Tackling Taboo Topics And Improving Sleep One Product At A Time
Lara Smith’s sleep technology company LUSOMÉ started for one reason: her sister was experiencing terrible night sweats due to her cancer treatments and she needed relief. With over 20 years of textile experience under her belt, Lara left her corporate job with the goal of creating a fabric that would alleviate this problem not only for her sister, but for women going through menopause and men and women everywhere who struggle with sweaty sleep.
Since launching in 2012 LUSOMÉ has created several products backed by science, and they’re eyeing more in the future. The company has also created a community of folks passionate about learning more about menopause and women’s health in general called The Sweaty Pillow. We sat down with Lara to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey and the work that goes into creating this type of product.
Q&A
What led you to start LUSOMÉ?
I had a big corporate job running the buying office of one of the biggest specialty stores in Canada, and then my younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. The side effects of her treatment at the time were keeping her up at night, and one of the main reasons was her night sweats. I knew how critical sleep would be to her. That was my call to action to create a fabric that would be more comfortable for her. After two years of research and development we went to market in 2014.
You started with pajamas, correct?
Yes. Because my background was in textiles I knew the fastest way of relief to her would be pajamas. We started with pajamas in 2014 and within a few years our customers were asking for sheets. Then I spent 5 years of research and development to create technology that would perform best with a luxury hotel cotton sheet. We went to market at the end of 2023 with those.
I know you started this for your sister, but a lot of women going through menopause are using the products, right?
Really one of the major customer segments is women going through menopause. Sleep disruption and night sweats are the biggest symptoms for going through menopause. We also see male athletes who overheat at night, and women with hormone fluctuations.
It seems like it would be a very involved and complicated process to create these products.
I had 20 years of experience in textiles so I knew the best fabric mills to go to and the best testing facilities. It was really important in our research that we could substantiate our claims with objective results. You can measure heat transfer, how moisture is pulled away from the body in products, stuff like that. It always started with the problem we were trying to solve. We are a luxury brand, we wanted to replicate a hotel luxury experience. We didn’t want to just manage the sweat, we didn’t want the sweat just pulling through to the mattress protector. We wanted to manage the heat. We found a chemistry supplier in Europe working on this for outdoor performance wear. We had to make sure it would wash well, and we had to go through many iterations of fabric. Then you test and measure the performance to make sure it’s perfect. It’s a very involved process but it starts with what’s the problem we’re trying to solve and then who are the best innovators in the world to help us solve that problem.
We just had a clinical trial with Harvard for our sheets and that just wrapped up. It’s important we substantiate our claims. We had 2600 nights of data showing how our sheets are making a difference in hot sleepers sleep.
I’m always creating products in particular for women, that would help them feel better and make them feel more comfortable in their skin.
Lara Smith, LUSOMÉ
I think it’s really cool that you’re committed to being a luxury brand, too.
That’s been our position since we launched because the technology is very expensive to make. Achieving an inexpensive price point wouldn’t work for us. We love the hand feel and replicating the hotel, spa-like experience. The environment in which our products do well is a highly serviced store atmosphere. We weren’t going to be successful in a mass retailer. We work with folks who can relay the technology and the story well.
What do you think is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
Have a really smart group of people around you that will challenge your thinking. I have a group of informal advisors in different disciplines like finance, marketing, and legal that have a lot of experience and can poke holes in my thinking. They can also be there when it’s lonely.
What would you say is the best part of being an entrepreneur?
You’re in charge of your own destiny in terms of what you’re doing as a company and what products you stand by. Building your own dream team – there’s a lot of power in that. You really are in the driving seat.
You mentioned you have over 20 years of experience in the textile industry. What is it about textiles that speaks to you?
Textiles play a major role in creating a product that people consume. I’m always creating products in particular for women, that would help them feel better and make them feel more comfortable in their skin. The psychological insight behind that in making women feel great or well supported or flattering in comfortable clothing or what they’re sleeping on, it’s a powerful thing in that we can change lives.
We also have to add to the whole sleep ecosystem. We have an antiaging, collagen-infused black-out sleep eye mask that gets absorbed into the skin. It’s wearable anti-aging technology. We are working on new health tech innovations that help with inflammation and anti allergies. We’re always focused on textile-driven, close-to-skin innovations.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I think women’s health is finally getting some attention and finally menopause isn’t a taboo topic. Every woman in the world will go through that massive transition and there are serious health side effects from increased cardiovascular risks to mental health and emotional health. Finally there’s some changes within the healthcare community and it’s having a bit of a moment. In addition to our textiles and sheets, we do have a community called The Sweaty Pillow and we have a podcast dedicated to women’s health called The Sweaty Pillow Podcast. Women are desperate for information on menopause. We’re just trying to shed light and get more information out there.
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