Introducing Dana Zaloom, Privacy and Safety Director at Facechipz.com

We are pleased to introduce Dana Zaloom, who is making the world of social networking safer for pre-teens, and along the way giving their parents some peace of mind. We hope you enjoy connecting on twitter and facebook with Dana and getting to know her (we certainly have). Thanks Dana!  

Hometown: Piedmont, CA

Current Residence: Pacific Palisades, CA

Education: BA from Georgetown University, Masters of Psychology from Pepperdine University

Professional Background: Project manager for MCI Telecommunications from 1985-1988. Married 1987, had 4 children and earned my Masters in Psychology.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: I always knew I wanted to be a mother, but I was also very interested in psychology.

What you are: Privacy and Safety Director at Facechipz.com and a mother to 4 wonderful girls.

Brief Summary of your Start Up: Facechipz.com is an online social network for tweens who are too grown-up for Webkinz and Club Penguin and not grown-up enough for Facebook or MySpace.  Realizing that social networking was here to stay, we tried to create a “prep” school for it.  Teaching kids how to use this type of network in safe and appropriate ways became our major goal.  To ensure our users safety, kids can only connect with other kids they have exchanged a facechipz token with.  The “giver” enters the code on the back of the chip and gives it to a friend they want to be connected to.  That friend enters the same code and the 2 friends are linked.  The facechipz token cannot be used again, except for collecting purposes.  There are no fringe friends, no search engines or advertising. The only link is between the 2 users.  It’s the social networking site that kids can collect but that doesn’t collect them! Safety is also ensured by the requirement of parents actually signing their kids up to use Facechipz.  Parental involvement and awareness are still the best tools out there to keep kids safe.  The site is fun and cool too.  Kids can talk to each other, send messages, choose their own background, upload photos, list their top 11 favorite things and write a secret message. Soon, Facechipz will offer a virtual gift store, games and it’s own version of i-chat.

Company Website? www.facechipz.com

What inspired you? We have four daughters of our own. We found that there really weren’t any online social networks that had enough safety features that allowed us to feel comfortable with the girls communicating with friends online.  We were also hyper-sensitive to the dangers of “fringe friends”.  We started thinking about how a 10 year old could be connected to a friend but not to that friend’s sister, brother and all of their friends. It did not seem appropriate that a 10 year old could view pictures of high school and college kids, let alone talk to them or vice versa.

How long have you been in business? Facechipz.com launched in the fall of 2009.

How did you fund it? Out of our hard earned savings.

Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? You know, I look around and see so many women who are doing such amazing things and their strength and determination gave me courage to step out and take a chance on this project!!

Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? I’m very active with my family and children in their school groups.

Current Business Challenge? The biggest challenge with Facechipz is getting the chips in the kids hands, and getting parents to understand that a dollar registration fee ensures their child’s safety.   We are trying to educate parents; to let them know that we have created a safer alternative to social networking as they know it. Convincing this group is our biggest challenge, especially with those parents who have been adamantly opposed to social networking in any form.  Once they are convinced however, these same people have become our best evangelists. Facechipz teaches kids how to be safe and appropriate on-line. We have parent and child versions of a safety resource and how-to guide.  The site also features a swear-word filter and a safety notification system which allows kids to easily report potentially offensive, or inappropriate content as well as cyber-bullying.

What are you doing about it? We are trying to bring parents to that ah-ha moment where they realize that Facechipz is different!  Facechipz is a smart, and safer altenative to traditional social networking.  It also helps teach the kids about acceptable forms of on-line social behavior.

Favorite motivational quote: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do” Eleanor Roosevelt.  She was brilliant!

Family? Yes, my husband who is my partner here at Facechipz, and our four amazing girls.

If so, how do you balance family and business? I am a mother first, then a business partner. When the kids are in school, I put on my Facechipz hat and go to work.  When they come home though, I am all theirs.  I love to cook so we eat dinner most nights together as a family and discuss the events of the day.  It’s after the dishes are done however that we go upstairs and look at new concepts, talk about ideas or answer FAQ’s for Facechipz.  We definitely ask for the girl’s opinions and input.  They have been a constant source of imagination, advice and inspiration.  They have been involved in the design and usability of the site since the very beginning. The whole venture is one, big collaboration!

Favorite book? This changes frequently, but at the moment I would say, Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson.  It is an inspiring story about Greg, the author, bringing hope and help to the children, especially the young girls, of impoverished Pakistan.  His heartfelt promise to come to their aid, and his subsequent journey made this book both awe-inspiring and adventurous.

What do you do to relax? I love cooking, taking walks with our dogs Leo and Lily, and I love to read.  I also enjoy making wreaths and mirrors from shells I collect while summering in Nantucket.

What do you want to change most about your world? Right now my world is the internet.  What I hope to change is to make it a safer place for kids!

What are you most proud of? My family. The girls are evolving into their fantastic selves in front of my eyes at warp speed.  I want to savor all the moments I have with them now, both good and bad!  I know they are learning from me but they have no idea how much I am learning from them!  They are the air in my lungs. My husband George is a saint, pure and simple.  He completes our family circle with his enthusiasm, kindness, love and amazing work ethic.  He has more energy than all of us put together and a positive attitude which is contagious. His confidence in doing the right thing has always led us down the best paths in life.  Individually, we are all just fine but as a family we are really something else!

What advice would you like to offer other Start Up Princesses? As Winston Churchill once said “Never, Never, Never give up”. When we first started talking about the idea for Facechipz almost 2 years ago we knew nothing about manufacturing or building a website/social network, let alone marketing and selling it. When the whole concept became overwhelming, we broke it down into small, doable segments.  First we got the chip into our hands just the way we wanted it to look and feel.  Then we found the right people to build the site etc…  It is a process that you take one step at a time.  You can’t let fear of failing stop you.  You must forge ahead and always try your best. How can you succeed if you don’t try? So, here I sit, writing about something that was a darn good idea which became a reality through hard work, perserverance and great people.

Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? I would have to say my iphone. It keeps me organized!

If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? Well this one is easy: Diamonds!! It is my birthstone and it is one of the best stones out there! (But I also love blue sapphires!)