We hear it all the time. "My kids know not to touch it." "We've had the talk." "They know better."
And maybe they do. But awareness of a rule and awareness of a moment are two very different things.
Kids are curious. Friends come over. Emotions run high. People go through hard times. The best-intentioned household can still have a bad day — and a bad day with unsecured firearms can be irreversible.
That's part of what we talked about when Mike and I sat down with Michael Sodini on the Walk the Talk America podcast.
About Michael and Walk the Talk America
If you haven't come across Michael's work, it's worth your time. He's a third-generation firearms industry professional who founded Walk the Talk America in 2018 — a nonprofit that does something genuinely rare: it brings the firearms community and mental health professionals together to find practical solutions to reduce harm, without politics or blame. He's spoken at the Aspen Ideas Festival and the White House, and the organization has built real bridges between two communities that rarely sit at the same table.
He's also just a thoughtful, honest person to have a conversation with. Which is why we said yes immediately when he invited us on.
Watch the Episode
What We Talked About
We covered a lot of ground. A few highlights:
The real stories that inspired Kini. We didn't set out to build a product. We set out to solve a problem we kept seeing — situations where something had happened and no one knew until it was too late. Awareness is the gap. Kini is our answer to that gap.
How the device actually works. Kini SafeAlert is a tamper alert device, not a motion sensor. It sits inside or on your safe, cabinet, or case, and sends you a text, email, or app notification the moment it's physically moved or opened. No cameras. No GPS. No subscription. Just awareness, in real time.
Why we designed it the way we did. No subscriptions was a deliberate choice. We didn't want cost or friction to be the reason someone didn't have this layer of awareness. And privacy mattered to us from day one — we're not in the business of collecting data or tracking anyone.
How awareness tools complement suicide prevention. This part of the conversation meant a lot to us. Secure storage is important. But a lock doesn't tell you anything. Kini adds the knowledge layer — so if something is accessed when it shouldn't be, you know immediately, and you have time to respond.
What it's like building a safety product from scratch. We talked honestly about the COVID-era supply chain chaos, what it took to get Kini designed and assembled in-house, and what it means to be a small company trying to do something that matters.
And Michael asks every guest how they tend to their mental health. We answered honestly.
Prefer to listen?
Find episode 167 on the Walk the Talk America podcast.
If Michael's work resonates with you, follow Walk the Talk America. They're building something important.
And if you've been thinking about adding an awareness layer to your secure storage, you know where to find us!
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