Sam was pitching in the Phillies' minor league system when his shoulder gave out. Rotator cuff repair and clean-up. Surgery in 2021.
The rehab was brutal — but sleep was worse. He couldn't lie on his back. He couldn't roll to his side. Every time he drifted off, he'd shift, the pain would hit, and he'd be awake again. Thirty minutes was a good night.
After a full week of this, Sam called Mike — his physical therapist since high school, back home in Boston — and said he couldn't do it anymore.
"I was going on week two with no real sleep. I told Mike — there has to be something out there. He looked. Nothing existed."
Sam went home to Boston that winter to rehab with Mike. When no product on the market could help, they decided to build one themselves.
Sam put together a rough four-piece prototype on a Friday — foam, hand-cut, held together with hot glue. He brought it into Mike's clinic to test. That Monday, Mike walked in with something new: a refined version with real structure, real positioning, real support. The first true Shoulder Sleeper.
From there, they spent two years perfecting it — testing foam densities, refining the cover, soft-launching prototypes to surgeons around the country. Mike used his PT network. Sam worked his rehab contacts in the Phillies organization. Every patient who had surgery became a chance to test, learn, and improve.
"We weren't designing for a market. We were designing for me — and then for every patient Mike saw after me. That's why it works."
2 Years
Of Testing12+
Prototypes100s
Of Patients Trialed
By the time Sam and Mike were ready to launch, the Shoulder Sleeper had already been tested by hundreds of post-op patients. Surgeons were asking how to recommend it. Patients were asking where to buy it.
The hot-glue prototype became a patented medical device. A local PT's back-room project became a product trusted by orthopedic surgeons across the world. Forbes named it the #1 pillow for shoulder recovery in 2025.
What started as one athlete trying to get through the night became the recovery tool thousands of patients now rely on from the first night after surgery.
The patient who became the inventor. Phillies' minor leagues, post-op insomnia, and the question that built the company: Would this have worked for me?
Shoulder and elbow specialist at Champion PT and Performance in Waltham, MA. Believed his patients deserved better than a wedge pillow and a long night. So he helped build something better.
The voice behind every customer email and the system behind every shipment. If you've talked to Shoulder Sleeper, you've talked to Madysen.
20+ years in orthopedic medical devices. President of DJD Medical, exclusive distributor owner for J&J/DePuy Synthes across New England. Former leadership at Zimmer Biomet and DePuy Synthes.
Engineer at Teradyne with 40+ years across physics, electrical, and computer engineering. Backed Shoulder Sleeper from day one and helps guide finance, supply chain, and manufacturing decisions.
Northwestern Feinberg Professor. Designs next-gen shoulder replacement systems with Zimmer-Biomet. 175+ peer-reviewed publications.
Partner at DOCS Health. Co-Founder of Shoulder360. 24+ years in sports medicine and cartilage repair, formerly at Kaiser Permanente.
Shoulder, Sports Medicine, and Biologic Therapies Specialist at Orthopedic Surgical Practice of Santa Barbara. Kaiser-trained, fellowship in sports medicine and arthroscopy.
