Candice Smith
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Summary
My guest today is Candice Smith, co-founder, and CEO of Caregiven. She founded Caregiven after her experience caring for her father during his end of life. Her experience was similar to mine while I was a caregiver for my late wife Jane. Her vision is to get caregiving away from the transactional communications that dominate the end of life to a more meaningful experience.
I first met Candice at a Founders Network retreat and we bonded over our shared experience with grief and loss. This conversation is going to do deep into grief, loss, caring for a sick loved one and a lot of points in between. We also talk about the challenges of being a non-technical founder, being a first-time for-profit founder, and how talking about end of life is tough for a lot of people.
She also talks about her experience being isolated in a hotel on self-quarantine for COVID-19 before she could fly back to her home to be with her family.
Before we jump into it, if you’re troubled by a conversation about loss and grief, then you may want to skip this one. I know that for some, it’s hard to talk about these sorts of things and I can respect the fact that everyone is on their own journey. I would encourage you to listen even if it’s a bit uncomfortable because by talking about loss and grief, we can get better at dealing with it.
Now. Let’s get better, together.
Actions to Try or Advice to Take
- It’s hard to rise to the task when it’s unclear exactly what has to be done. For caregivers helping loved ones, it’s even harder.
- We will all go through the end of life experience so we need to be educated on what it’s all about.
- If you go through a painful experience and learn something, then you should share your knowledge.
- Memento Mori: The one perennial truth – rich or not, successful or not, religious, philosophical, it doesn’t matter – you will die
- Know Your Why: It’s critical that you and your company have a reason for being that transcends the fame, fortune, and prestige that might be bestowed on you for your efforts.
- Know your market: Caregivers search for information from trusted sources as opposed to searching online or another place.
- The learning curve for her keeps on going up and will never stop.
- Knowing what you’re going to do the next day allows her to wake up for confidence.
- Pomodoro Technique: Break tasks into 25-minute chunks.
- While she was in self-isolation, she would stop at 10 minutes to the hour and walk around her floor.
- It’s important to have the discipline for both your mental and physical health.
Links to Explore Further
- Caregiven
- Founders Network
- Candice on LinkedIn