Ever since Lauren Bell was a child, her mom would cut out newspaper articles about safety issues and place them on her pillow for her to read. This would continue when she was at camp or even at college. When her mother passed away from lung cancer, Bell was inspired to go into product safety because her mother wasn’t fully aware of the risks of smoking. But it was those press clippings that helped serve as the foundation for her new endeavor.
“It was part of what inspired me, because I really miss her doing that for me, and I want people to feel like they have someone looking out for them in that way,” says Bell, who lives in Arlington.
After nine years working for the Consumer Protection Branch in the Department of Justice and a few more at a private law firm representing companies dealing with product recalls, Bell saw that most companies wanted to ensure they were in compliance—but it wasn’t always easy to communicate recalls with the public.
“People estimate that between 80-90 percent of recalled children’s products remain in homes,” says Bell, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur. In general, there are dozens of product recalls a month, for both major and minor issues, “and you know the news can’t cover all of those,” Bell continues. “The one that may be most important to me might not be one that the news covers.”
Enter Whystle. Bell founded Whystle, which launched in June, to serve as a personalized source for users to get all the latest information regarding product recalls and other safety tips. The free app lets users create a profile based on their needs, such as parent, expecting parent, pet owner, someone with allergies and more. Relevant alerts—Bell reviews and covers about 50 per month—are sourced and summarized by Bell and are automatically included in your profile based on designated categories and can be sent as push notifications.
“We’re trying to help people be able to—it’s called recall fatigue—not be overwhelmed by the number of recalls, but have the ones that apply to them,” Bell explains.
Bell has four kids of her own—two girls, 10 and 8, and twin 5-year-old boys—and even with her background in the product safety field she had trouble staying on top of everything to ensure her kids weren’t being exposed to potentially harmful products. Whystle’s target is the busy parent with kids that range from 0-5, since children’s products, especially nursery items, are more common and present a greater risk. However, Bell has seen a strong early response from pet owners as well, possibly because pet recalls aren’t as widely publicized.
As of September, Bell said Whystle had been downloaded thousands of times, with users from all over the country. She says she’s had a particularly great response from users outside of the DMV area who may not be as familiar with government agencies and how to find safety recalls.
In addition to product recall information, Whystle also provides general safety advice and news. It’s in this and other areas that Bell would like to expand the app in the future. A recent update allowed users to share product recall information with friends and family; she also envisions keeping her users aware of things like data breaches and other information security issues, as well as providing greater detail about their purchases.
“Users have access to their purchases in a way they didn’t use to because we’re shopping online,” she says. “So that’s something we’re looking in to, possibly partnering with retailers to help get people even more specific, more personalized information.”
As a mom herself, Bell knows Whystle is providing a much-needed service for busy parents.
“I wanted to give people that sense of peace of mind,” says Bell. “That they know the realm of what’s going on and if it affects them, they know what to do.”
Know a “mompreneur” who’s launched a company with a focus on family products? Email us at kbianco@northernvirginiamag.com.