On the TechVancouver stage ×1
First seen on the TechVancouver stage in 2018. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Merideth ↗
In their words
I spent the next two and a half years researching how I could empower myself in this career that I loved, that had this nasty dark side that nobody talked about.
I think these enterprise customers owe a duty of care to the people they send out into the workforce.
Forty per cent of realtors have actually said they fear for their safety on the job, and when I say this to people they'll go, yeah, obviously — I never thought of that.
Quick answers
What is PROtect?
A personal-safety app Schutter founded for realtors and other people who work alone. Users alert a circle of chosen contacts — she calls them PROtectors — or set a timer before entering a situation they are wary of.
Why did she build it?
In 2013, showing an open house, two men locked the door and pushed her into the kitchen. A family who had walked into the backyard heard the struggle and interrupted it. She spent two and a half years afterwards looking for a product that was not fear-based and did not find one.
Who was it for?
Realtors first, then mortgage brokers, sororities and a federal government contract. She also described a giveback programme offering the software free to non-profits that cannot pay.