The woman who once ruled the world of digital media is now selling something entirely different: sleep.
In August, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington announced that she would be stepped down as editor-in-chief of the publication to focus on a brand-new venture, Thrive Global.
Wednesday marked the long-awaited launch of the company, whose stated aim is to promote emotional and physical wellness in and outside the workplace. The company has three major revenue streams: 1) corporate partnerships and training programs 2) a media platform for wellness-focused content and 3) an e-commerce presence.
“The idea behind Thrive is to end the delusion that we have to burn out in order to succeed and provide specific micro-steps, as we call them, that can make us not just survive, but thrive,” Huffington tells Coins2Day.
Though still in its infancy, the company already boasts a number of high-profile clients (Accenture, Airbnb, JPMorgan Chase, and Uber have all signed up) and contributors (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Ambassador Samantha Power have already written pieces for the platform).
While the retail arm of the business will mostly be online, Thrive unveiled a brick-and-mortar pop-up shop in New York City the day after the venture launched. The store will showcase some of the startup’s products, which include a mix of non-pharmacological sleep aids, high-end sleepwear, meditation guides, health-tech accessories, and books—including, of course, Huffington’s own bestsellers Thrive and Sleep Revolution.
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Huffington’s favorite product is Thrive’s phone bed charging station.
“The idea is that it lives outside of everybody’s bedrooms—it’s a ten-port charging station so there’s room for daddy’s phone and mommy’s phone and the children’s phones so that by the time your children are teenagers it doesn’t become like a battle,” she says.
Other high-tech gadgets featured in the shop include a nap pod for taking a quick snooze at the office, a crib that puts fussy infants to sleep using white noise and automated rocking, and a virtual reality meditation guide.
Each of the products at the Thrive store “encourage people to take micro-steps to enhance their well-being,” says Huffington.
The shop will be open to the public until January 15, 2017.
