CEO Corner: Dream Recovery’s Todd Anderson on the Sleep Revolution
Anderson co-founded Dream Performance & Recovery to change the narrative around sleep, performance and well-being
Todd Anderson is on a mission: make sleep a bigger part of the conversation around fitness, sports performance and general wellness.
A former college football standout and NFL player turned sleep expert, Anderson co-founded Dream Performance & Recovery in 2023 to create products that help people improve their sleep and, by extension, their lives.
The company makes sleep masks, pillowcases and mouth tape, and will soon be releasing nasal strips. Dream’s products are intentionally low-tech, designed to help users connect with their bodies and minimize distractions in the bedroom.
It’s early days for the company, but Dream is off to a good start: its mouth tape is a hit on social media, drawing praise from influencers to stars like Emma Roberts.
Dream has also been successful in bringing athletes into the sleep conversation: the brand has struck partnerships with top college sports teams including the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Michigan State Spartans (Anderson’s alma mater), along with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Anderson sat down with Athletech News to discuss the power of proper sleep, how products like mouth tape can help people improve their health, and what’s in store for Dream over the coming years.
The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Athletech News: Can you tell us a bit about your background, and how your football career inspired you to co-found Dream Performance & Recovery?
Todd Anderson: I walked on in football (at Michigan State), which basically means I wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship and had to prove my way. That really sparked my obsession with human performance – I was more interested in the strength and conditioning aspect than even the playbook sometimes. I went right into strength and conditioning after playing. Then, I got to spend time with some incredible sleep doctors, and I quickly realized that strength and conditioning isn’t the fastest way to help someone impact their quality of life or well-being. Sleep is the fastest route.
I became obsessed with sleep, and I started speaking about sleep to corporations and sports teams around six years ago. I got asked for recommendations all the time for products like sleep masks and mouth tape. Quality-wise, there was nothing I felt great about recommending.
I met my partners, and they were going down a similar journey of seeing revolutionary change in their lives from using a sleep mask. We thought, “Let’s make them better.”
ATN: What was the first product Dream created to help people improve their sleep? How has your product mix evolved over time?
TA: We started with sleep masks, which is a hard product because it’s been around for a long time. But what hadn’t been done is the messaging behind the why of a sleep mask and the science behind it. It’s not just about the light, it’s about the psychological side. We really try to harp on that. Sleep masks had been pinned into this beauty-luxury area, not as something for high-achievers, athletes and people who are into fitness and wellness.
Then we got into mouth tape, which I’m most passionate about because of the impact it’s had on my life and the (low) quality of products that were out there. There are very loose standards when it comes to what’s actually on your face, adhesive-wise. We’re one of the only U.S.-made mouth tapes.
Eventually, our goal is to come out with things like blue-light-blocking glasses and EMF blockers for your phone. Basically, any holistic, behavior-enhancing product to increase sleep quality, we can provide. We’ll always stay away from bringing more technology into the bedroom.
ATN: That’s interesting because there are a lot of apps and other sleep-tech products on the market today. Can tech be counterproductive when you’re trying to sleep better?
TA: I think some technology is useful. I wear a Whoop, but I use it to look back. I think data can be useful to see outcomes, but I don’t think data should be incorporated in the actual bedtime routine. There’s a million metrics you can look at, but you’re just getting better at measuring your sleep, you’re not actually getting better at sleeping.
We’re meant to be tired and want to fall asleep, and sleep should be something that’s very peaceful and restful. I think the more technology that’s integrated, the more stresses become part of the bedroom.
ATN: Dream is best known for its mouth tape. What are the main benefits of mouth taping?
TA: What we’re really trying to do with mouth taping is (help people) utilize nasal breathing. We’re trying to give you something that’s a psychological reminder for you to breathe through your nose throughout the entire night. Mouth tape also shows your body how it’s supposed to breathe. It’s kind of like putting bumpers up when you’re bowling.
Around 60 to 70% of the population now is breathing out of their mouth when they sleep, which is probably drastically higher than it was as we evolved. Breathing is like the steering wheel to your nervous system and nasal breathing can fully relax your nervous system. When you’re breathing relaxes, you’ll calm down, which results in the most restful sleep you can get.
We’re also learning that the impacts of nasal breathing are pretty extraordinary, from the quality of sleep you get to your oxygen levels to the microbiome in your mouth. Chronic inflammation is the birth of most diseases, and your mouth microbiome is the biggest cause of low-level chronic inflammation. Breathing with your nose is one way to make sure you’re creating a (healthier) microbiome in your mouth.
ATN: How do you work against the perception some people have that practices like mouth taping are gimmicky or ineffective?
TA: I think that comes on the education side. We really try to stick to the science and show people the why behind it. Anytime you hear me or anyone affiliated with our company talk, we’re not very product-focused, it’s more about showing people the power of nasal breathing and sleep, and helping them understand how impactful that can be.
I think once people feel the difference, they’ll never go back. Once you start improving the quality of your sleep, that’s the ultimate sales tool because it truly does change you as a person from the inside out.
ATN: The total addressable market (TAM) for sleep products must be pretty large, since everyone sleeps. That said, who is Dream’s target consumer?
TA: We have a huge spectrum of people, from high school athletes to people in their 70s who have combined our products with CPAP machines after talking to their doctors. But our average consumers are probably in their 30s. A lot of times in your 30s, you start to feel a little different, and people start thinking about longevity.
I would also say that the female mouth-taping community has really blown up because of some studies talking about how it gives a more defined jawline and facial structure. That’s a relatively newer trend, in the last year or so, I’d say. That’s why we came out with our Mouth Tape Plus, which has a skincare formula integrated into the adhesive.
ATN: Is Dream working on any upcoming product releases?
TA: We have a nasal strip coming out at the beginning of next year. I’m excited about it because no one’s really innovated on the nasal strip in a long time. We’ve designed ours from top to bottom, and we’ve got patents on it. It took about a year of testing and design, and we’re finally ready to come to market with it.
It’s going to help people sleep, for sure, but it’s also going to help people perform during the day. It’s a less-invasive way to encourage nasal breathing compared to mouth tape, which can look crazy to people on first reaction. Our nasal strip will also be much more aesthetically cool-looking than what’s out there now, and it’s smaller.
ATN: Looking ahead, what are your key short and long-term goals for Dream?
TA: In the short term, one of our goals is to have a majority of professional athletes wearing our nasal strips for games.
When I think long-term, our macro goal is to help people increase their lifespan, especially their healthspan. I honestly think sleep is the biggest opportunity. So as we forge forward, and as technology and science evolve, we’ll create whatever products we feel are going to have the biggest impact on that mission.