Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwen Driscoll.
Gwen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Three years ago my business partner, Jenelle Frevert and I were awarded $22,000 in investment money to begin our dream of creating Safe & Sound Spray. Safe & Sound Spray is a Pepper Spray with a loud safety alarm that will scare away attackers. We created a two switch system for different situations. At this time we were both only juniors in High School, we created the business because we want women to feel safe and be safe where ever they may be.
We were also taken back by the alarming truths of sexual assault on college campuses, this left us afraid to take our next step in life. Since we have been funded, we attended the Woman’s Watermark Conference in San Jose, CA to present in front of QVC and Zulily buyers. We have held numerous events in Lake Forest and surrounding areas selling our product and teaching self-defense classes. We even hired four interns this year to help us do all we can do.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all! Both Jenelle and I are in college and in different states. We constantly have to have conference calls to stay on top of everything and it can get difficult to juggle our first year of college and our start-up business.
Please tell us about Safe & Sound Spray.
We are Safe & Sound Spray, a personal protective device for different situations. We created a two switch system, first push the red switch to the right to activate the alarm and proceed to push down on the red switch to dispense the pepper spray, spraying and emitting an alarm on the attacker. We made this system for different situations.
Through research, we found that most women are afraid to use pepper spray but more confident with using personal alarms. We combined both of these safety features for a woman to feel safe and be safe.
We are most proud of our connection with nonprofits that support victims of sexual assault. Every 25 group orders we get, we will donate 10% to nonprofit organizations.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory would have to be walking to the Village Market uptown Lake Bluff to buy candy and loads of ice cream, and ride down to the beach. I think I did this every day in the summer.
Pricing:
- $25 for 1 Device
Contact Info:
- Address: 455 W Hawthrone Ct Lake Bluff, IL, 60044
- Website: www.safeandsoundspray.com
- Phone: 8474315438
- Email: safeandsoundspray@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safeandsoundspray/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safeandsoundsystem/
Image Credit:
RED Communications LLC
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
