I watched as my friend’s face visibly fell and I could almost feel the dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach that I knew she felt every time she saw that her ex-husband had sent her yet another email. I had never been married, but I had been in enough horrible relationships to know the stress that came along with acrimonious communications. In my friend’s case, they had both moved on long ago, but they had a child, and therefore co-parenting was necessary. But the vitriol coming from his side was palpable. The emotions were high. It was like an endless battle via email, phone, or text, and just checking her messages no doubt caused great anxiety. She couldn’t just ignore him, as they needed to work together for their child, but what if there was a better way? What if there was a way to defuse the trauma involved in constantly fighting with your ex?

I recently had the opportunity to interview Vanessa Carson, the founder of Defuze.io, a cutting-edge platform redefining what it means to co-parent in today’s world. She explained that co-parenting is when parents collaborate post-separation to raise their children, ensuring their well-being and stability. It spans everything from high-conflict scenarios, where “parallel parenting” is often more accurate, to more harmonious setups that include extended family networks. Vanessa has spent years herself navigating the complexities of co-parenting, constantly adapting to challenges while focusing on her children’s needs. She describes her experience as a journey of resilience, patience, and learning the value of clear communication, and especially boundaries. Every family is unique, but prioritizing shared goals for the children remains at the heart of it all. One of the toughest aspects of co-parenting is balancing the mental load while maintaining consistency for the children involved. Another challenge is when communication breaks down, a key area that Vanessa has worked hard to address with her platform, Defuze.

Defuze is a platform designed for separated and single parents, as well as extended families, to streamline communication, manage logistics, and collaborate more effectively. It’s not just about reducing conflict – it’s about simplifying life for modern families. The platform even includes channel access for grandparents, caregivers, and others involved in raising children. In phase two, Defuze will extend support beyond the child-rearing years. Defuze harnesses its own AI, THEA, to make communication constructive and neutral, reducing unnecessary conflict and ‘noise’. It also helps with scheduling, task management, and tracking shared responsibilities, making planning effortless for busy families.

Vanessa explains how she came up with the idea for Defuze as beginning with a lightbulb moment, but says the real magic has been the synchronicity of the journey. Meeting the right people at just the right time – team members, advisors, and collaborators – has been instrumental in bringing her vision to life. Developing Defuze.io has taken just under a year, with the real milestones coming from connecting with the right people at critical stages. Collaboration and timing have been key in shaping the platform. Building it has been a testament to the strength of a shared vision and the magic of timing. Defuze is accessible on both smartphones and laptops, giving families the flexibility to use it in the way that works best for them.

The universal challenge amongst humans is communication. Defuze incorporates an AI tool called THEA to respond without emotion to those potentially nasty exchanges between co-parents, even if the other partner is not open to using the tool. Vanessa understands that every word carries meaning and words can have an enormous impact. The whole idea behind THEA is to avoid escalation in those potentially ugly exchanges and create a more harmonious, successful separated household environment which reduces, and hopefully eliminates, the trauma on the children involved. Phase two will extend beyond the child rearing years and THEA will be harnessed for additional application as well as co-parenting.

Vanessa Carson’s motivation comes from her own children and the mission behind Defuze. Her driving force is knowing that this platform can help families navigate challenges and reduce stress. Defuze isn’t just a tech solution or app – it’s an ecosystem and a reflection of the power of collaboration. It is especially unique because Vanessa and her team are building a community around the platforms, which will extend to physical events they will be launching in the near future. It’s all about empowering modern families – separated parents, single parents, and extended networks – to thrive.

Inspired by her own experiences navigating single and parallel parenting, Vanessa is on a mission to empower parents with practical tools, fostering collaboration, resilience, and independence. Her vision? To create a world where parents thrive, not just survive.

If you would like to learn more about Vanessa Carson and Defuze, please visit www.defuze.io.

This article was originally published on OpsLens.com.