{"id":8809,"date":"2014-05-22T16:16:44","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T20:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8809"},"modified":"2014-05-22T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T20:16:44","slug":"pillow-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8809","title":{"rendered":"Pillow talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

HoodiePillow inventor Chris Hindley \u201904 describes his product\u2019s remarkable journey.<\/em><\/h2>\n

You created the HoodiePillow after your wife had triplets and couldn\u2019t get sleep, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Little bit off. I created it for myself. I\u2019d put a pillow under my head, another over my head, pull the blanket all the way up and cocoon myself away to my happy place. That was how I was getting shuteye when the girls were first born. My wife and I are both entrepreneurial people, so we started thinking about creating a product that could solve that problem.<\/p>\n

\"LD_0414_CHindley_0154\"
Chris Hindley\u2019s HoodiePillow has been featured on “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show” and “Shark Tank.” Photo (c) Lynne Delade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was R&D like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We went through eight or nine prototypes where we were changing the hood placement, different options to see how flexible it is while you sleep, comfort. Most people I told about it thought that I was kind of insane.<\/p>\n

Media members seem to either love it or hate it. Does that bother you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the worst things you can have is a product that no one cares about. People have cared about our product, in one way or another, since we launched it.<\/p>\n

Tell me about Shark Tank.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Being on that show [with the Travel HoodiePillow] is the single most important thing that a small product\u2013type company can do. The exposure from news stories is fantastic, but Shark Tank i<\/em>s a 12-minute opportunity to pitch your product to America.<\/p>\n

Was there a point where the product\u2019s popularity surpassed your expectations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We certainly didn\u2019t expect it to happen the way it did. We launched our website, posted some links on Facebook, and within three weeks the product was on Good Morning America<\/em> and The Today Show<\/em>. It put us in a peculiar situation where we had to prepare for an onslaught of orders we weren\u2019t anticipating that quickly. We went into a production frenzy that hasn\u2019t stopped.<\/p>\n

How did TCNJ prepare you as an inventor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel my time there, especially in the business department, gave me the opportunity to dive into every aspect of business. As a small business owner, you are in charge of everything, [so] that was huge for me.<\/p>\n

Any upcoming products up you can discuss?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout 2014, you\u2019ll see a launch of four or five other products.<\/p>\n

So you don\u2019t have to have another set of triplets for another idea?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh God, no. Three all at once and done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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