Derek Hales
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
The story of NapLab begins with the story of Derek (our Founder) and his wife, Samantha. Newly married in 2014, they needed a new mattress. Derek and Samantha went through the classic in-store experience, but couldn’t stomach paying $5,000 for a new mattress. Instead, they took a chance on the new breed of online mattresses. The first one they tried wasn’t a good fit, so they tried another, which was a notable step up. As a hobby project, Derek launched his first mattress review website, Sleepopolis. There, he published reviews of the 2 mattresses he had tried, a comparison of those mattresses, and other helpful guides. Within just a few short weeks traffic was through the roof. Derek’s readers wanted more reviews from more brands, so Derek began testing new mattresses and writing new reviews. What started as a one man operation in a one-bedroom apartment gradually grew into a six person team of friends and family. Our one-bedroom apartment testing days are no longer and we now have a dedicated space for testing, photography, videography, and storage. Over the years Derek and his team have tested 500+ different mattresses and helped millions of readers and viewers make more informed mattress purchasing decisions.