InvisaWear began with a scary experience. In 2015, Abdelaziz was walking to her car when men in an SUV began catcalling, and one got out. She ran in panic. The University of Massachusetts Lowell student was so shaken, she decided to do something about it. Teaming up with best friend and classmate Ray Hamilton, she created jewelry, keychains and fitness bands with a discreet button that, when pressed, would cue a smartphone to send a distress call to friends and 911. InvisaWear launched sales in 2018, with “SOS” products starting at $149. A $20 monthly subscription includes support from ADT security agents, who can watch or listen via cellphone in an emergency. Sales hit $6 million in 2022. So far invisaWear has helped thousands of people, including a woman trapped in a crashed car and another who woke up struggling to breathe. “We’re trying to do our best to convince people to buy the product before they need it, not after a situation has happened,” Abdelaziz says.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:06 >> Raja, I am so excited to be here with you today.
00:08 Thank you for joining me.
00:09 >> Thank you so much for having me.
00:11 I'm just so excited to be here as well.
00:13 >> Of course. So I want to start.
00:16 Tell me about what InvisiWear does.
00:18 >> Of course. So InvisiWear creates jewelry and
00:21 accessories with safety technology hidden inside,
00:24 like this necklace I'm wearing.
00:26 >> That looks so nice.
00:27 >> There's a button. Thank you so much.
00:28 >> Nobody ever suspects it's a safety device.
00:31 But if you click this backside two times,
00:33 it will immediately alert five emergency contacts to let
00:37 them know you're in an emergency and need help.
00:39 It can also optionally contact 911.
00:42 >> Wow. What was the inspiration for you for starting this company?
00:46 >> My gosh, it was so crazy.
00:48 Never in a million years did I ever think I would start a company.
00:52 I actually was only 21 years old at the time.
00:54 I was in college when I had a scary situation.
00:59 I was at an event with some friends.
01:01 I didn't want to inconvenience anyone,
01:03 so I said my goodbyes and I started walking back to my car.
01:06 As I was about halfway between where the car is and the event is,
01:10 an SUV full of guys drove by.
01:12 They rolled down the window and started yelling super inappropriate comments.
01:17 The car stops and one of the four guys starts to get out.
01:20 >> Oh my God.
01:20 >> I ended up running as quickly as I could,
01:23 got to my car safely,
01:25 and thankfully I wasn't hurt that night.
01:27 But for the next hour and a half,
01:29 I was shaking uncontrollably because all I could think about is,
01:32 I could have been that new story.
01:34 I started looking for safety devices to buy to protect myself and the women I care about,
01:39 but everything was a big ugly panic button.
01:42 So it blew my mind.
01:44 I was like, how is nobody creating them in jewelry?
01:48 >> How did you feel making that jump?
01:50 To take it from an idea in your head then to actually going and being an entrepreneur,
01:55 creating the product.
01:56 >> So I never really imagined it would become what it is today.
02:00 It actually originally started as a class project.
02:02 So I was doing my senior year capstone at the University of Massachusetts Lowell,
02:07 and I told my best friend,
02:09 his name is Ray, I said,
02:10 "Why don't we create safety devices for our project and then at
02:13 the end of this we can have them for ourselves and our loved ones."
02:17 Studies show one out of every five women is sexually assaulted at some point in her lifetime.
02:23 This is highly unacceptable and needs to change.
02:27 So we both graduated and we decided to decline to prestigious job opportunities.
02:33 I actually turned down an opportunity with Google.
02:35 I always joke, I'm like,
02:36 "Don't tell your parents you're declining a job with Google.
02:39 They're going to think you lost your mind."
02:43 >> So talk to me about the scale of your business.
02:50 How is your sales growth been?
02:52 How many customers do you have?
02:53 >> It's been incredible.
02:55 We actually have sold over 100,000 devices and we've surpassed over $15 million in revenue,
03:02 which has been such a huge milestone for us.
03:06 >> As a woman going into a male dominated VC field and trying to
03:12 pitch this female-centric product, how was that for you?
03:15 Was it hard to convince people to take a chance on you?
03:18 >> It definitely was not easy.
03:20 We sadly got so many disgusting comments while we were raising money.
03:24 I had one investor look me dead in the eyes and say that he
03:27 doesn't think women care about their safety.
03:29 After I specifically told him the horrific statistics,
03:33 we actually had a really horrible story happen
03:36 where we were doing a friendly Shark Tank pitch competition.
03:40 The entire panel, four were men,
03:42 one was a woman.
03:44 The woman started by saying that she loves the product,
03:48 wishes she had one when she was in college.
03:51 The next guy looked at me and said that his wife never ever complained about
03:55 her safety and that because of that,
03:58 he doesn't think there's a need for this product.
04:01 The next judge decided to take the cake.
04:04 So I started the company with a male co-founder.
04:07 He's my best friend.
04:08 He looks at me and asks if I had ever been intimate with my co-founder.
04:14 >> That's completely inappropriate.
04:15 >> Can you believe that?
04:16 I was appalled.
04:18 [MUSIC]
04:20 >> One last question for you.
04:21 When you were younger, what would you tell yourself
04:24 the day before you launched your company that you wish you knew now?
04:27 >> I think the biggest advice would be to believe in yourself.
04:31 So many people will tell you all of the reasons that you could fail.
04:35 I can't tell you the number of people who thought Ray and I were out of our minds
04:38 to decline all of these prestigious job opportunities.
04:42 People would say things like nine out of ten businesses fail.
04:45 And all I could think about is, well, who says we're not gonna be the one out of ten?
04:49 If you don't build your dreams, someone else is gonna hire you to build theirs.
04:53 [MUSIC]
05:03 (upbeat music)