Haralee Sleepwear, Cool Garments for Hot Women – and Menopausal Entrepreneurial Freedom

Haralee Weintraub started her company, Haralee Sleepwear, Cool Garments for Hot Women, in the fall of 2004, as a way to help menopausal women feel relief from night sweats. 

As Haralee explains, “I had breast cancer at age 48 and it threw me into menopause with terrible drenching night sweats. I was familiar with wicking clothes but I could not find anything comfortable for sleeping. I made a sample night shirt out of old biking shorts and it worked. It helped with the night sweats not waking me up cold and wet.”

Haralee’s initial success led to even more promising ventures. “I found more sleep friendly fabric and made another nightshirt.” She sewed the nightshirt on her old sewing machine (which she bought from babysitting money she earned when she was 14). “I showed this nightshirt to my breast cancer support group and they went wild with enthusiasm. I then knew I was onto an idea, a market niche of a product line that could help other women get a better night’s sleep. We have been successful ever since, making beautiful moisture wicking sleepwear and helping women stay cool, look good, and get a better night's sleep.”

Haralee started her Menopausal Entrepreneurial Freedom blog in 2009-2010, because, she says, “cancer made me menopausal,” and menopause became the catalyst for her to become an entrepreneur. Her new company, Haralee continues, “afforded me freedom as my own boss in the second part of my life.” Knowing that many women were seeking life changes after the age of 50, Haralee wanted to inspire readers by letting them know that changes could be made.

Haralee started her blog because she thought her customers would like to learn about her company, read musings from a woman who belonged to the same demographics as her customers – women between the ages of 35-80 – and be informed about the latest breast cancer research.

Women who visit Haralee Sleepwear, Cool Garments for Hot Women find what Haralee calls, “a solution product.” And in 450 word or less, Haralee also offers humorous, sometimes emotional, and always relatable posts to readers of her blog, Menopausal Entrepreneurial Freedom. 

Life experiences often force us to move in directions we never thought we’d take, and life changed a positive into a negative for Haralee. “Never in a million years did I think a breast cancer diagnosis would lead to becoming an entrepreneur. Menopause is a part of life; it is not the end of life, and if I can take my menopausal experience and make fun of it and (build) a business, anybody can.”

If you’re going through menopause and experiencing hot flashes, take a look at Haralee Sleepwear, Cool Garments for Hot Women. And to read Haralee’s blog, please click Menopausal Entrepreneurial Freedom.