3 Marist Alums Flip Parenting Upside Down

Before the days of social media, parents mainly sought advice from family, friends, and neighbors who were a phone call or walk away. This was also a time when baby pictures were primarily pulled off dusty shelves and showcased during first dates as a form of embarrassment. But in today’s world, we share all this and more, by the touch of our fingertips.

In a Pew study, seventy-five percent of parents use networking sites to “seek parenting advice and social support”, but considerably less “come across useful parenting information while using social media.” To shift these conversations into more meaningful and authentic connections, three Marist High School alumnae created the app, Privet (iPhone & Android). We caught up with the founders to discover how the app was born.

Privet was founded by Titania Jordan, Anne Bobel, and Molly Walker (pictured above), alongside Dale McIntyre and Chris Morocco. The brainchild sprouted out of KidsLink, an app that allows parents to share family milestones, documents and more, in a safe, secure way. When the team first launched a social utility with KidsLink, they found it was too limiting and decided to develop Privet as “a way to provide community, without sacrificing privacy.” And that’s where the app shines. As Jordan explains, “Privet is a live mobile community that allows users to ‘crowdsource life’ – by seeking and offering support locally or globally, privately or publicly, in real time. What this provides is a place of validation for thoughts, questions, and commentary you might not feel comfortable sharing on other social networks. Posts are intelligently geo-targeted with optional anonymity, resulting in genuine engagement and community.”

Privet tour 2 Privet tour 4

We are currently raising the first generation of kids whose entire lives can be showcased online. While conversations around parenting (hands-down the hardest job in the world) are happening on competitor sites like SmartMom, Facebook, and Twitter, Privet allows parents to have open and honest conversations, in a judgement free zone. Jordan highlights the app’s community standards as, “designed to empower and affirm, yet offer users the ability to speak freely without pretense and permanence on useful subject matters. Users can participate in a roaming community that includes their neighborhood, current, or global location. And optional privacy features allow users to choose whether to share privately or publicly with each post. People are tired of the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ facade. People need a way to connect through genuine human interaction… in a way that matters.”

Atlanta natives, Titania Jordan (social media/marketing owner turned app designer), Anne Bobel (creator of the East Cobb FB Exchange), and Molly Walker (lead product developer for three apps in 2015) are the ultimate trifecta. But as Jordan explains, “we are disturbed by the under representation and treatment of women in tech, the lack of support for consumer tech startups in the city, and the disturbing social trends emerging and soon to hit our youth. Launching and scaling Privet will mean great strides for all three.” This trio is well on their way with support from seasoned software engineer, Dale McIntyre, and early stage and startup guru, Chris Morocco, by their side. We’ll be staying tuned to see how Privet grows up.

The Privet team is currently on the hunt for interns. If you’re interested, hit them up at hello@myprivet.com. Although currently in bootstrapping mode, they will be seeking their next round of investment in the near future.

Follow Privet on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myprivetapp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/myprivetapp
LinkedIn: https://instagram.com/myprivetapp