Connecting Families

When it comes to communicating with his family, Jason Brown, like most, used multiple apps to talk, send files or share pictures. The entrepreneur and CEO of Family Central, a mobile sharing application, could never truly connect to the ones he loved when he traveled for business.

“Our communication was dictated depending on where I was around the world, or what carrier each person in my family had, and taking videos and group calling became a mess,” says Brown, who created the Family Central app after having this realization back in 2014.

Designed to be an all-in-one application for any mobile device or web browser, Family Central goes beyond the traditional forms of calls and texts. The app allows families to upload all forms of media, prepare for emergencies, share and access personal documents, track loved ones’ locations, manage estate plans, create legacy videos for the future and more. Family Central, Brown says, will launch this fall after being put on hold until he sold his most recent company, Persona, to Nestlé Health Science.

“I like simplicity and what better way to organize our daily lives and keep up with the family than a single platform that lets you celebrate the good, and prepare for the potential bad,” he says. “And it’s built with cybersecurity in mind, because if you trust your bank app, you can trust this app.”

What makes Brown, 65, confident in his newest enterprise?  The nine multimillion-dollar companies he ran in the past.

He built brands like Organic to Go, Columbia Sportswear, Custom Nutrition Services and Persona, a dietary supplement company. Brown says his inspiration and success come from living an ordinary life as well as from his team of technologists and technology partner of 22 years, Prem Thudia.

“I really liked organic food, and I loved nutrition, just like I enjoy spending time with my family. Every idea I turned into fruition came from trying to solve a problem or a curiosity in my life,” says Brown, who recently relocated to Boca Raton after traveling the globe. He notes that Family Central is the last business he would build from the ground up.

Brown has plans to donate proceeds from the app to reconnect servicemen and women in the military with their families. While he does not have a military background, Brown does have a long-standing passion for supporting those who serve and protect us across all military branches. He sees providing them with the opportunity and tools necessary to remain connected with their families while deployed, traveling or training as a way to pay it forward.

“The feeling we all get when we see a family member return is something everyone should have, and with Family Central that can happen,” he says.