Meet Team Guard Llama! 

How did Guard Llama come to fruition?

My senior year of college a woman was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. They found her next to her cell phone and it changed the way I viewed the world forever. Her cell phone, which was supposed to be her life line to the world, did absolutely nothing for her. I knew there had to be a better way for people to get help and decided to dedicate my life to the cause.

Most of your founders are men which is really interesting. Do people ever comment or speak to this? 

People actually comment on this all the time. It is frustrating to me when people ask me "why I care about sexual assault and DV" or since these are "woman's issues there should be woman working on them." I find these questions to be insulting for assuming that for some reason my gender would preclude me from achieving my goal of empowering women to be able to go where ever they want whenever they want without fear. I also find these questions to be one of the reasons that we continue to see the proliferation of these two terrible epidemics. Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence are NOT A WOMAN'S PROBLEM, it is an US as a society problem. Both genders have to come together and say that we have had enough of it! As long as men keep burying their heads in the sand acting like it is not an issue, we will never see the end. I am happy that I can talk to others who are of my gender and not have them immediately shut off when I mention sexual assault (some advocates do not always get that luxury).  At the same time, I feel that anyone who asks about my gender as though it is a factor in this is totally missing the point. I truly believe that every person on earth should care about ending sexual assault and DV, not just women. 

What has been the most rewarding part about launching this product?

I know we will make a difference and change someones life. I have already had the mother of the woman who was murdered while I was at school reach out and thank me for putting this together. Saying that no parent should ever have to go through what she went though and that she is thankful it motivated us to make a difference and prevent it from happening to others. Even if you get to your phone, during an emergency, the average call to 911 is 2.5 minutes long! We eliminate that entire conversation and dispatch police immediately. In our last test, the police showed up in 1.5  minutes. We were able to have the police at our location a full minute before an average person would have even finished their 911 call. We are saving lives and making a real difference. There is nothing more rewarding than that. 

What has been the biggest setback you guys have faced when launching this?

Universities have been the biggest let down through this whole process. I started this 2 years ago with the belief that they would do anything to protect their students and this just is not the case. At the end of the day, it is all a numbers game to them and all they care about is their brand. It took me a year to learn this and it was a very rough year to say the least. 

How do you see Guard Llama changing the game for women and safety in the next 5 years? 

Guard Llama will be the new standard that other security systems are measured against. Predators will know that this system exists and they will think twice before committing a crime (I know that sounds cliche but I do believe it). I hate seeing generic safety bulletins telling people to be "aware of your surroundings" and "walk in pairs at night." Guard Llama allows women to go where ever the hell they want, when they want, in pairs or by themselves. I am excited to empower woman across America and love when women tell me that they can go about their day more confidently because of what we have built. 

Thank you, Guard Llama!

Now stop reading, protect yourself and those around you

And purchase one of these on YShop today!