News

Two big pieces of news! We've gotten official and issued a press release announcing Hair Fairy to the media and blogger community! Read the full release below. And in addition to Facebook, Google+ and Instagram, we're now on Twitter - @tanglefreedreams. Follow us at  https://twitter.com/tanglefreedream. 

Press release:

New Satin Pillowcases Sprinkle Fairy Dust on Morning Routine: Leave Little Girls' Hair Tangle-free

Hair Fairy satin pillowcases customize generations-old hair solution just for girls; each pillowcase includes adorable Harriet doll

Seattle, WA - November 20, 2014 – Hairy Fairy Bedding Company has launched Hair Fairy, a new line of satin pillowcases that put an end to one of the most dreaded morning routines for little girls (and their caregivers): brushing tangles and frizzes out of their delicate hair. Available just in time for Christmas, Hair Fairy pillowcases are specifically designed for girls aged three and up, and for all hair types. Plus, each Hair Fairy pillowcase comes with an adorable Harriet fairy doll tucked into a special pocket.

A Generations-old Solution for Today’s Little Girl

The benefits of sleeping on a satin pillowcase have been known for generations: satin maintains salon styling and promotes smooth frizz-free hair and healthy skin. But, until now, no one has designed a satin pillowcase specifically for little girls.

Born of one busy mother’s frustration with her daughter’s daily ‘tangles,’ Hair Fairy was launched by Seattle-based entrepreneur Eliza Kelly to solve the stressful (painful!) and time-consuming detangling of little girls’ hair. The special tight weave and high sheen of Hair Fairy’s luxurious satin retains hair moisture, avoiding the rat’s nests that come from the friction of sleeping on cotton or cotton blend pillowcases*. And, to make it especially appealing to little girls, Hair Fairy created the charming plush Harriet fairy doll as part of the pillowcase, complete with her own untangled tresses and special story.

“With Hair Fairy, parents and caregivers no longer have to spend precious morning time combing out tangles or spend money on detangler sprays or special brushes,” said Kelly. “Hair Fairy takes the stress out of morning hair prep time, helps make hair shiny and girls love the feel of sleeping on satin. And, because they are made of machine washable satin, the pillowcases are easy to care for. In short, Hair Fairy makes sleeping a dream!”

What Hair Fairy Moms are Saying:

Says Barbara, the very satisfied mom of Talia: “Talia has been using the Hair Fairy Satin pillowcase since late August. We (and I do mean "we") love it! She has exceptionally thick, wavy hair that always ended up in a mess of tangles in the morning. Now, NO MORE TANGLES! I have heartily recommended these pillowcases to family and friends. Also, I love the doll's backstory. So cute!”

Erin, Kate’s mom, concurs: “My daughter hated having her hair brushed in the morning. Now, I brush her hair quickly before bedtime and after she sleeps on her Hair Fairy pillowcase, I hardly have to brush it in the morning! It’s less dry and tangled. She’s ready to go and we’re all a lot happier!”

Hair Fairy Product details:

• Luxurious medium-weight satin
• Durable, easy-to-care for and machine washable
• Fits a standard size pillow
• Three dreamy colors: Cloud White, Cotton Candy Pink and Preppy Polka Dot
• Comes with a plush Harriet doll, who has long blue hair, a white nightie and her own special tangled-hair story
• Pillowcases are only $32.00 each
• Available for sale at http://tanglefreedreams.com/ 

*Hair Fairy prevents tangles, but does not undo tangles that already exist. Hair should be brushed before going to bed.

About Hair Fairy Bedding Company

Hair Fairy Bedding Company produces the only satin pillowcases designed specifically for girls and their hair problems. Using a generations-tested idea, Hair Fairy pillowcases prevent nighttime hair tangles, frizz and bed head, making morning brush-outs easier and stress-free for both girls and their parents/caregivers. The pillowcases are made from high quality, machine-washable satin, fit standard size pillows and come with a plush Harriet doll to keep bad hair tangles away. Hair Fairy Bedding Company was launched in 2014 by Eliza Kelly, a Seattle-based entrepreneur and mother of a former tangled-haired girl.

 

Hair Fairy Media Contacts

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, melanie@mwebbcom.com. (424) 603-4340

 

 

 

 

“So, are you sewing the pillowcases and the doll when orders come in?”

“Um, no,” is my emphatic response.

I don’t sew which is odd because my mom and both of my sisters are amazing sewers. I love the idea of sewing my own clothes, home decor items, gifts, etc. But I can’t sew a straight seam to save my life.

More importantly, I didn’t want to worry about production. When orders come in, I want to be able to pull product off the shelf knowing it was produced to a high degree of quality and durability. I also wanted to focus on sales and marketing and operations. 

Finding and determining the right production source was my steepest learning curve when starting the business. My initial preference was to keep production in the US, because I’m a big believer in supporting jobs here at home. Who isn’t? I also wanted to be closer to the production source and have a collaborative, hands-on role in the creation of my vision.

After more than eight months researching and talking to US-based sew rooms, I hit a wall. The price points were just too high. Second, most sew rooms weren’t interested in the handwork required to create Harriet and were leery of sewing satin. Because of the slippery nature of the fabric it’s a pain in the rear to work with.

At this point, I stalled out. My vision was not panning out here. It took a friend and mentor to tell me to “Get over it.” He pointed out the obvious - most soft goods are produced overseas. Walk your local Target aisles or any store for that matter. A small start-up should be able to benefit from the same overseas production facilities and the lower associated production cost as the big guys. So I shook it off and made the decision to take my production business overseas.

In a nut shell, here are the three reasons why:

1. Low price points

If you can’t model your wholesale and retail price points around profitability, there’s no point in going into business. If I were to produce here in the US, I’d need to set a retail price for one pillowcase and doll at around $70 to make even a slim margin. Thus pricing me out of a many target markets I wanted to market to.

The price per unit I was quoted from a number of China-based manufacturers ranged between 1/4 to 1/3 of what US sew houses were quoting me. This was eye opening and is the crux of our love/hate relationship with Made in China products. More on this in another blog post soon!

The drawback to overseas manufacturing for a capital constrained start-up is the minimums are higher than domestic production. This means your initial investment for inventory, while lower per unit, is likely going to be higher. Making the decision to make this investment for thousands as opposed to a few hundred made me more committed to making Hair Fairy successful.

2. High-quality

I did engage with one domestic sew house to the point of paying them to create samples. They were bad. Despite using patterns and fabric I provided, I was very disappointed.

This is NOT to say all domestic sewing is bad quality. I know many small businesses here in Seattle alone who are using local sew rooms. For me though, it wasn’t working. This was the one facility I could find that agreed to consider the my business. If this was the first impression of the quality I would get from them, I couldn’t risk it.

In contrast, the samples I got from the manufacturer I ultimately worked with in China were exceptional. After one round of adjustments, they were perfect. Even more, I put the cases through almost a dozen wash tests and they stood up to all tests. This was the quality I wanted my customers to experience

3. Trust

Once I found the manufacturer I ultimately worked with, it just felt right. I was introduced to him via my soft toy pattern maker. She had worked with him at a large toy company before they both went independent. He is based in Seoul with production facilities in China. Although he worked with impressive big name toy companies, he wanted my business and was willing to work with me.

I was also assured of the working conditions of his facilities. This really mattered to me. I couldn’t ethically sell a kids product that was made in sub-par conditions by slave child labor. While I didn’t physically visit his facility, he assured me and invited me to visit anytime.   I also saw pictures and talked to other clients of his who assured me I was working with the best in the business.

A lot goes into making the decision to join the global economy, manufacture overseas and import product to sell here in the US. My experience, while summarized here, had a lot of twists and turns and a fair amount of funny stories and anxiety-induced sleepless nights which I'll share soon here!

I’m grateful it’s Friday. This week has been long and productive so I welcome the weekend to take a breather. I found some much needed time to plan our holiday campaigns, tighten our search optimization and reconnect with a college friend Kristy who works at Packaging Specialities. She helped me select the final gift wrap and gorgeous ribbon we’ll use on our gift wrap option - coming out soon in time for holiday gifting!

I love the planning. I especially love campaign planning. Setting sales goals, working on incentives and then determining how to use all of the marketing channels – social, email, blogging, search engine marketing, etc. to get the word out. I live by my “to do” lists. So Friday means I get to cross off and start rebuilding the new “to do” list for next week. And then let my mind rest and dream over the weekend.

So the warm fuzzy Friday feeling I’m having this morning lead me to this story in Fast Company "4 Habits of People Who Follow Their Dreams." For those who know me, you know Hair Fairy has been a dream for a while so this headline caught my eye.

In it, Stephanie Vozza writes about childhood dreams (for a while, my dream was to be a Hollywood star – really.) “Along the way, however, most dreams get derailed. It could be because we form new dreams or outgrow the idea. Often its because we’re told that our dreams aren’t realistic."

I recommend reading the article if you want some warm and fuzzy Friday inspiration too! But here are the crib notes and my quick commentary:

4 Habits of People Who Follow Their Dreams

1. They Don’t Take Rejection Personally - Okay, frickin' hard to do. I have my fair share of pity parties so I know personally it’s hard to pick yourself back off the mat. Over and over again. Stephen King got so many rejection letters, he would hang them from a nail. The nail was replaced with a spike after the nail couldn’t hold the weight.

2. They Make Their Own Opportunities - Steven Spielberg directed my favorite movie of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark but I didn’t know he was rejected from USC film school THREE TIMES. So he squatted in an office at Universal Studios until they hired him. Seriously, read the article because depending on my mood, he could be considered ballsy or sort of nuts (likely both).

3. They Find an Advocate - My parents have been my advocates. When I first started talking about “the Hair Fairy idea” and transitioned in and out of a few career moves over 8 years, my mom would always say, “What about Hair Fairy?” Their support deserves its own blog post soon! But just gotta say it, HF wouldn’t be real without them

4. They Use Naysayers to Fuel Their Drive - I use to crumble when I got negative feedback at work. But age and maturity have transformed me from a self-doubter to someone with a good degree of self confidence and pretty thick skin. Whenever I was confronted with someone really negative or toxic, I would channel my dad’s wise (and somewhat crude) words, “F--- ‘em.” And then move on. I’ll wait till my kids are a little older to share this advice verbatim with them.

So happy Friday and as your day turns into the weekend, take some time to read the article and share your thoughts about being a dreamer!