Loop Earplugs are innovative hearing protection products that come in various designs to cater to different needs. Stéphanie: “Numerous scientific studies have proven how multitasking and exposure to different triggers all at once has a negative impact on productivity and well-being. Obviously, there are many other factors that have an impact on focus and productivity; I’m thinking of light, for instance. But at Loop, we really focus on the experience of sound”.

Stéphanie: “Our core mission is to empower people to choose the way they hear the world. Noise can be quite disturbing, especially in open offices or at home where unexpected sounds can interrupt your concentration – even if only for a split second. Instead, you really want to be able to get in that bubble, and to be able to isolate yourself as much as possible from outside disturbances. For that, we created our Quiet range which reduces noise by 24dB and makes it perfect to do exactly that. The Quiet serves perfectly to achieve better sleep as well, which is definitely linked to enjoying more productivity and focus during the day”.

As focus is definitely one of Loop’s biggest use cases, they created the Engage range as well. Stéphanie: “Engage enables you to focus,

but to also still hear and be aware of your surroundings by filtering noise by 16dB. So you’ll very clearly hear your colleague talking to you, but all annoying background noises would be masked”.

Other than the Quiet and the Engage ranges which were engineered to mitigate distractions and help you stay in the zone, Loop Earplugs’ Experience range enhances music experience. Stéphanie: “The Experience was really designed around music, live events and festivals, since the core of this product is really to reduce volume by 17dB and maintain experience. Other than earplugs that really muffle music, the Experience was made with a particular mesh and filter to make sure that the music quality is preserved. And given the festival context, they obviously look very stylish as well”.

Loop’s latest launch is the Switch, which combines the features of the Quiet, Engage, and Experience ranges. Stéphanie: “Switch is basically a three-in-one earplug. It’s a mechanical switch with three levels of attenuation, in order for people to easily adjust to whichever environment they find themselves in. This product has been doing very well ever since we launched it in October 2023, so we’re very happy to see how many people we’ve been able to help with it. And there’s much more to come in the future too!”.

Loop's commitment to focus and productivity extends far beyond their products. Stéphanie: “I have a background in working for bigger corporates before, and the key differentiator of Loop is definitely focus and productivity. Our founders Maarten and Dimitri take that extremely seriously, implying some very concrete ways of work into the company that enables every single employee to be focused and productive”.

Stéphanie: “For me, the differences between previous work experiences are truly mind blowing. Even despite the fact that we are continuously growing and changing things up by adding new members to our team, productivity and focus are not affected at all”. But how then? Stéphanie highlights several practices that help maintain Loop’s high-performance.

Meeting-free Wednesdays were introduced to allow employees uninterrupted time to focus on their tasks. Before, their policy was to keep your mornings meeting-free and to schedule them in the afternoon, which changed when the Loop workforce continued to grow worldwide.

Stéphanie: “When we do have meetings, they are minimised and only include decision makers or essential participants, ensuring they are productive and to the point. Our meeting culture in general truly is being handled amazingly well. While at so many other companies internal meeting culture is a sore point, Loop definitely knows how to do meetings”.

Instead of relying heavily on emails, Loop uses tools like Teams and Monday boards for project management and communication, streamlining workflows and reducing inbox clutter. Stéphanie: “I remember that when I would go on holidays working for my former employer, I would come back to a mailbox of about 1500 emails. That’s not really efficient right? The tools that we use at Loop really make sure you stay focused on what’s important”.

Loop prioritises work-life balance with flexible hours, allowing employees to work when they are most productive. Stéphanie: “In those hours you dedicate to work, you are very productive since you’re actually allowed to work whenever it feels best to you. Especially for me as a recent mother this helps a great deal to centre my schedule around catering for my daughter”.

In 2022 and 2023, the Loopers were granted Friday afternoons off from work during the summer seasons since business slowed down anyway. A beautiful example of how you can give your team the time and space to recharge their energy levels during a period which allowed for less focus on work. Stéphanie: “Totally true! I’m not sure if we’re going to have this arrangement again this year – I hope so, though! [laughs]”.

Well Stéphanie, looking at the amazing achievements Loop has been reeling in over the last couple of years, it would be more than deserved!