Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Morgan and Megan Ramey.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Cuddlepedic originally started out with Michael Morgan selling bamboo pillows. The pillows were selling but the market was highly competitive and our pillow wasn’t unique enough. You couldn’t tell it apart from any other bamboo pillow out there. To be honest, I was thinking that I was done with the pillow thing. Around February of 2020 (The beginning of the Pandemic) my girlfriend Megan and I were furloughed from our jobs and sitting at home. We started throwing around different ideas of things that we could try to do to create our own business. We tossed around a few ideas and circled back to the pillows asking ourselves what we could do different and how could we make it better. Using my knowledge that I accrued having worked almost a decade in the bedding and furniture industries along with Megan’s creativity, we combined comfort with spiritual connection. Thus the World’s First Flower Of Life Interconnected cooling pillows were born.
Around January of 2021, we finally received our pillows after a failed kickstarter. We were all in with our own cash, crowdsourcing failed. When we first received our pillows, I was back at work and Megan was in the early stages of being pregnant.
So we tried most of our selling online. In order to expand, we needed bigger accounts so I tried to sell my pillows to Rooms To Go. This is where I was working at the time and I had a conversation with one of the bedding trainers who said he would talk to our bedding buyer. I had worked there for six years. The day after they talked, I came into work and was fired due to non compete clause. Needless to say, they don’t carry Cuddlepedic pillows yet but it was a pivotal turn as I was now free from a full-time job. We then started doing pop up markets around Houston to build brand awareness and have people experience our pillows in person and the response is always positive. “Wow!” “OMG! It really is cool!” “No way!” “How does it work? That’s amazing!”. Ever since then, this is what we are doing to build our brand little by little. Additionally, you can find our pillows in a few chiropractors and furniture stores. We continue to fight the good fight and chase our dreams to live on our own terms and wish that many others pursue their passions too. The connections we have made on this journey are indispensable. Our pillows are sold on Cuddlepedic.com using regular card payments as well as sezzle or Klarna as payment options. You can also find them on Amazon and eBay.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It really has not been a smooth road at all. All starting with on the way home from camping on spring break 2020 and the Pandemic began. March 2020 hit us hard on our return back to Houston, Texas. The next big obstacle was when our Kickstarter failed and we were unable to make our goal of $10,000. We had to overcome that with using our own money to order the new Cuddlepedic flower of life edition cooling pillows. January came of 2021 and we got the pillows. We were so happy! They were exactly what we wanted and they were ready to be sold. Megan was pregnant since November 2020 and her working as an Amazon Driver while pregnant for the first three months was also a huge struggle. Them finding out about the pregnancy lead to her getting fired which was another obstacle. She was able though, to start selling the new pillows at markets anytime and could watch Kimber so we could cancel daycare. Then literally a month later in February 2021 Rooms to go fired me. With a baby due at the end of July, we both were out of our normal jobs and thrown full force into Cuddlepedic our business which was scary but also right where we truly wanted to be. Baby Wallen was two weeks late. Arriving on August 12, 2021. We have been going to markets with him ever since he was ten days old and he went to his first market. It’s an obstacle to do all the markets with a baby. Some markets even say we are not artisan enough to participate. Those markets are the gatekeeper that are the bridge between small businesses and the people. If we cannot participate then it blocks a great product like ours to be seen by the public. Our pillow is as artisan as it gets! It has been meticulously designed with the individual over profit in mind.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Cuddlepedic?
What sets us apart from other pillows in the market is this.
Our pillows use ancient geometry, flower of life pattern on them symbolizing the connection that we all share despite religious background, sex, color, and many other differences. It is our belief that if everyone embraced each other, connected and chased their dreams that the world would be a better place.
Additionally, the Flower Of Life is said to help promote wellness, vitality and energy. The other really cool thing about our pillow is that it is cooler than cotton or bamboo. So I would say it’s a true cool pillow. Too many times people buy pillows claiming they are cool, only to be let down. That doesn’t happen with Cuddlepedic pillows. Our blizzard breeze fabric swiftly draws heat away, like when you put your hand on a granite countertop and wood countertop in the same temperature room. The granite always feels cooler because it’s a denser molecular weighted material, same thing goes for our blizzard breeze fabric. We also wanted a pillow that could fit more people. I’ve always found it frustrating when buying a pillow and there being no way to adjust it to fit how I like to sleep. It was like buying a baseball cap that’s one size fits all and it being too big or too small leading to uncomfortable nights sleep. So we designed our pillows with a calibration zipper and put a “save your extra foam bag” in each box ensuring it’s easy for you to calibrate the loft of your pillow to fit you. Whether you like it thick, skinny or in between our pillow is for you. Once our pillow was created, we had it manufactured in three different sizes. We have a handy travel size pillow “10×15” that comes with a waterproof travel case, Queen size “20×30” great for twin, full, and queen size beds, and King size “20×36” great for king size beds, pregnancy, body pillow.
We are partnered with Boots for Troops they send boots to the troops along with other necessities in care packages to the troops, our travel pillows go in these care packages. We deeply care for our military and our freedom.
Our brand is proud to not play into cancel culture or divisiveness. We believe it’s important to embrace our neighbors despite different views because at the end of the day, we all share this beautiful planet earth. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is that life is fragile. Your neighbor may be here today but gone tomorrow, so love them. Living on this higher level of connectedness will ensure that we all live better lives.
Additionally, our pillows are the best value for the money. It has the consumer in mind. We care little to make high profits off people. We would rather give then take. We are careful in that way that we would rather see someone sleep great with our pillow then to make outrageous profits on them. We want a great pillow to be more accessible to the average person.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Our pillows are dreamed up by dreamers for dreamers. We want all of the people to follow their authentic dreams. The world would be a better place where people feel they can pursue their dreams. Starting is the hardest part. The first part is mental and it’s being able to see your dreams and believe that it is possible for you.
I would say find something you like to do, something that you know a lot about or can learn about and just do whatever it is you think you need to do to make yourself successful. A lot of times, we think ourselves out of doing things because we can’t see a clear path. Just start driving, doing. What we don’t realize is that dreams are a lot like headlights. When driving your headlights only go so far, you don’t see the entire road ahead of you until you come to that part that is reachable with the lights. Dreams unfold just like the street unfolds before your headlights. One section at a time. Some is mountainous, some is flat and smooth but whatever it is take it one stretch at a time. If you have the will and determination, you can figure it out.
Secondly, I would really pay attention to who I talk to or ask questions about my dream. A lot of times were asking the wrong people and getting bad advice. Whatever it is, if you want answers ask people that have done it or are doing it.
Contact Info:
- Email: Cuddlepedic@gmail.com
- Website: https://cuddlepedic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cuddlepedic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cuddlepedic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CuddlePedic
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCajMgnPVxL29sat_Skv4YdQ
