Dr. Wei-Shin Lai
Dr. Wei-Shin Lai was born in Taiwan, arriving in the USA at seven years old while her father was completing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Texas. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Cellular Molecular Biology, intending to study Ebola. She continued to study, attending the University of Virginia Medical School and then into family medicine. While practicing as a family physician, Dr. Lai struggled with getting back to sleep after taking patient phone calls in the middle of the night. She needed to listen to some meditative music to help her relax, but headphones were bulky, and ear buds were uncomfortable. Since there were no headphones specifically designed for sleeping on the market, she invented her own and called them SleepPhones®. They worked so well for her that she decided she had to offer them to all of her patients taking sleeping pills. Her husband soldered and she sewed the first 500 pieces themselves on their kitchen table. Initial feedback was phenomenal. One lady was able to come off of sleeping pills after taking them for 10 years. Another saved her marriage because she could finally sleep in the same bed as her snoring husband. Dr. Lai and her husband decided to patent their invention and start a real business. They completely sold out in their first year - and the rest is history.
