Employee growth, giving back, and sleeping with a clear conscious—the mission of Nest Bedding

Sleep with a clear conscience

The secret to getting a good night’s sleep is often more than just a good mattress. Sometimes, it’s sleeping on a mattress with a conscience. Siblings Christian and Brooke Alexander are stepping forward in the business their father started back in 2011. Nest Bedding is a revolutionary company focused on promoting a healthy environment, both from the world perspective as well as within our homes.

Prior to her role as chief branding officer at Nest, Brooke had studied holistic medicine and practiced as a massage therapist specializing in sports therapy. She expanded Nest’s retail locations starting in 2014 in Los Angeles and added numerous showrooms around the country over the next six years. Christian joined his father’s business after serving in the navy as an FMF Hospital Corpsman stationed with the Marine Corps' 4th Force Reconnaissance Company overseas and after achieving a degree in healthcare administration. After living around the United States, and even the world, these two Paradise High School graduates were eager to move back to the area they loved. Christian, as the company's chief operating officer, set out to establish Nest's first office and support teams in Paradise. Following the Camp Fire, where he and most of their employees lost their homes, Christian moved the operation to Chico, settling within Meriam Park's Foundation Building.

Though the move was necessary as a result of the Camp Fire, Christian and Brooke believe it was also the ideal next step in the growth of the company and its team. Christian explains, “By moving into a more visible and high-trafficked area, we are able to grow Nest Bedding into a larger presence in Northern California. Our employees are family to us, and we’ve always treated them that way. Through the fire and the pandemic, our goals were to provide stability and advancement for all Nest Bedding employees. The continued growth and success we expect from our new location in Meriam Park will allow us to continue helping our employees and improving their livelihood.”

Giving back is another important and satisfying part of the Nest Bedding company culture. Growing up impoverished, Brooke and Christian know what it’s like to go without. Christian remembers one December when they woke up to a “whole Christmas morning waiting for them on their front porch” donated by a local organization. Their sense of paying it forward is evident in their efforts to help the community. They’ve partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Chico to help furnish homes for families moving from transitional housing into permanent homes. Over the past year, they’ve helped over twenty families turn their houses into homes by donating mattresses, bedding, and furniture.

Nest Bedding, one of the first bed-in-a-box brands, now sells mattresses for everybody in your home. They ship factory-direct, right to your doorstep for free, with an industry-

WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON | PHOTOS BY NICK HANNEMAN leading 365-night sleep trial. Complete your bedroom with an array of luxury top-of-bed products by Nest, including pillows, sheet sets, duvet covers, comforters, blankets, toppers, and sleep accessories.

Typically, affordable mattresses are constructed with lower-quality materials and break down within 2-5 years. In the last ten years, customers who bought into the one-size-fits-all mattress craze are asking themselves, “What’s really in my mattress? Why am I having trouble sleeping? Shouldn’t my mattress have lasted longer?” Nest mattresses are built to last two to three times longer and are affordable without sacrificing comfort. Nest has further bolstered their product offering, with numerous third-party certifications for low toxicity, low off-gassing, and certified organic materials since inception. Their factories in Arizona and California build and ship mattresses to order instead of stockpiling and compressing mattresses for months, or sometimes years, as their many competitors do.

Christian says it’s not just about selling mattresses, “We provide a service, and we partner with our customers when they buy from us.” Nest launched the world's first lifetime renewal exchange program that increases the lifespan of a mattress two to three times. When you purchase a Sparrow, Owl, or Finch mattress, you can get a new comfort layer free of charge at any point in time, whether it’s within the 365-night sleep trial or even ten years down the line. Nest mattresses are renewable instead of disposable, and the company is doing its part to alleviate the more than 50 million metric tons of mattress waste produced annually in the USA. Brooke shares, “We continue to strive to make our mattresses, bedding, and furniture, as sustainable as possible, through increased quality and consumer-friendly policies. Our goal is to help our customers get the most life possible out of their purchase.”

Whether it’s ensuring a healthy sleep experience, giving back to the community, or working to address environmental concerns, Nest Bedding is a company with a conscience. Stop by their new store in Meriam Park at 1905 Notre Dame Blvd. Suite 140 and see what they have to feather your own nest.

CalSavers: An Overview

Who? If you have five or more employees, California has passed a mandate that you must enroll and participate in a program called CalSavers. If you are already enrolled in a retirement plan as an employer, you do not have to register. Both nonprofit and for profit entities are eligible to participate as long as they meet the five employee minimum. For employees, the minimum contribution needed to enroll in the program is $10 per paycheck. Once a participant, employees can choose between different investing strategies. Sole proprietors and partnerships with less than five employees may voluntarily participate in the program by enrolling directly on the CalSavers website.

Why? California passed something called the CalSavers Retirement Savings Trust Act—a law that was put in place so that every person in the state has access to financial security and retirement benefits. Prior to this law being passed, employees in the private sector working for companies that didn’t have a retirement plan wouldn’t have any access to investing in their future. The average retirement savings plan that employers administered required a lot of employer fees, administrative upkeep, and placed a level of fiduciary responsibility on the business to facilitate. CalSavers is sponsored by the State, and makes offering a retirement savings plan relatively easy for employers who otherwise would not be able to. CalSavers, employees will automatically have 5% of their paycheck contributed to a retirement account. Employees can opt out, but will automatically be signed up after 30 days of employment, unless they specifically ask not to be. A company must have an employee representative managing the program and facilitating enrollment and opt-out preferences. Occasionally, CalSavers will distribute educational materials on investing options, and the company administrator must provide that advice to employees whether they choose to participate or not.

What If? Unfortunately there are penalties for non-compliance. If you are reported, you must enroll and participate within 90 days, or pay a fine of $250 per employee—with an additional $500 fine if you are still not enrolled after that.

When? If you’re an employer with fifty employees or more, the deadline for enrollment has already expired, and you should register ASAP to avoid future penalties. If you have five or more employees, you have until June 30, 2022 to complete enrollment.

HRiq offers benefit administration packages specifically designed to manage all CalSavers employer obligations for companies of all sizes. Benefit administration packages can also be added on to any existing subscription with HRiq at no additional cost.

What is femilift

FemiLift is a non-surgical laser treatment to restore feminine health, comfort, and satisfaction by expediting new cell growth in the pelvic area. It is an outpatient, minimally invasive procedure with immediate results. It tightens the delicate tissue by the formation of new collagen, restoring sensitivity after childbirth and for menopause-related atrophy. Studies show that most women are concerned with their pelvic health due to hormonal changes.

The FemiLift rejuvenation treatments are fast, relatively painless, and results are almost immediate. It is FDA approved and proven safe for a variety of feminine issues. It strengthens the pelvic floor, corrects laxity, and increases blood flow, therefore addressing changes the female body can go through with age.

The results are long-term because of the alterations to the collagen and elastin fibers, but sometimes a follow-up procedure may be necessary a year or so after the initial treatment. The technology employed with the laser has been around for years and is constantly being updated. Med-spas are adding this to their arsenal of machines to improve their clients’ sense of well-being and confidence.

The use of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and an ablative laser together creates thermal injury to the tissues, causing them to rebuild and remodel into healthier, stronger, firmer tissue.

Call to schedule an appointment and find out more about this innovative treatment.

DERM BAR MED-SPA 85 Declaration Dr. Suite 100 Chico, CA 95973 530.342.2672

Let’s talk about stress. In today’s society, chronic stress is the endemic no one talks about, but nearly everyone experiences. A part of our brains (the sympathetic nervous system) is constantly on active duty, scanning our environments for danger, problem-solving, solution-finding, and overall helping us navigate life as we know it. This part of our brain is important! However, when it’s on all the time, we are left feeling depleted and more easily overwhelmed.

There’s reprieve! Our brains have a compensatory system called the parasympathetic nervous system—A.K.A. “rest and digest”. This system takes over, dimming down the “fight or flight” stress response, giving all those other parts of your brain and body a chance to recover. We don’t need to be eating or napping to turn this on either. Sitting in deep prayer or meditation, yoga, massage, playing with animals and children, and enjoying nature are all intentional activities one can engage in, giving our stress response a chance to reset.

In Northern California, we have an abundance of nature, so let’s discuss this a little deeper. When we are engaged in gardening, nature walks, or even sitting on a park bench with grass and trees nearby, we evoke what’s called “soft fascination,” a passive attention that allows us to focus on things that exist and function without needing us to do anything. They perform without needing our direct involvement. It’s happening independently during a lifetime in which it feels every aspect of our individual worlds need something from us. Focusing on, and tuning into, our five senses during soft fascination further affects our circadian rhythms (sleep cycle) and ability to emotionally regulate when our fight or flight response jumps into action again to keep us safe.

Spend some time outside and notice the change in your body, your levels of alertness and joy, and realize you were created equipped with the ability to calm down the inner stress by merely enjoying the world around you.

If you need more help with your life stressors, talk therapy has been shown to help! Myself and our team of clinicians at Inspired Life Counseling are here to listen. Visit us at www.InspiredLifeChico.com or call (530) 809-1702.

JESSICA DARLING WILKERSON, MA, LMFT 104464 LICENSED MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPIST EMDR CLINICIAN

Jessica Wilkerson, MA, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Chico, CA. She is an EMDR clinician as well as the owner/operator and clinical supervisor of Inspired Life Counseling. For more information, visit www.jessicawilkerson.com and www.inspiredlifechico.com. Jessica can also be reached via phone at (530) 809-1702