Paige Charlebois Drews

I attribute my success to the guidance of my parents and the inspiration of my family. My mother taught me to “make the main thing the main thing,” shaping my focus and priorities, while my father reminded me that I am beautiful in body, mind, and soul—empowering me to recognize my impact and potential. A formative memory of meeting my great aunt Kitty, a 113-year-old suffragette and the first woman to vote in her city, showed me the power of resilience and determination. These lessons have shaped my values, leadership approach, and the way I engage with both my career and the people around me.

The best career advice I’ve ever received came from my parents. My mother taught me to “make the main thing the main thing,” keeping me focused on what truly matters, while my father consistently reminded me, “You’re a beautiful woman, and you can do anything,” encouraging me to recognize my power and potential. I was also deeply inspired by my great aunt Kitty, a 113-year-old suffragette and the first woman to vote in her city, whose courage and determination shaped the path I’ve taken in my career.

My advice for women is to remember where you came from. Remember the ancestors, and the shoulders, and the ladders that they have provided for you. Please do know this: confidence is overrated, and confidence is earned. When you don't feel the self-confidence, lean on those who have come before you, who also did not have the confidence. What they did have was the courage, and that is instilled in our genes. We have forever been the weaker sex, forever been light in muscle, forever been the weakest of the sexes in so many ways, even when it comes to the persecution of women. But what we have always had, and what we have forgotten, is that we are truly courageous, because courage doesn't happen in the safe places - courage happens in fear. We have lived in a lot of fear, and that resonates for women everywhere. We walk in the dark, and it's scary. A man walks in the dark, and he looks at the stars. We've got to remember all of those who came before us who provided us the light, because they were courageous. So if you don't feel the confidence today, remember the courage.

The biggest challenge and opportunity in my field right now is getting life-saving service dogs into the hands of people who desperately need them. I have a friend with Type 1 diabetes whose dog has saved her life over two dozen times with a zero percent fail rate - the dog has never missed an alert. Her dog is the one that saves her life, not her pump or glucose meter. The last time almost didn't work because when her dog woke her up at 2 in the morning, she was dazed and confused from low blood sugar, tried to call with her phone but wasn't able to, and sunk into a grand mal seizure for what they believed to be between 4 and 6 hours. She spent the next 2 weeks in ICU. That's how fast you have to be able to react - there is no Apple Watch or device out there that is going to catch that and get you the help you need. The challenge is that it should not require an act of Congress to put dogs in the hands of the people that need them most. There are waiting lists out the wazoo for service dogs. My goal is to provide technology that makes service dogs more effective and accessible, especially for children with diabetes, veterans with PTSD, and elderly people aging in place. We spend billions of dollars on elder care and personal emergency response systems, but we've dropped the ball when it comes to leveraging our most loyal companions - dogs we've domesticated for 15,000 years.

The most important values in my work and personal life are courage, remembering where I came from, and honoring the legacy of those who came before me. I believe in bringing beauty to places of darkness - that's something I'm really proud of myself for. I'm driven by a sense of mission and purpose rather than money. I'm not very money-motivated, but money does offer freedom, and I am working for that freedom. Right now, I don't get paid anything for my work with The Good Dog because I am compelled to do it from a dream I had. I picked up that mantle and I'm carrying it forward. I also deeply value the bond between humans and animals, and I'm committed to making a meaningful impact for vulnerable communities - whether that's people with disabilities, veterans, the aging population, or children with serious health conditions. I believe in having the courage to act even when you don't feel confident, and in respecting the shoulders and ladders that ancestors and pioneers like my great aunt Kitty provided for us.