How Alex Neist Has Built a Company Helping People Sleep Better
Alex Neist created a mouth tape brand with Hostage Tape (named because his sleep was “keeping him hostage"). The post How Alex Neist Has Built a Company Helping People Sleep Better appeared first on Haute Living.
Sleep isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity. And sometimes good sleep can keep a marriage together. In the case of Alex Neist, bad sleep actually tore his marriage apart. His snoring was so bad that his wife kicked him out of bed and, ultimately, the bedroom. Fast forward, and the former professional quarterback was divorced. He knew there had to be a fix. So he set out on a breathing and sleep journey to not only fix his snoring, but also his marriage. Neist stumbled upon mouth taping – the idea that you tape your mouth shut, forcing you to breathe through your nose, thereby eliminating snoring. It worked. Neist not only stopped snoring, but he got his wife back. And the unintended bonus? He created a massive mouth tape brand (and is credited with invigorating an entire category of mouth tape) with Hostage Tape (named because his sleep was “keeping him hostage”). Now the brand is booming, Neist has his wife (and family) back, and his sleep is better than ever. Here, the mouth-taping guru explains how he built his massive brand and what is next for Hostage Tape.
Photo Credit: Courtesy
HAUTE LIVING: You’ve built Hostage Tape from a personal need into a high-growth brand. What was your initial vision, and how has it evolved?
ALEX NEIST: When I first started Hostage Tape, I was trying to solve a problem in my own life. Like many men, I was struggling with poor sleep, low energy, and a sense that I wasn’t performing at my best. Discovering mouth-taping changed everything for me, and I realized how something so simple could radically improve my sleep and overall well-being. That experience sparked my initial vision: to inspire men to change their lives using mouth tape. As the brand grew and I started hearing powerful stories from customers whose lives were being transformed, that vision evolved. Now, it was about empowering people to take control of their health and well-being. Today, our mission is to help 1 million people change their lives with mouth tape. That number is more than a target; it’s our driving force. Hostage Tape is no longer just a product, it’s a movement rooted in purpose, and we’re just getting started.
Photo Credit: Courtesy
HL: Hostage Tape went from under $1M to a projected $40M in just a few years. What were the biggest growth moves that got you there?
AN: One of the biggest growth drivers behind Hostage Tape’s rapid rise was our ability to capture and scale attention through a powerful combination of brand and paid media. From day one, we focused on building a bold brand that stood out in a crowded wellness space. That authenticity created a strong emotional connection with our audience, and once we had that attention, we knew we had to scale it. We doubled down on Meta ads to amplify our reach and drive growth at scale. The synergy between a brand that truly resonates and an ad strategy that relentlessly pushes that message forward is what unlocked our momentum.
HL: What’s been your biggest challenge as a founder and how did you navigate it?
AN: Taking something as unconventional as mouth tape, naming it Hostage Tape, and turning that into an eight-figure brand when everyone thought we were crazy. We embraced the edge. We built a brand that was impossible to ignore. This meant staying true to the brand’s voice, and proving that what once seemed crazy could actually change lives and scale into something massive.
HL: In a crowded wellness space, your branding stands out. How intentional was that strategy, and what’s the thinking behind it?
AN: We knew from the very beginning that standing out wasn’t optional, it was essential. Attention is the currency we live by, and that mindset became the foundation for how we built Hostage Tape. The strategy was highly intentional: create a brand that grabs attention instantly, sparks curiosity, and challenges norms, while backing it all up with a product that actually solves a real, overlooked problem. The balance between bold branding and a truly life-changing product has been the key to cutting through the noise and building real loyalty in a saturated market.
Photo Credit: Courtesy
HL: You’ve been open about rebuilding your life after personal and professional setbacks. How has that experience shaped you as a CEO?
AN: Having been a CEO for over 20 years, I’ve seen both highs and lows professionally and personally and those setbacks have shaped me. Rebuilding my life forced me to confront who I was as a leader and a person, and it taught me that growth doesn’t come from comfort, it comes from a willingness to evolve. It’s made me more self-aware, more resilient, and more committed to becoming the kind of leader my team, my customers, and my brand deserve.
HL: What leadership lessons from your time as a pro athlete have carried over into building your company?
AN: Success doesn’t happen overnight. As an athlete, I learned early on that real progress is made through daily repetition like consistent, repetitive work drills, workouts, game film, day in and day out. That same discipline applies to business. You have to show up every day, put in the reps, and not get discouraged by short-term setbacks. You might lose a game, but you learn, adapt, and come back stronger. Building Hostage Tape has been like a long season, you stay focused, keep improving, and trust the process even if there’s setbacks.
HL: Big names like Joe Rogan, Mark Consuelos, and UFC athletes use Hostage Tape. What do those endorsements mean to you?
AN: It’s surreal and incredibly humbling. I’m grateful that so many amazing people trust Hostage Tape with their nightly routine. It validates our brand to everyone who doubts that mouth tape is a real thing. These are people who care deeply about performance, recovery, and health. So when they endorse Hostage Tape, it helps break down skepticism and opens people’s minds to something that, at first glance, might seem extreme or gimmicky. It tells the world: this works.
HL: What do you think has made mouth tape and specifically Hostage Tape such a viral phenomenon, was it the product itself, the storytelling, or something else entirely?
AN: It’s been a perfect storm. Mouth taping sounds crazy until you understand the science, and once you try it, it changes your life. But the packaging and name, Hostage Tape, made people stop scrolling. That got our attention. What kept it going was authenticity. We didn’t just throw out ads, we told real stories, shared my personal journey, and spotlighted people whose lives got better because of this product. And we invested heavily in marketing, not just money, but time, testing, learning, refining. It was the consistency and clarity in the message that made it stick and help get continuous viral moments.
HL: What kind of legacy do you hope Hostage Tape creates as a brand and movement?
AN: Hostage Tape has become the mouth tape brand everyone knows, and you’ll see it in every retail store all over the world. It will become a household name that people recognize as a simple but powerful addition to their daily routine. But more than that, I want the legacy to be about changing the conversation around sleep and breathing. We’ve taken something that most people never even thought about… how they breathe at night… and turned it into a mainstream wellness practice. I want Hostage Tape to be remembered as the brand that normalized nasal breathing, helped millions of people sleep better, perform better, and live healthier lives. This is about shifting culture, getting people to realize that small daily habits can have life-changing effects. That’s the legacy I want: not just a brand, but a movement that changed the way the world sleeps.
HL: What’s your long-term vision for Hostage Tape and how do you see it evolving over the next five years?
AN: Five years from now, Hostage Tape won’t just be a product, it’ll be a category leader in an entirely new health and wellness space. You’ll see us in every major retailer around the globe. But beyond distribution, we’re building a brand ecosystem. We’ve already expanded into nose strips, and there’s more to come, tools and products that support nasal breathing and deeper, more restorative sleep and fitness. We’re not here to chase trends. We’re building something foundational, something that shifts how people think about sleep and recovery. Our mission is to help 1 million people change their lives by sleeping better. This is just the beginning.
The post How Alex Neist Has Built a Company Helping People Sleep Better appeared first on Haute Living.
