At teddy, as parents of small children themselves, Lance and Gabi believe that every family deserves a safe and healthy sleep environment, understanding that deep, nourishing sleep isn’t just about feeling good; it’s about giving parents and kids the energy and clear thinking they need for work, chores, and school. Their mission is to provide families with high-quality mattresses without the high-ticket price tag. Combining cutting-edge technology with traditional craftsmanship, they deliver unparalleled comfort and support for a good night’s sleep. All of their mattresses, including their signature child-specific mattress, are not only comfy, but also approved and certified against harmful chemicals, ensuring the best night sleep possible.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Lance is a 4th generation mattress manufacturer, so when we immigrated in the pandemic’s peak, we had to start our lives over and business from the beginning. We knew no one locally. All we had were our international connections in the bedding industry and a dream to give our children an incredible life.
As parents of small children, we dealt with all the normal bedtime struggles, including nighttime wake ups, bed wetting, spills, mess and not getting enough sleep ourselves. We also had friends reach out every time their child was ready for a big boy or big girl bed after getting too big for their cots, and this sparked an idea to create a premium yet affordable mattress designed by parents for small children in every aspect of the bed.
And the rest soon snowballed after that.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
teddy was created from an Air BNB dining room table during the height of the pandemic, with a spare bedroom as a showroom. It initially started with Lance managing everything, but soon became a husband-and-wife passion project. We created a showroom in our spare bedroom and slowly built a website. In the beginning, we focused mostly on adult mattresses but soon pivoted to cater for Kiwi families as a whole.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough was the teddy Junior, our signature and first child-specific mattress. This completely changed our business, and we soon became the go-to experts in this area. Lance developed a double-sided mattress that has 2 different levels of firmness. The firmer layer is ideal for kids from the ages of 2-4 who have just graduated from a cot, and the less firm side is for kids who are 4 and up, so that each side supports your child’s body weight and spine at the right level. More than that, we created a washable cover and encased the mattress in a waterproof protector for those oopsy inevitable moments so that cleaning is easy and takes half the time.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It’s pretty tricky as entrepreneurs, but we have created amazing family traditions like Wednesday night game nights, bedtime games, and we try not to schedule meetings or do work once the kids are home from school. On the flip side, our kids love getting involved in the business and have told us that they want to have their own business as well when they grow up. As for Lance and myself, we take coffee dates weekly so that we get some time together in between the chaos. It’s not perfect, but it works for our family.
