Hi! I’m Michael Malkin, the inventor of Calm Strips! As someone who has dealt with social anxiety and situational anxiety for as long as I can remember, I’ve found that what helped me to kind of calm down or to ground myself in that moment is touch. At my former job, on days when we got busy, I would get really anxious and I would start drumming with my hands a lot. People would be like, “Are you a drummer?” Though I’m not a drummer, I just needed to do something to get that energy out.

A friend had told me about wrapping painter's tape around my finger and using that as a sensory method. I gave it a try and I actually found it quite helpful, especially during those very anxious moments. Unfortunately, the downside of that was, my fingers would get really sticky and it wasn’t a great look visually, especially while I was working.

So I thought to myself, “Maybe there's something here because I can't be the only person who needs a tactile like this that you can bring with you anywhere. Something like a fidget spinner or fidget cubes, but less clunky and cumbersome, and way more discreet.” That’s what sparked the idea to create Calm Strips!

I sincerely hope Calm Strips are as helpful to you as they’ve been for me!