In 2010-2011 I was the owner of a Mortgage Brokerage firm called Downey Mortgage & Financial Inc. I wanted to innovate and provide my customers with quality service that led to the development of a loan proposal and secure file sharing technology called UNUS Loan Proposal Technology, and then evolved into Titanfile Secure File Sharing Technology. I received business financing from the CBDC Blue Water Corporation (CYBF) and Credit Union Atlantic (CUA) and matched those contributions with my own individual funds.
The resources were originally allocated to a traditional brick and mortar office setup; however I quickly realized the need to also have an online platform to maximize our service reach. This was a time of massive Social Media and Software as a Service (SaaS) expansion. I went on Kijii to look for a developer to help the firm adapt to the technology market. I knew sales and marketing but I wasn’t a programmer. My Ad was answered by a young man named Milian Verkic, a Canadian Newcomer from Serbia who just recently moved from Vancouver, BC to Halifax.
The name of his company was Mojo Labs, he built websites and had a programming background, I hired Milan to assist with the development Downey Mortgage & Financial Inc. Over the course of the next months my world as I knew it would be flipped upside down and the individuals who I allowed in my inner circle would end up betraying me which led to my exile from Nova Scotia for almost a decade.
It wasn’t just one relationship and or organization but a combination of many factors that led to me having to leave Atlantic Canada back in 2011. While I invested my heart and soul into my business and provided many customers with quality service overall my dreams crashed and burned while the foundation of the work I started was celebrated, exulted and rewarded. I’ve been thinking about writing this post for many years, probably since 2016 seriously however I never could quite find the words, my emotions where still too charged however in this moment now I feel it is finally time to share my truth and put this issue to rest.
As a founder of the secure file sharing company called Titanfile I never received any acknowledgment or contribution. This company eventually sold to Hitachi for over $3 million dollars and continues to operate and be a reliable service for many today. Before it reached a croperate exist it was small start-up Milan and I were responsible for its inception and then a man named Tony came into the picture because of his superior technical expertise.