The Sleepy Owl Company - stories, brought to life.
A multimedia storytelling and publishing startup modernizing reading by blending traditional narrative literature with interactive digital media.
Meet the Founder
Mekal Smith - Founder & CEO
Mekal Smith is an entrepreneur, former federal professional, and the founder and CEO of The Sleepy Owl Company. After serving five years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Smith pivoted to business and earned his Master of Accountancy (MAcc, ’21) from the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the first entrepreneur in his family.
The Inspiration
Following the sudden passing of his childhood best friend, Clayton Mason - a talented storyteller whose work remained largely unshared - Smith set out to build a platform that could bring vivid written worlds to life and preserve creative legacies.
While at UT Knoxville, Smith leveraged the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, winning third place in the Graves Business Plan Competition ($2,000) and later securing a $10,000 award in the Boyd Venture Challenge to launch his venture.
Our Story, in Motion
Watch the vision behind The Sleepy Owl Company.
Core Divisions
Two imprints, one mission: to modernize how stories are experienced.
Dream CapCha
Digital Recordings of Enjoyable Acquired Moments
An authoring and reading platform that lets writers embed rich media - soundscapes (rustling leaves, birds chirping), video clips, custom graphics, and interactive text puzzles - directly into individual words, phrases, or chapters.
Device-agnostic by design, so readers can experience interactive stories across standard hardware like Kindles, iPads, and computers - no specialized devices required.
Sleepy Owl Publishing
An equitable publishing imprint
Focused on democratizing the literary space and addressing industry pay disparities for minority authors.
Reached its initial publishing milestone with the release of Growing Up With Kings & Queens by McKrell Baier.
Mission & Impact
Beyond entertainment, Sleepy Owl aims to improve literacy by engaging readers through multiple learning modalities - visual, auditory, and kinesthetic - rather than relying solely on traditional text-only reading.
Visual
Custom graphics, illustrations, and interactive imagery woven into the narrative.
Auditory
Embedded soundscapes and narration that immerse readers in every scene.
Kinesthetic
Interactive text puzzles and tap-to-reveal moments that make reading active.