speaker-0: Thank you so much for taking the time to sit and chat with me. ⁓ can we just start with what your responsibilities are here at Tender Care?
speaker-1: Yeah. So Lindsay Clovitter and I am the I guess head of design or lead design. ⁓ I'm all things design. so I ⁓ design our mobile app ⁓ as well as work on our website and our print collateral and any like physical pieces or digital pieces that get sent out ⁓ for consumers and now our trusted network, I get to be the one to help bring those to life for people.
speaker-0: Amazing. What's your background in design?
speaker-1: So I started out, it's kind of funny, I actually ⁓ kind of self-taught ⁓ learning Photoshop and Illustrator a long time ago when I used to have a former career in real estate sales and marketing. So I started out by creating like flyers and brochures and postcards for real estate sales. and then so I taught myself those ⁓ tools and then I kind of found myself leaning a bit more and more into that like marketing side of things. and ⁓ did a little bit of a career pivot about twelve years ago into UX and UI. And then I just kind of found myself working in digital spaces and designing digital experiences for people. And ⁓ one of my first jobs was ⁓ working with Cambia Health Solutions and it was about working on ⁓ member experiences for insurance. And so helping people when they log into their like Blue Cross Blue Shield experience to help them navigate their healthcare benefits. And so I just kind of kept finding myself in these roles for healthcare related. And I just kind of fell in love with helping people create experiences that were kind of meant to be helping them in a little bit of a tri trickier situation that they maybe don't really like being in. ⁓ I found that You know, there's kind of a difference in being someone who is designing for e-commerce or other, you know, like Instagram apps or things like that where people they're using those things 'cause they want to and they're enjoyable. And then there's a whole side of the world that people don't want to interact with certain things and they just have to. ⁓ and so looking at how to kind of make those experiences a little bit more enjoyable for people.
speaker-0: You said you fell into ⁓ this space. What is d ⁓ did you s is it something that you sought out or is this just a space that you're highly like in ⁓ curious about?
speaker-1: So I kind of ⁓ it happened by chance, I guess. ⁓ just kind of getting introduced to one person that led to another conversation that led to a role. ⁓ and then the more that I worked in healthcare, ⁓ just the more that I found meaning in what I was doing. So I kind of then created myself this like I'm a mission driven designer. Like I'm I design for purpose and I design to help people in those situations that ⁓ you know, they're dealing with situations or experiences that are not pleasant. and so I didn't really seek it out. I think it kind of found me. and I've just kind of felt like that's where I'm supposed to be. Yeah. ⁓ I was introduced to Shauna through ⁓ an acquaintance and ⁓ they said, you know, they're looking for to hire a freelance ⁓ designer to help they're working on a a startup.
speaker-0: So how'd you find Tendercare?
speaker-1: And they need some more people to kind of come and help bring this to life. And so I met with her. And I mean, anyone who talks to Shauna, she just has such a moving story. And I am pretty sure I cried like in my interview with her. I was just like, ⁓ my God, I love what you're doing and I just want to be part of it. and you know, just hearing her speak about her story and her purpose. ⁓ I was just like literally moved to tears ⁓ and wanted to join on. And so I came on and I worked, I think I just kind of worked like part-time with the team a little bit here and there. And I kind of would come and go a little bit of like, you know, I'd work with them for like six months and then we'd kind of pull back a little bit and I'd worked with some other clients and I just like kept finding myself like going back to like them and being like, you know, I want to be part of this team like full time. I wanna like I wanna this is where I want to be. and then I think that I don't know how long maybe I'd been working with a team a little bit for maybe about like six months or so. And and my mom had ⁓ my mom had gotten diagnosed with Parkinson's and I just remember being in like a meeting with Sean and a few other people and I just like broke down in tears and I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I just like blurted it out and I just felt like they would understand. ⁓ And so what really started out as just like my, you know, interest in helping other people really became this like selfish thing of like, okay, now I have to start thinking about me and like how how I want to like help leave this footprint on caregivers. And ⁓ my mom is very independent, but ⁓ you know, at some point she's gonna need a lot more care. And so ⁓ my brother and I kind of help like we oversee a lot of things with her. and just to, you know, make sure that she we're we're anticipating eventually that we'll have to step in a lot more. But for now, you know, we're we're trying to enable her to be as independent as possible. And you know, it's just kind of like this thing that weighs on you where you're like, okay, now I'm a parent and now I'm starting to have to like think about parenting my parents and how that kind of affects things. And so just as my parents have been getting older, I think about you know, stepping in more and trying to help them ⁓ take things off their plate and, you know, how Tendercare can help do that too. So I have all of my family in the Tendercare app. I've got my parents, my son, my husband, myself. ⁓ and you know, I use our own family situations to make sure that I'm, you know, testing out things that I'm trying to give to other people and making sure that it works for myself too.
speaker-0: Yeah, do you think that's a that's a huge reason why you continue to stay here at TenderCard? 'Cause you could be anywhere. I mean, you're a talented designer, you could be with any team in the world. Like what is a anchoring you here?
speaker-1: It's it's definitely the mission and just like the people that we're helping. I just I feel like so strongly that what we're doing is really going to help change lives and ⁓ you know, making it easier on people and such a like critical time in their lives. ⁓ you know, the thought of like there's there's a saying of like there's no design emergencies and like nothing is like life or death. And not to like over dramaticize it, but you know, the tender ID is like really something that could help someone in that critical stage. And I think just to be able to be part of that. ⁓ and at such an like early phase of the company, ⁓ to be able to like put our footprint on that space and like really bring that to life. And you know, I know that it's like we're such a small team that everyone has such a critical part in building everything. And I think to be able to have that like be able to say that, you know, 10 years from now that I really helped that company like hopefully become really successful is kind of what's you know, I wanna be part of that. I wanna be able to say that in ten years. So
speaker-0: I've heard good design is not supposed to be ⁓ seen I guess by the regular person. It's just supposed to be something that looks like it's supposed to. So what sort of feedback do you get from users knowing or w how like what kind of feedback do you get where you can see how well your design was for this particular product or whatever it was that you designed?
speaker-1: I think ⁓ I mean, we take like literally every piece of feedback that we get, we take to heart and we, you know, it's we share it out with everybody on the team. So everyone is like receiving that input. And then I think the biggest thing is just trying to make sure that things feel more effortless for people. So when people give us feedback, it's really my like goal is like for them not to feel like the experience prohibited them from doing something and trying to like really get like kind of meld into like their everyday lives. And so I think that when we like are truly designing for people that you know need us, that like it's the it's the things that we're not hearing about. So like when they're giving us feedback about other things they want to see, ⁓ you know, that's awesome. And when they're instead of like complaining about things that they're interacting with, right? Like so it's like every complaint that we receive is like, okay, we can improve that. And then every like the request for something new also kind of gives us that feedback that like, okay, we're doing something right. If they want other things, like they're using this and they're making it like part of their lives. but it's just like design is just like iterative process that it's the more time that we have, like the more we will simplify and we will strip away and, you know, try and cut the noise and the wording is just always evolving, right? Like how can we make our message cleaner and simpler and more direct and like get through to people in a different way.
speaker-0: Can you think of the first time you heard feedback from a caregiver that really stuck with you and showed you that the mission that you're the reason why you're here is important?
speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ well, so even before I joined the team with Tendercare, I've worked with caregivers. So when I ⁓ I've worked on some teams where we were out ⁓ speaking with people and we were in people's homes and we were actually talking to them in person and we were we went to their homes because we wanted to like really immerse ourselves in their lives and really see what they were going through. And I think just when you do that, you really understand like how much weight this role like it has on them. And even when someone is like actually just trying to care for themselves. and so I this one story really stands out to me of this girl. She was, I think like in her early 30s and she had several chronic conditions. And her mom was more or less her caregiver because she couldn't really take ⁓ as much care for herself because her condition limited her from working. ⁓ and she and her mom, we met with them and she brings out this like wicker basket of medications and it was like twenty-three medications. And I was like, my gosh, that's like almost as o as old as she is. and then just like trying them trying to coordinate between each other of like trying to, you know, are these the right medications that they're supposed to be on, advocating for themselves. ⁓ and really like the biggest thing that stood out to me was that they just wanted their time back. And so like that piece really just sticks with me like in every decision that we make is like, is this gonna give someone's time back? Are we making something harder for them? Or are we like actually gonna do something that will let them do something else? ⁓ and we've had stories from caregivers where we've asked them to like describe their perfect day and none of them include caregiving responsibilities. And so it's like, okay, what can we do for these people that will like help them do other things that they would prefer to spend their time on because it's just it's a lot of ⁓ it's a lot of time that they don't get back otherwise.
speaker-0: Yes. I agree. ⁓ now that we've introduced the trusted network and we're going harder with the trusted network, do you think about that in your design process now that we have both sides of the business for caregivers and small businesses? Yeah.
speaker-1: It's I think one of the biggest things that I I don't think we've cracked yet, but I want to I want us to focus on as a team is like how we can start to suggest things to people and like learn from them of like I think understanding when that time of need is. ⁓ you know, in a perfect world they would be coming into the app and they'd be saying, Hey, I think I need a trusted network service. Like, but we know that's not gonna happen, at least for a really long time. So We have to try and find other ways that we can get them to think of us and come to us with these things. ⁓ so that's gonna be, you know, trying to explore other ways that we can ⁓ learn about what's going on in their lives or give them another, maybe another like tool or another I say tool, but maybe another channel for them to reach out to us ⁓ and give us some clues that they have something going on that then we can support them in. Yeah.
speaker-0: ⁓ you talked a a little bit about your initial meeting with Shauna and she has that effect on everybody where it's just a magical moment and she tells her story and it's emotional. Can you explain a little bit about your guys' working relationship?
speaker-1: Yeah. So I think with Shauna, it's, you know, Shauna obviously is like living and breathing the caregiver role, right? So she has like dual hats of she's putting on her caregiver hat and then she's putting on her CEO hat. And then when I get to talk to her, I kind of get like a blended side of it, right? So it's like, ⁓ we're talking about how to well, first of all, we're talking about like what problems we should be solving, and then ⁓ I get to talk with her about like how we should be solving those problems. And so sometimes it's, you know, Shana sketching something out on a piece of paper and being like, okay, now how do we how do we bring this in? And then, you know, working together to try and kind of bring that to life in like digital designs. ⁓ and so and she's sending me lots of like inspiration of things and like ⁓ you know, and I'm sending her voice notes about like a new flow of what I'm thinking of or something. So ⁓ it's a lot of back and forth of us kind of trying to like get on the same wavelength about something and then kind of tackling it and bringing it out and then getting to share it with the rest of the team.
speaker-0: You s do y ⁓ you spend a lot I mean you I know you have a lot of things to design. Like I see your I see sort of what your to do this kind of looks like. I don't really know. ⁓ outside looking in it looks insane. Yeah. ⁓ how much time do you spend in the future of thinking like what does Tendercare look like in the future? Do you spend any time in the future?
speaker-1: Sure. I wish that I got more time to think about that. I think that's kind of like what this, you know, few days is all about is like getting for us getting to talk about what that is. it's a balance because ⁓ there's so much of yeah, clearing off my current to-do list. And then there's like the aspirational things of like, okay, where do we want this to be? What does what does this feature look like in a year from now? Or like where do we want to go so that we can kind of start to. like crawl towards it. ⁓ and so I think that, you know, I I keep a filter on my computer of like inspiration. So I'm constantly I've probably right now I have probably more screenshots of things than I do of my child, which says a lot. But ⁓ it's it's a good healthy balance. But you know, I am I'm constantly looking for resources and inspiration to like help bring something later. ⁓ and so that kind of growing folder is ⁓ definitely top of mind of like, okay, where can we introduce this? And I think one of the things that I try and do in the like short term is try and bring some of those things that we have talked about of nice to have for the future and trying to see like where I can fit them in in our current work. ⁓ so not waiting for like the long term bigger effort and trying to kind of sneak some things in as we go.
speaker-0: So good. Couple more questions, Lindsay. if I had to put you on the spot to forecast sort of what the next twelve months would look like for tender care, what does it look like at the end of it if we get all of this right? For the user, for us, yeah, all of it.
speaker-1: I think what I would love to see is I would love for tender care to be the like first place that someone goes when they need a question answered or need help. I would love for people to feel comfortable and feel like empowered and trusted by us to be able to say like whatever the situation is related to caregiving, I I know where to turn and I know that I can get reliable help. ⁓ and whether that is, you know, looking for trusted network services or ⁓ or just, you know, regular answers to certain things, even if it's like, you know, what's mom's list of medications or what's ⁓ you know, information that they already know, but they like the burden to actually like retrieve that information just might be too much. So I just want us to be that like true companion and resource for people. And I think the way that we can kind of bring that to life for someone is a lot of what we've been talking about of like you know being able to give our caregivers a tool or way for us to learn what's going on in their lives. ⁓ so you know I would love to just like open up a text threat thread with caregivers and just be like, just text us whatever you need. Like it's that like crisis helpline for caregivers. Like tell us everything that's going on and if we can, we're gonna find you the right resources.
speaker-0: Love that. It's so good. ⁓ what gives if anything at all, what gives you hope that this is gonna be the team that's gonna accomplish that?
speaker-1: I mean, just the like heart of everybody on this team. I think n no one is like a we're not just like a nine to five team. We're like all in all the time. And I don't think that anyone has ever said like that's not my job. And I think that that's what kind of makes us a good team for better or worse, maybe. We're all like too willing to help out ⁓ and jump in where we might need ⁓ some extra support. I'll start, I'll give everyone some lessons on Figma so we can get some help there. But I think I think that's like the heart is just really this team just excels at that. And like I think that's the like foundation for everything. Yeah. Like everyone wants to be here. And I think it's just nice to that like no one is like, this is a this is a grind and I like can't wait to go home. It's like no, like we're literally all shacked up in the same house together. Yeah. So
speaker-0: Yeah. So good. Last question. I lied to you about the last two questions, but though this is the last one. In since the time of you starting part time and then becoming full time and in all the time in between, what's like one thing that you've learned, either about yourself or about the way that you work that ⁓ really stuck with you?
speaker-1: Hmm, that's a good one. I think that I I really think that I've like pushed myself a lot in this role where ⁓ and like the team I think has helped do that for me. ⁓ where I think in a lot of other companies, like good would have been fine. And then I think that like as a team that we just like keep kind of like keep pushing and it's like, okay, well that's good. Like what's better or what's best? And ⁓ so I think that being pushed like that is just really made me grow as a designer. and I don't think I would have gotten that somewhere else. I think that good would have been fine. And so I think that yeah, I think when I kind of started this or joined the team full time, it was like part of me questioned like, well can I can I do this? Can I like can I be the like founding solo designer? Because that's a lot of Obviously it's a lot of hats to wear and you know, I haven't worked this much in print in a really long time. And so yeah, like I think that ⁓ that's kind of where it's just kind of evolved me from that sense. And so I feel I feel more confident. I also feel less confident in a lot of things. But yeah, I I'm learning that we can do it together.
speaker-0: Yeah, for sure. I just wanna leave you with this, Lindsay, because I think you're doing such an incredible job. I am so inspired by you. You are so smart and so capable. And just in my the little time that I've spent with you and online and the last offsites, ⁓ I've just seen how hard you work and how intentional you are and ⁓ just how smart of a person and how how much you really care about what it is that we're building. And I think that's why I'm so drawn to the team because like We could just be willy nilly about all of this and that is the the fastest way to not make this work. And that's why I have belief that this is the team that's going to take it to the end. because everybody's just so talented and willing to put in the work. So I I appreciate you.
speaker-1: ⁓ thank you. I appreciate you too. Cool. This is awesome.
speaker-0: Amazing.
speaker-1: Yeah. So Lindsay Clovitter and I am the I guess head of design or lead design. ⁓ I'm all things design. so I ⁓ design our mobile app ⁓ as well as work on our website and our print collateral and any like physical pieces or digital pieces that get sent out ⁓ for consumers and now our trusted network, I get to be the one to help bring those to life for people.
speaker-0: Amazing. What's your background in design?
speaker-1: So I started out, it's kind of funny, I actually ⁓ kind of self-taught ⁓ learning Photoshop and Illustrator a long time ago when I used to have a former career in real estate sales and marketing. So I started out by creating like flyers and brochures and postcards for real estate sales. and then so I taught myself those ⁓ tools and then I kind of found myself leaning a bit more and more into that like marketing side of things. and ⁓ did a little bit of a career pivot about twelve years ago into UX and UI. And then I just kind of found myself working in digital spaces and designing digital experiences for people. And ⁓ one of my first jobs was ⁓ working with Cambia Health Solutions and it was about working on ⁓ member experiences for insurance. And so helping people when they log into their like Blue Cross Blue Shield experience to help them navigate their healthcare benefits. And so I just kind of kept finding myself in these roles for healthcare related. And I just kind of fell in love with helping people create experiences that were kind of meant to be helping them in a little bit of a tri trickier situation that they maybe don't really like being in. ⁓ I found that You know, there's kind of a difference in being someone who is designing for e-commerce or other, you know, like Instagram apps or things like that where people they're using those things 'cause they want to and they're enjoyable. And then there's a whole side of the world that people don't want to interact with certain things and they just have to. ⁓ and so looking at how to kind of make those experiences a little bit more enjoyable for people.
speaker-0: You said you fell into ⁓ this space. What is d ⁓ did you s is it something that you sought out or is this just a space that you're highly like in ⁓ curious about?
speaker-1: So I kind of ⁓ it happened by chance, I guess. ⁓ just kind of getting introduced to one person that led to another conversation that led to a role. ⁓ and then the more that I worked in healthcare, ⁓ just the more that I found meaning in what I was doing. So I kind of then created myself this like I'm a mission driven designer. Like I'm I design for purpose and I design to help people in those situations that ⁓ you know, they're dealing with situations or experiences that are not pleasant. and so I didn't really seek it out. I think it kind of found me. and I've just kind of felt like that's where I'm supposed to be. Yeah. ⁓ I was introduced to Shauna through ⁓ an acquaintance and ⁓ they said, you know, they're looking for to hire a freelance ⁓ designer to help they're working on a a startup.
speaker-0: So how'd you find Tendercare?
speaker-1: And they need some more people to kind of come and help bring this to life. And so I met with her. And I mean, anyone who talks to Shauna, she just has such a moving story. And I am pretty sure I cried like in my interview with her. I was just like, ⁓ my God, I love what you're doing and I just want to be part of it. and you know, just hearing her speak about her story and her purpose. ⁓ I was just like literally moved to tears ⁓ and wanted to join on. And so I came on and I worked, I think I just kind of worked like part-time with the team a little bit here and there. And I kind of would come and go a little bit of like, you know, I'd work with them for like six months and then we'd kind of pull back a little bit and I'd worked with some other clients and I just like kept finding myself like going back to like them and being like, you know, I want to be part of this team like full time. I wanna like I wanna this is where I want to be. and then I think that I don't know how long maybe I'd been working with a team a little bit for maybe about like six months or so. And and my mom had ⁓ my mom had gotten diagnosed with Parkinson's and I just remember being in like a meeting with Sean and a few other people and I just like broke down in tears and I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I just like blurted it out and I just felt like they would understand. ⁓ And so what really started out as just like my, you know, interest in helping other people really became this like selfish thing of like, okay, now I have to start thinking about me and like how how I want to like help leave this footprint on caregivers. And ⁓ my mom is very independent, but ⁓ you know, at some point she's gonna need a lot more care. And so ⁓ my brother and I kind of help like we oversee a lot of things with her. and just to, you know, make sure that she we're we're anticipating eventually that we'll have to step in a lot more. But for now, you know, we're we're trying to enable her to be as independent as possible. And you know, it's just kind of like this thing that weighs on you where you're like, okay, now I'm a parent and now I'm starting to have to like think about parenting my parents and how that kind of affects things. And so just as my parents have been getting older, I think about you know, stepping in more and trying to help them ⁓ take things off their plate and, you know, how Tendercare can help do that too. So I have all of my family in the Tendercare app. I've got my parents, my son, my husband, myself. ⁓ and you know, I use our own family situations to make sure that I'm, you know, testing out things that I'm trying to give to other people and making sure that it works for myself too.
speaker-0: Yeah, do you think that's a that's a huge reason why you continue to stay here at TenderCard? 'Cause you could be anywhere. I mean, you're a talented designer, you could be with any team in the world. Like what is a anchoring you here?
speaker-1: It's it's definitely the mission and just like the people that we're helping. I just I feel like so strongly that what we're doing is really going to help change lives and ⁓ you know, making it easier on people and such a like critical time in their lives. ⁓ you know, the thought of like there's there's a saying of like there's no design emergencies and like nothing is like life or death. And not to like over dramaticize it, but you know, the tender ID is like really something that could help someone in that critical stage. And I think just to be able to be part of that. ⁓ and at such an like early phase of the company, ⁓ to be able to like put our footprint on that space and like really bring that to life. And you know, I know that it's like we're such a small team that everyone has such a critical part in building everything. And I think to be able to have that like be able to say that, you know, 10 years from now that I really helped that company like hopefully become really successful is kind of what's you know, I wanna be part of that. I wanna be able to say that in ten years. So
speaker-0: I've heard good design is not supposed to be ⁓ seen I guess by the regular person. It's just supposed to be something that looks like it's supposed to. So what sort of feedback do you get from users knowing or w how like what kind of feedback do you get where you can see how well your design was for this particular product or whatever it was that you designed?
speaker-1: I think ⁓ I mean, we take like literally every piece of feedback that we get, we take to heart and we, you know, it's we share it out with everybody on the team. So everyone is like receiving that input. And then I think the biggest thing is just trying to make sure that things feel more effortless for people. So when people give us feedback, it's really my like goal is like for them not to feel like the experience prohibited them from doing something and trying to like really get like kind of meld into like their everyday lives. And so I think that when we like are truly designing for people that you know need us, that like it's the it's the things that we're not hearing about. So like when they're giving us feedback about other things they want to see, ⁓ you know, that's awesome. And when they're instead of like complaining about things that they're interacting with, right? Like so it's like every complaint that we receive is like, okay, we can improve that. And then every like the request for something new also kind of gives us that feedback that like, okay, we're doing something right. If they want other things, like they're using this and they're making it like part of their lives. but it's just like design is just like iterative process that it's the more time that we have, like the more we will simplify and we will strip away and, you know, try and cut the noise and the wording is just always evolving, right? Like how can we make our message cleaner and simpler and more direct and like get through to people in a different way.
speaker-0: Can you think of the first time you heard feedback from a caregiver that really stuck with you and showed you that the mission that you're the reason why you're here is important?
speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ well, so even before I joined the team with Tendercare, I've worked with caregivers. So when I ⁓ I've worked on some teams where we were out ⁓ speaking with people and we were in people's homes and we were actually talking to them in person and we were we went to their homes because we wanted to like really immerse ourselves in their lives and really see what they were going through. And I think just when you do that, you really understand like how much weight this role like it has on them. And even when someone is like actually just trying to care for themselves. and so I this one story really stands out to me of this girl. She was, I think like in her early 30s and she had several chronic conditions. And her mom was more or less her caregiver because she couldn't really take ⁓ as much care for herself because her condition limited her from working. ⁓ and she and her mom, we met with them and she brings out this like wicker basket of medications and it was like twenty-three medications. And I was like, my gosh, that's like almost as o as old as she is. and then just like trying them trying to coordinate between each other of like trying to, you know, are these the right medications that they're supposed to be on, advocating for themselves. ⁓ and really like the biggest thing that stood out to me was that they just wanted their time back. And so like that piece really just sticks with me like in every decision that we make is like, is this gonna give someone's time back? Are we making something harder for them? Or are we like actually gonna do something that will let them do something else? ⁓ and we've had stories from caregivers where we've asked them to like describe their perfect day and none of them include caregiving responsibilities. And so it's like, okay, what can we do for these people that will like help them do other things that they would prefer to spend their time on because it's just it's a lot of ⁓ it's a lot of time that they don't get back otherwise.
speaker-0: Yes. I agree. ⁓ now that we've introduced the trusted network and we're going harder with the trusted network, do you think about that in your design process now that we have both sides of the business for caregivers and small businesses? Yeah.
speaker-1: It's I think one of the biggest things that I I don't think we've cracked yet, but I want to I want us to focus on as a team is like how we can start to suggest things to people and like learn from them of like I think understanding when that time of need is. ⁓ you know, in a perfect world they would be coming into the app and they'd be saying, Hey, I think I need a trusted network service. Like, but we know that's not gonna happen, at least for a really long time. So We have to try and find other ways that we can get them to think of us and come to us with these things. ⁓ so that's gonna be, you know, trying to explore other ways that we can ⁓ learn about what's going on in their lives or give them another, maybe another like tool or another I say tool, but maybe another channel for them to reach out to us ⁓ and give us some clues that they have something going on that then we can support them in. Yeah.
speaker-0: ⁓ you talked a a little bit about your initial meeting with Shauna and she has that effect on everybody where it's just a magical moment and she tells her story and it's emotional. Can you explain a little bit about your guys' working relationship?
speaker-1: Yeah. So I think with Shauna, it's, you know, Shauna obviously is like living and breathing the caregiver role, right? So she has like dual hats of she's putting on her caregiver hat and then she's putting on her CEO hat. And then when I get to talk to her, I kind of get like a blended side of it, right? So it's like, ⁓ we're talking about how to well, first of all, we're talking about like what problems we should be solving, and then ⁓ I get to talk with her about like how we should be solving those problems. And so sometimes it's, you know, Shana sketching something out on a piece of paper and being like, okay, now how do we how do we bring this in? And then, you know, working together to try and kind of bring that to life in like digital designs. ⁓ and so and she's sending me lots of like inspiration of things and like ⁓ you know, and I'm sending her voice notes about like a new flow of what I'm thinking of or something. So ⁓ it's a lot of back and forth of us kind of trying to like get on the same wavelength about something and then kind of tackling it and bringing it out and then getting to share it with the rest of the team.
speaker-0: You s do y ⁓ you spend a lot I mean you I know you have a lot of things to design. Like I see your I see sort of what your to do this kind of looks like. I don't really know. ⁓ outside looking in it looks insane. Yeah. ⁓ how much time do you spend in the future of thinking like what does Tendercare look like in the future? Do you spend any time in the future?
speaker-1: Sure. I wish that I got more time to think about that. I think that's kind of like what this, you know, few days is all about is like getting for us getting to talk about what that is. it's a balance because ⁓ there's so much of yeah, clearing off my current to-do list. And then there's like the aspirational things of like, okay, where do we want this to be? What does what does this feature look like in a year from now? Or like where do we want to go so that we can kind of start to. like crawl towards it. ⁓ and so I think that, you know, I I keep a filter on my computer of like inspiration. So I'm constantly I've probably right now I have probably more screenshots of things than I do of my child, which says a lot. But ⁓ it's it's a good healthy balance. But you know, I am I'm constantly looking for resources and inspiration to like help bring something later. ⁓ and so that kind of growing folder is ⁓ definitely top of mind of like, okay, where can we introduce this? And I think one of the things that I try and do in the like short term is try and bring some of those things that we have talked about of nice to have for the future and trying to see like where I can fit them in in our current work. ⁓ so not waiting for like the long term bigger effort and trying to kind of sneak some things in as we go.
speaker-0: So good. Couple more questions, Lindsay. if I had to put you on the spot to forecast sort of what the next twelve months would look like for tender care, what does it look like at the end of it if we get all of this right? For the user, for us, yeah, all of it.
speaker-1: I think what I would love to see is I would love for tender care to be the like first place that someone goes when they need a question answered or need help. I would love for people to feel comfortable and feel like empowered and trusted by us to be able to say like whatever the situation is related to caregiving, I I know where to turn and I know that I can get reliable help. ⁓ and whether that is, you know, looking for trusted network services or ⁓ or just, you know, regular answers to certain things, even if it's like, you know, what's mom's list of medications or what's ⁓ you know, information that they already know, but they like the burden to actually like retrieve that information just might be too much. So I just want us to be that like true companion and resource for people. And I think the way that we can kind of bring that to life for someone is a lot of what we've been talking about of like you know being able to give our caregivers a tool or way for us to learn what's going on in their lives. ⁓ so you know I would love to just like open up a text threat thread with caregivers and just be like, just text us whatever you need. Like it's that like crisis helpline for caregivers. Like tell us everything that's going on and if we can, we're gonna find you the right resources.
speaker-0: Love that. It's so good. ⁓ what gives if anything at all, what gives you hope that this is gonna be the team that's gonna accomplish that?
speaker-1: I mean, just the like heart of everybody on this team. I think n no one is like a we're not just like a nine to five team. We're like all in all the time. And I don't think that anyone has ever said like that's not my job. And I think that that's what kind of makes us a good team for better or worse, maybe. We're all like too willing to help out ⁓ and jump in where we might need ⁓ some extra support. I'll start, I'll give everyone some lessons on Figma so we can get some help there. But I think I think that's like the heart is just really this team just excels at that. And like I think that's the like foundation for everything. Yeah. Like everyone wants to be here. And I think it's just nice to that like no one is like, this is a this is a grind and I like can't wait to go home. It's like no, like we're literally all shacked up in the same house together. Yeah. So
speaker-0: Yeah. So good. Last question. I lied to you about the last two questions, but though this is the last one. In since the time of you starting part time and then becoming full time and in all the time in between, what's like one thing that you've learned, either about yourself or about the way that you work that ⁓ really stuck with you?
speaker-1: Hmm, that's a good one. I think that I I really think that I've like pushed myself a lot in this role where ⁓ and like the team I think has helped do that for me. ⁓ where I think in a lot of other companies, like good would have been fine. And then I think that like as a team that we just like keep kind of like keep pushing and it's like, okay, well that's good. Like what's better or what's best? And ⁓ so I think that being pushed like that is just really made me grow as a designer. and I don't think I would have gotten that somewhere else. I think that good would have been fine. And so I think that yeah, I think when I kind of started this or joined the team full time, it was like part of me questioned like, well can I can I do this? Can I like can I be the like founding solo designer? Because that's a lot of Obviously it's a lot of hats to wear and you know, I haven't worked this much in print in a really long time. And so yeah, like I think that ⁓ that's kind of where it's just kind of evolved me from that sense. And so I feel I feel more confident. I also feel less confident in a lot of things. But yeah, I I'm learning that we can do it together.
speaker-0: Yeah, for sure. I just wanna leave you with this, Lindsay, because I think you're doing such an incredible job. I am so inspired by you. You are so smart and so capable. And just in my the little time that I've spent with you and online and the last offsites, ⁓ I've just seen how hard you work and how intentional you are and ⁓ just how smart of a person and how how much you really care about what it is that we're building. And I think that's why I'm so drawn to the team because like We could just be willy nilly about all of this and that is the the fastest way to not make this work. And that's why I have belief that this is the team that's going to take it to the end. because everybody's just so talented and willing to put in the work. So I I appreciate you.
speaker-1: ⁓ thank you. I appreciate you too. Cool. This is awesome.
speaker-0: Amazing.
