Top of the world: TSI’s Paula Higginbotham atop Colorado’s 14,300-foot La Plata peak.
How Tempur Sealy’s Paula Higginbotham turned a job into an award-winning career
By Janet Weyandt, YSN
When Paula Higginbotham was a little girl, she didn’t exactly dream of selling mattresses when she grew up.
Like many, she eventually found herself in a job she didn’t love. But unlike most, that job has turned into a career she cherishes.
Now Tempur Sealy’s national account manager for buying groups, Higginbotham was a college graduate with a brand-new marketing degree and no job when her career began.
Foot in the Door
“I got into the industry because my best friend’s father owned a chain of sleep shops,” she said. “I had no intention of selling mattresses for a living. And 36 years later I’m selling mattresses for a living, and I love this industry so much.”
Last spring, Higginbotham won the BrandSource Women in Business (WiB) Standing Ovation Award, the highest honor given by AVB’s women’s organization. And that, for Higginbotham, was huge.
“I was extremely honored to get this award,” she said. “I was overwhelmed. I’m a little embarrassed to say I got very choked up. I just had no idea I was ever even going to be in the running for something like this. It really just means a lot to me.”
Vendor Vector
Higginbotham’s career really took off a few years after she started selling mattresses to retailers, when she became a rep for Sealy. She was a devoted employee and acknowledges being less than thrilled when the company was bought by Tempur-Pedic in 2013.
“I bled blue — Sealy blue all the way,” she said. “Even though Tempur-Pedic was now signing my paycheck, I was never, ever going to sleep on that product myself.”
That didn’t last. One of the first things the new parent company did was bring all its employees together for an off-site conference. They put the staff up in a hotel that had Tempur-Pedic mattresses in every room.
“Oh my lord, I never slept so well in my life,” Higginbotham said. “A week later I got a new mattress, and I will never sleep on anything but a Tempur-Pedic. I guess things can change.”
Since then, Higginbotham’s profound belief in the product has fostered strong and lasting relationships with dealers. And, working exclusively with buying groups, she has kept those skills sharp.
Rolling Up Her Sleeves
Joe Heslin, owner of Carmona’s Appliance & Mattress Center in Redding, Calif., spent five years thinking about adding mattresses to his lineup, and Higginbotham was with him every step of the way. And even when he finally had the space for a sleep shop, he still wasn’t entirely sold.
“When we finally got into the building, I was reluctant to sign up for the exclusive TSI [Tempur Sealy International] program,” Heslin said. “Because I sell every appliance brand in the world, nobody tells me I can only buy their line. But she did talk me into it, and it was probably one of the best things we did. It just felt right with her.”
That’s partly because Higginbotham pitched in when Heslin needed help, proving her commitment to his success.
“When our store was being built, she came up personally in a pair of jeans and spent a few days and helped build out our display,” he said. “We were appliance guys, we didn’t know bedding at all, and it has turned out to be a huge part of our business now.”
In her current role as national account manager for buying groups, Higginbotham doesn’t have the opportunity to be quite so hands-on with individual dealers very often. Her mission is to craft programs for BrandSource that will help drive business to its independent dealer members.
Bedding Benefactor
Higginbotham has also used her industry influence to benefit people in need. Beginning with the 2023 Summit, she has donated dozens of TSI’s EXPO display mattresses to area charities.
For last spring’s Las Vegas Summit, she chose St. Jude’s Ranch for Children in Nevada, a residential treatment facility for abused and neglected kids. Past recipients of Tempur Sealy products have been The Shade Tree women’s shelter in Las Vegas and Safe Haven Family Shelter and the Oasis Center in Tennessee.
“When those people picked up the mattresses for the women’s shelter in Vegas, the impact that had on those women — when they get their own place they’ll have a queen mattress — I don’t think you can put a price on that,” she said.
Making the Rounds
Higginbotham also attends all BrandSource region meetings, and that’s where she really gets to know the group’s members.
“When I’m at your region meetings, that’s my favorite,” she said. “I’m one-on-one with retailers in that region, I get face time with all of them. That’s when we start to uncover. ‘Maybe you could sell mattresses, let’s give this a shot.’ It’s taking another thing and adding it to their store, their profit and their margins, and to me that’s everything.”
Dori Easterson, BrandSource’s director of communications and branding operations, was among those who nominated Higginbotham for her WiB award. In her submission, Easterson stressed the care Higginbotham takes in getting to know members.
“She is a leader who other women trust to help strengthen them and boost their confidence,” Easterson wrote. “She looks out for all our members and is a true inspiration, not only to me, but to women throughout our industry. She has built relationships with members whether or not they are carrying Tempur-Sealy products.”
Opportunity Knocks
Higginbotham loves it when she can help a group member find the courage to dip a toe into the bedding business.
“One of my favorite things is getting somebody to trust me enough to put beds in their showroom for the very first time,” she said. “They’ve never been in the category, it scares them, and we get it in there and they have success. I say, ‘Trust me, let me help you.’ That’s what I love.”
And now that she’s taken her place alongside all the illustrious Women in Business award winners past, she has cemented her place in BrandSource history.
“I see the women who have gotten up there prior to this, and just to be in the same category with them is truly an honor,” she said. “I’m very honored to just to be in the company of all those fabulous women.”
YSN publisher AVB BrandSource is the nation’s largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
