Tag Archives: Entrepreneurs

Couch = Lovesac. A Stake in the Ground.

Friends, followers, and members of the #LovesacFamily,

It was my mentor, Richard Branson, who once told me (while stargazing atop the roof of the main house of Necker Island), “I believe that we make our own luck.” I neither understood nor agreed with that comment at the time. I get it now, and 10 years later, I write this post to firmly plant a stake in the ground and to allow all of you (and the universe) to hold us accountable: Within 5 years, when people think “couch,” the first brand they’ll think of is “Lovesac.” If you want to know more about why I’m making this audacious claim and how its going to happen read more in this fantastic article published recently in Furniture Today.

WE’RE ALSO IN FORBES!  I say this in caps because not only was it a great article about innovative marketing techniques, but the very publication of this article is exciting to me, and evidence of our finally taking outward, and deliberate steps toward making our own luck a reality. Check out the full Forbes article!

Sactionals--change your life

Showing a little #MovingDayLove, giving Sactionals to one couple in Boston

Lovesac has been laying low for nearly a decade—rebuilding over the legacy of a not-beanbag franchise that needed a reboot. Sactionals, with all of its 4 patents, is that reboot—and it has taken us years to retool our brand DNA and our company infrastructure in a way that would warrant us finally shouting from the rooftops: “There is a better way to couch!”

Finally, in the spirit of making noise: I’LL BE ON TV THIS WEEK! Wednesday, September 9, at 10pm EST, I get to appear on a CNBC show called “Make Me a Millionaire Inventor.” Check it out!

This is a show that is originally from England that is like the “Shark Tank,” but exclusively for inventors. I’m like the “Shark.” The invention I get to consider investing in is called The Wake Wing. Picture being dragged behind a boat at high-speed, standing on an airplane wing meant to fly. If you know me well, you know this was the perfect opportunity for me. But will I invest? Or will it crash and burn like most of my wake boarding attempts….find out live, tomorrow.

Shawn Wakeboarding

If I’m not designing couches, I’m on the boat

As a personal favor: please tweet, share, and continue to help us build the #LovesacFamily, as we do our best to make your life on a couch just a little richer—a little more stress free.

Thanks so much for your support!

— Shawn

 

All the Stress Just Seeps Out…My Couch Life

Take a peek into the couch life Keith Rinzler of Atlanta, Georgia, including all of the stress that comes along with being a serial entrepreneur and single dad. I was recently travelling through Atlanta and I had the chance to sit down with my good friend Keith in his own home. Keith knows all about all of the stress and pressures of an entrepreneur growing a business, and a single father raising three teenage kids. Many people in Keith’s position would be looking into weed liquid is on offer near them, but Keith powers on through being the amazing dad and successful entrepreneur he is. I love hearing from successful and totally unique people like Keith because it just reaffirms my belief that we all have a life on a couch-and we are all more alike than we are different. Whether our couch comes from Wayside Furniture or anywhere else, our couch has its own story and is an integral part of our home life. Some of our best memories in life happen on or around our silent sofas. See how Keith relies on his couch life to de-stress and bring his family together.

“My Couch Life” Interview with Keith Rinzler, of Atlanta Georgia. Read the full transcript.

The Stress of a Tech Startup Entrepreneur

Keith is currently living with all the stress that comes from building an amazing technology company called 1Q. Check out 1Q.com…it will blow your mind. You can actually sign up to receive text-based questions (or download their app: for iOS or Android) and get paid $1 dollar for every single question you respond to from a company interested in asking you survey questions. When was the last time you were paid by a company talking at you? Think about it. I think 1Q is going to be a big deal-and I’ll be like a proud papa when I can someday say, “Hey, I know that guy-and he’s got Sactionals.”

Lovesac Hookah Lounge featuring Sactionals

Keith’s in-home hookah lounged powered by Lovesac

The ultra stress-free hookah lounge sectional sofa

I didn’t mention that Keith also has this crazy Moroccan themed hookah lounge, complete with an audio-sensitive LED light show embedded in the walls behind the draped fabric panel tent that envelopes the entire room. Talk about a stress-relieving environment! And, before you say anything, I know that there are lots of ways to deal with stress. Some people opt for Nutra CBD olie although English Speakers may recognize this as CBD Oil. Just the other day I was talking to my girlfriends about how stressful life was getting and they all had different recommendations. One said I should take up a peaceful hobby like painting, another said therapy was helping her, and a third said I should look at the marijuana shatter deals canada! There’s so much you can do and it’s all about finding the best choice for you. And for us, that’s this stress-free hookah style room! The seating for this hookah room is, of course, all Sactionals by Lovesac and a Pillowsac too. When asked, “What is the craziest thing that’s ever happened in this hookah room?” Let’s just say, Keith declined to comment.

— Shawny

My Couch Life Keith Rinzler Interview Video transcript:

Shawny: What was your early memory of your life on a couch?

Keith: It was itchy-it was kind of a wool, itchy material I remember, it was kind of a white-beige color. You know, its in the living room, and every once in a while we would just get in a mood and start building. And I’ve carried that forward to my kids, and we’ve built couch castles in the basement. And my kids have slept in them-they’ve taken it to the next level, they’ve built couch castles and then they cover them with blankets so its totally dark on the inside.

Shawny: What about your everyday couch life, today?

Keith: On this particular couch, which is in front of the television, I like to get right in the middle, and my sinks in right in between these two pillows-all the stress seeps out…

Shawny: What is your craziest memory involving a couch?

Keith: This guy had a couch, it had a steering wheel, it was motorized-you sat on it-and its driving all over the desert at Burning Man and going to see things and people would jump on and jump off. It was like taking the best of a couch and making it mobile. It was awesome-it was awesome

Shawny: What does “life a couch” mean to you

Keith: As my kids get older and they want to spend a little less time with their parents and they want to go do other things-those times when we sit together and all watch something together and kind of comment on it and just have that time-that’s what I think of.

This is life on a couch – and it is interesting, because you are.

The New Kitchen Table

We all have a life on a couch-every last one of us. Much of the joy that underlies our natural attraction to our life on a couch has nothing to do with the couch at all, let alone the book, TV, movie, laptop or whatever other form of entertainment might be consumed there. The real joy comes from the time spent there in the company of those who matter to us most. I suppose this is what makes the couch so special as a fixture in our lives. It is not a chair-it is a shared chair. It is wide, and soft, and low and inviting. It is beautiful. It is not furniture-it is a platform for living-one, that despite having a thousand years of history, was seemingly designed especially for this era, for our way of life.

The couch is the new center of modern civilization. For better of for worse it has replaced the kitchen table as the place where people come together, where people communicate in person, where people enjoy shared experiences-which by the way, is the definition of intimacy. Some people sit there together, facing the center and chat. Some people sit in parallel, focused on the same screen ahead. Some sit close, others apart, some cuddle, some lay sideways, some build forts with kids, some pile-on with friends, and some make-out with lovers. Some hold hands, even as others text, surf, shop, work, or game in solitude-yet often they are still “connected.” But regardless of how they do it-people spend time together on the couch…and that is a beautiful thing.

As a culture, we are more aware of, and more fascinated than ever by how others live. Whether celebrities, or whether just “the Jones’s” next door, thanks to modern media we have access to more personal information than ever-and this helps bring context to our own lives. It is my personal mission to shine a light onto this “life on a couch” that we share-one by one, story by story-in hopes to further our mutual awareness and respect, both as a people and as a generation. That we might recognize: regardless of our income level, social status, marital status, or personal travails, we are all just in this together, trying to make it work, trying to enjoy life, to find meaning, to contribute in some way, and to connect with those who love us. Even I go through marital problems especially regarding our sex life and elevating the experience. We get through this though… together

This is life on a couch-and it is interesting, because you are.

— Shawny

My life

…nearly every night