Anyone planning to travel over the upcoming holidays anticipates the dread of traveling. This is how the mother-daughter team felt about traveling before they created their California-based small business, Comfy Commuter. The company was started when Ana Rojas (mother) experienced an unplanned leave of absence from work in 2009. The “silver lining” to Rojas’s situation created the perfect opportunity to design a long envisioned travel pillow. She soon convinced her daughter, Linda Hernandez, to join her in the venture. It was their belief that customers could and should have a comfortable travel experience.

The development of the "perfect” travel pillow became sort of an obsession for the mother-daughter team. Family and friends became accustomed to participating in testing and discussions related to the travel pillow. They purchased a real airplane seat to design and test the travel products. The travel pillow and testing became such a common sight in their home that Linda’s one-year old daughter would often sit on the airplane seat in the dining room and place the pillow on her head for fun.

Rojas searched extensively for the right fabrics and fill. Every aspect of the pillow was tested. For example, the fabrics were washed, dried, stretched in all manners possible, and even burned to verify content. Feedback was obtained from friends, family, acquaintances, fellow plane passengers, pilots and flight attendants. Their dog, Missy, even tested the product as her toy– unbeknownst to and Linda at the time. Yes, it passed that test also.

An important consideration in developing the travel pillow and blanket was having a USA-made product, maintaining affordability and maintaining quality. Product materials are purchased and manufactured in or near the Los Angeles Garment District. Rojas and Hernandez also wanted an environmentally-friendly product so the travel pillow and blanket have no frilly packaging.

Rojas and Hernandez finished their first prototype in 2009 and have since improved the pillow based on customer feedback. “We created the pillow by listening to the needs of real travelers who demanded comfortable and compact travel accessories” stated Ana Rojas, owner. Rojas and Hernandez obtained business counseling and a loan from Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) of Santa Barbara in 2010 to launch their business.

Response to the travel pillow has been phenomenal according to Rojas. One customer wrote “I travel a lot and have purchased numerous travel pillows over the years and none of them really help you to get comfortable enough to sleep well, that is until yours came out. I slept like a baby on my way back from LA. Your design and the way your pillow cradles the neck & head is fantastic. Even in coach where the incline is minute the comfort your pillow allows is exceptional. You will be very successful with your travel pillow design. Once it is out there word of mouth alone will have orders pouring in”. Joy, Sarrasota, Florida

Comfy Commuter offers their travel pillow for sale on www.comfycommuter.com, Amazon.com, Distant Lands of Pasadena, California and Best of VC in Santa Paula, California.

If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Ana Rojas, please call 727-776-8128 or email her at [email protected]

Contact Info:
Ana Rojas, RN, PhD
Email:[email protected]
Linda Hernandez
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 424-226-6393
Website: http://www.comfycommuter.com/