Whom You Know: Movers and Shakers
MOVERS and SHAKERS: Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, MD, Doctor and Inventor Our Coverage Sponsored by Maine Woolens
Dr. Lai was inspired to design SleepPhones when she was on call for the emergency room. She had a hard time falling back to sleep after being awoken in the night by a phone call. As a compassionate doctor, her mind was occupied with patient concerns that kept her awake, so her husband recommended listening to something to soothe her mind and lull her to sleep. Since she did not want to disturb him while he slept and earbuds were too uncomfortable, she tried sewing very thin speakers into a soft fleece headband. They worked, and Dr. Lai and her husband decided it was such a good invention they had to start selling them. SleepPhones was born and AcousticSheep LLC was founded. She later developed RunPhones, a similar product for exercising to music that includes both a summer version to wick away sweat, and a winter version to keep ears warm.Â