Our Awards, Titles, and Honors
AcousticSheep, LLC has made quite the journey since our humble beginnings in 2007. And along this journey—from Stamford, Connecticut, to central and finally northwestern Pennsylvania—we have received more than 20 local, regional, and international awards.
It's all thanks to SleepPhones® headphones. Originally designed on a kitchen table, they kept a family doctor from spending yet another sleepless night of waiting on patient phone calls. Before long, they became the saving grace to millions of people worldwide who had struggled through insomnia and snoring partners.
Soon, RunPhones® headphones would steal the fitness scene. Combining all-season wearability with moisture-wicking technology, RunPhones® headphones continue our mission of creating a world of happy, healthy, well-rested people—not just through easy sleep, but also through enjoyable exercise.
Our products have won 11 technology awards and nominations, our company has won 6 business awards and recognitions, and our founder has won 4 entrepreneurial titles. To follow these milestones on the path of our company's growth, read more about each award below.
Top Holiday Seller on Amazon 2012
We just received an award from Amazon with Excellent customer satisfaction ratings!
"Dear AcousticSheep, makers of SleepPhones, On behalf of Amazon, we want to congratulate you on your outstanding sales performance during the 2012 holiday season. Your sales ranked among the top 25% of all Amazon sellers. In addition, your customer satisfaction ratings were excellent -- A+ -- during this period. We wish you a happy and successful 2013. - Your Amazon Services Team
At the end of our fifth year, we had reached not only the top quarter of all sellers on Amazon's platform but also the highest customer satisfaction rating. During the holiday season, we sold nearly 27,000 SleepPhones® headphones. And over the year, we saw a 240 percent increase in sales.
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Award 2013
2013 CES Innovation Award: SleepPhones® Wireless wins in the category of headphones
Yahoo Voices: SleepPhones Win Innovation Award at CES — Let Users Sleep with Headphones On
A soft comfy headband with speakers built in and run via Bluetooth technology, has won, PRWeb is reporting, the prestigious Innovation award at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The innovative bands, called SleepPhones, are the brainchild of a family doctor, Mail Online says, looking for a way to listen to music as a way to unwind while falling asleep that wouldn't bother her husband.
Every year, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) hosts an exhibit of the latest innovations on the market. A panel of industry judges then decides which companies demonstrate "outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products." SleepPhones® Wireless won the headphones category for its innovative Bluetooth® technology, an upgrade to our traditional corded model.
Governor's Entrepreneur ImPAct Award 2013 (2013 GIA)
2013 Governors Impact Award: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored with the Entreprenuer Impact award
Our CEO/Cofounder won the Pennsylvania Entrepreneur ImPAct Award last week!
On May 23, Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, MD, CEO/Cofounder of AcousticSheep, makers of SleepPhones, won the Entrepreneur ImPAct Award at the 2013 Pennsylvania Governor's ImPAct Awards! The Entrepreneur ImPAct Award is given each year to an entrepreneur who has led their company to a position of strength in the marketplace via growth in creativity, innovation, managerial ability, leadership skills, and turnaround. You can learn more about the award here and here. AcousticSheep is listed under the Central Region.
Dr. Lai with the Entreneur ImPAct Award
Dr. Lai was nominated by the Penn State Small Business Development Center through Linda Feltman, our Small Business Adviser. This is just the latest thing she has done to help us. Over the years, she has been such a great help and always believed in us. We really, truly appreciate it!
We received some media mentions as well. The Team Pennsylvania Foundation web site had an article in their news section and Pennsylvania Business Central wrote an article about Dr. Lai and the award she won.
Linda Feltman and Dr. Lai
You can see more pictures from the event at our Facebook page.
We are both excited and honored to receive this award. It was quite a week and we wanted to share it with you!
In 2013, former Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett created the ImPAct Awards to celebrate 50 businesses that were creating jobs and stimulating the state's economy. Our founder, Dr. Wei Shin-Lai, received the Entrepreneur ImPAct Award for leading "her company to a position of strength in the marketplace by way of growth in one or all of the following areas: creativity, innovation, managerial ability, leadership skills and turnaround."
Two CES Innovation Awards 2014
And the CES Design & Engineering Innovations winner is... RunPhones! Twice!
We did it again! AcousticSheep has just won two CES Design & Engineering Innovations Honoree Awards!
RunPhones® Wireless and RunPhones® Intensity won in both the Headphones and Wearable Technology categories, respectively.
2014 CES Innovation Award: RunPhones® Wireless wins in the category of headphones
RunPhones® Wireless: This inventive product received the award for the Headphones category with this high-tech addition: Bluetooth® technology.
RunPhones® Wireless are sleek, Bluetooth-enabled wireless headphones hidden in a washable, moisture-wicking sporty headband that stays put while walking, running or on the go.
2014 CES Innovation Award: RunPhones® Intensity wins in the category of wearable technology
RunPhones® Intensity: This innovative product has been awarded in the new Wearable Technology category. Its design incorporates comfort, technology and a proven fitness strategy so seamlessly that it all fits in a washable, moisture-wicking sporty headband. Push play and push yourself with RunPhones® Intensity sans clunky ear buds and tangly wires.
RunPhones® headphones won us two Innovation Awards at the CES line show in 2014: one in the headphones category, and the other in wearable technology category. We received over 200 major press hits and even had photo ops with Martha Stewart and DJ Lucky Lou from LMFAO.
See the full press release in PDF format.
Governor's Export ImPAct Award 2014 (2014 GIA)
2014 Governors Impact Award: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored with the Export Impact award
AcousticSheep won a seat at the governor's table and another ImPAct Award—this time, in the export category. "This award is given to a company that has significantly increased its export sales and the number of new foreign markets it sells to since 2011," the description reads. Indeed, we had been shipping to more than 50 countries at that time.
Export Impact Award Given to AcousticSheep LLC at the 2014 Pennsylvania Governor's Impact Awards
We just won the 2014 Governor's Impact Award for Exports (#imPActwards). It was pretty amazing. I can't believe we won a second year in a row after we won for Entrepreneurship last year. We weren't expecting it, and we're so happy! The Impact Awards are given to the top businesses in five different categories after a nomination process in January. Five finalists are announced in March, and the winner is announced at the end of May.
Jeff, I appreciate all of you and your team's hard work to make sure the shipments go out accurately and on time. Lisa and Kristin, thank you for helping our international customers with what they need. They can see that we are friendly and easy to buy from. The rest of our employees (including our new marketing team) are fantastic and will allow the business to ramp up even faster!
Sanat, Sahil, and Dan, I'm very excited about the international markets you have helped us open recently and the amount of business through your channels. I didn't think we would win based on the export sales in 2013, especially when we are now doing so much more in 2014! Richard and Luke, we are looking to you for continued business growth in Europe.
We were one of three companies invited to sit with the Governor. I talked with him about how as a doctor with no business background, I relied heavily on the help of the state-funded free services such as the Penn State SBDC, Seda-Cog, Northwest Commission, and Gannon SBDC to teach us business concepts and how to export our products. The networking and education were critical to our success. He responded and said that he brought the different groups together to make sure business resources were communicating more with each other and to reduce duplication of effort.
I also told him my story of how I couldn't sleep after waking up at night and introduced our line of SleepPhones and RunPhones® headphones. He said his wife watches TV in bed, which he doesn't do. So I will be sending Susan Manbeck Corbett a SleepPhones Wireless with a Bluetooth transmitter set, which will be released for the holidays this year. Apparently he mentioned our story to other people as he was walking around. People were asking about our products after the event.
Jason talked to him about his son who will be opening a new branch for EA Software (the huge video game company) in Pittsburgh. I think he is proud of his son. We also talked about education and how important it is to grow a strong economy. He said that Pennsylvania produced 12,000 teachers annually, and the State only needs 3000. He also said that guidance counselors need to guide kids to trade jobs, not just college. We agreed that there are too many teachers. In fact, we have three employees with teaching degrees.
Prior to the dinner, we were interviewed by a PR firm producing a video to sell Pennsylvania as a place to grow your business. I wish I did a bit better for that interview, but I think it was good enough for the short sound bites they needed. They said they will be visiting us in Erie to take some B-roll footage too. It will be exciting for us to be featured on a video about PA businesses!
We had a great time with our table-mates (Laurel Mueller of Soil Services Company and William Hindle of Hindle Power) who all won, talking with the Governor, and making connections.
Thank you Noelle (from Seda-Cog) and Linda (from Penn State SBDC) for nominating us and writing such a glowing description!
CES Innovation Award 2015
2015 CES Innovation Award: SleepPhones® Effortless™ wins in the category of headphones
We won a third Innovation Award in 2015, this time for SleepPhones® Effortless. This edition of headphones uses an induction charging base instead of a cable, making it easier for our fans to leave for the day and come home to a full battery. Our appearance at the live show also received over a thousand visitors and several media hits.
Digital Trends' Top Tech of CES Nominee 2015
Thanks to our appearance at CES, the Digital Trends editorial team named us one of four products at the top of the headphones category. This nomination honors our innovative, practical and impressive designs.
SleepPhones® Effortless One of Digital Trends' Top Tech of CES 2015 Nominees
Digital Trends is a high-tech lifestyle, technology news and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products.
Looking for highlights from all the hottest product categories? Look no further. We hand-picked four nominees in every category based on a combination of innovation, practicality, and just plain "wow" factor. And when there weren't four that floored us, we picked three, because who needs fluff? SleepPhones® Effortless is a nominee in the headphone category!
Check our nominees in every category below, and make sure to return Thursday morning when we reveal the winners in every category, and what it was about each incredible gadget that sealed its supremacy this year. Plus, we'll award one outstanding product our coveted Best in Show award.
CTA Small Business of the Year Award 2015
2015 Consumer Technology Association: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored by the CTA as Small Business of the Year
There can only be one Small Business of the Year, and the honor went to AcousticSheep in 2015. The CTA's Innovation Entrepreneur Awards "recognize entrepreneurs and businesses with revenues under $30 million for the contributions they make to the U.S. economy." Watch our original video commemorating the award here, with a shortened version here.
See this PDF document for further details: "AcousticSheep Honored with the Consumer Technology Association’s 2015 Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year".
Big Idea Contest Grand Prize Winner 2015
2015 Big Idea Winner: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners winning $200,000 in prizes
Ben Franklin Technology Partners is an initiative created by the Pennsylvania government to drive the state's technological growth. Seven companies brought their ideas to the contest and competed for a grand prize valued at $200,000. AcousticSheep won. Read more about the prize package here.
Ben Franklin Awards AcousticSheep with $200,000 Prize Package
Our entire team felt validated and loved by the extremely generous Erie, PA business community today.
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners gave us a grant check today for $50,000 and a prize package valued at over $200,000. We were the grand prize winners of the Ben Franklin Big Idea business competition. We had a fun presentation and a killer business plan.
Over 100 people attended the prize announcement event. There was a runner up with $10,000, and all other finalists received $2,500. Everyone was able to meet the press (TV, radio, newspaper), angle investor connections, highly influential business leaders, and the other accomplished contestants. There was food and drinks, and even Cirrus our mascot made a surprise appearance. Most of our staff was there to network and celebrate our win. Without such a great team, we wouldn't be where we are today. Each and every employee deserved to be there and bask in adulation for their hard work. We had a great time taking fun pictures with our big check, going on camera in front of the press, demoing products, and cracking jokes.
Thank you to Ben Franklin, the Erie community, and every single customer we've ever had. We'll continue to honor your trust and deliver the best products and services we can.
Red Dot Award Honorable Mention 2015
2015 Red Dot Award: RunPhones® Wireless wins in the category of product design
The Red Dot Award is an international program that evaluates outstanding product design. RunPhones® Wireless received an honorable mention in the leisure, sport, and games category for its amazing fitness capabilities.
RunPhones® Headphones Received the International Red Dot Design Award for Product Design
In 2015, RunPhones® headphones received the international Red Dot Design Award for Product Design. Over 4,928 entries from 56 countries were evaluated with only the designs that displayed the highest quality and innovation were awarded. RunPhones® headphones were awarded an Honourable Mention for a particularly well-executed aspect of design work. Products that convince the jury with a well thought-out design solution are recognised with this distinction.
Professor Dr Peter Zec, Founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award: "For 60 years, the most-respected design experts have been convening every year in Essen to seek out the best designs. This year we had a record number of almost 5,000 entries – a huge amount of work for our jury members, who assessed each individual product, and a special value of the distinction due to the high standard. The laureates of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 have demonstrated exceptionally high achievements and have thus been deservedly successful in the world's largest design competition."
The internationally respected product competition will culminate in the Red Dot Gala in Essen on 29 June 2015. The glamorous award ceremony with more than 1,200 guests will be hosted by Professor Dr Peter Zec in Essen's Aalto-Theater. At the subsequent Designers' Night after-show party, the winners celebrate into the early hours in the midst of award-winning products in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen. The winning products are then presented for four weeks in the special exhibition "Design on Stage" before being included in the museum's permanent exhibition.
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
With roughly 2,000 exhibits over 4,000 square metres, the Red Dot Design Museum presents the world's largest exhibition of contemporary design. The successful entries in the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 will be shown from 29 June to 26 July 2015 in an impressive special exhibition in the midst of the historical industrial architecture of the Zollverein World Heritage site. In "Design on Stage", visitors will experience the current top achievements up close and personal, because this hands-on exhibition expressly encourages visitors to touch and try out the exhibits. In this way, fans of design can find out about the trends in international product design and see for themselves the good quality of the RunPhones® headphones from AcousticSheep LLC.
See this PDF document for further details: "AcousticSheep Wins Exclusive Globally Competitive Award for RunPhones Wireless' Product Design".
More information is available at www.red-dot.org.
Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015
2015 Disrupt Erie Award: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored as Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award
We adore our community in Erie, Pennsylvania, so we were especially honored to be a part of the first annual Disrupt Erie Awards. The non-profit organization Innovation Collaborative created the program to encourage the growth of entrepreneurship in the region. Dr. Lai won the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award.
New Business of the Year 2015
2015 Commitment to Erie Award: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored as New Business of the Year
The Erie Times-News created the Commitment to Erie Awards to celebrate the city's local businesses and nonprofit organizations. AcousticSheep won the New Business of the Year award in 2015 for our innovation and potential. We "already exuded some of the qualities seen in Commitment to Erie winners," namely "being more than just a stable, long-term employer" and "commiting to … customers and to the region through … support of local employees, endeavors and enterprises."
AcousticSheep®, Innovation Entrepreneur Award, 2015 Small Business of the Year
Sleep Better, Live Better: The Story Behind SleepPhones® Headphones
Are you tired of sacrificing comfort for a good night's sleep? Do traditional sleep aids leave you feeling groggy or anxious about potential side effects? You're not alone. Many popular sleep solutions can have unintended consequences that impact your daily life.
That's why Dr. Wei-Shin Lai and Jason Wolfe, cofounders of AcousticSheep LLC, set out to create a better solution. Their journey began in 2007 when Dr. Lai, a family doctor, was struggling to fall back asleep after midnight patient calls. Her husband Jason suggested listening to relaxing music, but traditional headphones were uncomfortable to wear in bed.
A Collaborative Solution Born from Necessity
Together, they took matters into their own hands and created the first SleepPhones® headphones prototype at their kitchen table. They combined Dr. Lai's medical expertise with Jason's technical know-how to design a product that would help people sleep better without sacrificing comfort.
A Game-Changing Solution for Better Sleep
SleepPhones® headphones have helped countless people fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly without relying on pills or other sleep aids that can be detrimental to overall health. Our customers rave about how they can finally get a good night's sleep without disturbing their partner – even if they snore!
Innovating from a Unique Perspective
As cofounders, Dr. Lai and Jason bring a distinctive perspective to product design. By combining medical expertise with technical innovation, they've created a solution that addresses the real needs of people struggling with sleep.
Revolutionizing Sleep with Technology
SleepPhones® headphones are more than just a product – they represent a movement. By leveraging technology to make our lives easier, we're helping people live happier, healthier, and well-rested lives. Our mission is to help everyone wake up feeling refreshed, revitalized, and ready to take on the day.
Join the SleepPhones® Community
Ready to experience the transformative power of better sleep? Join our community today and discover how SleepPhones® headphones can help you sleep better, live better.
CES Innovation Award 2016
2016 CES Innovation Award: SleepPhones® Harmony wins in two categories headphones and fitness, sports, and biotech
SleepPhones® Harmony won in two CES Innovation Awards categories: headphones, and fitness/biotech. The sensors in these headphones will track your sleep patterns, and over time, SleepPhones® Harmony will learn what music to play and when to play it. Here's a video of Drew Prindle, the Digital Trends Senior Features Editor, talking to Dr. Lai about the product.
See this PDF document for further details: "AcousticSheep® Named as CES 2016 Innovation Awards Honoree".
Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016
The global accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) hosts an annual celebration of entrepreneurs from several regions across the United States. Dr. Lai won the retail and consumer products category, standing among 8 other finalists from western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year 2016
2016 SBA Award: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai is honored by the Small Business Association as Pennsylvania's Small Business of the Year
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) selects one Small Business Person of the Year from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three territories. Dr. Lai received the statewide title in 2016.
AcousticSheep CEO Dr. Wei-Shin Lai named PA Small Business Person of the Year
AcousticSheep CEO Dr. Wei-Shin Lai named PA Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced today this year's Small Business Person of the Year winners from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All of the winners have been invited to attend ceremonies in Washington, D.C on May 1-2 where they will be awarded their individual awards along with recognition of the runners-up and the naming of the 2016 National Small Business Person of the Year.
In making the announcement, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said: "It is my distinct pleasure and honor to announce the 54 winners from across the U.S. and her territories. These small business owners represent the best of the best and showcase daily their entrepreneurial spirit and what it takes to be successful in today's evolving and competitive business environment."
See this Yahoo article for further information.
Inc. 5000 No. 1657 2016
Inc. ranks 5,000 American companies according to their overall revenue growth in the last three years. AcousticSheep ranked in the top third of all companies in 2016 for having increased revenue by 226 percent.
Two CES Innovation Awards 2017
2017 marks our fifth year in a row to have been an Innovation Awards Honoree. Our intuitive SleepPhones® Perform™ won in the headphones category. Via the headphones' sensors, our intelligent software will design a playlist that is specifically suited to the wearer's lifestyle.
Also, our cuddly pal Dozer won in the portable media players and accessories category. Not only will he keep the children company and play them a song—he will also let parents know whether they are sleeping soundly.
Bloody Ripper Idea 2017
"Bloody ripper" is Aussie slang for "totally awesome," not the cousin of the infamous London serial killer. We definitely killed EFTM's Best of CES awards, though. This men's lifestyle magazine featured Dozer as a great tool for parents to track their child's sleeping patterns.
Learn more here: "Bloody Ripper Idea : Dozer the Sleep Sheep".
Exporter of the Year 2020
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (EXIM), the federal government's official export credit agency, helps American businesses like us compete in global markets. Because a quarter of our sales from 2017 to 2020 came from international markets, EXIM gave us an Exporter of the Year award. Only 12 other businesses received this honor.
AcousticSheep Named Exporter of the Year by Export-Import Bank of the United States During 2020 Annual Conference
Click here to see EXIM’s press release for this event.
ERIE, PA — September 11, 2020: AcousticSheep LLC, the Erie-based company that invented the world’s first and most comfortable headphones for sleeping has been named an Exporter of the Year by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). The company has used EXIM’s export credit insurance to bolster international sales and expansion since 2017, and was honored during EXIM’s annual 2020 conference, held virtually on September 9-11, 2020.
From left: AcousticSheep Co-Founder and CTO Jason Wolfe, EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed, AcousticSheep Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Wei-Shin Lai
AcousticSheep was among 12 other small businesses chosen for the award, representing a cross-section of American innovation and industry sectors. AcousticSheep began using EXIM’s export credit insurance in 2017 to protect against the risk of nonpayment, and has enabled the company to both increase existing exports and expand into two new countries.
"EXIM has given us the confidence to work with new distributors in more risky countries as well as expand our sales to existing distributors, giving them more credit — and increased sales — over time,” said Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, AcousticSheep’s CEO. “We used to worry about doing enough due diligence on international partners or asking them to pay up front. Now, we are still careful, but we know that EXIM has our back if anything goes wrong."
AcousticSheep is a minority- and woman-owned business based in Erie, Pennsylvania with exports currently accounting for 25% of the company's sales.
CEO Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed in SleepPhones Warehouse, Erie, PA
About AcousticSheep
AcousticSheep was founded by Dr. Wei-Shin Lai and Jason Wolfe in 2007. Wei-Shin Lai, a family physician, couldn’t get back to sleep after taking patient calls at night. Her husband, Jason Wolfe suggested she listen to binaural beats in order to fall back asleep, but regular headphones and earbuds were uncomfortable. To solve this problem, they decided to make the first headphones designed specifically for sleeping. He soldered and she sewed the first “headphones in a headband” at their kitchen table and called them SleepPhones®.
More than a million SleepPhones® have been sold to date, and Jason and Wei-Shin have earned recognitions such as Entrepreneur of the Year in PA (SBA), Entrepreneur of the Year in Western PA & WV (Ernst & Young), and Small Business of the Year with the Consumer Technology Association. Their products have won eight Consumer Electronics Association Innovation Awards, two Pennsylvania ImPAct Awards (Entrepreneur and Exports), and a Red Dot Design Award.