Our Story

It was the dramatic increase in carjackings during the covid pandemic that inspired me to create CarKeeps. The closures had me, like many, glued to the news. I remember all the stories of cars that were stolen and then used in smash and grabs. As a proud Chicagoan, I woke up to retailers on Michigan Ave boarding up their stores and fortifying their facade. I saw the economic damage that was being done to our once vibrant shopping district. People were taking advantage of the pandemic as well as George Floyd’s death, to loot, destroy, and settle scores with midday shootings. It even happened on Oak street. The stolen vehicles were enabling a lot of these crimes. 

 

How could these thefts be prevented? I decided that the best way would be to come up with a stealthy product that surprised the criminal, kept the victim safe, and prevented the vehicle from ever being used for downrange crimes. I needed to develop a device that could be quickly and easily installed and let the criminals think they have gotten away with the theft, and then suddenly stopped. 

 

A decade before, I was invited to go snowboarding with a group that included some new people I had never met. One of those people was Thomas, an electrical engineer. Thomas and I became friends immdiately, and while on another snowboarding adventure, a large group of us were having dinner and I noticed Thomas having some trouble. He was choking! I got up and ran around the table and pulled him up out of his chair and gave him the heimlich maneuver. On the 2nd attempt a huge piece of steak shot out of his throat and onto the table. The room applauded and all I got was a free desert. 

 

Thomas was the perfect person to help me develop the device! I called him and he believed he could come up with something that could do all that I wanted. Many prototypes later, CarKeeps was born and Thomas and I were cofounders to an exciting startup.  I was finally going to get something in return for saving his life :)  

 

We needed help and resources and we got it with Tony who brings priceless experience and success in consumer products. I have known Tony for years as he is a friend of my families. I reached out to him to get some advice on how to proceed as Thomas and I were rudderless. While speaking to him I realized how perfect he would be as a partner. After a meeting and a demonstration of the device, Tony was in. He would also bring Andrea who handles a lot of his website commerce. CarKeeps, LLC was formed.