- Story by Lauren Edwards Photography by Don Denton
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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As Chris Manley whistles a jazzy tune through his teeth, I realize heâs a man of many talents. And indeed, in addition to his impressive whistling abilities, he sings and excels in business as co-owner of Resthouse Sleep Solutions â an organic mattress and bedding store in Duncan.
Vancouver-born Chris has been whistling since he was five years old, taught by his father while living in Richmond. He tricked his teachers by disguising his whistling abilities through his teeth, and âmastered the art of the different sounds and the noodling to it.â
After graduating high school, he worked for a corporate mattress company in Vancouver for 15 years. As a top salesperson and sales trainer, his career in the sleep industry was set, but the one-size-fits-all method of sales didnât feel right.
âItâs an old way [of looking at it],â Chris explains. âWhich is just alarming because [noramlly] two people sleep in a bed, and each person has different needs.â
When he left the corporate world and moved on to Duncan, Chris decided to change his lifestyle, starting with improving his health through eating organically. With the introduction to organic foods, he âstarted to clue in that conventional mattresses are not as healthy as weâve been told they are.â And, he adds, this is not evening considering their environmental impact â with around â30 million mattresses a year going to landfills in North America.â With the world focussing on product sustainability, down to its roots, he thought, it makes sense that a community with a high-level interest in organics would want to embrace holistic sleeping habits too.
âAs a kid, I remember complaining about taking naps, which seemed like a requirement. As an adult, having a good nightâs sleep is vital.
âOnce I donât get enough sleep, my sugar addiction kicks in because Iâm trying to get that jolt, and that actually hurts my brain. Then I start to get anxiety, then I get mild depression, and itâs just this cycle.â
He adds: âBecause when you are laying there, if youâre getting hot, youâre tossing and turning, and youâre hurting, well that kicks in the brainâŠitâs ultimately what discomforts people. When you get into your 50s, 60s and 70s, if youâre not sleeping well, you can get sick.â
Chris and his business and life partner, Dawn Howlett, first launched a mattress business from their garage. Next, they opened an organic mattress gallery, complete with spotlights and showrooms. From there they set up shop at the Community Farm Store, and then, when space for a store opened up with a music studio above, Chris was able to combine his two passions â music and the mattress businessâ under one roof.
Chis says the idea for the business had always been in concept form, but when âout popped of Dawnâs mouth âResthouse,ââ the name helped solidify their idea.
Towels, linens, pillows and comforters at Resthouse are all made from organic cotton. The store also features handmade wooden furniture by David Martinello, as well as wool blankets made from angora goats and sheep on Ann Lindwallâs farm in Glenora, just outside of Duncan.
âWe try to do as much locally as we can,â says Chris, adding that the business recently expanded its ownership team by adding Olga Roberts.
Resthouse gets involved in different community events, working with schools and donating products to different foundations, and making sure mattresses are properly disposed of. Each time they deliver a new mattress, the old one (if itâs still in good shape) is donated to charity.
Dawnâs decoration of the store was influenced by hygge (pronounced âhoog-gaâ) â a Danish word meaning âa mood of cosiness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.â
The duo originally met at The Haven, which offered an improvisational a cappella singing course called âThe Singing Soul.â Chris, who had always enjoyed music, says the course was âserendipitous because thatâs where I met Dawn, where I really got into music, and where I learned that the universe will actually give you what you want if you ask for it.â
During the course, he was urged by instructor David Hatfield to âno matter what, just keep singing.â
So Chris continued his musical training on his own, playing a game of âwhistle it or sing it.â He put his entire music library on shuffle â deciding to either whistle or sing each tune as it played.
Eventually he met The Paradigm Shifters, an improvisation band, which was looking for a singer. Improvising, band members begin playing their instruments and âfind ways through intuition in the moment to create songs,â says Chris.
Years later, heâs now part of Dream Catcher, another improvisational band. Chris continues to pursue his passion for music, almost pushing himself, he says, to show his daughter, 14 and son, 12 â âwho are both amazing singersâ â what it means to not give up on dreams.
In addition to singing, whistling and selling sleep solutions, Chris likes âhanging out with the kids,â swimming in various lakes on the island and spending time at his parentsâ home that has a âcabin-likeâ feel to it.
Other favourite pastimes include tennis and bowling (he was a competitive bowler in his youth), and practising music with Dawn through looping â a device that records and plays back music. Dawn is a huge positive influence in his life, he says, as well as his parents, who taught him to treat others with âkindness and heart.â He still carries this important lesson to âunderstand that we all struggle, and if you just default to kindness, the universe takes care of you.â
Now thatâs something to whistle about.
Check out Chrisâ company .
