Hi, this is Deb Kusmec, Chief Operating Officer of Innocorp, Ltd.
During a planning meeting, a facilitator asked everyone at Innocorp what we do. We all gave a version of the same answer “we save lives.” That was a compelling answer. Do you know what’s even more powerful? Innocorp’s WHY.
Why do we create the kind of products we provide? Why do we come into work each day? Why are we still doing this after more than 20 years in business?
Innocorp’s “why” is unambiguous: We are in the business of saving lives, and it has been that way from the very beginning. Michael Aguilar, our company president, first experienced the consequences of drunk driving when an intoxicated driver veered off the road into a neighbor’s yard, narrowly missing his son David, but hitting his son’s friend, Tyler. Tyler recovered from his injuries, but Michael and Deb, his wife, that’s me, never forgot the anger and dismay that a driver could make such a poor decision to drive impaired, a choice that could have taken the lives of our son and his friend. We developed The Fatal Vision goggles shortly after that incident.
Many of us at Innocorp have been touched in one way or another by the issues that we address. We work with people who genuinely feel they can make a difference in stopping impaired driving. Helping our customers reach their audiences is our goal. One Innocorp employee has his own story — he lost his brother in a drowsy driving crash.
Our customers answer the question of “WHY” as well. One officer told us a story about a mom who thanked him for saving her daughter’s life. When he asked her how he did that, she told him that her daughter had been in his alcohol awareness session, where she learned about alcohol and impaired driving. A few days later, the daughter called her mom for a ride home because she recognized that her brother, who was supposed to pick her up, had been drinking. Mom picked up both of her children and got them safely home. The brother had been drinking, and the daughter recognized it and figured out how to get both of them home safely.
Innocorp’s purpose in creating products such as the Fatal Vision® Alcohol Impairment Goggles and Fatal Vision® Drowsy and Distracted Driving Goggles is to create engaging and memorable experiences that foster a conversation with participants about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving. I remember conducting a SIDNE® Impaired Driving Simulator training session with a police officer who was working with a group of students. A student came up to him when he was leaving and started asking him questions about his presentation. The officer knew he had reached the student on a meaningful level because the student was interested enough to ask additional questions.
“We save lives here,” “You don’t get to do that in most jobs. That’s the “Why” for us at Innocorp.”
Deb Kusmec
Chief Operating Officer/Product Development