Joan Dao

Joan Dao started Ilesovi after watching her mother lose more than a handbag in a violent robbery and struggle for months to feel comfortable going out alone. She joins John Boitnott to explain how that experience became a patented anti-theft handbag, why security products fail when they ignore fashion and usability, and what years of prototyping taught her about manufacturing, patents, investors, and customer trust. Dao also shares why building a useful invention means solving the physical problem without asking women to give up the products they already want to carry.