Barry Cik is the founder of Naturepedic. An environmental engineer by trade published in his field, Barry founded Naturepedic after an eye-opening experience shopping for crib mattresses. Sent out by his wife prior to the birth of his first grandchild, Barry was shocked by the chemicals and questionable materials in the crib mattresses he found. What few natural options he encountered lacked waterproofing and had potentially allergenic materials.

Barry realized the almost non-existent chemical regulations for consumer products in the U.S. and a general lack of transparency for ingredients made organics a perfect direction for providing safer, healthier products. Through the use of certified organics, for example, Barry could guarantee cotton was grown without synthetic pesticides or GMOs. Naturepedic is one of the few companies that make mattresses certified in their entirety to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) – the organic standard for mattresses endorsed by the USDA.

Barry actively speaks on the topic of safer materials and advocates throughout the U.S. for the need for chemical reform. He appeared as a featured speaker before a congressional subcommittee hearing in 2014 on the need for reform to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and spoke alongside actor Adrian Grenier during an Environmental Media Association colloquium on healthier products.