Engineering with Empathy

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of On The Fly! host Joan Kaup sits down with Valda Freeman-Karmo, electrical engineer, mother, and social entrepreneur whose company, AARON Wearable Tech, was born from love, urgency, and lived experience.Inspired by her sons with cognitive disabilities and the realities families face during interactions with first responders, Valda set out to design technology that could save lives. The result is a wearable system—part hardware, part software—that uses GPS and communication tools to help first responders quickly understand when someone has a cognitive disability or mental health challenge.Together, Joan and Valda unpack:How personal experience sparked a mission-driven tech startupWhy AARON Wearable Tech operates at the intersection of SaaS and social impactThe realities of funding a company through grants, bootstrapping, and sheer persistenceWhat makes funding tech startups different from funding social enterprisesHow Flywheel’s milestone-based grants helped turn an idea into a viable productWhy accelerators, advisors, and community are essential for founders building complex solutionsValda also shares candid insights on patience, humility, and why hearing the basics over and over again—from different perspectives—can be the key to long-term success.This episode is a must-listen for founders navigating funding, caregivers advocating for safer systems, and anyone interested in how technology can be designed with dignity, empathy, and purpose at its core.At Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, we support founders who build solutions where purpose meets profit. Learn how Flywheel coaches entrepreneurs, funds early milestones, and helps social impact ventures grow at flywheelcincinnati.org.