Victoria talks to Michele about the premise of Playroom and its goal of giving parents a network, a safe social community where parents are able to know and easily communicate with people associated with their children and also provide specific options to maintain boundaries when it comes to their privacy and safety, the challenges families face in raising kids and maintaining a career, and new features she wants the app to include, such as finding nearby restrooms while out and about.

Neuroscientist Michele Veldsman (inset) said that once she started counting her failures, she started to see more success. "I no longer take negative feedback personally. I don't dwell on failures, I collect them," she says.

From her early fascination with neuroscience to establishing a startup designed to make parenting easier, safer and more connected Dr. Michele’s story is a practical guide through academia's rigors, the transition to industry, and the leap into entrepreneurship. This article peels back the curtain on her strategic career moves, the importance of networking, and how she turned setbacks into stepping stones, providing a blueprint for those aspiring to carve their own paths in similar fields.