Calming bedtime stories for kids aged 3–8, blending imagination, kindness, and relaxation to support peaceful sleep.

I’m the founder of Trunki, the original ride-on suitcase for children, and now the creator of Zeepy Sleep: Calming Bedtime Stories for Kids, a gentle, imaginative sleep podcast for children aged 3–8. With a background in creating innovative, family-focused products that bring joy, independence, and calm to daily routines, Zeepy is a natural evolution of that mission; using storytelling as a tool for connection, comfort, and better sleep.

Zeepy Sleep offers original, soothing bedtime stories for kids, designed to help toddlers and young children relax, process their emotions, and gently transition into sleep. Each episode features warm narration, soft soundscapes, and breathing cues, with recurring characters like Kip the Kitty and Slumber the Sloth who guide children through magical adventures grounded in empathy, kindness, and imagination.

Our listeners are parents, caregivers, and educators looking for calming audio for children that supports bedtime routines and emotional well-being. Many find Zeepy Sleep helpful for kids who resist bedtime, experience anxiety around sleep, or need screen-free support for winding down. It’s also popular with families seeking Montessori-style or gentle parenting tools.

As a bedtime podcast for preschoolers and toddlers, Zeepy Sleep is loved for its gentle pacing, focus on mindfulness, and emotionally enriching themes. It’s perfect for families who want a peaceful end to the day, where children feel safe, loved, and ready for rest.

Whether part of a consistent nightly routine or used to calm busy minds on the go, Zeepy Sleep is a trusted tool for parents and a magical world of dreams for children.
 

As a product designer and big kid at heart, I’ve spent much of my career creating innovative products that support children’s development, independence, and emotional wellbeing. After years in physical product design, I saw a growing need among parents, especially during the pandemic years, for screen-free, calming bedtime tools. With the rise of smart speakers and audio-first parenting, a podcast felt like the perfect format to deliver value in a modern, accessible way.

I’ve always loved the power of audio to spark imagination and connection. I listen to a variety of podcasts myself from entrepreneurial shows to parenting and mindfulness, and I saw podcasting as a natural medium to bring gentle bedtime stories for kids into the homes of families seeking a better bedtime experience.

The motivation for Zeepy Sleep was both personal and professional. As a parent, I understand how difficult bedtime can be, especially for children who are emotionally sensitive, struggle with routines, or need more time to settle their minds. I wanted to create a podcast that not only helped kids fall asleep, but also nurtured emotional intelligence, kindness, and self-worth.

We started development in late 2023, investing time in storywriting, character development, testing sleep pacing, and sound design. Our first episode launched in early 2024, and it took several months of creative iteration to get the tone, structure, and pacing just right.

Our initial goal was to create a calming podcast for children that parents could trust, and that kids would fall in love with. Today, Zeepy Sleep is part of many families’ bedtime routines, and we’re now expanding into multiple languages, including French, to reach even more dreamers around the world.
 

Zeepy Sleep isn’t just a podcast, it’s a core part of our brand and marketing strategy. Our physical product, the Zeepy Sleep Trainer Clock, helps children understand when it’s time to sleep and wake, using lights and character cues. The podcast brings those characters to life through storytelling, building an emotional connection with families and supporting consistent bedtime routines. In that sense, the podcast is both a brand asset and a free tool we offer to our community.

As a founder, I’ve learned to balance creative development with commercial strategy. I fund and manage the podcast as part of Zeepy’s wider business, so yes, we invest in writing, editing, narration, hosting, and sound design, just like we do for product development or customer service. While the initial cost was a few thousand pounds to get the first 10 episodes professionally written and produced, the ongoing cost is relatively low, and the value in terms of brand engagement and customer trust is huge.

We release a new episode every week, and each one takes around 10–15 hours to produce from story concept through to final master. I work with a small, dedicated team including a narrator, editor, and writer. I oversee the creative direction personally to ensure it’s aligned with Zeepy’s tone and values.

As a business owner, my time is always limited but this podcast was a priority. It’s where our characters find their voice, our brand earns trust, and our product becomes part of a family’s bedtime ritual. I truly believe that storytelling, not just tech, is the future of child-centred sleep support and Zeepy Sleep is at the heart of that mission.
 

Podcasting has become an incredibly valuable part of Zeepy’s brand and business strategy. While we don’t currently take on sponsorships, the podcast is a direct driver of trust, product discovery, and customer loyalty. It’s designed to support and complement our core physical product; the Zeepy Sleep Trainer Clock by reinforcing the bedtime routine through character-driven storytelling.

In our first year, we’ve sold over 10,000 Zeepy Sleep Trainer Clocks, and our podcast has nearly matched that with just under 10,000 total downloads to date. We’re now rapidly approaching 2,000 downloads per month, and continuing to grow organically through parent word-of-mouth, Spotify discovery, and search traffic.

Rather than focus on sponsorships, we see the podcast as an extension of our customer experience. It builds emotional engagement with our brand and turns product use into a magical nightly ritual. Kip the Kitty and Slumber the Sloth featured in the stories are also the faces of our sleep clocks. This synergy helps us turn first-time listeners into long-term fans and product customers.

Podcasting has also been deeply rewarding on a personal level. It’s stretched our creative thinking, improved how we communicate emotional value to families, and taught us the power of consistent, high-quality storytelling. It’s not just about sleep, it’s about connection, confidence, and calm.

As Zeepy grows, we may explore partnerships or licensing for our content, but for now, the podcast’s greatest value is in helping us serve families better and build a mission-driven brand that lasts.
 

Our podcasting process is intentionally crafted to support children’s emotional development, imagination, and sleep. We publish through Buzzsprout, which makes it easy to distribute the podcast across all major platforms. Each episode is written in-house by our team, with the story carefully developed from concept to final script to ensure it meets the emotional needs of young children aged 3–8.

Our stories are built around key themes such as mindfulness, emotional well-being, and gentle resilience. We structure each episode to include:

• Words of affirmation
• Breathing cues and visualisation
• Guided meditation techniques
• Familiar characters like Kip the Kitty and Slumber the Sloth who model empathy, curiosity, and kindness

Once the script is ready, we pass it to our talented narrator Olly, who brings the story to life with warmth and calm. Olly works with his production team to add custom music, subtle soundscapes, and pacing that encourages children to settle their minds and bodies for sleep. We don’t conduct interviews instead, we focus entirely on immersive, character-led storytelling.

The entire process from story concept to published episode takes around 10–15 hours, including writing, revisions, narration, audio mixing, and final mastering. We collaborate remotely and asynchronously, a mix of Google Docs, Trello, and email keeps the workflow smooth and consistent.

We’re proud of how intentional our approach is. Every Zeepy Sleep episode is designed not just to entertain, but to:

• Encourage empathy and emotional reflection
• Stimulate imagination without overstimulation
• Provide a peaceful bedtime ritual
• Teach kindness and connection
• Help children transition to sleep calmly and confidently

Podcasting allows us to offer more than stories, we’re building trust, routine, and emotional grounding for families through sound.
 

Our podcast marketing is tightly woven into the overall Zeepy brand experience. The Zeepy Sleep Podcast is promoted directly through our physical product; the Zeepy Sleep Trainer Clock with on-pack messaging and in-box calls-to-action encouraging parents to listen as part of their child’s bedtime routine.

We also offer a free 30-page digital Sleep Guide to parents via our website. This PDF is filled with calming routines, sleep tips, and printable tools, and it features our podcast throughout as a recommended, screen-free bedtime resource. It has become one of our most valuable organic drivers of new listeners and email signups.

In terms of listening platforms, Apple Podcasts is by far our largest channel, currently accounting for around 60% of all listens. Around 20% come via our website and Buzzsprout player, and the remaining share is spread across Spotify, Amazon Music, and other directories.

Importantly, around 75% of our listeners are on iPhones, which aligns well with our Apple Podcasts performance and the habits of our parent audience.

While we maintain a presence on social media, the most effective marketing tools for us have been:

• On-product promotion
• Email follow-ups from our digital Sleep Guide
• Website-based storytelling and blog content

We don’t currently run ads, most of our growth has come from product discovery, parent referrals, and embedding the podcast as part of a broader bedtime support toolkit.

As we expand into multilingual markets and new product formats, we plan to build on this success with targeted influencer partnerships and parent-facing brand collaborations but always with the same mission: to help families end the day with calm, connection, and consistency.
 

My biggest piece of advice for new podcasters is this: start with a clear purpose, not just a format. Know who you're serving, what they need, and how your podcast will genuinely help them. For Zeepy Sleep, we knew parents needed help creating calmer bedtimes, so every part of our podcast from story structure to sound design is built around that emotional need.

One thing that wasn’t obvious at first was how important pacing and sensory design would be. A well-written script is only half the story how it’s delivered matters just as much. The tone of voice, the silence between phrases, the music, and the breathing cues all contribute to the emotional impact. We’ve learned to slow down, simplify, and lean into calm.

I also learned that you don’t need to do everything yourself. I’ve built businesses before, so I knew the power of assembling the right team. Our narrator, editor, and support creatives all help bring the stories to life and that collaborative energy makes the final product far stronger.

For production, we’ve found tools like Buzzsprout (for publishing), Google Docs (for scripting), and Descript (for audio notes) to be extremely helpful. And while we didn’t follow many tutorials, we did learn a lot from listening to other podcasts especially kids’ shows like Circle Round, and even meditative podcasts for adults. Understanding pacing and emotional resonance from listener perspective was key.

If you're just starting, my advice is: publish before you feel ready, test your voice with your audience, and stay focused on value over perfection. In our case, the podcast isn’t just a piece of content it’s part of the brand experience. Treat your show like a product, and ask yourself how it can solve real problems for real people.
 

🌐 Website: https://www.zeepy.co
📥 Free Sleep Guide for Parents: https://zeepy.co/dreamlandawaits
🛒 Buy the Zeepy Sleep Trainer Clock: https://www.zeepy.co or https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CS6WZKHK
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zeepy-sleep-podcast/id1732709328
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qxolcD5URkoei9ZgjmVUF?si=TVl9ssaSQMKmpzj0kpEodg
🎧 Listen on Amazon: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0CNVL39JR?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=podcast_show_detail
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeepy.sleep
📧 Contact: dreamteam@zeepy.co

We’re also building a growing library of blog content and episode guides to help parents create peaceful, connected routines at bedtime. Everything we do is designed to help children feel safe, valued, and ready to sleep.
My personal website is www.roblaw.com