Paula Muller 5/6/25

(This interview has been edited and condensed for length)

Zack:  Tell us about your caregiver journey.

Paula:  Thank you for the opportunity, Zack and Selma. Yes. I am a long-distance caregiver, and I have been, for quite some time.  It started with my grandmother. I was very, very close to her when I was growing up in my youth. Now in Chile, but then for various circumstances, the family got spread out. My grandmother, probably, in her late mid-sixties, moved from Chile to Brazil. So, she reinitiated her life, and is very independent.  She was a role model for me, my grandmother. In her late eighties she developed Parkinson. And, because of Parkinsons, she, also ended up having Alzheimer's.

At that time, I was already living here in New Jersey.  For me, it was how often can I go to Brazil to spend time with her and supporting my mom who was at that time her primary caregiver?  I went as often as I could, once, twice a year, I was spending a couple of weeks in Brazil taking care of my grandmother and helping my mom who was her primary caregiver and was doing it from a long distance too.

Zack:  Was there anybody else local there?

Paula:  Yes. I had two uncles with their families in Brazil. But really, the primary caregiver was my mom who was from long distance taking care of everything and spending long times with my grandmother. So, I saw firsthand the role my mom had and she was younger at that time, so she was very much hands on helping my grandmother with everything possible to help her. But then more recently, the situation has turned into my father who was definitively diagnosed with dementia. But his dementia journey is probably at least five, six years already.  But now it has taken to the point, considering his age, it is not only assignments. It is one thing or another like a flu or always something that you have these emergency scares. And my father had a couple of those, through his journey. So at the end of the day, my mom, as primary caregiver, it is just, too much for her. And she is twenty years older than when she was caring for my grandmother, so that also has a toll. And I see that the caregiver role is such a journey because you have so much and so many mixed emotions. And I feel that for my mom, so terrible because on one side, between my mom and my dad, there are ten years difference.

So, my mom, as younger person, she was a force doing a lot of things and was innovative and very active. And now in her role as the primary caregiver for my father, she feels, somehow limited in the things that she would like to see for her personal growth. And that is the journey of so many, I think.

Zack:  Do you have anybody local there that can help? Do you have siblings?

Paula:  I have my brother, who is a wonderful, wonderful son. But still, we go back to the dynamics of the family. He has his own business, his own family. Families do not live so close to each other. So even though they live in the same town, my brother is an hour away, with private transportation.  If you think about public transportation in the big city, Santiago is an hour and a half, getting to Pichigo. So, as you as you see the dynamics of caregivers are everywhere in the world, not only in the U.S.

So, every time that we were talking about caregivers, I just was going back to my own family and seeing the difficulty and sometimes frustration being so far apart.  You ask yourself how can you do more? So that is always there, that little bit guilt, that I cannot do more.

Selma:  Thank you. How do you think that being a caregiver has impacted the work that you do and your ability to run a business and create even though your caregiving is long distance?

Paula:  Well, the whole concept of the company evolved from that.  That situation because when I decided to start my business, I I thought, how can I bridge that technology gap to bring the families closer together? And that was the idea that sparked at My Care Link 360.

In the beginning, we were calling the company Sociavi, which is a Latin word that means share and unite. And the idea was how can we bridge that gap to make it simpler for the caregivers to stay connected with their loved ones, especially those loved ones for whom technology can be a challenge. So that is how everything started. That is how I got related to Zack and the rest of the Mastermind, trying to, from different aspect. My perspective is trying to make technology simpler so you can be connected with your loved ones, can keep an eye on them, and they can feel that that they are involved and related and it is not complicated for them to use technology.

Zack:  I am one of the beneficiaries of your services because we purchased your product for my mother. I saw the benefits immediately. Your empathy and your compassion are high, and I have to say it is probably because you are a caregiver as well. But what can you share more about how being a caregiver has helped you do what you do? How are you different from, let us say, a scientist who is not aware of caregiving issues creating your product?

Paula:  I think what I always bring to the picture is asking, observing, and trying to improve based on the feedback that I get from professionals and users. So, the product really has evolved with the feedback and making it always useful. It is extremely simple because all the features are extremely simple.  We really wanted to eliminate frustration and give peace of mind to family caregivers.  And so, the whole concept and features that we have are because it is not just another app. It is not another gadget. Really, this is meant to be helpful, and I have been very blessed that so many people have used it and have given me the feedback for so many years because many tell me that they have tried so many other products, an iPad, a tablet, you name it. But at the end of the day, the only thing that really keeps being used by their loved ones without frustration is our product, The Carelink360.  So, what is different is I am not doing technology for the sake of technologies.  It is about building a tool that helps families.

Selma:  What do you think or what advice would you give to an employer who is trying to find ways to support their caregiving employees?

Paula:  I think number one is to acknowledge that caregivers are in your pool of employees. All of them. If it is not all of them, the vast majority. And they themselves may not recognize it. We spoke about how caregivers sometimes do not recognize and do not assign that title of caregiver to themselves.  But what I recommend to an employer is that they should assume that it is not all of them, the majority are caregivers even though they may not recognize themselves as caregivers. So do an inventory of what are the situations that your employees are facing, and be open and empathetic with them because, you don't know what they are going through, unless you ask them. So, and I think we spoke about that in the Mastermind, if you are open and you embrace and you support your family caregiver employees, you're going to get very reliable, very dependable employees. And sometimes, it's not just money exchange.

What matters in a company is how valuable you feel in that company. Many people would prefer a job that probably gives them less salary, but that they feel they are more valuable. So, think openminded, assume that the majority are caregivers, and try to help them and find them You don't have to reinvent a new service or a new offering. You just can take advantage of what you have and just adapt it for their needs.

Zack:  Have you worked with employers?

Paula:  We are not directly with employers. However, I, in my previous job, at some point, I was very much involved in HR. I can see the role, how you can really cater to employees, offering insurance and benefits, supporting your employees.  Even now, I advise my husband with his team even though he is not his own company, but just to be mindful of the people that you have in your team. You do not know what they are going through, and it will make a big difference if you understand them, from a personal level. Are they caring for a sick child? Are they caring for an older parent? Or a spouse may have a sad situation.  If you just open your eyes and try to open the dialogue, it makes it dynamic in the group and the company so much better.

Selma:  You've mentioned, that identifying as a caregiver is not very easy for many reasons. What is your advice for an employee who is just not comfortable sharing with their manager?

Paula: So, this is a two-way street, right?  If the employer starts talking, they can start normalizing the conversation.  If the employer is open, the employee is going to start to open themselves. Important not to think that it is a weakness.  Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of being resourceful and that you want to perform to your best.

I think employees need to be open. They are not asking for something special or for special treatment. It is just that they need help, and it is so important for mental health. Stress is one of the situations that at the end, stress not only affect your mental health, but it also has consequences on your physical health. So, I think it is important that employees realize that asking for help or framing the situation that they have as not something out of the ordinary, but just a normal part of living, and discussing it with the employer and discussing with the other colleagues.

It is also important that it gets normalized at the level of colleagues as well. So, openness is something I would recommend employees to start doing.  They are not able to only help themselves, but also their colleagues because they are not alone in the organization.

Selma:  So, Paula, I'm not familiar with your product. Can you tell us a little bit about?

Paula:  The website is mycarelink360.com.  What we develop is a dedicated device that looks like a picture frame and is a very large picture frame. It is 15 inches screen. It is a touch screen with a camera and speakers and a microphone and  this is the device that the older adult receive in the home. So that becomes their engagement, entertainment, but most importantly, communication device.  There's no username, no password, no app to choose from. It is just sitting wherever you call home. It can be in an assisted living. It can be in your home. It can be in any skilled nurse.  Wherever your place of residence is, that's where you receive it. Now on the other hand, the family members are the ones that install an app in their smartphone.   From the app, they can send pictures that show immediately videos, but also can have a video chat.  The older adult does not have to do anything.   

I really want to help older adults for whom technology is just too cumbersome. Think about even my parents in in their journey with dementia.  They still can stay in touch with me because they don't have to login, no password, no app to choose from, and it is always running.   So, it is always ready to receive the messages and make video calls because my picture and the picture of my brother is on the screen where they, just by touching my picture, my phone will start ringing. So, they can reach me in that way as well. And then through the years, we have added, multiple, activities.

We have a brain fitness activity. We have a personalized video library like Zack was saying that we can have.  If the older adult likes gospel music or if they like some particular church service or anything that brings them joy, we can push that content to the device. And we have partnered with different content providers. It becomes a little bit of an entertainment stimulation with the brain fitness activities. We also have videos of exercises that they can follow along.  It is a very rich library of content that they can access. We are tracking all the interaction with this device so family caregivers have insight as to how they are doing.  For example, mom is spending three minutes in a word search and then, suddenly, if they start spending more time, that may be a warning sign that something may not be right with mom or dad. So, it is a tool for the family caregivers, but also a way for us to stay in touch with their loved one in a very simple way.

Selma:  Where can people find you, Paula?

Paula:  The best way is to go to the website myCarelink360.com, and they can find information about the product, and also how to contact us.

Selma:  Thank you. That sounds amazing. I love to see it.

Paula:  And if you have any questions, you know how to reach me. Thank you.  As I mentioned before, it has been a journey of adapting the product to the needs of the older user, the older adults and the family members.

Zack:  We're living proof that your product is excellent.  It works, and it is easy. My mother as you know, English is her second language, and she is not technologically adept and she is able to use the device in her nursing home, which is fantastic.   Paula, if you were to go back to before your journey started, what advice would you give that young Paula in preparation for the caregiving journey?

Paula:  Probably the advice I would give her, and it is an advice that I still I give to myself, enjoy the time with your loved ones as much as you can. Do not rush.  Don't try to go back to work as quickly as you want. Just spend more time with them.

Zack:  That's great advice. Thank you so much.