$10K sleep coaches are like personal trainers for your dreams

Author: Lauren Steussy

Brian Ellis was losing sleep: A death in the family, a lost job and marriage troubles meant he was down to just two hours of shut-eye a night — if that.

So, the Buffalo-based 39-year-old hired a guru, sleep coach Soda Kuczkowski, who gave him a slew of holistic solutions, such as magnesium spray, blue-light-shielding glasses and regular yoga and meditation classes. Over the past 10 months, he has spent about $4,000 in his quest for restfulness and says he’s now getting about five hours of sleep nightly.

“It’s worth it,” says the now gainfully employed consultant. “Without any of these strategies … I don’t know where I’d be.”

For years, new parents desperate to get their babies to conk out at night sought out sleep coaches. But lately, it’s the adults who need tucking in — and there are a growing number of experts, most without formal medical training, willing to advise them.

“Sleep is the new hustle,” says Kuczkowski, who runs a 2,000-square- foot “sleep center” called Start With Sleep in Buffalo and charges her clients — “financial professionals, lawyers, doctors” — up to $1,100 for a four- to six-week program, not including the accessories for sale in her store. If the solution falls outside her holistic scope — she’s certified as an integrative adult sleep coach — she will refer clients to a medical professional.
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