Q: “Introduce yourself and give us a brief history of your involvement in the world of mattresses/sleep products.”
A: “My name is Akrum Sheikh. Though my family is originally from New Jersey, I was raised in southern Connecticut. I basically grew up in the furniture and mattress world. My father was in the furniture retail business, and I would spend my weekends/summers in the showrooms, warehouse, and office. I had one year left in my undergrad when I dropped out of college and went to work in the family business full time. I started off a salesman on the floor. From there I became sales manager, buyer, and eventually operations manager. But the most valuable lessons I learned was during my time on the showroom floor…”
Q: “Layla started in May of 2016 and seems to have exploded since then. Can you tell us a bit about how you were able to see this kind of growth in an increasingly crowded vertical?”
A: “The product speaks for itself. Layla’s explosive growth has been directly related to the overwhelmingly positive reviews the product has received from customers and online product reviewers. We’ve realized that a huge portion of our success can be attributed to our customers raving about what a great night’s sleep they’re getting from their Layla mattress on facebook and other social media platforms….Word of mouth has been our number one marketing channel…”
