February 24, 2012
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Life for Zuhariah Scott Washington is hectic, even by New York standards. The Manhattanite is in full-startup mode on Kahnoodle, a mobile application that helps couples maintain healthy relationships. The app is in private beta and slated to launch "shortly," she says. As an African-American entrepreneur, Scott Washington is a minority in the technology space. (Check out "The Real Story Behind Being Black in Silicon Valley.")
Raised by a working class single mother in Los Angeles, Scott Washington (pictured) was surrounded by affluent students and, instead of feeling intimidated, always saw their wealth as attainable.
“We would look at nice houses, and I used to think, ‘why not us?’" she says.
Her drive took her to University of California, Los Angeles and onto an internship in New York City that exposed her to industries such as media, government and finance. Fascinated by the world of business, Scott Washington took a job in urban economic development after graduation. From there, it was on to Harvard Law School, where she graduated in 2005 with a joint degree in business and law.
She worked in the private sector, spent time living in London and then got married to her partner, Marc, in 2010. It was then that the entrepreneurial bug bit her.
“[I] got the idea for Kahnoodle because I want to stay happily married forever,” she says. “I grew up in a broken home so my relationship with my husband is very important to me.”
The application offers seven love signs, like quality time and affection. Each partner downloads the app and then ranks the love signs in order of importance to them. Every time you do something that aligns with a sign for your partner, they recognize you in the application by giving you a "kudos," she explains. The goal is to reach a minimum threshold of kudos per month.
“It really enables couples to be cognizant of how well they are investing in their relationship,” Scott Washington says.
Right now, she is working with five freelancers and is using her own money to get the company off the ground.
What challenges has she faced as an African American in the workplace?
“It is often difficult to find investors because networks in place are generally polarized along racial lines,” she says. “I’ve had to develop those relationships myself.”
(Read more on minority-owned businesses.)
Photo credit: Courtesy company
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