- My husband caught me without eyebrows a few years ago.

(light music) For 20 years I suffered from hair-pulling disorder, (light music) which is this mental health condition also known as trichotillomania, wherein I'd compulsively pull out my hair.

(light music) I had been hiding this secret for 20 years, (light music) in shame and in fear of judgment, that people would think lesser of me because I was doing this to myself.

(light music) My husband and I, we were sitting on the couch, this was a few weeks after I had shared my secret with him.

My husband and I, we were sitting on the couch, And we were watching television, My husband and I, we were sitting on the couch, and I just started pulling with our realizing it.

My husband and I, we were sitting on the couch, And he just gently grabbed my hand, and held it, and I looked at him and I said I wish I had something that notified me that wasn't you.

We just started looking and we just couldn't find anything so we said, it can be us, why can't it be us?

We have to take that power, right?

so we said, it can be us, why can't it be us?

And so we built Keen, which is a smart bracelet.

And essentially what Keen is doing is using real time gesture detection technology to bring awareness to where your hands are.

And so the mental health conditions we help with are triggered by stress and anxiety, but the behavior is in certain hand movements.

So things like hair pulling, skin picking, mail biting, but the behavior is in certain hand movements.

which oftentimes happen in very trance-like states.

We first started with Lo-Fi prototypes, so we went to Michael's Arts and Crafts Store and we bought slap bracelets and jingle bells, and for a few weeks I was wearing a contraption where and we bought slap bracelets and jingle bells, one bracelet was here with the bells on it, and one bracelet was here with just like a heavy, heavy bracelet that whenever my hand went up, they would clash and clank, and I'd be making all this noise in my advertising agency and I'd just be like, just me experimenting, don't worry.

in my advertising agency and I'd just be like, But it was starting to work, so my husband and I, we are technophiles, we love all the new shiny gadgets, but we don't know how to make them.

we love all the new shiny gadgets, So we tried to meet more technically capable people in the Twin Cities.

We went to Hack Day, and that's where we met John.

He walked by the table and said, "Do you need help?"

We went to Hack Day, and that's where we met John.

And he is now our lead hardware engineer and has built Keen from the ground up.

And in the same way, we met Kirk, who's our chief technical officer.

who does all the software and firmware algorithm.

Again, just so passionate about building things that matter and leveraging his 20, 30 plus years of coding experience.

He's been building computers since he's been in kindergarten, like that kind of passion for technology.

To build Keen, it's been absolutely a team effort.

We each come at it from these different angles, and that helps us give the right input We each come at it from these different angles, in the parts that we can really influence.

(light music) Working at a company that's focused on mental health, it's more to me than just trying to sell a product.

It's about really wanting to make an impact on other people's lives.

I think it's just really helped me experience to make an impact on other people's lives.

and understand how much we need more kindness in the world.

I'm learning and I'm becoming more aware, becoming more mindful of how, I mean it's not only am I talking to myself, about who I am, but how I'm talking to other people, my children, my husband, my best friends, my community, and if we can come together and understand my children, my husband, my best friends, my community, that all it takes is awareness and a shift in mindset, then you're on such a better path.

There's always challenges as you bring new people into the fold, or even as you start out.

There's always challenges as you bring You're building a company, you're building a product, There's always challenges as you bring you're building a culture as well, so it was very much okay can we build it?

Check.

so it was very much okay can we build it?

Does it work?

Check.

Do people want it, right?

We took a lot of these steps of testing and iterating and getting market feedback from our community of people with this mental health disorder, and part of that process of going through that regimen helped us build camaraderie within the team.

and part of that process of going through that regimen And I think that's what makes our relationship as a team all the more powerful, and that's what's helped us get to where we are so quickly.

(light music) Mental health is important, and I'm just so grateful that I have mental health disorder because it's what's prompted all of this.

and I'm just so grateful that I have mental health disorder (light music) For 20 years I felt so alone, (light music) and now I am surrounded by an amazing team that has taken this idea and made it a reality.

And so ever grateful that they are part of our team and part of this journey with us.

And so ever grateful that they are part of our team (light music) And so ever grateful that they are part of our team