OUR STORY
Our Journey
Quinan Labs was founded by Rose, a woman whose unique journey through technology, philosophy, and personal challenges led to a mission of building bridges through honest, community-focused solutions.
Our founder, Rose, is an intersex woman who discovered early that technology could build bridges where society often creates divides. Growing up different shaped her perspective, but she found acceptance through supportive friends, family, and online communities that technology made possible.
Rose showed exceptional technological aptitude from a young age: installing operating systems at 11, building private servers by 13, and developing websites and games at 15. Her interests expanded to creative writing, where she built an audience of 60,000 readers, launched a photography business, and pursued philosophy in university.
During her studies, Rose faced significant challenges with gender dysphoria and mental health. She struggled with stigma, substance use, and psychosis. With support from her patient family, the compassionate Nova Scotian community, and dedicated healthcare practitioners, she achieved full recovery and sobriety.
Returning to technology felt like coming home. Rose quickly advanced through positions at Apple, CGI, and the Federal Government. She became one of North America's top Apple technicians, managed a team of 40 technicians, and served as an analyst handling complex issues for the Canadian government. Throughout this journey, she remained connected to her philosophical roots, publishing a book examining how rapid technological change affects our social institutions.
Working in both private industry and public service, Rose witnessed the growing divisions that technology can sometimes amplify rather than heal. She saw how the pace of change has fractured our shared understanding of truth, while various groups claim moral authority or retreat into conspiracy theories. Politicians often exploit these divisions for corporate or personal gain.
Rose realized that advancing professionally meant nothing if she wasn't helping to build bridges instead of digging trenches. This conviction led to the creation of Quinan Labs.
The company takes its name from a tiny Acadian village whose residents, descendants of both French settlers and Mi'kmaq peoples, once lived between worlds. Too Catholic for the English, too mixed for the French, and a painful reminder of colonization for the Mi'kmaq, they nonetheless represented something vital: the possibility of connection across difference.
That's what drives our work today. We use technology to create honest solutions that foster connection, safety, and understanding. No grift. No exploitation. No hidden agendas.
We don't need a hero. We need a neighborhood.
We have to build it, together.