When not filming a family food fight or other founder moments to promote his latest startup, Mladen Djankovic "M" stays challenged as an entrepreneur, angel investor, and contributing on wide range of projects. In his latest company/role, he’s the CEO and Co-Founder of Rocking Inc and inventor of the award-winning Ready Rocker® – a portable, patented re-imagining of the way people rock. The media and marketplace has called the Ready Rocker® “game-changing” and the first meaningful improvement in rocking since the rocking chair itself. What began with babies in mind quickly evolved after discovering that the simple act of rocking has remarkable benefits on the body and can help with everything from sleep, sensory needs, and stress to pain management and even substance abuse. M and his wife, Milena, made it their mission to make rocking more accessible and affordable to everyone. Following the first few months of launch, the Ready Rocker® was showcased on Ellen and all major media. Influencers and industry experts quickly followed and the Ready Rocker became one of the most awarded and talked about products of the year. The Ready Rocker is now utilized in over 100 leading hospitals across the United States.
The success of the Ready Rocker® in the furniture and baby categories made us realize there are massive opportunities in key industries – including health & wellness, hospitality, and gaming. By studying the body positioning and movements of individuals as they work, rest, and play, we’re developing products that optimize the body’s own mechanisms for better focus, comfort, posture, and performance – removing many of the strains and pains that come with long or uncomfortable sessions of sitting. Mladen is also excited about the introduction of future products in development that provide a proprietary sensory system that, when utilized together, combine to optimize a more complete mind/body therapeutic solution, including sight, sound, smell, and touch.
Prior to his passion for rethinking key consumer products, M founded and developed a cloud-based mobile app that was one of the pioneering on-demand labor platforms of the now massive gig economy. Mladen’s main mission was to ensure the workers were treated fairly and compensated well. Prior to its acquisition, nearly 100,000 individuals worked 2+ million event hours through the platform – averaging more than $22 per/hr – far above the normal wage for freelancer labor. Mladen has always had a deep belief that putting “people before profits” as part of your business models will result in more long-term success. Most importantly, you’ll feel proud about what you created and, as the saying goes, you’ll love what you do.
Speaking of, Mladen’s passion for design and fashion strongly influenced his career and projects. Esquire Magazine featured Mladen as the Best Dressed Man in America for which he made his first Today Show appearance. The experience made M realize that fashion and good design always stood out and got attention. To put that theme to good use, he blended style with personal safety to create a cause-related, community effort that included a star-studded celebrity involvement to help generate awareness to end violence against women. Participants included Kelly Ripa, Gabrielle Union, and Hillary Duff, among a dozen others, with coverage on E! News, In-Style, People, US Weekly, and other major media. Two decades later he is still determined to do some good with each endeavor he involves himself in.
Mladen loves to create, collaborate, and contribute to worthwhile causes so if there is a project in need of his passion, reach out and say hello.