NICOLE àBECKETT: Hero Generation - The Digital Cavalry has Arrived!

Every caregiver knows the feeling—overwhelmed by endless to-do lists, struggling to coordinate help from well-meaning family members, and searching desperately for reliable information at 3 AM. Nicole àBeckett lived this reality when she lost both parents in her thirties, emerging from what she calls "the washing machine" of caregiving determined to create a solution.

As co-founder of Hero Generation, Nicole has built what many caregivers only dream of: a comprehensive platform that organizes the chaos. In this candid conversation, she reveals how the platform's three pillars—organization, resources, and community—transform the caregiving experience. The system allows users to store vital information, delegate tasks to helpers, access expert guidance, and connect with others on similar journeys.

What makes this episode particularly powerful is the shared understanding Don and I with Nicole about caregiving's hidden challenges. We discuss the moment you realize you're a caregiver (often long after you've taken on the role), the difficulty of navigating healthcare systems not designed to support family care providers, and the profound isolation that comes with the territory.

Beyond practical solutions, the conversation explores how caregiving, despite its heartbreak, offers precious moments of connection. As Nicole reflects, "Having cared for my mom, I wouldn't change that for anything." Hero Generation aims to minimize stress so caregivers can be fully present during these meaningful interactions.

The discussion also touches on broader themes of civic engagement and advocacy, emphasizing how collective action drives systemic change. Whether caring for aging parents, managing children's needs, or even coordinating pet care (a surprising use case for the platform), Hero Generation demonstrates how technology can strengthen rather than replace human connection.

Ready to transform your caregiving journey? Listen now, and discover resources that might just make tomorrow a little easier. And don't forget to watch "No Country for Old People" on Amazon starting August 1st to join the movement for better long-term care systems.

Connect with Nicole on Social Media:

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Love Conquers All
• 2:14 Announcing Documentary Release on Amazon
• 8:08 Nicole's Caregiving Origin Story
• 17:50 Hero Generation: Platform Breakdown
• 31:00 Expanding Uses Beyond Caregiving
• 41:16 The Value of Community and Connection
• 49:20 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Transcript

Don Priess: 0:00

When the world has got you down, Alzheimer's sucks. It's an equal opportunity disease that chips away at everything we hold dear. And to date, there's no cure. So until there is, we continue to fight with the most powerful tool in our arsenal, love. This is Love conquers alls a real and really positive podcast that takes a deep dive into everything, Alzheimer's, The Good, The Bad and everything in between. And now here are your hosts, Susie Singer Carter and me. Don Priess,

Nicole áBeckett: 0:40

hi everybody. I'm Susie singer Carter,

Don Priess: 0:43

and I'm Don Priess, and this is Love conquers alls Hello, Susan,

Nicole áBeckett: 0:47

hello. Now you sound like there's something weird going on with your My your mic, is

Don Priess: 0:52

it? Is it? Is it too quiet?

Nicole áBeckett: 0:55

No, no, it just like noisy for a second. Now maybe you're okay. Now,

Don Priess: 1:00

I think we'd be up over again here. I'll move it a little closer to me. How about that? Fine,

Nicole áBeckett: 1:06

we're good. Okay, yeah, this is like, people right behind the

Don Priess: 1:10

scenes kind of thing. Oh, so you want to keep this. We're not going to start over people like

Nicole áBeckett: 1:15

it. See, it's like, wow, this is exciting. It's the real deal. We're authentic. We're authentic. Bad anyway. How are you doing?

Don Priess: 1:27

I'm doing well, still adjusting to the new surroundings here.

Nicole áBeckett: 1:32

Yeah, you were just talking about it Don's Don has got good lighting such. And my lighting is I'm still challenged. I'm lighting challenged a little bit. I got to figure this out, yeah, because I have a very big office now, and I'm looking around, it's very big. It's it's lofty and and I have a lot of windows, and I don't know what to do, because it's throwing shadows all over the place. But anyway, that's no big deal, because we're here to talk about really important things. One very important thing is that our documentary, No Country for Old people, launches on Amazon on August 1, which is such an amazing place to be. At this point, we've been working three years, very, very we were we've been immersed in this project for three years, and we have not really seen the light of day. We weren't sure what was going to happen. Obviously, we're, you know, we were filmmakers and but usually someone else takes care of that, that part of the project, which is the distribution and all that stuff, and this is such a wildly controversial topic. And we just thought, you know, let's pray that that we will get distribution so,

Don Priess: 2:47

hallelujah, yeah, because we could have put three years into it, and then somebody said, no, no, no, we're not going to show this. So it is, it's a huge hurdle, yeah, just the fact that, you know, they said yes, and they say, Yes, enthusiastically, you know, we've, you know, we're partnering with buffalo eight distributors. And they, they, you know, they were very enthusiastic from the beginning, and really it, it hit their heart, and now it's going to be out there. And, you know, of course, we hope it does what it was meant to do, and that's to make change.

Nicole áBeckett: 3:18

Yeah, yeah. Pause one sec. Don pull your mic a little bit away your it's kind of distorting.

Don Priess: 3:25

Then I'll need to turn my mic cane down. Yeah, you is it? Is it annoying, distorting? Yeah. Should we start? No, well, I don't want to. Okay, it's okay, okay. How's that? Is that better?

Nicole áBeckett: 3:35

Much better? Yeah, you were getting a little bit of noisy, crunchy stuff.

Don Priess: 3:39

Okay, yeah, God. And it was so good. I mean, it was brilliant, what I said, and now it's crunchy. So disappointed.

Nicole áBeckett: 3:49

That's how we roll. We're very resilient. We're resilient. We go through the crunch like no other. So, yeah, so excited everybody to be at this place. And, you know, keep, keep sharing, if you know, if you care about what our future as elder people will be, and as, and I'm very close to that, and so, and then what, what our loved ones are going through or will go through. And it's not just for elder people. As you know, we talk about this all the time. It's about, it's about people who are vulnerable, who need long term care, and that that system is broken. It's been broken, and it's been broken for a reason. It's been strategically broken so people can benefit from it that don't need, that shouldn't be benefiting from it. So you know, and most of us don't know until we're in that situation, and then realize, Oh my God, what planet have I just landed on? So hope you know that's why this documentary is so important, to educate the public, the collective, and for everyone to be so up in arms that they are just going to sit. Knock it off. We can't do this anymore. We can have we can. We have to change the system. So share, talk about it, and please watch it. Please review it. You know, if you're on what is it? Don letter box letterbox. Thank you. Okay, if you have a profile on letterboxed, which we just learned about, because apparently, I guess I'm eating into that older generation, because I still go to Rotten Tomatoes. But apparently, it's not the place to go and get your your ratings or your reviews, because it's like old school. So you need to go to letterbox, and that's where everybody has a huge conversations and shares, you know, lists and things like that about movies, whether it's documentaries or narratives, whatever. And so if you, you know, if you're on letterbox, spread the word there. Because that's a really good place to spread the word. We really appreciate that. And also, if you have a tutorial on it, please send it my way, because I don't, I don't get it, and I there's too many social media platforms, my God, threads. I haven't even, no, let's not go anyway. So speaking of generations, look at that. Look at I just Yes, I did see that's where I fancy. I excel, like that interview today, and why don't you tell us about it, and then we'll figure out how generations fits into that.

Don Priess: 6:31

I will do that right now. Nicola Beckett is a visionary entrepreneur and passionate advocate for social impact as co founder of hero generation, along with her co founder, Shruti Roy, they are transforming the way we support family caregivers, bringing connection and clarity to one of the toughest roles in society. Nicole also co founded same side, blending civic engagement with culture to make activism more accessible and fun. From caregiving to civic change, Nicole and Shruti are redefining what it means to show up for each other and for our communities, and we are so glad that Nicole showed up for us today. So let's not take another moment and say hello to Dodger fan Nicole Beckett, hello, Nicole.

Nicole áBeckett: 7:18

That was the best intro I've ever received. Oh my goodness, we got in Dodgers. We got in my old company, same side. And of course, you're a generation. Thank you guys for having me so welcome. Thank you. Thank you for rescheduling and coming back again because we've been we got, I don't know what happened, but you're here, and you're lovely. She's like, she looks like a beach bunny, and she's very, very cool, and I was listening to Beach Boys songs all day in

Don Priess: 7:48

honor of Brian Wilson, yes, let's take a moment for Brian. Yes, yes. Thank you.

Nicole áBeckett: 7:54

True, very true. So hero generation and and you, you're your whole interest in social activism is so on point with us right now, because we, we're starting a movement called roar for for our documentary, which is a social movement that we want to we feel like, you know that change comes from the collective. Yeah, so it and, you know it is. It's a daunting process. So we're really interested in how you got into it, how you see it, how you frame it, and how others can can take your lead. So tell us about your origin story, as it were, in terms of caregiving. Why don't we start there? Okay, absolutely. Well, again, Don and Susie, thank you so much for having me. You know, being able to spread the word with people who, you know, use their platform for so much good as well, is always heart warming to be part of the community. So appreciate you both for that part. Thank you so hero generation. You know the seeds of it really started with my caregiving journey, which began, really began in full effect about 10 years ago, when my dad was ending his 15 year battle with prostate cancer, he had elected to forego any more treatment, like I said, he had been battling it for 15 years, and just you know, had come to the end and made peace with that. But that's when you know, we were both. My mom was his primary caregiver. And you know, myself being very close, we kicked into high gear of caregiving. And you know, suddenly, all these questions and to do were coming hard and fast. And you know, what's the difference between palliative care and hospice care? What? Totally know, what? What medications should he be on now? And, you know, the list is forever changing. He's gonna stop some, but not others. And so obviously that was incredibly overwhelming. And my mom also had long suffered from a lung disease, so you know, I was really trying to relieve a lot of stress from her. And I have a background as you. Mentioned, I have a background in startups, tech platforms, so surely I thought there's got to be something out there to help me manage, organize all the things that need to be done, information, place, to keep it all in one place, because I do that in my everyday life and work. So certainly there's got to be something for like health care or caregiving. Didn't see it, didn't find what I needed. And my dad passed at the end of 2015 and you go on with life as you do. And then my caregiving role really kicked into high gear when my mom, who, as I mentioned, had a lung disease called interstitial lung disease, needed a lot more support her disease really kind of taken a turn, and so in 2018 I became her primary caregiver. She moved much closer to me than she had already had been, and I was now going to all her doctor's appointments. I was supporting her with her medication. I was, you know, helping out with home stuff and housekeeping stuff. I was managing bills and taxes. We talked about long term care. She they both had long term care, but that is not an easy system to help manage. So as you can imagine, that was a lot of overwhelm again. And mind you, I had two very young children. By that time, I'd had my second child in 2018, so, you know, right when I was taking over, supporting her more. So again, I was like, surely, by now, there has to be something that can help me, and especially with like resources, understanding what's out there. And again, I just didn't find anything that existed. And I was, you know, running my old company, same side, so I just kind of went on with life. And my mom ended up passing in 2021, and so I kind of came out of that. I always say I felt like I was in a washing machine, just tumbling, tumbling, tumbling, not, not having any control of what was going on in my life. And I finally came out, and it was really, you know, 2024 20 end of 2324 that I started putting the pieces together for hero generation, recognizing that we need to have something that supports family caregivers, in terms of being able to have all the information in one place, bring in a team to help support. I have a very large family, and they all really wanted to help, but I had no idea how to manage that help, how to give them things to do in a really easy manner. It almost became more work my family. It is hard to delegate, right? It's really hard, incredibly hard, because they'll ask, you know, you'll be on the phone, maybe you're driving in the car, and they'll say, What can I do? And like, Oh, let me think about it later, or when I get home. And then you forget. And then you think about in the shower, three o'clock in the morning, we can't sleep.

Don Priess: 12:47

And then you have to organize it, you have to put the then you have to schedule it and do, yeah, and instead of caregiving, you're doing

Nicole áBeckett: 12:54

that. And when you're the lead person, like, like you were, you know, and you just have a natural, profited, you know, opportunity to do it, and so like I did, it becomes, like you said, extra work, because you you now have to, man, be the manager, and that's really hard, because it brings extra pressure on you, because now, if you do it, you know it's done exactly. What else is doing it? You're worried, is it done? Well, is it done? Also, you need to give them extra information. Maybe the insurance card, where's the pharmacy, what medications, or where's the doctor's office? What? You know, my brother, who's amazing, lives in a different part of California, but he would come up and support but then, you know, he would need all that info. What do I tell them? What's What's the latest with my info do I need to share? So you will often say, It's okay, I'll just do it. So the primary caregiver, it just builds and builds and builds, right? So understanding all of that, my co founder so Shruthi Roy, who's also a doctor, she's a physician, but she's also going through caregiving herself. Her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and her mother has an autoimmune condition, so she's in the middle of it right now herself, but we came together and said, We've got to be able to build a way for people to just organize the complexity and offload some of the stress of caregiving, because I don't think It needs to be this way. And so hero generation is three main pillars, really. So the first one is the collaboration organization that we talked about. So we have a loved ones profile where you can keep all the information, the insurance card, the doctors, names and locations, the medic current medications, the farm where the pharmacy is any legal documents. We have it all listed, you know, and you just upload the information easily, and you can change you can bring in a team as many people as you want, and there's different levels of information that they can see. So of course, you know, you don't want the family friend who's going to maybe pick up groceries. You don't want them seeing, you know, the legal document, right? So you can definitely there's high security on all of those pieces of information, but it's just all in one place that you can easily say, you know, to my brother, it's in Hero generation, just go check it out there. And then the companion piece to that are is the task and calendar management. So you can go in and create all your to do's that to do list that never ends, and you can assign it to team members, or you can leave them unassigned. So when somebody says, What can I do to help you? Just say, go into hero generation and take one of those tasks off my list. They just they do it. They click a little button that says Done, and you know that it's done. All the information is there. It just makes it so much easier to manage right the holistic picture of caregiving. So the wedding registry, if you will, yeah,

Don Priess: 15:52

it's collaborate. And even if, even if you don't have a team, even if it's just you yourself, just the organization, it's all there. You don't have to think about it. You can remind yourself. You can schedule yourself and yeah, that's

Nicole áBeckett: 16:04

absolutely it syncs to your calendar. So we also have a notes section again, which, you know, we all have notes on our phone. And what we really wanted to do is, with Hero generation, was bring everything all in one place. Because oftentimes you're like, Where was that I'm the last time I went to the doctor, what did they say? What did I put that in a note? Was it in a text message? I put in a Google Doc? Where was it? We just want that all to be in one place so you're not spending just that extra time searching and you know all, I don't know if I mentioned this already, but like, it's not like, like, death by 1000 cuts, right? Where it just all keeps piling on and piling on, that extra time that you're spending just organizing. And we just wanted to make it as easy as possible for caregivers to to manage this really highly stressful both emotionally, physically process, and just make it a lot easier. So that's what we cover with the first pillar. The second pillar are resources. So that question that I asked, What's the difference between hospice care and palliative care? Right? You can Google it, and, you know, get different information. And you know, Google is getting better with their AI, but we wanted to give a place where real people were answering some of the more common questions. And so we have a video library on our site that people can search through, and it's a lot of more the more common questions that come with caregiving, especially around like estate planning or ER care. We've got physicians, we've got lawyers, we have experts in their field sharing their expertise, and it's all in one place again. And you can go through and that that 3am wake up when you just can't sleep and you're stressed about something, you can go through it on your own time. And then, in addition to that, we do have our digital caregiving expert, which is powered by AI, but what we're really proud of is that we've wrapped her in her name is, it's ask Andrea. So she's named after my mom, but we've really wrapped her in an empathetic voice, understanding the caregiver side, so you can ask a question very specific and tailored to your situation. I'm in. La, my mom was just diagnosed with dementia. Where do I even begin? And it'll give you la, la, you know, geographic resources, some things that some questions you can ask, some things to start thinking about, you know, and you can have that dialog with her, and we say, you know, it's just a starting point. It's not going to replace real, you know, legal experts, etc, always talk to them, but, but it's like that, those times when you're just like, I just need somebody to talk to you. And they can just start that information, give you that information, feel a little bit less stressed out, less more empowered, is really what we wanted to to bring with her. And then again, she wraps it in, you know, always saying, You're doing a great job. This is a challenging time. We you know, I understand this is very difficult, but you're doing a great job. You're doing all that you can. It's great that you're asking these questions, you know, like those reaffirmations that people need to hear totally I talk a lot about the chat GPT. Like, my chat GPT gives me compliments all the time. I'm like, Yes, I know. I think when you start interacting, it like, sends me emojis. Now, What? What? I love it. And so I think, and, you know, I'm not in that situation at this moment, but, you know, it's, I can see where it is comforting and it is, you know, it's like, it's intuitively picking up, you know, on what, what it it's feeling that you know that right onto Right, right, right? You know exactly, because I'm like House members, yeah, you know, I don't know, but it doesn't have eyeballs. I don't know how it knows, but that's what I

Don Priess: 19:49

care caregivers feel alone. They feel isolated and they feel alone. So just, you know, just that alone, having that, whether it's real or not, it doesn't matter. It does, right? Really doesn't.

Nicole áBeckett: 20:00

Well that also so the third and final pillar, because exactly what you just said, is that people feel so alone, but there are so many of us out there, so we wanted to build a community piece to it. And right now, what that looks like is we're pretty new. What that looks like is we're an aggregator of amazing events that are happening all across the country that people can go and search through and see, okay, you know, there's one in Atlanta for, you know, Dementia Caregivers, or there's something just for young caregivers. It's virtual. There's some, you know, and so just to see, and people can go, they don't have to interact, they can just listen. But just to know that there are other people out there that are going through caregiving. I mean, I've had so many people cry to me just saying, you know, I know it was out there. I just didn't know how to find it. I didn't know how to like connect. And that connection piece, of course, we're human beings. It's so, so important, and you learn so much from other people, all their experiences. So we knew that that had to be an important part to hero gen two. And so that's it, in a nutshell, the platform, great. I'm curious, like when you said you when you first started caregiving, and you would look for resources, and you couldn't find anything, because there, there are a lot of different resources out there, and I just want to be open about that, because and, and, and many of them, you know, I have my opinion about them, and some of them are, you know, very they're success oriented, and they want to, they want to cash in on the 50 million plus caregivers. And sometimes they're, you know, what I found is, they're they're just not actually delivering what they are saying they're delivering. What did you find when you went out there? What was, what was missing in those other resources? I think, well, especially when I started, which was, you know, 10 years ago, which doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but the way things change, it's crazy, you know, you'd have to Google things, and then I, you know, putting them together. And I think all the pieces were separated, right? The collaboration. You know, there definitely are project management tools out there that I could have used where there was Google Docs, right? There's all of that, but it's, they're all siloed and in different places, and it would just take so much more time to bring them all together. And then, like, I think the palliative care versus hospice care for me is like it was just what sticks with me so much, because I was so confused about it. When my dad said that he was, you know, for going treatment, they said, Here's, you know, he's gonna be in palliative care. It's like, great. But then it was through the hospice nerd, like, you know, there's no single

Don Priess: 22:44

answer either. There's no single everyone has a different definition. Everybody has a different

Nicole áBeckett: 22:49

definition. We talk about it in the documentary, because I went through the same thing, like my mom. They put her in hospice because it was supposed to be better care. Yes, suddenly they're taking her off of all of her medications. And I'm, like, what's going on now? She's suffering, like she has, she has a pressure sore. Well, we'll just give her morphine, well, then she's gonna die. Well, yeah, she's in hospice, but she's not ready to die. Like, what's going on here? Yeah, that's it's bringing that back that we had the, like, a pretty similar experience,

Susie Singer Carter: 23:17

yeah. So I know that's so important for people to understand the difference and what what is provided in palliative care versus hospice care, and what you know, and you need to know it, because you will need to manage that and be on top of it. Because if you aren't, yeah, it won't happen right chances, and

Don Priess: 23:37

which, yeah, what's so very important about what you've done here is that people don't know what to even look for. They don't know they are this is all new to people unless they've done it before, unless they've been a carrier before. This is a new frontier. You don't know what questions to ask. You don't know what you're supposed to know. So for them to be able to go to and say, Oh, or even of like you say, events. What? What kind of event am I searching for? I don't know. So, if there's a menu, fantastic, right? I mean, so that that's so important, because exactly right, Susie had no idea what she was walking into when she became a caregiver. No clue.

Susie Singer Carter: 24:15

Yeah, I didn't even know I was a caregiver. Let's, let's start. Yeah,

Nicole áBeckett: 24:18

that that that right there. Yeah, that right there, especially you don't even know your account, even know it. And, you know, I think I was the, you know, saying it wrong for very long. I was a caregiver, right? And I was like, No, it's a caretaker. And

Don Priess: 24:32

you know that we used to say it used to be caretaker.

Nicole áBeckett: 24:36

I didn't know what it was. I was like, I was so confused, because I didn't know what I yeah, I thought I was just like being a daughter, yeah, say exact, exact same thing where, you know, it wasn't until I got out of it, and then looked back and then started realizing, Oh, that was a that was a big thing. Like, that was more than doing the research, like, Oh, my God, so many. People are in this role. And I was, you know, in my 30s. I lost both my parents in my 30s, and, you know, I didn't have any friends who had, even, you know, experienced anything like that.

Susie Singer Carter: 25:12

So most people don't want to even think about it, you know, it's not in their purview, and they don't

Nicole áBeckett: 25:18

want to, yeah, they're, they're starting families, or they're, you know, advancing in their career and, you know, so I certainly did not realize what I what I was even doing, that I that there was a name for it, and there were resources. I had no idea. I never once, I never even once, really looked into my mom's disease, like diagnosis disease, like I knew the name and I knew what was happening, because I'd go to all the doctors appointments, but I never even thought to, like look more into it, to empower myself a little bit more with information. And so we just want to spark those things and people, because we've been through it. So now we know here's how, what we can do, and at the same time, we want to, we want caregiver support to be more rooted. Our mission is to have it more rooted in the healthcare system. I mean, my parents, both were in LA, you know, UCLA and Cedar Sinai. They had the most phenomenal health care. I I'm so grateful for the health care that they received. I will say, you know, I again, I was at with both my parents, but my mom, especially, every single doctor's appointment, and never once did somebody turn to me and say, How are you doing supporting? Do you need resources? Do you need support? And that's not a knock on them in any way, because doctors are overwhelmed and they're doing so much, and their main function is to care for the patient. But now that healthcare is being offloaded to families and the home so much more, we really need to have that dynamic change in the hospital setting as well by offering them resources, knowing that starting them like, here's what you don't even know, that you know right, that you need to know exactly on certain diseases that have stigmas attached to them, you know, or misunderstandings in the in the health industry and and again, not because that it's purposeful. It's just that people in the health industry don't often take the time they don't have the time, they're not paid to have the time to actually dig in and do the right and understand dementia or understand Parkinson's, they're just looking at the manifestations of and treating it like a one size fits all, which obviously it doesn't. And so, you know, and so many times I got, you know, the kind of response from doctors that was, like, impatient, like, how do you put up with this? I've had, I had doctors say that to me, like, because if my mom was, like, on a, on a, you know, loop of loop of questions, sorry, like, do you need, do you need a valium or anything? And I'm like, What are you literally, like, trying to make a joke about it. And I was like, Oh, my God, it's so insensitive. And then getting Pat like, let's and then taking it to another whole nother level, you know, past insensitivity. It's actually destructive, and, and, and it's torturous, because if they don't understand the disease, they're going to treat the person in a proper way, in, you know, right, right, not appropriately. And, and that's when you get into really big trouble, because they start making you sweeping generalization, right? And you as the caregiver, are already so overwhelmed that to even take on one more, you know, I don't want to call it one more thing, though,

Don Priess: 28:35

yeah, a lot it's that's going back to, yeah, going back to pillar one, which, and I think this kind of ties in all of that. And that is the to do list that people that like. For example, if when Susie's, you know, and I was very close to Susie and her mom, but you don't as a friend, you don't know, what can I really do? Yes, and if there was Olivia drop down that said that, and you call five your friends and say, pick one, pick one. Now suddenly you have five things off your plate. They're doing something that is no big deal, picking up groceries, and that seems like not a big deal to the caregiver. Oh, my God, it's huge. Coming over for an hour so you can take a shower or go to the gym or something, you know, those types of things. So that list alone, if you had nothing else, that's amazing, and it allows you to content because people don't know, the friends don't know what to do exactly, even family members don't know what to do. You know, my brother

Nicole áBeckett: 29:36

say, like, go pick up my groceries. You know, that's just right.

Don Priess: 29:39

But if they pick it, if they choose it, and say, Oh, I could do that. Yeah, no big deal. You know,

Nicole áBeckett: 29:46

sign it like I could assign. I would probably have no problem. When somebody says to me, What can I do to help? I would have no problem assigning. I'm like, I'm going to send you a task, and you assign that person, they get an email or notification that they've been assigned a task. Then it's like, done, you know, it's just that one layer of of, you know, removal, and it just makes it a lot easier, that that we found with people as well, right, right? Wow. I just wanted to pivot a second and just talk about your activism like you were talking like in your bio, it talks about your your your background, in that, and how, how does that manifest? How did that and where does it come from, and are you still involved in that? Yeah. I mean, yeah, I don't think you ever lose that sense of wanting to use your voice for change, especially when you see something you know that needs changing. And so my previous company, same side, my brother and I actually ran it. It was an events platform where you can hold an event, whether it was like a music concert or a yoga class or whatever, and you can connect a cause to it, and all of your attendees or guests, they would receive information about that cause, whether you know, it was planned parenthood or, you know, I don't know, Sierra Club, whatever it may be, you know, anyway they would receive information. You know, where that started. I think just my parents were, you know, they were both teachers, part of a union. Always had to stand up for what their, you know, their profession, or, you know, went out and and did a lot of that. But, you know, my dad really was the one who was always going out to different events to share his, you know, be being civically engaged. So, you know, I worked my first poll. I worked at a polling place when I was still in high school. And, you know, it's just civic engagement and using your voice and and, you know, being involved has always been something that's incredibly important to me. And I think, you know, my brother and I started same side in 2017 when, you know, a lot of people were looking for a way to have their voice heard that didn't really understand how to use it. We understood how to use it. My brother was, you know, a former Navy SEAL, like he was very, you know, very pro people using their voice. And so that's how we started same side. And, you know, it's, it's ebbed and flow, because you can be as you guys talked about with the with the documentary, how you're just flat out now, after a while, you can get tired, and so it ebbs and flows with me. But you know, there's there's, it never ends. So you get involved. How you can I think now I'm, you know, just changing a little bit of ways about how I get involved. Maybe I'm not out in the street as much, but I'm definitely using my voice in other ways, because it that that need, that desire to be heard, never leaves, right? Yeah, and, I mean, someone who comes from that civic kind of, you know, imprinting, don't you? I mean, I, for me, it's been so clear and obvious since I started this documentary that traditional advocacy just doesn't work in in this kind of, you know, political system. And I'm not just talking about this administration, you know, sure, I just my friend, just, she just wrote and produced and directed a film about Lilly Ledbetter, and we watched it last night. And I'm just, you know, what Lily went through is, is no different than what you know we're going through with, with the nursing home industry, right? So it's like that they, you know, she would get these bills passed, and they go through, through the legislature, and then the lobby would step in and go, Yeah, we're not going to let that go through. We're going to pay for all these politicians, and now it's going to die on the vine. It was happening. It happens all the time. Always happens. So if you don't use your voice and get out there and be a strong collective constituency, nothing's going to happen. Am I right? Absolutely, and that's a big part. I mean, we're not there yet, because hero Gen is pretty new, but advocacy is going to be a very big part of it, when as we grow, as we go, because, you know, it's just there's so much that, especially caregivers, who we focus on, so much support, that just could be there and it's not. And again, you know, you've got to be that. Someone's got to be that aggregator, that that organizer, and, you know, that's kind of in our DNA. And so we're really zeroing in on that next phase of, yeah, generation does too. It's so true. I'm glad, yeah, it's good to hear. I just like to validate that, because I think, you know I, I was like Pollyanna three years ago, thinking that you know you, if you if something's wrong, it will be, it will it'll be acknowledged. And there will be some, you know, penalty, and there'll be some, you know, reparation, reparations. And there aren't, there just aren't like you. Are out of luck. It's like, you know, just cut your losses and buy and your losses are, are human beings? Mm, hmm, yeah, yeah. So

Don Priess: 35:12

does does hero generation? How does it work? Is it subscription service or? How does that work?

Nicole áBeckett: 35:17

Yeah. So we have two tiers. One is totally free, and that allows you to set up the loved ones profile, and you can keep that in perpetuity. So we really again. We know from our experience that being prepared and organized for when you know maybe your parents aren't at a space where you need to be caring for them or your or your loved one, whoever it may be, is not in a space, but being organized by having that information you know ready to go when maybe you do need to step into a more serious role is so important. So we've made that free tier, managing the loved ones profile, keeping all the information in one place, totally free. And then the next tier is what includes all of the task and calendar management, the AI, ask Andrea, the notes and the messaging within the platform that's paid here. And it's 1799 a month, so it's very, you know, affordable. We haven't made it too crazy. So, yeah, that's, that's what allows us to keep going and adding in new features. We're continually, you know, building out our road map and taking feedback from users, or, you know, people who are caregivers, who aren't even users. Yet. We love getting feedback because we really do want to, you know, we're doing this at the end of the day, we want caregivers to have less stress, have less to dos, and be able to spend more time, more meaningful time, with their loved one, and not feel so either guilty or, you know, just tired. Yeah,

Don Priess: 36:51

resent. What's the most? Yeah, what's the most interesting or helpful feedback you've gotten from somebody who's used it that you've maybe implemented?

Nicole áBeckett: 37:01

Well, this is funny. This, I probably shouldn't say this, but whatever, like, people are using it for their pets, which we were not expecting at all, phenomenal, though. That's great, exactly. We're like, Okay, if that's use case, but you know, that's that's not the purpose. But I think what I don't think we set out to do this in the beginning, even though, when you think about both Shruti and mine were both sandwich generation caregivers. We both have kids, it never crossed our mind to use it for both your children and your I was just thinking that too. I mean, like, we're like, oh, obviously. So now I use it with my children too, but for families that are broken up, you know, like, if you're divorced and you add, I mean, that would work. Really, really, wow. I mean, all of the use cases that have come to us, so we've had therapists that have said, this would be so great. Exactly that scenario, our families, they have children, they're divorced, particularly special needs, kids that have a lot of care. That's right, this is perfect for them. I just the other day, somebody told me, I'm using it for my college age student because they don't have any of their info. And like, God forbid, something happened to them, I know that it's all in one place. They know they can access it, right? Where's my birth certificate that right I used to get from my daughter.

Don Priess: 38:25

What's my blood type? Yeah,

Nicole áBeckett: 38:29

exactly, exactly like all those things that, like you never really think of, but then when you need them, it's really important to have them. That's so great. Think about it.

Don Priess: 38:38

Any plans to expand that to pillars two and three, or just more of that for other uses for pillar one, like for children, having resources, things like that, or pets, or, you know, yeah, will that expand to those pillars also absolutely, oh

Nicole áBeckett: 38:53

my gosh, yes. There's so many. There's there. The road map is endless, but we absolutely right now, obviously, because we're growing and, you know, we need to be hyper focused on one target market, but, you know, people are using it outside of what we're focusing on, marketing it to. But eventually, I mean, we're gonna have to raise a little money and do all that to really kind of expand the team, but organically, right? Because you're gonna, you're gonna see, like, what the market is demanding and what exactly that's exactly right. I mean, already, because so many people have talked about children, we've updated our homepage to include them, like, just as a little bit of like, you know, this can also be used, but we're already starting to say, Well, it's kind of seems like more people are wanting to use it with children. But, you know, our heart and our the genesis of all this is with, you know, helping people who are, you know, supporting aging loved ones or ailing loved ones. So, you know, we got to expand the team. But, yeah, it's, it's, it's a good problem to have, but, you know, we, we both Shruti and I, Shruthi is a physician, you know, we kind. From a place where we want to help everybody everywhere, all at once, right? And we've got it, you know, be focused a little bit before you can really, yeah, I'm not a business woman, but I do know that grow too fast of growth is not the thing. So, yes, right? So that's, that's, that's great, is it? It's an app, then I take it, right? So, right now we're web based, so you can just log in online and on your phone. It's mobile. It's optimized for mobile if you log in through your phone. We wanted to first Also make sure the features that we had put out there were most useful before we built the app, because it's a lot easier to just build on the web. But an app will be coming probably next year, and is it easy to use for people that aren't internet savvy, right? Okay, I really think so. We focused on that. We've had a lot of feedback from folks that you know, get see a lot of different platforms, and they've all said, it's, it's, it's very easy. So you know, but again, I'll take the feedback from users, and if, if it's not, I won't, you know. We want to know. And so far, we haven't, you know, we haven't had that be an issue. Usability be an issue, right? Right? The issues that we deal with, really, to be perfectly honest, are families, you know, where one person is more tech savvy than the other, and maybe the sister or the brother, who you know in this has happened a few times the you know, they're not, they're not used. They don't use it in their everyday life. They don't use it for work. But so to go onto a platform, it's just not, you know something, yeah. So that's Yeah. So that's a barrier that we're trying to address now, how do we, how do we help families that have different levels of comfort with technology have an idea for you, which you probably know, I just think that obviously an app is going to be a savior, because everybody has a phone, right? And so everybody has a smartphone, yeah, oh, yeah, pretty much, right. And then you can, if you can, you know, convince them to keep their notifications on. Then the main caregiver, who is, you know, scheduling everything, because there's going to be one there just is, yeah. Then, you know, then notifications can go out and automatically, and they could be notified. And then if something is needed, then they're notified. If something's been completed, they're notified, yeah, you know. And I think that's going to be a big, big help, because you're not depending on them, right? Log in and see what's up, right? Yeah, yeah, you're right to push the info to them, because that's just going to help. That's my right. That's my you're absolutely right. That's what I Yeah, yeah, yeah. As

Don Priess: 42:47

as of now, will there be I just do any of the notification? Notifications go out in, like, an email, or anything like that, email,

Nicole áBeckett: 42:55

SMS, yeah, yeah. Set up if they've put their phone opted in email is, like, the first way that they opt in, and then if they also add their phone, then yeah, oh, they need to add their phone, because that's how you gotta get it, like, but I'll tell you, I mean, not to put my sister in law on blast, but my brother, my husband, my husband, who his family is in Australia. He's Australian, so he's, you know, his dad is okay. But, you know, there's, he's getting older, and they're trying to manage a few things here and there. And you know, even his sister, who's in her 30s, is not, is not, you know, it's just, it's just not in her routine. So, you know, but it's good, like, I like hearing that. I'm totally okay with that. I need to figure it's my job, it's our job, truthy, and my job. And, yeah, to figure out, how do we get a little nudge, getting that not you, I'm talking about, yeah, well, how do we nudge that? Yeah, you have to, like, I think that's, that's, obviously, you know, and I'm preaching to the choir, but, you know, yeah, no, I mean, I it's, it's reinforcing to hear it. So I know it's, it's good. And I think, you know, if anyone's thinking that, you know, like, well, I'll never get my my brother's not gonna, you know, log in to see what he needs to do. And then, so I think that when you have that part of it, it's gonna be really, really helpful, because it's gonna, right, it'll run itself a little bit. It'll take the onus off of that writing caregiver, absolutely. So it sounds great. I would use it. I would use it for sure, because especially with notifications, and the fact that you can, you can text message, you know what, if you guys do it, if you whoever's out there is doing it, put their phone number in ask, because everybody has to get pinged. That's, that's it. I mean, if they're gonna get free people, and they're gonna get, you know, right, ping about, what can I do to help? Well, you know, yeah, I'm, I'm more of the ask for forgiveness than permission. Kind of person with you on that, too. You, you know, it'll be nice. It'll be like me, sorry to bother you. It's hard to interrupt your dead but, but also, like you said, like people want to help, yeah, they want to be part of it. They want to feel like they're doing something. And so, as you know, you make it as easy as possible. That's what this does? They feel part of the journey, right? They feel part of the I mean, there's not a lot of joy necessarily, in caregiving, but there are bonds that can be formed. There are moments, there's, you know, all of that that can be formed. And the more that people feel part of that, you know, you just share in that human experience. I mean, I I always say, like, when, my mom died, you know, obviously I just thought it was so unfair, like, How did I lose both my parents so early? And my brother was, was the one who was like, You know what, Nicole, I the way I look at it is like, everybody has to go through this. We just went through it early. And I'm like, you know, you're right. And so it's, it's the human experience, and that was our experiences. And you did quality time with her too. You did it. And, you know, that's how I feel about my mom. You know, my mom was older, but yeah, and I think it's never easy. It's never easy. Like my dad died when I was 16 in a plane crash, and my mom died, you know, in her late 80s. So it's like, and from, you know, very long out. So either one isn't easier, neither one exactly never. Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if in your 50s or in your 30s, losing a parent sucks, if you have a good relationship and it's nobody wants to lose their mommies and daddies. We don't know, and it's never, never easy. But I always, I always say that, you know, having cared for my mom, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change that for anything, not his moments are so, so beautiful and valuable. And, I mean, you know, right? Just, you just feel like you've been through, yeah, a war, and you've been and you're like, you call it hero generation. That's exactly what it is. Yeah, yeah. I mean, everyone's heroes in that, in that scenario, their loved ones. Yeah, it truly is. And that's what, yeah, that's really what more what is more important than that? I don't know, right, right? I really don't. Yeah, it's hard to see when you're in it. And again, that's why now being out of it, looking back, why we want to be able to remove as much stress as possible? Because there's so many things that don't have to happen or that don't have to be stressed over. So if we can remove as much of that as possible by just a to do list, gathering all the important information in one place. Again, it relieves a lot of that time I stress for more of the, you know, meaningful interactions and the meaningful time,

Don Priess: 47:53

yeah, and you become more you're able to be more present for the person you're caring for, because you're not, you know you are. Now don't have 7000 things now you still will, yes, but if you ease some of that stress, you're a better person for them. And that's maybe more important than anything. That's

Nicole áBeckett: 48:10

exactly right? I 100% that's exactly it. Yeah, great. Well, I think it's great. I think it's great what you're doing. I think it's great that you took, you know your journey, and turn it into a gift for others, and you're paying it forward. And that's what's so, that that is, that is the human thing to do. That is what we do, and that's what, what's what we're here for. We're, we're, we need to remain community, because community, without community, we are destined for a very bad life, you know, doesn't matter. Yeah, I just think that what's we've lost community and and it's so important. We really need community. We just do and we need, we need really nice hearts like your brother and you Yes, so thank you for being good, like our eyes, and thank you both too for our sister from LA, because we're la people too. Yeah, so there are nice people in Los Angeles. Are? There are so many good people in LA Yeah, and

Don Priess: 49:09

all the good people love the Dodgers.

Nicole áBeckett: 49:11

Yes, exactly. It's easy to be a Dodger fan these days, but you know, yeah, we're making up for it now. We're seeing our flowers after. We're

Don Priess: 49:25

trying not to be too cocky, giant fans and Padre fans, but it's okay, we can. We deserve it

Nicole áBeckett: 49:33

totally, all right? Well, I love what you're doing. And this podcast is this show this Our hearts are all about love, because why don

Don Priess: 49:49

Well, that's because love is powerful. Love is contagious, and love conquers all. We thank everybody for watching, listening today. If you like what you heard and saw, please follow. And share and do all those fun things, and go

Nicole áBeckett: 50:02

to show notes and find out more about hero generation and Nicole and her partner what they're doing. And, you know, support them if you like it, and, and, yeah, like Don said, support us, and also support No Country for Old people coming out August 1 again, I'm going to tell you that because I love you all, and I don't want you to go through bad times like I did. So we're going to change this system. I love you and everyone. We'll talk. We'll see you next time.

Don Priess: 50:29

All right, take care, everybody. Bye, bye. You.