One Big Happy Family: The Paws behind the Brand

When we say that ApiHappi is a family business, we mean it’s a FAMILY BUSINESS. Beyond the human hands and brains that keep our beanbag machine running, we have an extensive family of furry muses and brand ambassadors who’ve really become the soul of ApiHappi. We’re not sharing this story because we like to talk about our pets; okay, maybe a little bit… But honestly, they are a big part of what shapes us as people, and ApiHappi as a business. With this story, we think you’ll get a glimpse into what really makes us. 

Happi—the beloved golden child who’s ApiHappi’s brand mascot, is literally a joy factory. She was the first pet in the house, and her kind, loving and welcoming nature opened up the doors of the ApiHappi house to humans, animals and all the madness that followed.

Next came Lucky—the wise old grandma who ran away from her first home, afraid of firecrackers. She hid in a house that couldn’t keep her, where we found her and took her in. Lucky got us thinking about the trauma that we humans cause animals, and inspired our (often angry) advocacy against firecrackers. Lucky showed us that it’s only really a party if everyone’s having fun.  

Our baby-boy, ThundeCat, was the first feline member of the gang. He was followed by TwoFace who was discovered in a packet of rice—a fate that traumatised her so much that she’s still not sure if she wants companionship. She taught us that we have the capacity to love the crazy ones too. Then came Eclipse, who was rescued from the cat mafia outside a Colombo 5 Indian restaurant, and soon became the household sweetheart. 

We have a serious love for dangerous fish too. What started off as an enthusiastic hobby soon became a fully-fledged aquatic predator sanctuary, giving homes (and by that we mean, a solid 30% of the ApiHappi house real estate) to fishes that outgrow their former houses. Thats right, we have adopted overgrown fish! We are glad that their families contacted us instead of throwing them in the canal.   

Our workshop cats, or the Motley Crew of Nawala, is captained by Broken Tail, who boldly approached us with his damaged flag happily bouncing on the side. He’s single handedly responsible for sharing the good news about the ApiHappi oasis of love, food and comfy cushions that popped up in Nawala with other cats in the area, and recruiting a gang of equally broken bandits. He brought Tigress to us—the workshop darling. Despite her damaged leg, she has a successful career as a beanbag model. Black Hat is the retired neighbourhood thug with an attitude and cuts that survived his heyday. After two years, we can now stroke his head without the fear of having our hand bitten off. He’s a treat. These guys taught us that our imperfections and scars are part of what makes us ourselves. We love them. 

We lost some too. Cross-eyed Finn with a few teeth, Braveheart, Angel and Seven, all taught us how some of us only meet each other to change each other—not to stay forever. RIP senseis. But, ends are always beginnings aren’t they? Lately Nemesis, Garfield and Peeping Tom are all attempting to join the ApiHappi party.

Just when we thought we’ve reached the brim of chaos, enter Barry. A monstrously cute pup who thinks everyone is his best friend and makes a real mess out of the greeting. 

So, that’s the current ApiHappi crew, and we’ll only keep growing.

And, it’s not just us humans taking care of them; they take care of us too. If you’ve ever been paw-hugged by a dog after a bad day, especially by a pup as happy as Happi, you’ll be reminded of how the world has some love left in it; and if you’ve had a broken cat trust you enough to fall asleep on your lap, you’ve been lucky enough to experience how the best of friendships need no words—just companionship. The big, colourful, pandemonium of love that they surround us with, and the lessons they teach us are the reason why ApiHappi was able to master the art of making beanbags that feel a lot like warm hugs. Thank you fur-fam, you make ApiHappi what it is.

Now, back to the cutting table, and to picking animal hairs out of our coffee.