Brown Grad’s Startup Is Revolutionizing Social Work Communication

Brown Grad’s Startup Is Revolutionizing Social Work Communication

When Michelle Peterson saw a need for better communication tools for social workers, the then-Brown student went to work, creating what would become TextUp, a revolutionary communications software.

Now a recent graduate, Peterson says she is thrilled to be working on TextUp full-time along with her co-founder. The service allows social workers to communicate with clients on a secure platform that allows for separation between their personal and professional lives. The idea came to her when she witnessed social workers who were forced to use their personal phone for work purposes.

“Ideally, a company would provide a work phone that is completely separate from a personal device,” Peterson said. “But for a lot of places, that’s just not an option.”

TextUp is a more affordable way to create separate lines of communication through any internet-accessible device. The service provides a phone number that is unique from a personal number and allows for both phone calls and text messages.

“Using a personal phone for social work is actually a violating of patients’ rights under HIPAA laws,” Peterson added. “TextUp solves that problem by using a different phone number.”

Peterson and her partner have already won two awards for TextUp, one from Brown University and this year’s first prize in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. Though it’s just the two of them working, for now, she hopes to expand as TextUp becomes more widely used.