Affordable Health Technology

Chérie Oduwole's entrepreneurial journey was largely inspired by her mother, a senior physician who worked night shifts after the family moved to Canada as a child. What ended up seeing her mom through was her smartwatch, which helped her stay healthy and balanced. When she got older, Oduwole saw how expensive such technology can be, which "made me realize quality health tech was being gatekept by price, and that everyday people, healthcare workers, immigrants, shift workers and families like mine, were being left out of the wellness revolution. " So, she launched Trevit, a British Columbian company that sells feature-packed smartwatches at a fraction of the price tech giants charge, to bridge that access gap. Editor’s Note: Trevit has been named to The Story Exchange’s 2026 list of 15 Brilliant Business Ideas. Here's our lightly edited Q&A, with Oduwole. How is your business different from others in your industry? Trevit operates in a space dominated by corporations with hundreds of millions of dollars for marketing budgets, and we compete not by trying to match them, but by doing what they fundamentally cannot. Every customer who reaches out speaks directly to the founder. Every piece of feedback reaches the manufacturer immediately. There is no customer service script, and no waiting. Just a real person who built this and genuinely cares. We also have one-on-one conversations with our customers that most big brands would never have. If someone reaches out and we genuinely feel the Trevit Smartwatch is not the right fit for them, we say so directly and point them to the next best thing. Our customers are not dollar signs. They are people, and we treat them that way. That level of honesty is rare in this industry, and it is something no corporate brand can replicate without losing the very structure that makes them profitable. And unlike any major brand in this space, Trevit is fully bootstrapped, founder-led, and built by a woman working three jobs who refuses to wait for permission to compete. Tell us about your biggest success so far. It may be absurd, but our biggest success is not a single moment. I tried to think of the "biggest," and even on days when we had sales volumes that surprised me, I didn't feel as successful as the days I received messages from people telling me that they love the watch, and thanking me for creating a direct and affordable avenue. A customer placed an order for her whole family of seven, because she believed they all needed the same show of love my mom received when she got her watch. Seeing people replicate that care to others moved me to tears. What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Trevit is entirely self-funded, meaning every dollar made goes straight back into the business. That creates a sequential growth model that works, but means we are not reaching people fast enough. Every day without a larger investment is another day someone buys a $500 watch they will struggle to afford, when Trevit was right there waiting for them. Scaling up compounds that challenge. Growth requires capital, and capital requires proof of scale, which creates a frustrating catch-22 for early stage founders who are already proving their model works. The discrimination piece is real and takes multiple forms. As a Black woman building in tech, I have received genuinely ugly comments questioning my credibility due to my race and gender, comparing Trevit unfavourably to bigger brands deemed more trustworthy simply because of their size and the face behind them. I address this by letting the product speak for itself. Beyond that, there is a quieter but equally damaging form of discrimination based on revenue. Most organizations will not pay attention unless you are already in the spotlight or already making millions. That directly limits how quickly Trevit reaches the people the brand was built for. But I continue to knock on every door anyway, documenting every win, and building the kind of track record that eventually makes gatekeepers irrelevant. Have you experienced any significant personal situations that have affected your business decisions? Not having the funds to scale quickly has shaped every decision I make. It has meant moving slower than I would like, being selective about where I spend time, money and energy, and sometimes having to lay low when I would rather be pushing forward. Every strategy has had to be creative rather than capital-driven, which has taught me to be resourceful in ways I would not have learned otherwise. But it has also meant that people who need Trevit are finding it later than they should. What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? For the love of your dreams, and for everyone who would appreciate what you are building, keep putting your foot in the door. The world is unfortunately run largely on capital and connections, and that reality is not fair. But even the small handful of people who find your work, who believe in it and look up to you, make every rejection worth it. Those people exist. Keep going until you find them! How do you find inspiration on your darkest days? I let myself feel. I'm allowed to be sad when things are not going as expected, and pretending otherwise does not help anyone. When I have finished being sad, I pray, spend time with family, have concerts in the shower and slowly come back to the problems with fresher eyes. I'm a very anxious, want-to-fix-it-now kind of person, so one of the most valuable things I have learned is how to slow down and breathe. What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days? I would be cheating on the rest of my playlist by naming just one. Let's just say there's a carefully curated collection, and the song depends entirely on the specific flavor of tough day I'm having. Who is your most important role model? Jesus Christ, specifically for his patience. There are days I want to give up and tear my hair out; days I'm exhausted working three jobs and barely keeping up with bills; and days the rejections stack up and the sales slow down. But then I think about someone who gave up everything, with no guarantee or care for recognition or reward, someone who loved people despite being hated, and who just kept going. That reminds me that what I'm building is bigger than finances. Instagram: @trevitribeFacebook: Trevit Share your story! Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-upWatch our latest videosSubscribe to our podcast

Affordable Health Technology

A Budget-Friendly Smartwatch for Those Who Can’t Afford Big Brands

The Story Exchange

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