Metro Detroit woman launches wardrobe app, credits Detroit-based tech group for helping
(CBS DETROIT) - An organization in Detroit is working to promote diversity and inclusion in technology.
Detroiter Kaleena Eugene-Louis is the founder of Zero to Wear, a wardrobe tool that helps women organize and optimize their closets by uploading pictures of what's already in there to mix and match outfits from the palm of their hands, making finding outfits for work and events a lot easier.
"It feels very unreal for me," Eugene-Louis said. "I'm a nontechnical Black woman who's leading in tech in different avenues."
It sounds like an oxymoron, right? But according to Eugene-Louis, she's not a software developer; she doesn't know how to code, but what she does know how to do is take a product from ideation to creation.
"I want women to feel creative," Eugene-Louis said. "I want women to feel empowered."
In an attempt to empower others, she's empowered herself.
Eugene-Louis is a mom and program director for a nonprofit. Now, she's the boss behind her own brand, joining a small pool of women who have done something similar.
According to Statista, in 2021, women represented just 14% of solo startup founders. Eugene-Louis credits Black Tech Saturdays (BTS) with aiding in her success.
BTS was founded by Alexa Turnage and her husband, Johnny Turnage, just shy of a year ago. Alexa Turnage says the group started with five people in a room deciding to cultivate a community around a particular cause.
"A lot of people in technology were just building in silos, and they weren't really connecting, and we were all kind of just building in our own little corners and at home, and we were like, we've got you; bring us together," Turnage said.
To be a woman in tech, you have to be a little fearless."
By bringing others together, people creating tech tools like Eugene-Louis are better equipped to thrive and lift the next generation of tech innovators as they climb.
