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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's VanCoovers Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:04] SPEAKER_00: Happy Father's Day!
[00:23] Speaker UNKNOWN: Bye!
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[01:16] SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Robert Smigel coming to today with a Vancouver Entrepreneur.ca where we talk to the entrepreneurs
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: who are making it happen here in British Columbia.
[01:25] SPEAKER_00: Meredith Shooter is an entrepreneur and mother of three from Vancouver.
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: She is the founder of Protect Smart Personal Safety, the development of Protect came together organically.
[01:36] SPEAKER_00: She had one too many close encounters in her professional life where she was alone with a stranger and feeling vulnerable.
[01:43] SPEAKER_00: Born out of a need to unite mobile technology with the reassurance of personal safety,
[01:47] SPEAKER_00: the application allows users to connect with their closest contacts and alert them when they find themselves in unfamiliar or emergency scenarios.
[01:57] SPEAKER_00: Well, Meredith, welcome to the show. Thanks for taking the time today to be here. All our listeners.
[02:02] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me. It's great.
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: I see you got a little young one behind there.
[02:06] SPEAKER_01: Can you hear them? I can't hear them because I'm wearing headphones.
[02:10] SPEAKER_00: Okay, well let's start off here. Tell us a little bit more about yourself where you're fronting.
[02:14] SPEAKER_00: Give us the details on your current business.
[02:16] SPEAKER_01: Sure. So from Vancouver, educated here in Vancouver, and I've been in the real estate industry for just over 10 years now.
[02:26] SPEAKER_01: Totally loved it. It's been an awesome career in order to allow me the freedom and flexibility to raise three kids.
[02:32] SPEAKER_01: And my husband's also an entrepreneur. So I totally, I get that whole entrepreneur scene.
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: We've been living it and breathing it for the last decade.
[02:41] SPEAKER_01: And well, protect came about because about five years ago, I was actually attacked at an open house.
[02:49] SPEAKER_01: I was able to diffuse the situation.
[02:50] SPEAKER_00: Does that happen? Does that happen a lot with realtors?
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: You know, not obviously I have a ton of friends who are realtors.
[02:58] SPEAKER_01: I would say a lot of us have situations where we feel really uncomfortable or we put ourselves into situations where we could be at risk.
[03:05] SPEAKER_01: Such as picking up a buyer at the airport and taking them downtown and showing them a vacant condo.
[03:11] SPEAKER_01: I can't tell you many times I've done that just over my decade in the business.
[03:16] SPEAKER_01: A lot of times when I was much younger, it came in my 20s.
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: And you know, you're hungry and you're growing a business and you're eager and you're excited for new clients.
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: So it does happen for sure.
[03:26] SPEAKER_01: Uncomfortable people walk into open houses all the time and put us in situations where we feel uneasy.
[03:32] SPEAKER_01: And we're often alone and we post our faces and our locations all over social media.
[03:38] SPEAKER_01: And I really attribute that to how I was targeted.
[03:41] SPEAKER_01: These two guys walked into an open house.
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: They knew nobody was there except myself because there was no shoes at the front door, sort of a telltale sign.
[03:48] SPEAKER_01: And I was able to diffuse the situation because a young family walked in the back door, scared the guys off.
[03:53] SPEAKER_01: The scary part was they came back the next day, totally separate open house, different location.
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: And I got lucky again because there was an elderly woman in the basement and she came up and they bolted.
[04:06] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, terrified, obviously.
[04:09] SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, lucky not to be no assaulted or worse.
[04:14] SPEAKER_01: So I left that open house feeling very uneasy, feeling like I either needed a new profession.
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: Or I needed a solution to better empower myself in the workplace.
[04:26] SPEAKER_01: I've been with remax for the past decade and I've totally loved the organization.
[04:30] SPEAKER_01: They've been supportive and really I owe a lot of my success to their leadership.
[04:35] SPEAKER_01: But I did feel like companies such as remax and all these different real estate brokerages,
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: oh, a duty of care to us realtors.
[04:44] SPEAKER_01: So, thus the solution was born out of a real need to unite mobile technology along with personal safety.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: And it's a very new space.
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: It's something that most people don't know about.
[04:55] SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, when I was a kid, we didn't alarm our cars or our houses.
[04:59] SPEAKER_01: And I think as the next generation goes into the workplace and especially this remote workforce,
[05:04] SPEAKER_01: this gig economy that, you know, they're saying 50 to 70% of the total US workforce will be remote by 2020.
[05:10] SPEAKER_01: It's so important to look after your employees, to look after yourself, to really take control of your personal safety
[05:17] SPEAKER_01: as opposed to being reactive with protect.
[05:20] SPEAKER_01: We can really be proactive.
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: So that's where the name came about.
[05:23] SPEAKER_01: Pro for professional as well as proactive safety.
[05:27] SPEAKER_00: Okay. Now, did you need financing to start your company and how are you currently making money in your business now?
[05:33] SPEAKER_01: Yes, good question.
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: So, funny story.
[05:37] SPEAKER_01: A couple years ago when I started this and started the development to having it patented and trademarked and all that sort of good stuff,
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: developed the concept. I actually said to my husband, I'm going to do this and I'm going to spend all of our extra money.
[05:50] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, being an entrepreneur himself in Vancouver here, he sort of looked at me, didn't even give it a second thought and gave me a high five.
[05:57] SPEAKER_01: And he said, go for it. It's your turn.
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: He knew this was something I was passionate about and really, I'm really passionate about global safety and safety for marginalized men and women on a global scale.
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: And so, he knew that I would take this and run with it.
[06:13] SPEAKER_01: So, to answer your question, I used all our money initially.
[06:17] SPEAKER_01: Then I had this crazy spring of last year when the thing was being built almost done about a year into development.
[06:24] SPEAKER_01: And I had friends who were coming out of the woodwork saying, you know, we want to be a part of this.
[06:29] SPEAKER_01: And I was hesitant and tentative to take anybody's money as everybody would be.
[06:33] SPEAKER_01: You know, these friends relationships are more important than money any day of the week.
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: And we actually went out for dinner with some very good friends and he sat me down and said, look, I want to be a part of this.
[06:43] SPEAKER_01: You're doing something important. I invest in a lot of boring stuff.
[06:47] SPEAKER_01: And this is something that I feel passionate about and I want to give you money.
[06:51] SPEAKER_01: And you need to take people's money because they want to be a part of something.
[06:55] SPEAKER_01: They want to watch you grow something, something important in the world today.
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: And it was sort of this really wicked, awesome turning point in my reality where I thought, okay, you know what?
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to take money when people are offering it.
[07:09] SPEAKER_01: Obviously, we explain the risks. You know, it's a startup. It's a high risk situation.
[07:13] SPEAKER_00: Well, he's an investor, so he obviously knows that that's totally a territory, right?
[07:18] SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes. And it was one of those like, you never ask anybody who can't afford to lose it.
[07:23] SPEAKER_01: And it was more a situation where people were coming forward to me and they were saying, hey, my friend would like to invest.
[07:28] SPEAKER_01: Are you open to another investor? So I had about, I would say, two weeks.
[07:33] SPEAKER_01: And I raised enough capital to get me through when I don't think I'm going to need any more investment for the next little while
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: because we're starting to move into some revenues.
[07:43] SPEAKER_01: We've had an amazing last week where Remax actually came on board.
[07:48] SPEAKER_01: Remax Western Canada is in full support and they've actually purchased it for all their realtors in Western Canada.
[07:54] SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: Thank you. With the plan of going into Eastern Atlantic Canada and then finally going to the United States and global, you know, hopefully by the end of the year.
[08:02] SPEAKER_01: So they have been tremendously supportive. Like I have so much respect for Remax and what they're trying to do in terms of using protect as an app for the realtors as well as a deterrent on their signage and really helping the logo to become synonymous with safety and used as a deterrent on our social media sites, you know, on realtor business cards on realtor signage so that perpetrators know that these homes and these realtors are protected.
[08:26] SPEAKER_01: And at the same time Remax was very generous in saying we're not expecting any exclusive rights.
[08:32] SPEAKER_01: We want you to go out, go after the other real estate brokerages. Every realtor should have something like this in their back pocket where they can sort of have their protector squad at their service if they need help.
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: Yes, very great idea. I love it. I saw your pitch at the women's pitch and I thought it was fantastic.
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: Oh great. Thank you.
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: You've touched on this a little bit. So we're going to I want you to maybe expand a little bit about it on this. What is the long term vision and what we are company look like in the future. Do you see the company expanding into other areas and where beyond Vancouver BC or even Canada?
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: Oh, yes, absolutely. So we are going into 18 languages this spring. I have an incredible in house dev team right now.
[09:13] SPEAKER_01: Development team headed up by somebody from Silicon Valley who's like an incredible brain and brain trust who has been extremely generous with this time and has a great vision as well as an incredible woman who does all my UX UI and design work.
[09:29] SPEAKER_01: So I formulated this awesome team to really help us go global. We are hoping that you know the app we're not looking at Vancouver or Canada as our marketplace.
[09:39] SPEAKER_01: We see this as a global application for business to business customers enterprise clients who really want to foster a culture of caring and empowerment and safety for their employees and it doesn't have to only be in Canada.
[09:52] SPEAKER_01: We're talking with China right now. We had an email from Pakistan a few months ago, which was very fascinating. So you know, we're not jumping to go global immediately. We want to we want to sort of tackle our backyard right now and grow slowly and smartly and and figure out all the kinks and and work things over but absolutely like in the I see in five years.
[10:13] SPEAKER_01: What I would really love to be is somebody who speaks on behalf of marginalized women or women in the workplace who you know are facing the gender bias or just different situations that can help empower women to get back into the workplace.
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: I love that. I'd love to work more with dress for success. I've been talking to them to really empower those women who enter the workplace again to really feel safe and secure and confident and empowered in entering the workplace.
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: I love that whole empowerment piece and you know really really being proactive with your safety.
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: I was talking to a police constable yesterday who was talking about self defense and how she doesn't love that term because if you find yourself having to be defensive.
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: It's it's too late. You should be on the offense and you know, you should be that strong, powerful person who doesn't get attacked. Obviously situations do occur, but it's sort of that idea of arming yourself with all the right tools.
[11:12] SPEAKER_00: Right. Exactly. Okay. Now we've learned a little bit about you and we've learned a bit about protecting how it works, but we want to shift gears here and we're going to talk about doing business in BC.
[11:22] SPEAKER_00: What are the biggest benefits for you and being an entrepreneur here in Vancouver, BC? I want you to give us some of the good points about starting a company here, but I also want you to give us some of the tough things or the challenges for our listeners so they can keep it out for them.
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: Sure. Well, I would say that BC is very supportive. I've found it is anyway. I've had excellent opportunity and support from the business community, especially the startup community.
[11:48] SPEAKER_01: I would say for other entrepreneurs out there who are who are willing to take a risk and follow their passion in their dream.
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: BC is a wonderful place to do that because there's so much opportunity out there.
[11:59] SPEAKER_01: You can turn some grants. I haven't tackles grants or anything like that, but I see a lot of it come through my desk.
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: Opportunities to have co-op students, for example, opportunities for other other pitch opportunities.
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: There's so much out there and there's tremendous resources with the government. And I'm sure they're Canada wide, but I'm seeing it on a real local level here in Vancouver.
[12:20] SPEAKER_01: There's also awesome accelerators, which I'm a part of Wavefront, which was really fabulous. I have an awesome EIR, which is an executive in residence, who, you know, he gives his time to me at no cost to me and really shares his expertise.
[12:38] SPEAKER_01: He's been through it. He's seen where I'm going. He has a tremendous sales background and so much wisdom to share with me because obviously, I mean, as a realtor, I am somewhat of an entrepreneur.
[12:48] SPEAKER_01: But I've never done the tech startup space before. Even as a woman in business, I'm finding the doors are opening all over the place, things like the Rays Collective.
[12:58] SPEAKER_01: Well, which is the Women's Equity Lab. There's so much opportunity right here in our backyard for women who want to get in front of people to pitch their idea in a very supportive, caring environment.
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: FWE is another excellent example that I've had tremendous experience with them. There's so much out there for people to really tap into, and they don't have to look that hard here in BC.
[13:19] SPEAKER_01: Now, you ask me some of the negative points.
[13:24] SPEAKER_01: I would say funding isn't easy. I haven't done, besides my friends and family around. I haven't been out there hugely looking for money.
[13:33] SPEAKER_01: But of course, I have pitched in pitch contests. I have pitched and investor things. And I am definitely seeing that side where the money is not readily available.
[13:44] SPEAKER_01: I would say expertise is readily available. Financing in other hand isn't. One of the first things investors will ask you is how much have you put on the table.
[13:53] SPEAKER_01: And I know a lot of investors may not have savings or friends and family to beg for and steal from. And that's a real challenge.
[14:00] SPEAKER_01: There's so many great ideas out there and just not the money that is available to bring them to fruition.
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: So it's really just going out there and seeing what is readily available. And you have to dig really deep to find it.
[14:16] SPEAKER_01: I would say yes, that's it. And I don't even know how deep you have to dig. There's so many wonderful people that I'm sure can point you in the right direction.
[14:24] SPEAKER_01: I'm just not sure as to the criteria of what they're looking for to fund. I know there's Canadian government money out there, but it's not easy to get.
[14:34] SPEAKER_01: Which makes sense. I mean, it's a government body. I'm definitely feeling the vibe that especially a woman in business.
[14:42] SPEAKER_01: You know, it always seems like such a cliche that there's less investment money for women and startups.
[14:46] SPEAKER_01: But I think it might be accurate at this moment. I think there's a lot of organizations who are trying to make a big difference in that, such as well, such as the race collective, which is right here in Vancouver and Victoria.
[14:57] SPEAKER_01: But at this moment, the investor pool tends to look towards male dominated companies.
[15:04] SPEAKER_00: Okay, now we do some of our best work outside the office. Is there a place in the lower mainline close to where you live or work where we like to go recharge or get inspired or just think about your business?
[15:14] SPEAKER_00: And does it change with the season considering all the rain we get here?
[15:19] SPEAKER_01: Ooh, that's an excellent question. You know, I kind of love. I would find I get really recharged when I pick up my kids from school and I walk up that hill to their school every day.
[15:32] SPEAKER_01: And meet people, say hi to people. Everyone wants to touch base. See how I'm doing. They've heard about what I'm up to.
[15:38] SPEAKER_01: And I get to talk on a very friendly, low key level with people. That's very recharging for me. And yes, it's often raining.
[15:47] SPEAKER_01: We spend quite a bit of time in Whistler. I find that very recharging. I think it's a lot of jogging suit time and sitting at my computer and thinking and plugging away and doing competitor analysis and all that sort of fun stuff.
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: I would say that's probably my happy place is spending some time in Whistler hunkering down.
[16:06] SPEAKER_00: Go and do some skiing maybe. Walk around the village.
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: Exactly. Or just get out for a dog walk. It is really important to get out. And I do find when you're in startup mode, you sort of put your head down and eight hours goes by really fast.
[16:18] SPEAKER_01: And you have to you have to shelf some stuff and just take yourself outside and look after yourself.
[16:24] SPEAKER_00: Okay. We have a lot of international listeners. So I want you to speak to them when you answer this question.
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: If you were to start all over again and you just moved here to Vancouver, but this time you don't know anyone knowing what you know now, what would you do and how do you go about starting all over again as an entrepreneur?
[16:45] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Moving here to Vancouver.
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: You've landed in the plane. You're driving you're driving down Oak Street. What do you think?
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: Okay. What would be my first stop? I would say I would look into accelerator programs. I would look into all sorts of different podcasts, such as this.
[17:08] SPEAKER_01: I would educate myself on the infrastructure of Vancouver. We're such a tremendous startup space.
[17:15] SPEAKER_01: But you just have to you have to hunt a little bit for it. There's tremendous opportunity for newcomers to the city.
[17:24] SPEAKER_01: I would I would also reach out on I find a lot of great stuff on things like LinkedIn and reach out for Vancouver entrepreneurs. I would probably look into that.
[17:33] SPEAKER_01: You know, I would also look into UBC because no matter what industry you're in, there's something out there that will appeal to you, whether it be your in startups and I'm sure there's students out there.
[17:45] SPEAKER_01: Who can help you or if you're looking for a little more education. I would I would there's so many smart people at UBC. Like and I keep meeting them daily and I'm blown away.
[17:54] SPEAKER_01: And even the students I would my project protect was just one of the projects for the fourth year students at SOTTER. And there was six incredibly smart students working on my go-to-market strategy.
[18:06] SPEAKER_01: And they blew my mind. So I would say UBC is a really good place to start.
[18:11] SPEAKER_00: Okay, what does the first hour look like for you when you get up in the morning? Do you have a specific routine or ritual that gets you motivated to start your day?
[18:20] SPEAKER_01: Well, when I get up, my husband always brings me a coffee, which is really delightful. It's something I he gets up around five a.m. It meditates and I'm more of a seven a.m. wake up.
[18:29] SPEAKER_01: I don't keep my phone by my bed. I find it's distracting. So I keep it in our bathroom actually recharging. So I get up and I go check my phone to make sure nobody's text me.
[18:41] SPEAKER_01: And then I go downstairs. I make three lunches. I get everybody fed and dressed. And then I drive the kids to school. And then I start my work day. I usually get myself organized before. So I'm ready to go.
[18:54] SPEAKER_01: I'll meet one of my business partners and we're off to the races by nine o'clock. I'm head down and working.
[19:00] SPEAKER_00: Going at it, nonstop. That's interesting. Your husband gets up at five. I mean, there's a lot of entrepreneurs that do get up that early.
[19:06] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they have to. Yeah, he loves it. He he meditates for about an hour. And that's just his thing.
[19:13] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of a bunch of entrepreneurs meditate. It's very very popular. It's some some of the even the big red dallyos and stuff. The guys like that do that as well.
[19:21] SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of people are do you wouldn't think to it. So this next question will, I guess you can answer this as being, you know, married to an entrepreneur and you being an entrepreneur.
[19:31] SPEAKER_00: Do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or unique in a positive way or are wired differently?
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: 100%. I think we're wired to handle risk. I think we're wired for challenges. And I would say yes, we're weird and wacky and wonderful at the same time.
[19:51] SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's when I when I talk about my process of starting this business and I tell people how much money my husband and I put in most people's jaws hit the floor because they're just not used to it.
[20:02] SPEAKER_01: And where my husband and I both, even when I was in real estate, we're not used to getting a paycheck every two weeks. That's that's never been our gig.
[20:10] SPEAKER_01: We're used to, you know, bust your hump and you get paid the harder you work, the better you do.
[20:16] SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of it and I really do believe in this that a lot of entrepreneurs were not in it for the money.
[20:22] SPEAKER_01: We're in it for the passion and something different. Like even when I look at my real estate job, I loved it so much and I'm still a little bit in it, but I am pulling back quite I just don't know enough hours in the day.
[20:34] SPEAKER_01: And I do find even in my real estate gig, I'm so lucky to work with such great people that when they when I get paid, I'm always like, Holy I can't believe they pay me for this. Like it's that great.
[20:42] SPEAKER_01: And I'm feeling that in this business too, obviously, you know, I'm in very much startup mode and I'm not in it for the money.
[20:52] SPEAKER_01: I'm in it for the change and the difference that I can make and my husband's the exact same way. He's in it to grow something amazing and money is a byproduct of doing something awesome.
[21:03] SPEAKER_00: Okay. What books are you reading now and why are even audio books and can you recommend any books for our listeners who are also aspiring entrepreneurs?
[21:12] SPEAKER_01: I am reading the satellite of not giving a.
[21:18] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I read that one too. Yeah, I read that one too. Yeah, it's great. The spiritual laws. I really love that's one of the books that my husband reads actually every day.
[21:30] SPEAKER_01: The Tina Fey book I just finished. It's pretty funny and it's awesome. Sometimes I'm just looking for a good laugh at the end of the day.
[21:40] SPEAKER_01: So the the subtle art is what I'm finishing right now. I've just downloaded about five audio books. So I'll be starting to plow through those.
[21:49] SPEAKER_01: I also there's a book by the wealthy barber that I finished just at Christmas time that I really enjoyed. I really like his work. I find it quite interesting.
[22:02] SPEAKER_01: I try and do business books most of the time, but you know the Tina Fey book is an example of just sort of a good time that I that I need a good laugh.
[22:12] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm reading a funny one. It's my it's the motley crew, the dirt. It's just it's funny. It's hilarious. It's guys, you know rock and roll band guys.
[22:21] SPEAKER_00: Anyways, it's it's fun. It's just it's for fun hilarity. It's whatever you make of it. Why don't online or offline tools do you use on a daily basis?
[22:30] SPEAKER_01: Online I use LinkedIn. I use a company called Zoho for my CRM. I use QuickBooks. Not very exciting. I am on all the social platforms.
[22:44] SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to get more into Twitter. I don't fully fully understand Twitter, but I'm trying my best. I enjoy Instagram offline. I do a lot of journaling and I do a lot of keeping notes like something that I like to do is if I was at a pitch competition, I make notes of who I met, you know, what I liked about them.
[23:05] SPEAKER_01: People I want to reach out to. I keep a lot of paper trails of things and I think it just might be maybe my age and just I love that sort of feeling of holding a book and having a little journal record of my journey because I just think if I, you know, in five years, I'd love to look back at who helped drive me, who inspired me.
[23:27] SPEAKER_01: I'm meeting so many people in the doors are opening so rapidly right now that I have to keep notes to tell me how I know them, how to touch base with them.
[23:37] SPEAKER_01: I would say that's a really good tip for new entrepreneurs is to keep a journal more than just an email trace. I actually write down people. You can stick business cards in there as well. I try and do that sometimes, but it's more a matter of me writing where they are, what they do, where we met and what we hadn't common.
[23:54] SPEAKER_00: Now, do you do goal setting in your journal? Do you do tasks, things you want to do, things that you accomplished in a day, things you want to accomplish tomorrow?
[24:04] SPEAKER_01: You know, I do more monthly. I do this month and next month. So I do a monthly breakdown of, you know, what great things have happened this month, what I expect to happen next month and then I can compare.
[24:16] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what I did and should do and then next month when I look back what I, what I did do and what I didn't do and what needs to carry over.
[24:25] SPEAKER_01: A really cool thing that I learned from my EIR actually was this professional and personal heartbeat. And I really like that. I'm actually using it with my kids these days too.
[24:35] SPEAKER_01: Like if you say, what's your personal heartbeat? What's your professional heartbeat? And it's something to think about. I sometimes think about it when I'm trying to go to sleep.
[24:42] SPEAKER_01: You know, where am I feeling in my personal life and my professional life? Because they have to feed each other. And, you know, you'll see a correlation between the two, of course.
[24:50] SPEAKER_01: And I really like that. And then your return on heartbeat is, you know, you put it all this time. What's it giving back?
[24:57] SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of anything to lie and bend and think about is what is this offer you and this new adventure? You know, at 40 years of age for me to take a risk and start a new business.
[25:07] SPEAKER_01: It's got to be providing you with something, some satisfaction and some, some drive that's inspiring me to keep going.
[25:15] SPEAKER_01: So I could just go back to my little state job and plug away for the next 20 years and retire. But there was a calling. And I think recognizing that calling is what keeps you inspired.
[25:23] SPEAKER_00: If you weren't doing what you do now, what would you like to do for a profession?
[25:30] SPEAKER_01: Oh, if I wasn't doing what I'm doing now, you know what? I would love, I actually sit on the gift of time for a Connect Place committee. And I love Connect Place. It's really close to my heart. It's a children's office here in Vancouver and there's one in the valley.
[25:43] SPEAKER_01: If I wasn't doing what I'm doing and I didn't have to have a job for financial reasons, to live in the city of Vancouver, I would give everything and all of me to connect to Connect Place and to those families who are in intermentech need, whether it be refits care for their child who's sick with a terminal disease or families that have perhaps lost a child or are close to losing a child.
[26:05] SPEAKER_01: But there's something about that place that just like touches every cell in my body.
[26:10] SPEAKER_00: What kind of a job would you not like to do? Couldn't do it.
[26:14] SPEAKER_01: I couldn't do an office job that I go to work at eight and I sit there till six or drive me nuts. I love the flexibility. You know, ironically both my parents are dentist and you know, it was awesome.
[26:25] SPEAKER_01: My mom is just strong, powerful, incredible woman. But she did have to go to work every day and she did come home at six every day and you know, it provided a wonderful lifestyle for us. But you know, that to me, having the flexibility to pick up my kids at 3 30 every day is really important.
[26:44] SPEAKER_01: And I love that and having a husband who's an entrepreneur, if I need, if I need help at 9 30 in the morning, he's there to help me.
[26:50] SPEAKER_01: And just that flexibility for sort of a team, you know, we can all, we're all there for each other when we need it.
[26:57] SPEAKER_00: In business, what is your favorite word quote or sentence that you like to use?
[27:03] SPEAKER_01: Okay, I know that one. I would say the favorite sentence, it's not a quote, it's just something that I think of. I would say surround yourself with people who lift you up and who are smarter than you are.
[27:17] SPEAKER_01: And I say that because I truly believe it. I really, as I get older in life, I don't have time for people who make me feel bad or drag me down and don't believe in what I'm doing.
[27:30] SPEAKER_01: I have no problem with people want to challenge what I'm doing and question what I'm doing. But as long as they hear me out and understand why I'm doing it.
[27:39] SPEAKER_01: And smarter than me, I would say most people are smarter than me really in different fields. And I try and release around myself with people who are, who fulfill those niches and are different than myself.
[27:52] SPEAKER_00: What is your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear?
[27:58] SPEAKER_01: Laziness. I don't love laziness, it's not a quality that I admire.
[28:05] SPEAKER_01: I don't, and I think I think I think I'm thinking of a sentence, you know, I don't love it when people say they're too busy to do something.
[28:11] SPEAKER_01: I think everybody's busy and I think you always make time for something that you feel is important.
[28:17] SPEAKER_01: And when people say they're too busy to do something, I just don't see that they see the value in what they're doing.
[28:25] SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's a mind shift and maybe it's re-evaluating how truly busy you are and what you spend your time doing.
[28:31] SPEAKER_01: But I think the sentence I'm too busy to do that is not valuable in the business or personal world.
[28:38] SPEAKER_00: If you had to pick one or two words to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
[28:45] SPEAKER_01: I would like to say that I'm friendly and I would like to say I'm very accepting.
[28:52] SPEAKER_01: Why is there's always an extra seat at our dinner table for anybody who wants to come by.
[28:58] SPEAKER_01: We're warm and welcoming. I would say we have an extremely diverse group of friends here in Vancouver and beyond.
[29:05] SPEAKER_01: Whether it be globally, my in-laws living in Mexico and to Lume, we have lots of friends there.
[29:08] SPEAKER_01: We're very open and welcoming.
[29:13] SPEAKER_01: So friendly and accepting because we accept people no matter what.
[29:20] SPEAKER_01: Whatever stage of life they're at, we're always there to listen, lend a hand and lift people up.
[29:27] SPEAKER_00: What keeps you up at night if anything?
[29:30] SPEAKER_01: What keeps me up at night is the development of my app of Protect.
[29:35] SPEAKER_01: It's in full force, but technology, as I've learned, it's always broken.
[29:41] SPEAKER_01: It's an interesting little saying, technology's always broken.
[29:44] SPEAKER_01: I would say what keeps me up at night is everything moving ahead.
[29:49] SPEAKER_01: And that causes me stress because I want everything to be perfect and I have to pull back my sense of perfection because nothing's perfect.
[30:00] SPEAKER_01: But I just want to deliver this perfect product to people because it's almost like you put everything into something and nobody wants to hear their babies ugly.
[30:10] SPEAKER_01: So I've created this baby and I don't want the world to turn to me and say, eh, your baby's ugly.
[30:15] SPEAKER_01: No, I want people to be accepting and have this fabulous product to use and to feel safer in the world.
[30:21] SPEAKER_01: So that's definitely what keeps me up at night.
[30:24] SPEAKER_00: I want you to give us the top three things on your inspired lifeless.
[30:28] SPEAKER_00: This could be a bucket list of any sort, whether you want to do TEDx talks, you want to travel more, write books, anything like that?
[30:35] SPEAKER_01: Yep. I would love to do more speaking engagements.
[30:38] SPEAKER_01: I'd love, and I'm not saying I'm ready right now, but I would love to eventually get to the point where I could be a thought leader on the personal safety space,
[30:47] SPEAKER_01: where I could sit on boards and offer my opinion and my advice and maybe consult with companies about their safety protocols and their HR benefits as well as their PR goals.
[30:59] SPEAKER_01: So that would be one of my goals.
[31:02] SPEAKER_01: Also, I'd love to travel more.
[31:04] SPEAKER_01: I, you know, we've done quite a bit of traveling with our kids, but really I would love to show the world to my children.
[31:09] SPEAKER_01: And I'm not talking Hawaii and Disneyland. I'm talking, you know, Africa, my father's from Africa.
[31:15] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to travel back to Africa more often.
[31:18] SPEAKER_01: You know, really I'd love to take my kids to India. I think they're ready for it.
[31:23] SPEAKER_01: You know, places in the world that really show them the rest of the world.
[31:27] SPEAKER_01: We live in a bubble here. I'm really lucky.
[31:29] SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important for kids to feel it and see the beauty outside of our walls.
[31:35] SPEAKER_01: And lastly,
[31:40] SPEAKER_01: you know, I'd love to help other entrepreneurs, especially women in business.
[31:44] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to be a mentor to young professionals.
[31:48] SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be in the text space in anything to help them follow their dreams and help them with resources.
[31:55] SPEAKER_01: I feel I've built this incredible network of people and I'm happy to share it.
[31:59] SPEAKER_01: And if there was a young entrepreneur who wanted my advice and my feedback and sort of access all these people that I have in my database,
[32:07] SPEAKER_01: I love connecting people. So that would be a third goal for sure.
[32:12] SPEAKER_00: Okay. Do you have any advice that you may have received that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout BC?
[32:20] SPEAKER_01: I would say never give up.
[32:23] SPEAKER_01: I've had that piece of advice given to me when I start to doubt myself.
[32:28] SPEAKER_01: You know, lift your head high and never give up and find the people who believe in your vision.
[32:35] SPEAKER_01: That's really important. It may not be your family, but you create another family of people who really believe in you.
[32:42] SPEAKER_01: And so that I actually just heard that about a month ago when I was feeling like, oh my god, can I handle this by myself?
[32:48] SPEAKER_01: And so what I did is I built a team and I built a team of professionals who are passionate and driven.
[32:54] SPEAKER_01: And like I said, smarter than myself. And that was a really good piece of advice.
[33:00] SPEAKER_01: You know, don't give up. You've come this far like plug away.
[33:05] SPEAKER_00: Okay, Meredith, are you ready to have some fun?
[33:07] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[33:08] SPEAKER_00: Great. Always.
[33:10] SPEAKER_00: Good. Okay. So there's a small tropical island just off of Fiji.
[33:14] SPEAKER_00: There only has one phone booth there and there is no internet. This place does exist, by the way.
[33:19] SPEAKER_00: We're going to drop you off there. You won't have a computer or a smartphone or tablet.
[33:23] SPEAKER_00: You can use the phone booth located there. Any time to call the boat will come pick you up.
[33:27] SPEAKER_00: How long would you last before you made that call? And what would you do while you were there?
[33:33] SPEAKER_01: I'm all by myself.
[33:34] SPEAKER_00: Oh, you can take anyone with you.
[33:36] SPEAKER_01: Oh, I can. Okay.
[33:37] SPEAKER_00: There's just no internet there.
[33:39] SPEAKER_01: Oh, you know what? I'd be fine. I would be fine. I would definitely take my husband.
[33:45] SPEAKER_01: I would take my children if I could.
[33:49] SPEAKER_01: We'd be good. Like my husband's from the Coutonies. He lived off that off the land.
[33:53] SPEAKER_01: He could build just about anything.
[33:56] SPEAKER_01: We'd have fun as long as we had shelter in food.
[34:00] SPEAKER_01: How long would I last?
[34:03] SPEAKER_01: I think I could probably last a pretty long time.
[34:05] SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I would probably give myself six months, eight months.
[34:12] SPEAKER_00: And call a boat.
[34:14] SPEAKER_00: And call a boat. What would you do? What would you do? What would you do there?
[34:18] SPEAKER_01: Well, well, we would relax. We would do a lot of reflecting.
[34:25] SPEAKER_01: We would teach the kids lots of skills about survival.
[34:29] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, get back to the land and enjoy each other's company.
[34:34] SPEAKER_01: And lie in the sun. Do lots of swimming fish.
[34:39] SPEAKER_01: Oh, nothing sounds better than that right about now.
[34:41] SPEAKER_00: Exactly. Especially all the rainy weather we've had.
[34:44] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[34:44] SPEAKER_00: Being Tom Hanks and Castaway doesn't sound so bad.
[34:47] SPEAKER_00: Does it? No.
[34:48] SPEAKER_01: Exactly. Survivor doesn't sound so bad.
[34:50] SPEAKER_00: Okay. Okay, Meredith. How can our listeners get hold of you?
[34:52] SPEAKER_00: And is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today?
[34:57] SPEAKER_01: They can get a hold of me on any social media platforms.
[35:00] SPEAKER_01: Of course, they can email me if they want.
[35:06] SPEAKER_01: It's Meredith at MyProtectApp.com.
[35:08] SPEAKER_01: Our website actually has a link to reach me, which is MyProtectApp.
[35:14] SPEAKER_01: And last thing I would say, take a risk.
[35:18] SPEAKER_01: You know, you have this one life to live.
[35:21] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, if you have to sell your car to make something happen, do it.
[35:26] SPEAKER_01: It's going to be something that eats away at you if you don't.
[35:28] SPEAKER_01: And if you feel passionately enough about it, you'll make it work.
[35:33] SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I look at this business as something I'd love to run.
[35:36] SPEAKER_01: And I'd love to spearhead for many years to come.
[35:39] SPEAKER_01: And we'll see what comes of it.
[35:42] SPEAKER_01: You know, it might pivot and transition to other things.
[35:44] SPEAKER_01: But I'm excited about the future.
[35:46] SPEAKER_01: And I encourage your listeners to reach out if they want to know more, if they want any advice, or, you know, just if they want to be friends.
[35:54] SPEAKER_00: Great. Okay. Well, Meredith, thanks for coming on the show.
[35:57] SPEAKER_00: I've learned a lot about you, and I'm sure our listeners have as well.
[36:00] SPEAKER_01: Thank you for everything you do.
[36:02] SPEAKER_00: Great. Okay. We'll see you next time.
[36:03] SPEAKER_00: Thank you. Bye-bye.
[36:05] SPEAKER_00: Hey there. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the Vancouver Entrepreneur.ca podcast.
[36:10] SPEAKER_00: We hope you enjoyed the show today.
[36:11] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you sign up for our newsletters and write a review for us on iTunes.
[36:15] SPEAKER_00: And then connect with us on Twitter, at Vansity Podcast, and like us on Facebook.
[36:19] SPEAKER_00: And you'll get all the latest news, including the BC Weekly Business Support, where you can find out more,
[36:24] SPEAKER_00: but what's going on with fabulous products of ours.
[36:26] SPEAKER_00: See you next time.
[36:30] Speaker UNKNOWN: Bye-bye.
