Business in Vancouver’s “How I Did It” feature asks business leaders to explain in their own words how they achieved a business goal in the face of significant entrepreneurial challenges. In this week’s issue, Lisa Fraser, 24, talks about how an inflatable vest she designed as part of her Emily Carr University industrial design thesis led her, unexpectedly, to start her own firm. Earlier this year, Squeezease Therapy Inc. began selling the Snug Vest, an inflatable vest used to calm anxiety in children and adults with autism and anxiety disorders.
“The Snug Vest is an inflatable therapy vest that places pressure onto the torso, and it feels like a firm hug. It helps to relieve anxiety. It’s for individuals with autism, but we’ve also had a lot of people with ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder], anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders that have purchased the product.
“This started as my grad thesis project. I was in the industrial design program at Emily Carr, and I had a background in working with kids with autism and other disorders. I saw first-hand that some of the kids that have a lot of anxiety, attention problems, and that had autism, they really calmed down as soon as they were hugged.
“I learned about deep-pressure therapy, and there’s actually a lot of products on the market, but in my opinion they’re not very user friendly or even safe. The most common product I saw being used in classrooms is a weighted vest. It only places pressure down onto the shoulders, and it’s not good for a kid’s posture, and the pressure’s not adjustable. So, I was just, like, ‘I need to develop a better product.’ I thought of making the Snug Vest as a portable hug machine, but it’s very discreet and you can wear it anywhere.
“I developed an inflatable vest called the Bear Hug vest, and it was a fully working prototype. I wasn’t actually going to go ahead and commercialize the product, but after I graduated in 2010, I won a lot of international awards for the product and a lot of highly respected people in the autism community contacted me.
“I also got an award from Autism Speaks, and that led to a lot of press and parents and therapists emailing me saying, ‘How can I get my hands on one?’
“I was on the fence about starting a business. I didn’t know anything about it. So I took market validation courses through ACETECH and Rocket Builders, and entered the New Ventures BC competition, I had mentors through the BC Innovation Council and BC Technology Industry Association. I heard from experienced business people, ‘You have a real company here. You have a really good product.’
“We got a grant to work with the University of Victoria to do a study on the Snug Vest. We’ve proven that the Snug Vest decreases cortisol and adrenaline.
“We launched in January 2013 and sales were overwhelming, way more than anticipated. We hadn’t even manufactured the product yet. These were preorders. We couldn’t manufacture until we got the money. Now we have inventory. We have hundreds of customers all over the world.”
