Emily (Cairns) Roffe-Silvester '05 has been hailed a ‘mumpreneur’ across the pond in the UK where she has lived for the last 12 years with her British husband and two children; Daisy (5) and Kitty (2). Emily launched Sofee, a multi-purpose play sofa, after watching her two children trying to build a rocket while they were confined to the house during the pandemic. "‘My children love building dens and forts out of cushions and sofas and it was seeing their frustration at not being able to build something sturdy enough to hold shape that made me realize we needed a play sofa.’ While play couches (or sofas as they call it across the pond), are readily available in North America, the UK didn’t have any options. Emily designed the Sofee of four sturdy foam pieces that can be used as a couch or configured into a fort, den, rocket, slide, chair – whatever a child’s imagination dreams up. The pandemic provided Sofee with a unique opportunity to emerge in the UK. The multiple lockdowns have changed family life in a number of ways, plus with the harsh UK winters, families are spending more time together than ever before. Emily added: ‘It has been intense bringing the Sofee to market during the pandemic but I was determined to make it happen. Being environmentally sustainable was very important to me and that’s why I’ve worked hard to keep production in the UK. It’s also turned out to be a great business decision as I’m not paying a fortune on cargo shipping or waiting months for stock to arrive.' Emily teamed up with Nam Phan ’05 before launching the business for strategic business advice. Nam is co-founder of VITAL, a chain of 7 indoor rock climbing gyms in Southern California, Washington, and New York. You can find details about Emily’s play sofa at mysofee.com and Nam’s 24-hour indoor bouldering gym at www.vitalclimbinggym.com.