Why I Do What I Do: Where It All Started

On February 23, 2022, I watched the local news in horror. Although I don't have the video at this time, you can read about the story of Michelle Apeanyo being nearly carjacked in Homewood, IL HERE . I had already embarked on a mission in December of 2021, to save the world from carjackers. My exact words were, 'There has got to be a way to catch these fools.' With my mind made up, I went on this crusade to purge society of carjackers, living every moment pondering what type of technology could be employed to catch carjackers. Many of my ideas were borderline futuristic, straight from the Jetsons, they were just fantasy and futuristic. I found myself purchasing technology of all types and putting it through the paces. I spent six months of my life communicating with a major IoT vendor, only to discover that no one on their team had a clue how to help me solve this problem. I was looking for a solution you might find in a 007 or Jason Bourne movie. After my experience, having wasted at least six months of my life with this vendor (now June 2022), I felt defeated. Not clinically depressed, but perhaps close, because if you know me, when I set my mind to something, I go all in. Well, feeling like a failure, for the next couple of months, I just lived life without this project on my mind at all so I thought. However, the gears must have been turning in the background all the while, because suddenly, something inside hit me and said, "Do some more research on the project." This was around Sept 2022 and I didn't feel particularly motivated by this inner voice, but I broke out my trusty laptop and dived into deep-deep research mode—and before long, BAM! I was onto something.

I found the right technology and shortly after that, I found the right vendors and the right software developer. By December of 2022, almost a year to the day when I originally had this brilliant idea, I had a working prototype. This prototype hasn't changed much from the user interface side, but its backend, all built in Amazon Web Services and has never failed me once (a shout-out to Scott my developer).

Returning to the story of Michelle Apeanyo’s near carjacking\stolen vehicle in Homewood, IL,  after reviewing the footage from the nightly news, my heart literally broke. Her car was mangled (See The Cover Photo for this post), severely damaged, and as the empathetic person that I am, I felt her pain and frustration. That frustration reignited my determination to help address the problem of carjackings and vehicle thefts. Since then, I’ve probably recorded every instance of a carjacking reported on local news— from that point on. I guess you can call me obsessed with this subject, but perhaps someone has to be obsessed because this passion is helping bring hope to those whose need my support across this country.

Now, my solution has evolved from a pie-in-the-sky idea to a battle-tested 007 solution over the last two years. I think I'm ready. Everything that could have gone wrong has likely happened already, and now I am confident that I have a solution that can bring peace of mind to you and your family.

In closing, if anyone out there knows Michelle Apeanyo, please let her know that I have a vehicle tracker with her name on it, free of charge.