there.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So how long were you there?
There's generally like thisfirst week you just kind of
decompress, and then after thatyou begin to relax, and then
things happen.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, I would say my story.
It took a bit longer than Iexpected because I was this
A-type New Yorker with a list ofthings to do to maximize my
spiritual experience.
And so a few weeks afterchecking things off the list, I
was like, oh my God, I'mstressed out again and I'm doing
the same thing in paradise thatI did before I left.
And I kind of went hard theother way, which was have no
(04:23):
list and wake up and see whatfeels like.
What does today feel like?
And it might be nothing, or itmight be coffee or yoga or
whatever.
So I was kind of just doing alot of exploring and that was
really great.
And then I felt so good.
I was there for three monthsand I would say for that period
of time every week I felt morerelaxed.
Nice, it was kind of like arealization that none of us ever
(04:48):
take enough time really torelax.
Two weeks or a month is notenough, and I get it Like you
know how, how do we do that?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
But yeah, right, yeah , maybe at the end of your life
if you got a good savings andyou can truly retire, but for
the most part, Well, that wasone of the TED talks I saw that
I found so inspiring.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Was this guy talking about?
Instead of saving all your timeoff for the end of your life,
you should take a year off everyseven years, agreed.
And he did a year in Bali, andhe was a designer, of course,
and so, you know, I thought thatwas a great idea.
It's been seven years now, soI'm due for my year.
A great idea.
(05:28):
It's been seven years now, soI'm due for my year.
Okay.
So then after three months, Icame back to New York feeling
fully rested, recovered.
I thought, you know, I'd quoteunquote, like found the secret
to my happiness, or whatever.
And then it turns out it wasjust a vacation high, and I
smacked into the concrete jungleand said, oh no, it's, you know
, it's not within me, it wasexternal change or whatever.
So that was the turning pointin my life and my journey was
(05:48):
the question of okay, well, doyou jump back into the survival
set mindset or go back into theexploration of the unknown?
And I didn't have any moresavings left.
So at this point it was a realjump.
And I took the jump and Ithought follow what my body
tells me which is what feelsgood in my body Trust, and I had
(06:10):
an intention of this time goingback, of starting a business,
which I think is very important,because I see a lot of people
do this that also kind of end upbeing drifters for a long time.
The journey is the destination,but I think it's very helpful
to have a destination thatenriches the journey.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Right, Someone's got to pay for all the all the
coconuts and the yoga.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I had a very clear intention of going back and
establishing a business.
That would be something I couldrun remotely, and so I started
going.
I went back and it's amazingwhen you do things in alignment
because then the road started tobuild build itself as I was
walking.
I got freelance work through myprior employer, so now I had
enough income to live on thereand I took an online course
about product research andthat's how I discovered weighted
blankets.
(06:57):
It actually had nothing to dowith Bali, but being in Bali
made it possible for me to havethe bandwidth to explore.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Nice.
So tell me about your discoveryof weighted blankets.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
So you know it's not very sexy.
I was doing the work, I waslooking at data on Amazon to see
what people were looking forand what had an opportunity in
terms of competition, and therewas this massive amount of
searches for weighted blanketsand then there was almost
nothing being offered except forstuff that was gray polyester
and it just all looked likecheap knockoff stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Right Teemo stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Exactly, and so I got a sample and I tried one, and
as soon as I tried that, I fellasleep very deeply in the middle
of the day for 20 minutes, andwhen I woke up I felt like I had
gone, been transported.
I felt so relaxed and peaceful,I felt so good that it really
(07:53):
became.
That was something that was afinancial opportunity, of course
, but something that I was veryexcited to share with people,
and to do it in a way that wasmore quality and uplifting than
what was currently being offered.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, I think the idea of weighted blankets, I
mean they've been actually usingit in the animal world forever,
you know, they actually theyuse it for cattle, they, you
know, put them in like thissqueeze, where they kind of make
them feel like they're being.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
The squeeze box.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, yeah, and it makes them feel comforted by
their mom or whatever they'rejust like, okay, or even dogs,
they do these sort of samethings and it sort of brings you
back to when you're beingsnuggled, and I think there's
some kind of a connection inyour brain that you know goes
back to that time where youdidn't have anything to worry
(08:49):
about, you could just let go andeverything was going to be OK.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, I thought that was just such a beautiful
experience that you know whodoesn't want to feel that way,
right yeah, not to feel that way, right yeah.
Not to mention that they dohelp with sleep, which is also
another benefit.
I've always been a greatsleeper.
Sleep's my superpower, but youknow, on those days when sleep
(09:17):
is a struggle, it's reallyreally tough.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I couldn't agree more .
I've got the same blessing.
As you know, my wife's alwayswhacking me in the head.
She's like you can't fallasleep that fast.
I'm like, yeah, I can, but butevery once in a while, when
something gets nagging in yourbrain and you can't sleep or
whatever you're dealing with aphysical issue, you realize how
important it is, because if Idon't get my sleep, I'm lost,
(09:40):
and I think most people that Icome in contact with and I come
in contact with a lot of peoplestruggle with sleep.
I think it's not we, we're notnormal people, and I think most
people struggle to get to sleep,they struggle to stay asleep
and they struggle to get good,deep, REM sleep.
So that seems like this wouldbe maybe a big answer, and I
(10:05):
think sleep is one of theprimary pillars of health.
I don't know how you gethealthy if you're not sleeping,
when your body repairs itself.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Totally, all your cells are doing their work and
it's, it's cumulative, like yeah, I mean, I think that it's
possible to wake up not feelingtired too.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Agreed Again, my wife would get set because I jump up
out of bed bright eyed, bushytailed, ready to go.
And again, most people it'slike oh you know, you take your
hour to drink a cup of coffee orwhatever and get yourself
waking up.
But you're right, good sleep is, it's a superpower.
And if you can, if you can dosomething to make that easier,
(10:47):
that seems like it'd be worththe investment.
No matter what, it would bethat easier, that seems like
it'd be worth the investment, nomatter what.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
It would be Totally Well, I can just jump straight
over to talking about a study wedid using our blankets to tell
us the story of how impactfulthey were on sleep.
And there have been some studiesdone on weighted blankets, but
they've all been pretty smalland one was done using chain
(11:12):
mail blankets like 30 poundchain mail.
There has been a lot of researchand a lot of scientific you
know peer reviewed journals doneon deep pressure touch, which
is the mechanism that weightedblankets use, and so that that
is the same thing as beingmassaged, held hugged.
(11:32):
You know, we know all of thebenefits of that, but way to
blanket specifically, there'snot that much research on.
So we did our own studypartnering up with a wearable
tech device called the friendsbrain band, and they have an 88
percent accuracy as composed, ascompared to a sleep lab study.
(11:52):
But this is the benefit is thatwe could do this with people
sleeping at home in their ownbeds to get data, and the
results were were reallypositive.
So we had 78% of users reportthat they had a positive effect
on their sleep quality using theblanket.
Yeah, that was.
That was the qualitative report, and another qualitative piece
(12:15):
was that people's readinessscores improved by 10%, and so
that was the feeling of physicalrecovery and readiness to start
the day.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh wow, that's fantastic yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And the two pieces of data that we got back or three,
I should say that we got backusing the biometric measurements
were an increase in deep sleepduration by 10% and an
improvement on sleep onsetlatency which is how long it
takes you to fall asleep of 27%.
So getting faster, getting morequality sleep, and then an
(12:48):
improvement in sleep efficiency.
So that's how often you wake upin the middle of the night.
So sleep efficiency improved to92%.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Wow.
So that number was huge.
The dropping off to sleep wasstill remarkable.
It's almost 30%, it's almost athird, and but the quality of
sleep that seems like just abouteverybody benefited from that.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, and so I thought this was really nice to
hear, because if you can makethese, you know they're
incremental improvements in yoursleep quality, but that's
impacting everything across yourwhole spectrum of health and
well-being.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
One good night of sleep, you feel it.
I mean you could restore fouror five bad nights of sleep with
one good night pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Right.
And so what I think is so coolabout weighted blankets?
Not only do they feel sowonderful and they help your
sleep, but you know you buy oneonce and you can use it for the
rest of your life At least ours.
We have a lifetime qualityguarantee, and I also do a lot.
You know.
I see a functional medicinedoctor and I take supplements
and I do other things for myhealth as an investment, but
(13:55):
I'll spend a lot more onsupplements over my time.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
That's the thing too.
A lot of times people, anytimeyou can look at it the
difference between a device or aconsumable, whether it's a
supplement or even food, youknow.
You go when people are like Idon't know, that's expensive and
if it's going to last you morethan a month.
I just look at what you'respending on your vegetables.
If you're buying good, fullquality produce, or your coffee
(14:22):
or whatever it is, you know, orsupplements or vitamins,
whatever, it's like crazy.
And if you got got something inthis situation where you say
it's a lifetime product, I mean,I mean, even if it was that
last year for a year, you thinkabout how many.
What do I spend in any one ofthese categories in a year?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
And you're just like I could have bought a bunch of
those what would be like worthfor good sleep.
So it's really.
It's really a fun business tobe in because we hear the
feedback from customers of justyou know, sometimes they make me
want to cry, like like beingable to sleep for the first time
after losing a loved one, butyears ago.
So solid sleep, you know it's,it's life changing sometimes.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So tell me about you know, you just decided to start
this business, and a lot ofpeople you know that are
connected to health basedbusinesses are maybe not have
never done that before.
Like you know, I'm anentrepreneur.
I've started dozens ofbusinesses, but I failed at many
of them and I, you know, took awhile to start figuring out.
(15:30):
You know how to do that.
Well, it's not a skill thatjust generally comes to people.
So tell me about your processwith that.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, well, I was really scared to start.
Actually, I had a businesspartner for a minute, someone I
met in Bali, another girl fromAustralia who had left corporate
and she had a big fund that shewas really ready to invest in
starting up a business.
And we were working on thistogether for a couple of months,
like I had the idea, and thenshe was looking for products and
(15:59):
couldn't find an idea.
So she said, hey, let's partner.
And I said, yes, two months in,a friend of mine goes, you know
, you used to be really happy,but you seem kind of down, like
what happened.
And I said, oh my gosh, it's,it's.
Having a partner like this ismeant to be a solo endeavor.
And I call, I rode my motorbikehome, I called her, I told her
like this isn't me, this is theuniverse, this is just true.
(16:22):
I just have to tell you this iswhat's happening.
Um, I paid her back everythingshe put in and I had no, I had
no money.
I had no money to buy inventoryto get started.
And my dad was like you reallymessed that one up, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I said no.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I know that I didn't, because it would not have
succeeded that way.
If you, if you, try to makeyour decisions based on control
or scarcity or lack or anything.
It just wasn't right.
And he said and I don't have afamily, this is not a situation
where you think, oh yeah, so herdad just gave her money.
Okay, that's not normal.
But my dad said I would like tohelp you get started.
And I said no, I said I reallywant to do this on my own, like
(16:59):
part of my motivation is I wantto be able to support my family,
my larger family.
I'm the oldest child, so Ithink that's a common I'm the
eldest too.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, that feeling.
But then I went into abreathwork meditation session
with a healer, as you do in Bali, and in that session I could
feel my dad's presence and Ifelt the light.
I'm going to cry, yeah.
It was like this feeling of himwanting to support me out of
unconditional love, not for anyother reason.
(17:29):
So I came out and I said yes, Iwill accept your gift, I will
allow you to contribute to me inthat way.
And he said you know, when Iwas your age which I was 37,
when I was your exact same age,my dad supported my business and
that was a pivotal moment forme in understanding what it
means to be a father.
So it was like a thread, it wasbeautiful.
And then he said you want me towire money to China?
(17:51):
Was like a thread, it wasbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And then he said you want me to wire money to China.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I was like I think that's what we're supposed to do
now.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And so that's how we bought the first order of
inventory and that was only 500blankets and we sold out in a
month and a half.
I was very, very nervousbecause it just looked like this
amazing opportunity.
I was like this looks like itjust looked like this amazing
opportunity.
I was like this looks like sucha no brainer.
I just don't know why, if I seeit, no one else is seeing this.
Like, how can I must be missingsomething.
But also, what am I going to do?
Not do it.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Right.
Why would you not continueRight?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, so we did it and you know, I really thought
this was going to be a sidehustle, something I could do on
the side to help me withmultiple streams of income or
kind of maybe be able tocontinue to live a little bit
more freely.
And it turned into a majorbusiness in the first year and
by the second year, I think, orthird year, I hired my sister
full time and she got hercorporate job and now she's the
(18:49):
CO, the COO and everyone I laughbecause she went to Princeton
and so I went to state school.
But we love working together andwe're still a small business,
but you know we've been aroundnow for seven going on eight
years and really love, love,being able to do things the way
(19:13):
that we want to do them, makechoices that are aligned with
the best quality and the bestservice and the best, the best
product for people.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So tell me about the blanket itself.
I know that you're talkingabout.
You know the quality and all ofthat.
Now, when you were firstsetting this thing up, you know
you're dealing with.
You know contract manufacturers.
You have to set the specs ofwhat you want, and they probably
had some kind of a product thatthey started with to say we can
(19:43):
do this.
Tell me about that a little bit.
What caused you to make yourblanket the way you made it?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, I wanted it to be all natural materials, so we
use cotton, and then the defaultwas to use a polyester lining
inside, so we've taken that outand it's all cotton.
And then the glass microbeadsare what makes the weight.
And the first question I alwaysget is is the weight of blanket
going to make me hot?
Because I get that naturally asa thought.
But with just cotton and reallyhigh quality, premium and clean
(20:14):
cotton, we use Ocotex certifiedcotton, so there's no chemicals
on the cotton from processing.
It's very cool and breathable.
And that was first and foremostin my mind because I was living
in Bali at the time and I wasthinking about people going
through menopause orperimenopause, and being able to
(20:37):
sleep is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
You know, a lot of us just are hot blooded sleep.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Hot sleepers.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So this is an all-year tool and all-weather
tool.
It's not seasonal at all andcool and breathable and there's
really not too much that you cando from a tech point of view or
create a moat around a weightedblanket, since it's a pretty
simple tool which I think ispart of what makes it so elegant
and wonderful but just reallyhigh-quality materials.
(21:06):
And then we have plastic freepackaging, so everything comes
in canvas bag and we use papertape instead of plastic tape and
that's more expensive andeverything just being very
thoughtful about those details.
And then from the first daywe've been partnered with a
nonprofit called the PajamaProgram which helps children get
better sleep, and the founderof that organization started off
(21:27):
working with kids in fostercare and homeless shelters who
actually didn't know.
Like she met a child who didn'tknow what pajamas were Wow Her
heart.
And so they first got theirstart by raising funds and
donations to give kids books andpajamas so they could have a
reassuring bedtime routine andan otherwise chaotic life
pajamas so they could have areassuring bedtime routine and
an otherwise chaotic life.
And so I love this organizationand we partner with them.
(21:48):
And then we also work withanother one called Sea Trees to
offset our carbon footprint andthen double the offset to pay it
forward.
And they're doing veryinspiring work in reforesting
kelp and mangrove forests, whichsequester five times more
carbon than the rainforest fromthe atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
So I like that.
Actually, I'm well aware ofwhat kelp and mangrove can do,
so I think that's that's reallythat's good work there.
Tell me about this partnershipwith the nonprofit.
I like hearing business.
I run a nonprofit as well, so Ilike hearing when businesses do
do partner with that.
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
In the beginning, when we were getting started, we
would do a donation to themanytime someone would leave a
review or tag us on social media.
But then it felt a little bittoo, you know, I don't know,
bribey, or something.
Sure, we stopped that and nowwe just do a financial
contribution to them every yearand they're very reliant on
(22:45):
their two corporate partners,which are Scholastic and
Carter's Pajamas.
Even though we're a very smallpartner for them, I think it's
nice that we can help spread theword a bit more.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Trust me as a nonprofit.
Anytime somebody comes in andsays I support what you're doing
and you can count on something,it makes all the difference in
the world.
It's good stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, so we try to talk about them a lot.
Yeah, definitely, it's.
A big item on my list this yearis to figure out how to
structure that in a more I don'tknow stronger way so we can do
more for them.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's good stuff.
So you probably have a lot ofstories about you, know the
impact that you've made, how youknow you're you're a
distributor or you're awholesaler or you're a retailer
how does your business function?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I don't really know which category we fit into.
We still contract ourmanufacturing out.
It's still made in China.
We have an amazing factory.
We're not working with theoriginal factory anymore.
I've been there and visited,but they have a stellar product.
We buy the inventory and thenwe sell it direct to consumers
through our website and throughAmazon.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
So Amazon is your other website.
Okay, fair enough, those areour two.
And through Amazon Okay, soAmazon is your other website,
okay fair enough.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Those are our two core sales channels, and then
we're partnered up with someother online stores so we'll
drop ship for them.
One of those is Goop, anotheris like Zola for wedding
registries.
A handful of other onlinestores.
Something I'm really trying toexplore further this year is
getting into hotels and spas,because it's such an
experiential product.
(24:27):
I think if someone had thechance to try it out then they
would know like what it feelslike.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
What's the price point on these things?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Our bestseller is the 12-pound throw, and that one
retails for $2.18 full price,and then we have free shipping.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Nice and, as you, as you said, you know you can spend
that on a couple of monthsworth of vitamins really easy.
You know, fast, good qualityherbal supplements and you're
spending 30 to 60 bucks for abottle of you know 60 capsules
just like that, and uh, so it itseems like a number, but, man,
(25:04):
if, if you really pay attention,it's nothing, so I like all
that.
You've probably had a lot offeedback from clients political
(25:26):
stuff going on and tariffs andissues with China.
Has that impacted you or do youthink it's going to?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
It definitely has.
You know, we're paying a 35percent duty rate now, which is
a pretty significant increase inour cost of product now, which
is a pretty significant increasein our cost of product.
So we are exploringmanufacturing in other countries
, but I don't think it'srealistic for us to manufacture
in the United States,unfortunately.
What would be ideal to me is ifwe could find something in
(25:54):
Latin America in our time zonewhere we could easily.
It just makes everything a loteasier.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Oh yeah, working with China is rough because you're
dealing with them at midnightjust to have a conversation.
I've done some business withthem and it's not good for
sleeping people, right?
So back to the question that Ihad.
I always like to hear sort ofthat one personal story or a
(26:18):
couple of anecdotes.
It just says where somebody youtold me about the one lady who
slept for the first time afterlosing a loved one.
But is there anything else thatstands out as a significant
impact that your product hasmade?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
When I always think about it, maybe because there's
a personal connection.
Here was one of our customerservice people her first name is
Emma has a son on the spectrumand he was, I think, eight or
nine at the time, and shestarted using our weighted
blanket with him and said thatit took an hour off of the time
it took for him to fall asleep.
(26:54):
So I just I get emotional,thinking about how hard it is to
be a kid with that challenge.
I think that it was stilltaking him an hour to get to
sleep, but man like better thantwo right.
Right.
And another thing is that hehad started a new medication
which was like an ADD type ofmedication, which you know,
(27:16):
those are stimulants at the sametime and his sleep I guess she
was using a sleep tracker on him, I don't know, but his sleep
score improved at the same time.
So that was pretty, prettyincredible and just you know, as
a mom, thinking about that withyour child, like you're really
trying to help them out and tofind something that that helps,
is great.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Well, that's fantastic.
Well, Elizabeth, we always cometo this bewitching hour and I'd
like to give you a chance togive your elevator pitch and a
way that everybody can get ahold of you.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Amazing.
Well, I don't know if I havemuch more to say about Baloo
Living, but we make weightedblankets.
We also make weighted sleepmask, which I didn't mention.
That's made out of silk, and wehave a super luxe linen sheets.
If you're into linen, linensheets.
(28:08):
If you're into linen, come tosee our store at baloolivingcom
and that's spelled b-a-l-o-o,and we have a discount for your
listeners, which is let me findout what it's called healthy
living for 10 off storewide, um,or you can find it in the show
notes, so everybody can find itperfect excellent.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
well, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking with
you and I wish you always thevery best success.
It sounds like you're helping alot of people find health in
their life.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was great to be here.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
You bet.
All right, this has been theHealthy Living Podcast.
I'm your host, joe Grumbine.
We thank you for your support.
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