An Erie doctor-turned-entrepreneur has earned the titles of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year.

"Acoustic Sheep went up against a business from the Philadelphia office and won," said SBA Pittsburgh District Director, Dr. Kelly Hunt. "And became the winner for the entire state of Pennsylvania." 

"It's absolutely amazing," Dr. Wei-Shin Lai said of winning the awards. "I think it's a testament to how well we've come together as a team. I really appreciate all of our employees, they're fantastic."

After spending countless nights tossing and turning, Dr. Lai founded Acoustic Sheep in 2007. "I tried headphones and they're bulky, and then the ear buds hurt my ears," she said of trying to use conventional headphones to fall asleep. "So we decided, lets just try making our own." 

With the help of her husband Jason, the SleepPhone was born. Shortly after creating the fleece headband with soft speakers buried inside, the couple added RunPhones, headphones that stay put when exercise. Almost 10 years later, SleepPhones and RunPhones are shipped worldwide and used on all seven continents. Lai's next move is to make her products a household name.

"So that everybody, who has trouble sleeping, they know where to turn if they want a natural, safe solution to help them sleep a little bit easier," she said. "And that's our mission for the company, to make sure our brands get known out there so we can really help the world."

SleepPhones and RunPhones will be featured on the home shopping channel, QVC this summer.