When Erika lost her child in a shopping mall (for what seemed like the longest 8 minutes of her life), she decided that she never wanted to feel like that ever again so the South African ‘momtrepreneur’ created something to help all parents keep their children safe.
Erika Truscott is the Owner, Founder and Designer of PingMe, the award-winning GPS kids watch. This mother of two completed a Bachelor of Commerce in 1997, but spent the better part of 20 years pursuing her passion in design and software development instead.
Prior to having children, Erika was a career woman who worked for massive international brands, Adobe and Google as a User Experience Designer.
Her skills, experience and formal training are totally miss-matched, but Erika says that she wouldn’t have it any other way, “Everything I know is self-taught. I believe that if you truly love something and spend enough time doing it – it becomes really easy”.
In fact, she says that when she hires, she rarely looks at qualifications at all, “I look at people with skills and experience rather than paperwork. I can relate to those who have had to work hard to get where they are and have had to take the ‘long way around’; I find them incredibly valuable!”
As a developer, Erika was often the only woman amongst her male colleagues and loved being ‘one of the guys’ but she says that it wasn’t until she had her first child that truly understood the worth of women in general.
“I enjoyed my time with the guys and I learnt much of what I know from them, but I feel like my eyes were opened when I became a mom. Having children made me realise how amazing, humble, intelligent and grossly undervalued women are.”
As a result, Erika now deliberately hires women and offers them the opportunity to work from home.
“There is a misconception out there that your people have to be in an office building to get the best out of them. On the contrary, I work with three brilliant designers who not only work from home, but deliver work of an exceptionally high standard. The funniest part is that even though we are great friends and colleagues, I have never met them!”
Erika’s staff aren’t the only ones who work from home. When this momtrepreneur gave birth to her first child, Tyler (now 4 years old) she made the decision to open her own home-based business, FlowMotion UX (a user experience design agency) so that she didn’t have to give up valuable time with her baby.
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“Once I became a mom my whole outlook changed. I wanted to breastfeed for longer than just 3 months. I wanted to be there for drop-offs and pick-ups. I wanted to read them stories and teach them new things. I just wanted to be there.”
When Erika lost her eldest Tyler in a shopping mall (for what seemed like the longest 8 minutes of her life!), she felt like she failed at ‘being there’ and decided that she never wanted to feel like that ever again. Instead, she wanted to be able to track her child on her phone in real time.
Some laughed at the notion, other showed genuine interest and support as Erika set out to design software that would enable parents everywhere to keep track of their kid’s location directly on their smartphone, giving them what they crave most – peace of mind.
Whilst experimenting, Erika came across 80-year old technology designed for the military which she borrowed for the life-saving GPS kids watch.
“The PingMe GPS kids watch is so much more than just a time piece, it’s a cell phone and GPS location device all blended into a cutting edge piece of wearable technology for kids aged 3 and up. Utilising the supported App, parents are able to keep track of their kids location at any time directly on their smartphone, giving them what they crave most – peace of mind, while providing kids the freedom they need to be kids.
The PingMe GPS kids watch represents so much value in a small device, keeping families connected without the need to buy a young child a smartphone. Designed to fit kids wrists comfortably for them to wear every day, it is made of a durable material which is both safe for children and able to withstand all types of play. The PingMe kids watch comes in a variety of fun colours that kids will love and the design of the watch allows kids to be able to use easily.”
Now just less than two years later, Erika not only has a thriving new business with a product that was listed as a finalist in the Mama Magic New Product Awards 2016, but she also has a (very) busy 18-month old, Blake.
This of course is in addition to running her 4-year old company, FlowMotion UX. So, how does she do it all?
“It’s not easy, but it is worth it! Plus, if it’s something you are passionate about – you’ll make it happen! I also try use my time as best I as I can. For example, I stopped being precious about doing things myself and started to delegate. In fact, I recently joined ‘Hey Jude’, a concierge service App that helps with basic research and simple chores which frees me up to focus on the big things.”
Erika’s vision is to be successful enough to be able to retire early so that she can knit, sew and paint – and if she really feels like it – design a few apps in her spare time. For now, she is going to continue working hard to be a successful momtrepreneur and an inspiration to other moms out there.
She certainly is a woman to watch!
Erika’s top tips for fellow momtrepreneurs:
- Be realistic – Juggling being a mom and an entrepreneur is not easy – be realistic about what you can and can’t do. Get help if you need to.
- Be kind – Be kind to yourself and to others; it will get you far in business!
- Be stubborn – Don’t give up and don’t listen to people’s negativity.
- Believe – It sounds cliché, but if believe that you can do it, you will!
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