November 11, 2025 • 22 mins
Importance of Sleep
Inactive Sleep Mask
What if the simplest tool in your bedroom could unlock better recovery, steadier mood, and sharper performance? We sit down with Jill McCray—co-founder of the Inactive Company and former executive at Spanx, Starbucks, and Delta—to unpack how a century-old sleep accessory became a serious performance tool for athletes, veterans, parents, and frequent flyers. Jill traces the journey from “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” to building a patented sleep mask that delivers complete darkness, active cooling with phase change material, and hardware‑free comfort that fits any head and even lets you open your eyes under the mask—an insight that dramatically increased adoption in PTSD cohorts.
We explore why sleep has jumped to the top of the wellness pyramid (hello, American Heart Association’s Essential 8), and how elite programs validated the design. From NFLPA reorders and college football travel kits to third‑party studies showing 15–30 minutes more sleep per night, the data points add up. Jill breaks down the four pillars of better sleep—darkness for melatonin signaling, thermoregulation for fewer 3 a.m. wakeups, deeper REM and slow‑wave quality, and comfort that drives real-world compliance. We also dig into their CBT‑I inspired Sleep Seven playbook, a personalizable routine that turns the mask into a reliable cue—your nightly “sleep warm‑up” that helps your body power down and stay there.
If you’ve tried apps, supplements, and gadgets with little payoff, this conversation offers a refreshing, evidence-aware approach to sleep optimization. You’ll learn how textile science borrowed from aerospace quietly stabilizes temperature, why design details matter for anxious or trauma-affected sleepers, and where performance sleepwear is headed next with infrared-friendly, cooling fabrics. Ready to treat sleep like a trainable skill and not a lottery? Tune in, try the playbook at inactiveco.com, and tell us your biggest sleep blocker. If this helped, subscribe, share with a friend who needs better nights, and leave a quick review—we read them all and they mean a lot.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hi, Hori.
This is Damaris Grossman,Mindfully Integrative Show.
And today we have an amazingguest.
Her name is Jill McCain McRae.
She has um an amazing businessabout sleep medicine and sleep
masks.
It's called Enactman, and she'lltell you more about it.
I'm not fully giving the rightinfo, but I can tell you that
it's necessary and we all need alittle bit more sleep in our
(00:25):
life.
So thank you so much for beingon.
And how's it going?
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
It's going great.
Thank you so much for having metoday.
I'm Jill McCray.
I'm the co-founder of theInactive Company.
I know it's an unusual name, butwe firmly believe that you have
to be inactive and power down inorder to power up and be your
best and perform at your highestlevel.
My co-founder Lori and I metafter 25 years in big brands.
We were on the executiveleadership team for Spanx.
(00:51):
Have you ever heard of Spanx bySarah Blake?
Of course, definitely.
We both have a storied, youknow, existence and experience.
We have a lot of experience inconsumer brands from Starbucks
to Coca-Cola to Dardenrestaurants to Delta.
We worked for those brands for areally long time, building
businesses.
And we, between the two of uswith different partners, we have
(01:13):
seven kids.
So we were busy mom executives,traveling around the world.
Also came from the generationwho grew up saying, Oh, you
know, I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Super high performers and alwayssacrificing our sleep for
everything else.
And it started almost be a jokewhile we were literally
traveling around the worldbuilding these other businesses
and we got competitive with oursleep.
(01:34):
We would, you know, takevitamins or gummies or try to
outbite each other inmattresses.
And after we worked at Spanx, weboth started our own consulting
companies.
And about four years ago, Loricalled me and said, I've got it.
I've got this idea that we canfinally tackle sleep.
We're going to reinvent ahundred-year-old sleep mask and
a super easy, approachable toolthat everybody could use.
(01:58):
And we're going to patent it andmake it available to everybody.
And that's exactly what we did.
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
That's amazing.
How and said you and you weretalking to me briefly about how
you just started, just startedon your own for yourselves and
then kind of grew from there.
Now you kind of like areexpanded.
And why did you find thisimportant?
I mean, I can tell you where Ilove sleep medicine, but why did
you find it so important to makeit like this?
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
Well, while we were, you know, building, while we
were, you know, working on theseother brands as well, I was
actually chairing American HeartAssociation's Go Red for Women
campaign.
And at that time, sleep wasbecoming a much more important
conversation.
Now, sleep is a very importantconversation everywhere,
particularly in wellness, moreso than it's ever been before.
It used to be all about diet andexercise and you know managing
(02:44):
your weight and meditation.
And now they're saying thatsleep is very important.
And as a matter of fact, theAmerican Heart Association
changed its super seven, whichtalked about the seven levels of
the pyramid for holistic healthto the essential eight, and
number one is sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Yeah, I mean, obviously you can tell eight.
So it's not that it's not init's the other parts are
important too, but sleep isreally if your brain is not
rested, oh people.
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
Correct, correct.
So we sort of knew we were on tosomething.
And while we were developing it,you know, through our
connections from a million yearsat, you know, working in
business, people started to getreally interested.
And through a contact of ours,we got involved with the NFL
Players Association, and theywere really interested.
And the University of Georgia aswell, because we're both
graduates of the University ofGeorgia.
(03:32):
They bought our prototypes thefirst year that they were going
to the national playoffs andsaid, we need to get these guys
to sleep because they were goingby coastal.
And really, sleep was the onething that the coaches and the
trainers couldn't regulate.
They're not in their dorm rooms,they're not in their hotel
rooms.
They have, you know, teamsaround them that are helping
them with everything else, butthey knew that sleep was super
(03:53):
critical.
If you follow football at all,you know, injuries are at an
all-time high for multiplereasons.
And so they really wanted to dothat.
So we knew that we had hit anerve and started working with
sort of this elite group ofathletes, knowing that it would
cascade down to everyone else.
So while we were building theprototypes, we also were in an
(04:15):
IRB study with EmoryUniversity's sleep clinic.
We worked with the WoundedWarriors Foundation, with
veterans.
We got ourselves invited toHarvard Medical School Sleep
Symposium, and we just dideverything we could to find out
more about sleep because we'renot doctors nor were we sleep
experts at the time.
We were product experts and knewhow to deliver a solution to a
(04:37):
population.
So we we learned everything.
SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
I am I commend you just in general going and then
where how far you've come withthis.
And then in I mean, it's it's avery important thing, but how
did how did it how did it kindof turn into that?
You said you just kept kept youhad a good connections and good
and then kept putting it outthere.
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
We just again, we just like sort of in ingratiated
ourselves anywhere we could andlearned as much as we could.
And we're really excited to findout that people did want to
share.
You know, they felt like thiswasn't an important message
enough.
They were willing to test us,back us, and help, you know,
start buying the products to getthem out to athletes.
So while we were building it, werealized that there were really
(05:18):
four critical areas of sleepthat we needed to deliver on
with a good tool that we couldactually replicate and patent as
well.
So one is you need completedarkness for your brain to
signal the production, you know,this, and this production of
melatonin.
And people just it it aresurprised at how they don't
realize they're actually that'snot happening.
SPEAKER_01 (05:39):
So our no, and you have to tell them.
I may know it, but I want thoselistening to tell us the four
because I think I they can hearit from me, but I, you know,
it's like almost like the momkind of like the wall.
I they need it from people.
Why is it important?
SPEAKER_00 (05:55):
Complete darkness.
You need your brain to signalthe production of melatonin to
help you fall asleep.
Temperature regulation.
So there are multiple studiesout there, you know, everyone
sort of has their own routine,but the optimal temperature is
anywhere between like 65 and 72degrees.
I I personally turn it down asmuch as I can.
My husband hates it, but I sleepin a cocoon, a freezing cocoon,
(06:17):
and that works for me.
So our mask actually hasthermoregulation with a phase
change material that helps youabsorb the heat away from your
face to help keep your facecooler.
Because if you can stay cooler,you can actually sleep longer.
As your circadian rhythm falls,rises and falls, so does your
body temperature.
And that's what actually causesyou to wake up sometime, along
(06:39):
with, you know, daylight.
So that's number two.
Number three is the ability toget, you know, full REM cycles
in.
So if you can sleep deeper withcomplete darkness and
temperature regulation, thenthat also helps you actually get
better quality sleep.
It does, you know, people say,Oh, I slept longer, I slept for
(07:00):
nine hours, and they wake up andthey're still tired or they feel
groggy.
It's because the quality oftheir sleep isn't great.
And then the fourth is reallycomfort.
If you're not comfortable,you're not going to sleep.
So we actually developed oursleep mask to be hardware free
and to fit any head size.
So we hearkened back to ourSpanx days and got a performance
(07:20):
elastic that's actuallyself-adjusting that you can
actually fit the mask to anysize head.
So if you have braids or if youhave a larger head or anything
like that.
The other thing that we addedinto the mask is that we added
the opportunity for you tocompletely open your eyes
underneath, no matter how howlong your eyelashes are, or if
(07:42):
you actually don't like thefeeling of your eyes being
covered.
We actually learned that withthe veteran study that we did
with the university.
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
And like their eyes open.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yes.
So that was one of their bigqualifiers is that in order to
be able to use the mask, theywanted to be able to open their
eyes because the cohort that weworked with were PTSD survivors
from 9-11.
I can attest to that as a 9-11survivor.
So and so I can tell you forsure.
(08:12):
And it was really interesting.
The IRB study, we had about a30% adoption rate.
And at the end, we were up near70%.
So they were really excited thatthey could put the mask on and
actually open their eyes.
SPEAKER_01 (08:23):
So cool.
That's really exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
And felt like they could sleep longer.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
So question for you.
I feel like you're gonna haveyour second, your your next
thing will be like mask thenblanket.
You can do a blanket.
SPEAKER_00 (08:36):
So we can prototype right now for what we're calling
inactive wear.
The mask is called theinactivators because they look
like they actually look likeaviator sunglasses.
We wanted to design them so theylook super cool.
So our inactive wear sleep,performance sleep line actually
has the same tenets as our mask.
So it actually has infraredtechnology, also
(09:00):
thermoregulation, cellularregeneration.
You know, there's a lot ofbuzzwords that are happening,
and it's not wearabletechnology, but it's actually
blended into the fabric so thatyou can't, these things we can
deliver these things to thecustomer as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
That's super cool.
Very, very neat.
So tell me more about in thereference to how it's been
effective for individuals, evenfor yourself, and what have you
seen through the, obviouslythrough the studies, which is
very important.
Obviously, everybody wants toknow evidence-based, everybody
wants to know how it's working.
But you know, in real real life,what what's going on with most
(09:35):
like NFL, MBA, those people inthe athletic fields, they are so
we were just briefly talkingabout the cortisol levels and
how much they're so high alert.
How do you get them to shutdown?
SPEAKER_00 (09:49):
So it's really interesting because we're now in
our third season.
We're still a young company, sowe're only Okay, congrats.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
I I get it.
Business is a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
And we use that as one of our data points as you
know, all these teams continueto reorder with us every season.
You know, they contact us whenthey go into training camp and
say, hey, we need our sleepmasks, we're going on the road.
The NFLPA contacted us this yearand bought masks for the nine
teams that were travelinginternationally as part of their
NFLPA-issued performanceequipment so that the players
(10:22):
would put sleep on the top oftheir routine.
Because again, you know, that'sthat's one of the hardest human
performance factors for thecoaches and trainers to regulate
for the athletes.
But as a matter of fact, it'sthe one human performance factor
that you can't actually fake,cheat, replace.
You can't take a pill for it,you can't drink a smoothie for
(10:43):
it, you can't add it toanything.
Your body must sleep.
You were born to do that.
So we did a third-party consumerstudy that actually showed that
people who were using the sleepmask were sleeping anywhere from
15 to 30 minutes longer.
We did a qualitative study withthe University of Georgia
football team when we startedbuilding this pro we started
(11:05):
building this company andself-reported, they were also
sleeping.
There's an 80% adoption rate andthey were also sleeping up to 30
minutes longer.
So we use all of those as sortof data points that it's
working, as well as the feedbackthat we're getting directly from
consumers.
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
That's really great.
So, like you've been able to, sonot just with the mask now that
you're you're thinking of kindof growing it into another area.
And in general, are you thisathletic group?
I feel like that that's a reallyimportant area.
I feel like they're needed.
I feel like between what NFL,that whole national side, and
then also even like college,like the college groups,
(11:42):
probably too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
Or we have college games as well.
And listen, we consider them tobe sort of a sharp edge, right?
So they happen to be the groupthat's most in touch with their
body.
They're more most aware of whatthey need, but really it's for
anybody.
I mean, sleep is again a humanperformance factor.
So while they have that's theirjob, and that's what they're
(12:04):
focused on all the time, what itdoes is tell us that it's
another lever that we can pullfor our own holistic wellness.
And whether it's mental health,physical health, you know,
overall health, that sleep isreally important.
So while it's really importantto these elite athletes, it's
clearly important to everybodyelse too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
Right.
I mean, like moms, you know,where how many are always
worrying about not gettingsleep, you know, young moms, old
moms, you know, parents or notjust moms, parents, and you
know, that in itself can can be,I could see an array of things
here.
That's uh sounds uh very cool.
So tell me more in the sense ofor for your family, has
everybody in the family beenusing it, or you know, do you
(12:44):
have like your own uh like quietrooms with the or you just put
it on?
Or have you been able to usethis like in a bright room and
then put it on and and found itto change the dynamic of your
sleep?
Like if you were somewhere likein an airplane, right?
And put it on.
SPEAKER_00 (13:01):
For me, that's primarily where I use
inactivators.
I travel a lot.
I also have a consulting companyI speak, you know, and we we're
also invited to speak todifferent teams.
So for me, that's when I use itthe most.
My, you know, everyone has adifferent routine and it has
different sleep issues, eventhough they have sleep issues.
Mine is I can fall asleepanywhere.
My husband says it's a littlebit of a disease.
(13:21):
Literally, I can fall asleep inthe chair.
That's not my problem.
My problem is staying asleep.
So I'll wake up in the middle ofthe night, and that could be
because I have four kids and youknow, I'm listening to every
creak in the house, or my mindis just racing.
But wearing the mask for me,particularly when I'm traveling,
helps me stay asleep.
I, in my sort of wake-up moment,my aha moment when we were also
(13:43):
building this company is threeyears ago, I got pneumonia and I
generally be healthy, but I wasreally sick.
And it was mostly because I wasrun down.
Since I have trained myself tohave a better sleep routine and
have been using the sleep mask,I haven't been sick in three
years.
And that's just my experience.
Everybody, like I said,everybody sort of has their own
routine, but um, my entirefamily uses.
(14:05):
I mean, my kids still mind now.
They're all, you know, myyoungest just graduated from
college, but it's amazing thathe would bring like his pledge
brothers home and they wouldrifle through and be like, Can I
have some of those sleep masks?
So they're using them incollege, they're using them in
apartments, and they're usingthem on airplants.
SPEAKER_01 (14:20):
Oh, that's so neat.
I feel like you definitely canadd this in with a variety of
different, you know, things thatpeople reach out to me about for
sleep, you know, whether it's umthe uh fusers, the oils, the you
know, the supplements and thecortisol levels.
I feel like it it's a greatcomplement to that.
And it, but I think it it soundsit's sounds simple.
(14:41):
You're making it sound simple,but the technology sounds very
advanced.
SPEAKER_00 (14:46):
It's it's simpler.
I mean, I am an engineer, butyou know, we worked with people
who made it simple for us, butit is patented and it's not easy
to do.
I mean, it's really lightweight.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Congrats on the patent.
I mean, that's for living too.
SPEAKER_00 (15:01):
We were excited about that because it was a
utility patent that's not easyto replicate because it listen,
there's there are a bunch ofdifferent sleep masks on the
market right now, and we wantedours to make a difference,
right?
We wanted ours to actually beable to deliver on that.
In addition to the mask, we alsodeveloped what we call a sleep
seven playbook because you'resupposed to have um sleep
(15:21):
experts who will say you shouldhave a minimum of seven.
So it's based on CBTI, socognital be cognitive
behavioral, sorry, CBIT,cognitive behavioral insomnia
therapy.
And it's sort of like sevensteps to anything.
You know, they say seven stepsto be more successful, seven
steps to better diet, betterexercise.
And we developed one, sevensteps to better sleep that will
(15:44):
help you sort of do you.
Like I said, you know, everyonehas their own sleep routine, and
what works for you needs to bewhat you sort of double down on
when it comes time to bedtime.
And so we developed ours so thatyou can personalize it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
That's great.
Are you able to is people ableto reach that on the website?
Uh is there like a PDF or isthat like an app or something?
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
It's right on our website.
Our in our website isinactiveco.com.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
So inactiveco.com and then say that last part
again.
Sorry?
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
They'll see playbook right at the top of the page.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (16:21):
Oh, awesome.
All right, perfect.
All right, and then you know,they can reach you.
What would you like to tell theaudience in reference to not
just the, you know, yourcompany, but what would you like
to, you know, discuss aboutwhere what came into this, you
know?
I know you were saying you youcame up with this and you know
you guys were having no sleep,but what would you like to like
discuss and and and tell theaudience about?
SPEAKER_00 (16:44):
Listen, I would say because sleep was so elusive for
so long and there was such focuson other areas of wellness, and
sleep is now sort of this comingof age right now.
Sleep isn't magic.
It's actually something you canpractice, perfect, and train
for, just like anything else.
You can train to have a betterphysical performance.
(17:06):
You can train to have a betterprofessional performance, and
you can practice for anything,and you can do that with sleep
as well.
It sounds weird, but the truthof the matter is sleep is just
the other 12 hours of your day.
I say 12, seven to nine hours ofyour day, where your body is
working just as, if not harder,than it is when you're awake.
(17:27):
And I think that's what peopledon't realize most of the time,
and they sort of don't put focuson it because it's subconscious.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
And yeah, they they don't realize the importance of
the healing process, right?
And and how like our body needsto regenerate.
And it's like, but I I thinkwhat you're you know, trying to
bring it back like, yes, it'sbecome a little bit more in the
mainstream, but I'm I'm gladit's in the mainstream.
I'm glad it's being discussedbecause sometimes, and it seems
(17:56):
like it's simple-ish, but Ithink the mask is maybe helping
people get a little grasp,grasping it a little quicker.
So I think that's reallyimportant.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
It's almost Pavlovian.
I mean, when we you know 90% ofpeople have actually never tried
a sleep mask.
I never tried a sleep maskbefore.
My partner convinced me, youknow, to get into this with her.
But what starts to happen evenwith your sort of bedtime
routine is you see the mask,you're you're like, okay, I know
it's time.
Your shoulders drop, your bodystarts to get into the zone and
(18:24):
like it's it's my time, right?
You sort of like psych yourselfup to sleep.
I know that sounds like anoxymoron, but that's what the
seven steps are about too.
And if you can make that part ofyour behavior, your sleep
routine, your sleep warm-up, wecall it, then you have a better
chance of actually, you know,relaxing and having a more
seamless transition into sleep.
(18:46):
We call the sleep mask thelittle black dress of your sleep
wardrobe because you can take itanywhere, you can wear it
anywhere and help you sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (18:54):
I love that.
I love that.
And is it kind of have like ayou said because of the
temperature regulation, it's nottoo hot, not too cold.
Like it, if you don't feelnothing.
SPEAKER_00 (19:05):
It's it is really you have to do nothing, you
don't have to put it in therefrigerator, there's no
plugging it in.
It's a phase change materialthat's actually woven in on the
fabric level, and that'sactually part of our patent.
Also PCM phase change materialis not new, it's been around for
a while.
They actually use it on thespace shuttle, it's using tennis
rackets, it's using other, youknow, performance uh apparel and
(19:25):
clothing and also shoes.
And it it think of it, it'salmost like wicking for heat.
So it actually attracts the heataway from you so that your body
will regulate itself.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Got it.
Okay.
Yeah, that that does sound likethe thermal rate.
Yeah, that makes sense.
But that's really neat.
I mean, I think it's well I'mexcited for you guys and what
you guys will additionally, youknow, bring into the, you know,
your company and to and alsointo the world to you know bring
out for people.
And I appreciate you being on.
What before you leave, is theresomething that you like to add
(19:56):
in for and ways for people toreach?
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
Yeah, our website is inactiveco.com.
You can reach us there.
We're on X, Facebook, LinkedIn,Instagram.
You can reach out to us, andthere are direct direct links to
our platforms on our website aswell.
And there's also you can contactus directly if you want to reach
out with any questions.
There's a button on our website.
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
Great.
Thank you so much.
And is there anything else you'dlike to say before we go?
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
No, I mean, I I I hope that everybody tries
inactivators and I wisheverybody a restful sleep.
Wonderful.
SPEAKER_01 (20:29):
Well, thank you so much for being on.
And like we said, we're gonnahave all the information in the
show notes and hope you guysreach out to Inactive Co.
And I'll have all the info foryou guys there.
So make sure you make it amindful way each and every day,
and a mindful way in night too.
Hi, Hori.
This is Damaris Grossman,Mindfully Integrative Show.
And today we have an amazingguest.
Her name is Jill McCain McRae.
She has um an amazing businessabout sleep medicine and sleep
masks.
It's called Enactman, and she'lltell you more about it.
I'm not fully giving the rightinfo, but I can tell you that
it's necessary and we all need alittle bit more sleep in our
(00:25):
life.
So thank you so much for beingon.
And how's it going?
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
It's going great.
Thank you so much for having metoday.
I'm Jill McCray.
I'm the co-founder of theInactive Company.
I know it's an unusual name, butwe firmly believe that you have
to be inactive and power down inorder to power up and be your
best and perform at your highestlevel.
My co-founder Lori and I metafter 25 years in big brands.
We were on the executiveleadership team for Spanx.
(00:51):
Have you ever heard of Spanx bySarah Blake?
Of course, definitely.
We both have a storied, youknow, existence and experience.
We have a lot of experience inconsumer brands from Starbucks
to Coca-Cola to Dardenrestaurants to Delta.
We worked for those brands for areally long time, building
businesses.
And we, between the two of uswith different partners, we have
(01:13):
seven kids.
So we were busy mom executives,traveling around the world.
Also came from the generationwho grew up saying, Oh, you
know, I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Super high performers and alwayssacrificing our sleep for
everything else.
And it started almost be a jokewhile we were literally
traveling around the worldbuilding these other businesses
and we got competitive with oursleep.
(01:34):
We would, you know, takevitamins or gummies or try to
outbite each other inmattresses.
And after we worked at Spanx, weboth started our own consulting
companies.
And about four years ago, Loricalled me and said, I've got it.
I've got this idea that we canfinally tackle sleep.
We're going to reinvent ahundred-year-old sleep mask and
a super easy, approachable toolthat everybody could use.
(01:58):
And we're going to patent it andmake it available to everybody.
And that's exactly what we did.
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
That's amazing.
How and said you and you weretalking to me briefly about how
you just started, just startedon your own for yourselves and
then kind of grew from there.
Now you kind of like areexpanded.
And why did you find thisimportant?
I mean, I can tell you where Ilove sleep medicine, but why did
you find it so important to makeit like this?
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
Well, while we were, you know, building, while we
were, you know, working on theseother brands as well, I was
actually chairing American HeartAssociation's Go Red for Women
campaign.
And at that time, sleep wasbecoming a much more important
conversation.
Now, sleep is a very importantconversation everywhere,
particularly in wellness, moreso than it's ever been before.
It used to be all about diet andexercise and you know managing
(02:44):
your weight and meditation.
And now they're saying thatsleep is very important.
And as a matter of fact, theAmerican Heart Association
changed its super seven, whichtalked about the seven levels of
the pyramid for holistic healthto the essential eight, and
number one is sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Yeah, I mean, obviously you can tell eight.
So it's not that it's not init's the other parts are
important too, but sleep isreally if your brain is not
rested, oh people.
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
Correct, correct.
So we sort of knew we were on tosomething.
And while we were developing it,you know, through our
connections from a million yearsat, you know, working in
business, people started to getreally interested.
And through a contact of ours,we got involved with the NFL
Players Association, and theywere really interested.
And the University of Georgia aswell, because we're both
graduates of the University ofGeorgia.
(03:32):
They bought our prototypes thefirst year that they were going
to the national playoffs andsaid, we need to get these guys
to sleep because they were goingby coastal.
And really, sleep was the onething that the coaches and the
trainers couldn't regulate.
They're not in their dorm rooms,they're not in their hotel
rooms.
They have, you know, teamsaround them that are helping
them with everything else, butthey knew that sleep was super
(03:53):
critical.
If you follow football at all,you know, injuries are at an
all-time high for multiplereasons.
And so they really wanted to dothat.
So we knew that we had hit anerve and started working with
sort of this elite group ofathletes, knowing that it would
cascade down to everyone else.
So while we were building theprototypes, we also were in an
(04:15):
IRB study with EmoryUniversity's sleep clinic.
We worked with the WoundedWarriors Foundation, with
veterans.
We got ourselves invited toHarvard Medical School Sleep
Symposium, and we just dideverything we could to find out
more about sleep because we'renot doctors nor were we sleep
experts at the time.
We were product experts and knewhow to deliver a solution to a
(04:37):
population.
So we we learned everything.
SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
I am I commend you just in general going and then
where how far you've come withthis.
And then in I mean, it's it's avery important thing, but how
did how did it how did it kindof turn into that?
You said you just kept kept youhad a good connections and good
and then kept putting it outthere.
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
We just again, we just like sort of in ingratiated
ourselves anywhere we could andlearned as much as we could.
And we're really excited to findout that people did want to
share.
You know, they felt like thiswasn't an important message
enough.
They were willing to test us,back us, and help, you know,
start buying the products to getthem out to athletes.
So while we were building it, werealized that there were really
(05:18):
four critical areas of sleepthat we needed to deliver on
with a good tool that we couldactually replicate and patent as
well.
So one is you need completedarkness for your brain to
signal the production, you know,this, and this production of
melatonin.
And people just it it aresurprised at how they don't
realize they're actually that'snot happening.
SPEAKER_01 (05:39):
So our no, and you have to tell them.
I may know it, but I want thoselistening to tell us the four
because I think I they can hearit from me, but I, you know,
it's like almost like the momkind of like the wall.
I they need it from people.
Why is it important?
SPEAKER_00 (05:55):
Complete darkness.
You need your brain to signalthe production of melatonin to
help you fall asleep.
Temperature regulation.
So there are multiple studiesout there, you know, everyone
sort of has their own routine,but the optimal temperature is
anywhere between like 65 and 72degrees.
I I personally turn it down asmuch as I can.
My husband hates it, but I sleepin a cocoon, a freezing cocoon,
(06:17):
and that works for me.
So our mask actually hasthermoregulation with a phase
change material that helps youabsorb the heat away from your
face to help keep your facecooler.
Because if you can stay cooler,you can actually sleep longer.
As your circadian rhythm falls,rises and falls, so does your
body temperature.
And that's what actually causesyou to wake up sometime, along
(06:39):
with, you know, daylight.
So that's number two.
Number three is the ability toget, you know, full REM cycles
in.
So if you can sleep deeper withcomplete darkness and
temperature regulation, thenthat also helps you actually get
better quality sleep.
It does, you know, people say,Oh, I slept longer, I slept for
(07:00):
nine hours, and they wake up andthey're still tired or they feel
groggy.
It's because the quality oftheir sleep isn't great.
And then the fourth is reallycomfort.
If you're not comfortable,you're not going to sleep.
So we actually developed oursleep mask to be hardware free
and to fit any head size.
So we hearkened back to ourSpanx days and got a performance
(07:20):
elastic that's actuallyself-adjusting that you can
actually fit the mask to anysize head.
So if you have braids or if youhave a larger head or anything
like that.
The other thing that we addedinto the mask is that we added
the opportunity for you tocompletely open your eyes
underneath, no matter how howlong your eyelashes are, or if
(07:42):
you actually don't like thefeeling of your eyes being
covered.
We actually learned that withthe veteran study that we did
with the university.
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
And like their eyes open.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yes.
So that was one of their bigqualifiers is that in order to
be able to use the mask, theywanted to be able to open their
eyes because the cohort that weworked with were PTSD survivors
from 9-11.
I can attest to that as a 9-11survivor.
So and so I can tell you forsure.
(08:12):
And it was really interesting.
The IRB study, we had about a30% adoption rate.
And at the end, we were up near70%.
So they were really excited thatthey could put the mask on and
actually open their eyes.
SPEAKER_01 (08:23):
So cool.
That's really exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
And felt like they could sleep longer.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
So question for you.
I feel like you're gonna haveyour second, your your next
thing will be like mask thenblanket.
You can do a blanket.
SPEAKER_00 (08:36):
So we can prototype right now for what we're calling
inactive wear.
The mask is called theinactivators because they look
like they actually look likeaviator sunglasses.
We wanted to design them so theylook super cool.
So our inactive wear sleep,performance sleep line actually
has the same tenets as our mask.
So it actually has infraredtechnology, also
(09:00):
thermoregulation, cellularregeneration.
You know, there's a lot ofbuzzwords that are happening,
and it's not wearabletechnology, but it's actually
blended into the fabric so thatyou can't, these things we can
deliver these things to thecustomer as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
That's super cool.
Very, very neat.
So tell me more about in thereference to how it's been
effective for individuals, evenfor yourself, and what have you
seen through the, obviouslythrough the studies, which is
very important.
Obviously, everybody wants toknow evidence-based, everybody
wants to know how it's working.
But you know, in real real life,what what's going on with most
(09:35):
like NFL, MBA, those people inthe athletic fields, they are so
we were just briefly talkingabout the cortisol levels and
how much they're so high alert.
How do you get them to shutdown?
SPEAKER_00 (09:49):
So it's really interesting because we're now in
our third season.
We're still a young company, sowe're only Okay, congrats.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
I I get it.
Business is a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
And we use that as one of our data points as you
know, all these teams continueto reorder with us every season.
You know, they contact us whenthey go into training camp and
say, hey, we need our sleepmasks, we're going on the road.
The NFLPA contacted us this yearand bought masks for the nine
teams that were travelinginternationally as part of their
NFLPA-issued performanceequipment so that the players
(10:22):
would put sleep on the top oftheir routine.
Because again, you know, that'sthat's one of the hardest human
performance factors for thecoaches and trainers to regulate
for the athletes.
But as a matter of fact, it'sthe one human performance factor
that you can't actually fake,cheat, replace.
You can't take a pill for it,you can't drink a smoothie for
(10:43):
it, you can't add it toanything.
Your body must sleep.
You were born to do that.
So we did a third-party consumerstudy that actually showed that
people who were using the sleepmask were sleeping anywhere from
15 to 30 minutes longer.
We did a qualitative study withthe University of Georgia
football team when we startedbuilding this pro we started
(11:05):
building this company andself-reported, they were also
sleeping.
There's an 80% adoption rate andthey were also sleeping up to 30
minutes longer.
So we use all of those as sortof data points that it's
working, as well as the feedbackthat we're getting directly from
consumers.
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
That's really great.
So, like you've been able to, sonot just with the mask now that
you're you're thinking of kindof growing it into another area.
And in general, are you thisathletic group?
I feel like that that's a reallyimportant area.
I feel like they're needed.
I feel like between what NFL,that whole national side, and
then also even like college,like the college groups,
(11:42):
probably too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
Or we have college games as well.
And listen, we consider them tobe sort of a sharp edge, right?
So they happen to be the groupthat's most in touch with their
body.
They're more most aware of whatthey need, but really it's for
anybody.
I mean, sleep is again a humanperformance factor.
So while they have that's theirjob, and that's what they're
(12:04):
focused on all the time, what itdoes is tell us that it's
another lever that we can pullfor our own holistic wellness.
And whether it's mental health,physical health, you know,
overall health, that sleep isreally important.
So while it's really importantto these elite athletes, it's
clearly important to everybodyelse too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
Right.
I mean, like moms, you know,where how many are always
worrying about not gettingsleep, you know, young moms, old
moms, you know, parents or notjust moms, parents, and you
know, that in itself can can be,I could see an array of things
here.
That's uh sounds uh very cool.
So tell me more in the sense ofor for your family, has
everybody in the family beenusing it, or you know, do you
(12:44):
have like your own uh like quietrooms with the or you just put
it on?
Or have you been able to usethis like in a bright room and
then put it on and and found itto change the dynamic of your
sleep?
Like if you were somewhere likein an airplane, right?
And put it on.
SPEAKER_00 (13:01):
For me, that's primarily where I use
inactivators.
I travel a lot.
I also have a consulting companyI speak, you know, and we we're
also invited to speak todifferent teams.
So for me, that's when I use itthe most.
My, you know, everyone has adifferent routine and it has
different sleep issues, eventhough they have sleep issues.
Mine is I can fall asleepanywhere.
My husband says it's a littlebit of a disease.
(13:21):
Literally, I can fall asleep inthe chair.
That's not my problem.
My problem is staying asleep.
So I'll wake up in the middle ofthe night, and that could be
because I have four kids and youknow, I'm listening to every
creak in the house, or my mindis just racing.
But wearing the mask for me,particularly when I'm traveling,
helps me stay asleep.
I, in my sort of wake-up moment,my aha moment when we were also
(13:43):
building this company is threeyears ago, I got pneumonia and I
generally be healthy, but I wasreally sick.
And it was mostly because I wasrun down.
Since I have trained myself tohave a better sleep routine and
have been using the sleep mask,I haven't been sick in three
years.
And that's just my experience.
Everybody, like I said,everybody sort of has their own
routine, but um, my entirefamily uses.
(14:05):
I mean, my kids still mind now.
They're all, you know, myyoungest just graduated from
college, but it's amazing thathe would bring like his pledge
brothers home and they wouldrifle through and be like, Can I
have some of those sleep masks?
So they're using them incollege, they're using them in
apartments, and they're usingthem on airplants.
SPEAKER_01 (14:20):
Oh, that's so neat.
I feel like you definitely canadd this in with a variety of
different, you know, things thatpeople reach out to me about for
sleep, you know, whether it's umthe uh fusers, the oils, the you
know, the supplements and thecortisol levels.
I feel like it it's a greatcomplement to that.
And it, but I think it it soundsit's sounds simple.
(14:41):
You're making it sound simple,but the technology sounds very
advanced.
SPEAKER_00 (14:46):
It's it's simpler.
I mean, I am an engineer, butyou know, we worked with people
who made it simple for us, butit is patented and it's not easy
to do.
I mean, it's really lightweight.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Congrats on the patent.
I mean, that's for living too.
SPEAKER_00 (15:01):
We were excited about that because it was a
utility patent that's not easyto replicate because it listen,
there's there are a bunch ofdifferent sleep masks on the
market right now, and we wantedours to make a difference,
right?
We wanted ours to actually beable to deliver on that.
In addition to the mask, we alsodeveloped what we call a sleep
seven playbook because you'resupposed to have um sleep
(15:21):
experts who will say you shouldhave a minimum of seven.
So it's based on CBTI, socognital be cognitive
behavioral, sorry, CBIT,cognitive behavioral insomnia
therapy.
And it's sort of like sevensteps to anything.
You know, they say seven stepsto be more successful, seven
steps to better diet, betterexercise.
And we developed one, sevensteps to better sleep that will
(15:44):
help you sort of do you.
Like I said, you know, everyonehas their own sleep routine, and
what works for you needs to bewhat you sort of double down on
when it comes time to bedtime.
And so we developed ours so thatyou can personalize it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
That's great.
Are you able to is people ableto reach that on the website?
Uh is there like a PDF or isthat like an app or something?
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
It's right on our website.
Our in our website isinactiveco.com.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
So inactiveco.com and then say that last part
again.
Sorry?
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
They'll see playbook right at the top of the page.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (16:21):
Oh, awesome.
All right, perfect.
All right, and then you know,they can reach you.
What would you like to tell theaudience in reference to not
just the, you know, yourcompany, but what would you like
to, you know, discuss aboutwhere what came into this, you
know?
I know you were saying you youcame up with this and you know
you guys were having no sleep,but what would you like to like
discuss and and and tell theaudience about?
SPEAKER_00 (16:44):
Listen, I would say because sleep was so elusive for
so long and there was such focuson other areas of wellness, and
sleep is now sort of this comingof age right now.
Sleep isn't magic.
It's actually something you canpractice, perfect, and train
for, just like anything else.
You can train to have a betterphysical performance.
(17:06):
You can train to have a betterprofessional performance, and
you can practice for anything,and you can do that with sleep
as well.
It sounds weird, but the truthof the matter is sleep is just
the other 12 hours of your day.
I say 12, seven to nine hours ofyour day, where your body is
working just as, if not harder,than it is when you're awake.
(17:27):
And I think that's what peopledon't realize most of the time,
and they sort of don't put focuson it because it's subconscious.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
And yeah, they they don't realize the importance of
the healing process, right?
And and how like our body needsto regenerate.
And it's like, but I I thinkwhat you're you know, trying to
bring it back like, yes, it'sbecome a little bit more in the
mainstream, but I'm I'm gladit's in the mainstream.
I'm glad it's being discussedbecause sometimes, and it seems
(17:56):
like it's simple-ish, but Ithink the mask is maybe helping
people get a little grasp,grasping it a little quicker.
So I think that's reallyimportant.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
It's almost Pavlovian.
I mean, when we you know 90% ofpeople have actually never tried
a sleep mask.
I never tried a sleep maskbefore.
My partner convinced me, youknow, to get into this with her.
But what starts to happen evenwith your sort of bedtime
routine is you see the mask,you're you're like, okay, I know
it's time.
Your shoulders drop, your bodystarts to get into the zone and
(18:24):
like it's it's my time, right?
You sort of like psych yourselfup to sleep.
I know that sounds like anoxymoron, but that's what the
seven steps are about too.
And if you can make that part ofyour behavior, your sleep
routine, your sleep warm-up, wecall it, then you have a better
chance of actually, you know,relaxing and having a more
seamless transition into sleep.
(18:46):
We call the sleep mask thelittle black dress of your sleep
wardrobe because you can take itanywhere, you can wear it
anywhere and help you sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (18:54):
I love that.
I love that.
And is it kind of have like ayou said because of the
temperature regulation, it's nottoo hot, not too cold.
Like it, if you don't feelnothing.
SPEAKER_00 (19:05):
It's it is really you have to do nothing, you
don't have to put it in therefrigerator, there's no
plugging it in.
It's a phase change materialthat's actually woven in on the
fabric level, and that'sactually part of our patent.
Also PCM phase change materialis not new, it's been around for
a while.
They actually use it on thespace shuttle, it's using tennis
rackets, it's using other, youknow, performance uh apparel and
(19:25):
clothing and also shoes.
And it it think of it, it'salmost like wicking for heat.
So it actually attracts the heataway from you so that your body
will regulate itself.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Got it.
Okay.
Yeah, that that does sound likethe thermal rate.
Yeah, that makes sense.
But that's really neat.
I mean, I think it's well I'mexcited for you guys and what
you guys will additionally, youknow, bring into the, you know,
your company and to and alsointo the world to you know bring
out for people.
And I appreciate you being on.
What before you leave, is theresomething that you like to add
(19:56):
in for and ways for people toreach?
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
Yeah, our website is inactiveco.com.
You can reach us there.
We're on X, Facebook, LinkedIn,Instagram.
You can reach out to us, andthere are direct direct links to
our platforms on our website aswell.
And there's also you can contactus directly if you want to reach
out with any questions.
There's a button on our website.
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
Great.
Thank you so much.
And is there anything else you'dlike to say before we go?
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
No, I mean, I I I hope that everybody tries
inactivators and I wisheverybody a restful sleep.
Wonderful.
SPEAKER_01 (20:29):
Well, thank you so much for being on.
And like we said, we're gonnahave all the information in the
show notes and hope you guysreach out to Inactive Co.
And I'll have all the info foryou guys there.
So make sure you make it amindful way each and every day,
and a mindful way in night too.
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