June 18, 2021 • 6 mins
A frightening encounter in college spurred a young engineering student to invent a personal security device that would be especially effective for women. We learn from InvisaWear founder Rajia Abdelaziz why her product is a leap forward—and why we need more women like her in tech.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day, we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day. We just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. We've often said how important it is to
have a woman's point of view when it comes to tech,
So when we heard about the remarkable personal security devices
from a company called Invisiware, we knew the point was
proven once again. Invisiware calls itself quote jewelry that can
save your life. It's bracelets, necklaces, key chains, and even
(00:50):
scrunches allow users to quickly and discreetly call for help.
The invisible were products look like elegant accessories, a far
cry from the bull key panic buttons were used to
Founder of Invisibware is twenty year old Raja Abdelazise. A
frightening encounter one night when she was an undergrad engineering
student led her on a quest for truly wearable security devices.
(01:14):
We talked to Raja about what makes invisiware so special
and why tech needs more women like her. Here's what
she had to say, Thanks so much for joining us,
Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to
be featured on the podcast. So tell us about invisibware.
What does it do and how does it work exactly?
And Visiware creates smart jewelry and accessories that can literally
(01:37):
save your life. They look like necklaces, bracelet key chains.
We even have them in fitness bands and crumb cheese.
But they all have a button hidden on the back.
If you double press the button, it immediately alerts up
to five loved ones that you need help. It shares
a link to your exact location, and it can also
optionally contact nine one one. And Visiware is backed by
(02:00):
a d T the number one name and security. And
what inspired you to create and visi Wear. I never
really meant to start a company. All happened by accident.
While I was in college. I had a scary situation
where I was followed by a group of guys. While
I was walking back to my car. The car full
of guys stopped and one of them started to get out.
Although I had my phone with me, there wasn't enough
(02:22):
time to unlock it to call for help. I had
so many people I knew that were less than a
block away, but I couldn't look at the attackers and
ask them to pause until I called a loved one
or called nine one one. Thankfully I wasn't her, and
I was able to get to my car safely. But
in that moment, I realized how important it is to
protect yourself and your loved ones. And I understand that
(02:44):
it's been a true life saver for some of your customers.
Tell us about that. We've had a lot of success stories.
In addition to giving tens of thousands of women peace
of mind on a day to day basis, we've also
helped a lot of women during scary city rations. We've
helped a young woman who was involved in a serious
car accident, we helped the realtor who was almost abducted,
(03:07):
we helped multiple ladies that had medical conditions, and we've
even helped seniors that have fallen and couldn't get up.
So your background is an electrical engineering and computer science.
Why do you think it's important to have women in
these fields. Yes, it's really sad there isn't a lot
of women in STEM fields right now, and I think
it's very important for that to change. I mean, when
(03:30):
I had that scary situation I shared with you guys,
I was simply looking for a safety device like this
on the market, and it made no sense to me
why there wasn't any panic buttons disguised as jewelry. And
I really think what it comes down to is there
aren't as many women engineers, so nobody realized the need,
(03:50):
or the women that did realize the need didn't have
a skill set to bring a product like this to market. Unfortunately.
I think it's extremely important to have women be involved
in STEM fields so that they have the skill set
to bring these amazing creative ideas to life. And what's
next for and VIS Aware, We've got a super exciting
(04:12):
gear ahead. We recently partnered with a d T. Since then,
we've seen exponential growth. Right now, we're working on developing
some cool new products and amazing features that we can't
wait to launch soon. We really want to push the
limit in create mind blowing technology. Um. Our goal is
(04:33):
to really continue to come out with discreet lines so
that our product to become a deterrent and people don't
even dare to attack someone out of worry that maybe
they're scrunch, she will call for help. Finally, what special
perspective do you think women bring to entrepreneurship. I think
women bring an incredible perspective to entrepreneurship. They definitely bring
(04:57):
a creative mindset um. We also bring a lot of
empathy to the table. Mostly, all of the women owned
businesses that I have met all have social missions behind them.
With me, the reason I decided to create invisors because
I didn't want a single woman to ever feel as
alone and scared as I did when I had that
(05:18):
scary situation that I experienced. And that's why we need
more women in tech. So here's something good for today.
It took a woman named Raja Abdelazas to create a
better security device for women across the tech world. Women
innovators like Raja are using their own special perspective to
design a better future for all, and as Roger says,
(05:40):
women also have an important perspective on entrepreneurship. They bring
both creativity and empathy, and they have a tendency to
start companies built around purpose. You can learn more about
Roger's company Invisiware at the Marketplace by Santeca Women, or
go to invisibware dot com. Thank you for listening, and
(06:09):
please share Today's Something Good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(06:36):
from my heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day, we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day. We just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. We've often said how important it is to
have a woman's point of view when it comes to tech,
So when we heard about the remarkable personal security devices
from a company called Invisiware, we knew the point was
proven once again. Invisiware calls itself quote jewelry that can
save your life. It's bracelets, necklaces, key chains, and even
(00:50):
scrunches allow users to quickly and discreetly call for help.
The invisible were products look like elegant accessories, a far
cry from the bull key panic buttons were used to
Founder of Invisibware is twenty year old Raja Abdelazise. A
frightening encounter one night when she was an undergrad engineering
student led her on a quest for truly wearable security devices.
(01:14):
We talked to Raja about what makes invisiware so special
and why tech needs more women like her. Here's what
she had to say, Thanks so much for joining us,
Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to
be featured on the podcast. So tell us about invisibware.
What does it do and how does it work exactly?
And Visiware creates smart jewelry and accessories that can literally
(01:37):
save your life. They look like necklaces, bracelet key chains.
We even have them in fitness bands and crumb cheese.
But they all have a button hidden on the back.
If you double press the button, it immediately alerts up
to five loved ones that you need help. It shares
a link to your exact location, and it can also
optionally contact nine one one. And Visiware is backed by
(02:00):
a d T the number one name and security. And
what inspired you to create and visi Wear. I never
really meant to start a company. All happened by accident.
While I was in college. I had a scary situation
where I was followed by a group of guys. While
I was walking back to my car. The car full
of guys stopped and one of them started to get out.
Although I had my phone with me, there wasn't enough
(02:22):
time to unlock it to call for help. I had
so many people I knew that were less than a
block away, but I couldn't look at the attackers and
ask them to pause until I called a loved one
or called nine one one. Thankfully I wasn't her, and
I was able to get to my car safely. But
in that moment, I realized how important it is to
protect yourself and your loved ones. And I understand that
(02:44):
it's been a true life saver for some of your customers.
Tell us about that. We've had a lot of success stories.
In addition to giving tens of thousands of women peace
of mind on a day to day basis, we've also
helped a lot of women during scary city rations. We've
helped a young woman who was involved in a serious
car accident, we helped the realtor who was almost abducted,
(03:07):
we helped multiple ladies that had medical conditions, and we've
even helped seniors that have fallen and couldn't get up.
So your background is an electrical engineering and computer science.
Why do you think it's important to have women in
these fields. Yes, it's really sad there isn't a lot
of women in STEM fields right now, and I think
it's very important for that to change. I mean, when
(03:30):
I had that scary situation I shared with you guys,
I was simply looking for a safety device like this
on the market, and it made no sense to me
why there wasn't any panic buttons disguised as jewelry. And
I really think what it comes down to is there
aren't as many women engineers, so nobody realized the need,
(03:50):
or the women that did realize the need didn't have
a skill set to bring a product like this to market. Unfortunately.
I think it's extremely important to have women be involved
in STEM fields so that they have the skill set
to bring these amazing creative ideas to life. And what's
next for and VIS Aware, We've got a super exciting
(04:12):
gear ahead. We recently partnered with a d T. Since then,
we've seen exponential growth. Right now, we're working on developing
some cool new products and amazing features that we can't
wait to launch soon. We really want to push the
limit in create mind blowing technology. Um. Our goal is
(04:33):
to really continue to come out with discreet lines so
that our product to become a deterrent and people don't
even dare to attack someone out of worry that maybe
they're scrunch, she will call for help. Finally, what special
perspective do you think women bring to entrepreneurship. I think
women bring an incredible perspective to entrepreneurship. They definitely bring
(04:57):
a creative mindset um. We also bring a lot of
empathy to the table. Mostly, all of the women owned
businesses that I have met all have social missions behind them.
With me, the reason I decided to create invisors because
I didn't want a single woman to ever feel as
alone and scared as I did when I had that
(05:18):
scary situation that I experienced. And that's why we need
more women in tech. So here's something good for today.
It took a woman named Raja Abdelazas to create a
better security device for women across the tech world. Women
innovators like Raja are using their own special perspective to
design a better future for all, and as Roger says,
(05:40):
women also have an important perspective on entrepreneurship. They bring
both creativity and empathy, and they have a tendency to
start companies built around purpose. You can learn more about
Roger's company Invisiware at the Marketplace by Santeca Women, or
go to invisibware dot com. Thank you for listening, and
(06:09):
please share Today's Something Good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(06:36):
from my heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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